There are more benefits to maintaining and advancing the skills of everyone in your organization than you might think. Keeping your workforce on top of changing technology isn’t always easy, but ensuring their skills stay current is a great way to build deeper employee engagement, and your reputation as a preferred employer for top talent.
By integrating learning into your team’s daily routine and building a culture that prioritizes proactively seeking out training resources, you’ll help people move beyond a basic understanding of new technologies and get them to proficiency. And with those valuable proficiencies comes new levels of adaptability and innovation that can drive business with customers and consumers.
Empowering teams through learning also maximizes the value of the technology and services that you’ve already deployed, equipping your team to confidently embrace the emerging possibilities of new technologies. All of this increases your organization’s agility and sharpens its competitive edge in today’s rapidly evolving, highly competitive tech landscape.
Top talent notices top reputations
When you cultivate a culture of learning within your organization, you’re supporting a virtuous cycle. Workers take the investment you make in building their skills personally and feel valued. That goodwill can deliver a big return in the form of greater engagement from high performers, motivation for them to participate in skilling programs and build their knowledge, and, as a result, further contribute to the organization’s success. That positive momentum is then channeled into additional growth and progress.
As you unleash the potential of your existing workforce, you’ll also make it easier to attract and retain top talent. And this is critical: According to The IDC 2022 Global IT Skills Survey, it is taking three to six months longer on average to fill vacant positions, and possibly longer for roles in data, security, and software development1. Embracing learning not only helps to retain the talent you already have but helps to build a reputation as a place where people want to work–reducing turnover and helping to draw more applicants when roles do need to be filled.
Skilling strengthens a competitive edge
The survey also reveals that continuous learning isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a necessity. The data shows IT leaders face challenges such as delays in product release and difficulties in reaching revenue growth goals when skills aren’t constantly refreshed. By 2025, some 90% of organizations will feel the impact of the skills shortage, costing $6.5 trillion worldwide in delayed product releases, reduced customer satisfaction, and loss of business.2
Organizations that embrace continuous learning as part of their everyday routine, though, are better positioned to overcome these challenges, giving them a significant advantage in today’s business environment. Skilling programs at once improve employee performance and productivity while also reducing hiring and training costs overall.3
Learning-focused teams have the intellectual curiosity to quickly grasp emerging trends and technologies, understand their implications, and apply them to create incredible products and services that customers will love. All of this sharpens your competitive edge and helps you maintain a market-leading position.
Innovation drives business
A culture of continuous learning can set your organization up to proactively adapt to and adopt new ideas, applications, and capabilities, fueling transformative growth. Individuals and teams that explore new knowledge domains, experiment with emerging technologies, and share their insights feel more empowered, which accelerates their capacity for creative thinking. This spark can set your organization apart, cultivating its reputation as an industry pioneer and attracting customers who value innovation.
Customers are increasingly seeking innovative partners to help them navigate disruption in our complex tech landscape and deliver cutting-edge solutions. By equipping people with new skills, you can differentiate your organization in the marketplace—a key marker of industry leadership in the digital age.
A learning culture underpins success
Having the best tools and tech in the industry doesn’t mean much if your workforce doesn’t have the skills to make the most of them. And while the value of skilling is undeniable, there are more advantages to nurturing and advancing the skills of every individual within your organization than making them smarter and more capable. When business leaders invest in upskilling their teams, they can develop and attract talent more effectively, promote equity in the workplace, and unlock new levels of innovation that can propel business forward.
Microsoft Learn supports a culture of learning that can empower your people, improve their professional experience, and strengthen your organization’s offering, reputation, and partnerships. Stay tuned for upcoming news about training and content crafted with you and your business goals, knowledge needs, and learning preferences in mind. Microsoft Learn is focused on providing you with practical resources designed to bridge the gap between cloud platform knowledge and business strategy, with no technical background required. Explore Microsoft Learn modules and learning paths to see how easy it is to help your people acquire the new skills they need and give you the ability to solve your business challenges.
1 Toward Skilling Excellence: The IDC 2022 Global IT Skills Survey. IDC, Nov 2022.
2,3 Future of Work: Assessing and Addressing IT Skill Gaps in the Enterprise, IDC, May 2023.
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-learn-blog/the-value-of-skilling-goes-far-beyond-learning/ba-p/3854588
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-learn-blog/the-value-of-skilling-goes-far-beyond-learning/ba-p/3854588
2023-06-28 16:00:00Z