Why It’s Important to Upskill your Workforce

As spring manufacturers, we must stay ahead of the curve and invest in the right areas. The nature of day-to-day job descriptions is shifting, and so upskilling is more important than ever.

Upskilling your workforce allows you to build on your team’s existing skills, increase productivity, and streamline your working processes.

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at the benefits of developing and training your employees.

Productivity and Motivation

When you spend time nurturing and developing the skills of your workforce, you’re also improving motivation and productivity levels. In general, your employees should feel more comfortable in their role and be more invested in helping the company do well.

You should spend some time identifying current or projected gaps within your team. This data can then be used to map out a timeline for development and the equipment or resources that you need.

By showing your employees advanced working practices, you can increase productivity. It has been proven that a positive attitude from management coupled with good working conditions and access to the correct tools and equipment can raise productivity.

New Skills, Ideas and Services

Upskilling allows you to accommodate new skills within your workforce and brings the opportunity for new services.

Upskilling can also help your employees become more knowledgeable of client requirements, allowing them to keep ahead of competitors and in line with industry standards. Your staff will be motivated by engagement with new technology, software and working techniques.

It’s essential to listen to your staff and give them the freedom (where appropriate) to develop. When you give your employees the responsibility to choose their own path, you can start to work collaboratively as a team on new innovative ideas and business opportunities.

Every person is different, and when people are in control of their personal development, they can make informed decisions on what works best for them. For example, some will learn better from short video demos, while others will perform better on an intense course.

Cost-Effective Investment

Upskilling or reskilling your employees is a much smaller investment than recruiting and hiring a new staff member. When you reskill, you can create a well-rounded, multi-skilled workforce capable of increasing efficiency and product quality.

Setting achievable goals with your employees and having a dedicated study space at work is a great way to encourage development and learning. By allocating training time and introducing personal development plans (PDPs), you can keep a record of progress and offer help where needed.

People are motivated by training and development opportunities, so you can expect to attract new talent through word-of-mouth. It’s common nowadays for staff to act as brand advocates, which can be valuable and influential for your business — you now have access to a whole pool of diverse talent through your employee network.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

When staff are motivated and productive, they will generally produce better work. Employees who are happy at work will radiate their energy to your customers, in turn providing a more efficient service.

You may also find that your established clients are prepared to pay more to work with a knowledgeable, multi-skilled and proactive team. So by giving your workforce time to learn, manage and understand new skills and projects, you can improve your overall customer service and build rapport.

With over 70 years of experience as a spring manufacturer, we’re proud to invest heavily in our workforce and develop our people for the future.

By welcoming apprentices each year, we’re able to see the benefits first-hand of having a development plan in place, and many of our qualified apprentices continue to grow their skills as spring technicians.

If you would like any more information about any of the services or products that we provide, please contact European Springs Ireland with your enquiry. Our experienced team will be happy to answer your questions.