Upskilling: Why it makes sense to retrain staff

The term ‘upskilling’ is suddenly everywhere. We might once have called it training and development, but the meaning is the same: organisations are spending vast sums to give their existing staff new tools to succeed at work - and, increasingly, to support their personal development. In this week’s episode, Isabel explores how training, or upskilling, has evolved as a way to retain staff in the post-pandemic workplace. She speaks to FT columnist and Working It regular Emma Jacobs about which aspects of upskilling are worth the time and investment, and also to Dan Bullock and Raul Sanchez, training and communications experts at New York University. Dan also works at the UN as a trainer, and both of them are convinced that teaching staff new language and communication skills is the key to a post-pandemic skills refocus - and better global understanding. Could upskilling staff actually help end the Great Resignation?

Want to read more?

What is needed to bridge the skills gap? Andrew Hill on the World Economic Forum’s research https://www.ft.com/content/c82a4096-f4fc-424e-bc74-6df52055640d

More investment in older workers will pay off - Camilla Cavendish on the short-sighted approach of employers who favour younger staff

https://www.ft.com/content/1a72ed42-6d96-4ed5-9528-fb4810b0dbd6

Emma Jacobs on using ‘‘stay’ interviews as a way to find out the training staff want

https://www.ft.com/content/57556b65-f8c8-41f1-9f07-c6c470777229

How the Japanese company Rakuten made English its global language

https://www.ft.com/content/2fdd6626-ba3b-11e7-8c12-5661783e5589

Dan Bullock and Raul Sanchez’s work on training staff to communicate globally

https://www.globallycommunicate.com/the-team

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We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter

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Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

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