Turn your skills into business benefits
Earlier this year, we asked the L&D community how upskills are within the organization. Over 1,300 learning experts responded, and the outcome within the high state was a wake-up call (but a good variety).
TLDR: Upskills are officially a top priority for the L&D team. That’s good news. Not that good news? Most teams are thinking of ways to actually do that.
Here we dive into where the team is struggling, what is actually working, how to move from good intentions to real influence.
Cutting up
44% of survey respondents said their organization has been offering high-class skills from day one, but less than 10% say they do so when a new business needs arise.
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Doing this too long will result in no sync with the business your learning programme will support (if you don’t have one yet).
And the biggest blocker of a luxury program? It’s difficult to find limited people or budget resources and the right tools.
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So if you feel stuck, you are not alone. We have some tips on how to bridge the gap between high-end skiing issues and knowing how to implement programs that promote measurable outcomes.
Upskills are not a common responsibility
The collaborative approach to organizational issues is fantastic. But it also creates many gray spaces and cracks, allowing you to fall into goodwill. If it’s someone’s problem, it’s not anyone’s fault.
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It’s time to throw away that old Raci chart. Because there should be only one owner. Teams can argue the term skill, but in reality it’s about the work they need to do. Do you define that job? It is in the business unit. The science of how to help people get their jobs done and build skills is what life is between people and their learning functions.
People-based learning is not prioritized
Mentorship is one of the most impactful ways to build a culture, maintain talent and accelerate learning. Despite its impact, 43.6% of organizations do not use coaching, mentorship or peer learning and have no plans. That’s a big gap. Upskills are not just about content, so they are related to connections.
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If an employee expresses interest in developing a particular skill, they must match with relevant courses, peers, or mentors that they can guide in their field. But one of the biggest barriers to mentorship scaling is effectively matching people. The complexity of adjusting each individual’s skills, goals, and preferences makes the process more likely to be inefficient and inconsistent.
To make social learning a viable option, you need to build it to be sustainable and scalable.
Upskills must be measurable
Upskills are expected to affect everything from retention to revenue.
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But without visibility, leadership doesn’t see any value. You may believe its impact, but to prove it (and scale it) you need better tools, clearer strategies, and more visibility.
So the next step is to link your training data to business outcomes and insist on continuing investment.
Instead of tracking learning metrics such as program participation and completion of learning paths, think about the business goals you are working on.
Employee attrition – Reduce voluntary turnover by providing training in areas where employees feel inadequate or free. Track turnover rates before and after implementing this type of upskill program. Employee Performance Assessment – Improve individual and team performance by identifying which skills are circulating high performance and design training. Compare performance ratings before and after training. Employee productivity – Increase production and efficiency with microlearning or on-demand resources that solve real-time challenges. Use KPIs such as per-employee output, task completion time, or quality metrics. Adopt promotion or internal mobility. Match internal employment and career growth in the competency framework to match higher role frameworks with less-increasing employees in open roles. Track internal promotion rates and lateral movements. Employee Retention – Attract top talent by acknowledging learning outcomes. Use research to assess how learning affects engagement and retention intent. Compare retention rates for employees who are participating in Upskills and those who are not.
What is the best team doing?
They are shifting from content-first to strategy-first. In other words,
Using data to discover skill gaps Linking learning paths to business outcomes Scaling in systems that succumb to needs
And yes, AI plays a big role. Work together in busy work, bring out insights and help your team move from reactive to proactively. So, the problem is: What kind of work is left for people? What is the new role structure? What skills do you need to work with an AI agent?
Currently, these skills are not available to outsource. It must be built internally. And it puts the L&D in the driver’s seat.
Join the Atlassian team. They knew that AI adoption would miraculously not happen overnight. And they saw that upskills are often the best response when business needs require strategy. So they created a specialized course to increase awareness and use of AI tools for sales and customer experience teams.
Atlassian saw incredible growth by linking business outcomes to learning.
The use of AI tools between customer teams will increase by 330% after launch, and post-release engagement will continue. Improved AI Prompt effectiveness score by 20.7%, improving the quality of customer communication. Daily AI tools adoption increases by 19%, encouraging consistent productivity gains across Salesforce.
Learn how Atlassian absorbs LMS.
How to close high-grade cuttings of tissue
Start small. Choose one business problem, understand the skills you need to solve it, and build from it. Improve your handful of ICs to become future leaders and don’t wait for the perfect plan, whether it’s a new skill or technology department. Move something measurable. Use what you learn to improve your approach, build momentum and prove your value.
Treat upskills like muscles: the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. And don’t forget that your goals are not just learning, but better results. The gap between intention and impact is real. However, with the right focus, the L&D team is in the best position to close it.
And the team that first understands it? They don’t just catch up, they lead.
Absorbs LMS
An AI-driven learning management platform for businesses and organizations in all industries that enable, educate, equip and equip employees, customers, partners and members anywhere in the world.
