How-to: Training and upskilling employees

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the whole world can change in an instant. Now more than ever, businesses must be agile and ready to respond to change.  Training and upskilling employees is crucial to ensure they are well equipped to be flexible and adjust to change.

An effective way of upskilling and training employees is to provide greater variety in a job role. Including variety in a job role can improve the interest, challenge and commitment of employees.

Studies have shown employees who complete repetitive tasks and are unchallenged, can lose interest in the job and may become dissatisfied.

On the other hand, creating too much variety in a job role can also create adverse effects. Employees may feel they are spreading themselves too thinly and become frustrated at the lack of control.  This can in turn create feelings of dissatisfaction.

Finding the optimal level of variety in a job role can be difficult, as it differs from person to person, and job to job. However, when designing a job, the below questions may help achieve an optimal level of variety to ensure productivity and efficiency. 

• How suitable is the level of variety in the position?
• What level of responsibility does the position involve?
• Does the position allow for high levels of autonomy?
• How much feedback is provided about performance standards in the position?
• Is there much opportunity for engagement and participation in decision-making?
• To what extent does the position provide for support and recognition?
• Is the work environment safe and healthy?
• Have we cross-skilled our staff in each other’s positions to a reasonable degree?
• Is the less than ideal behaviour we are seeing in this employee because he or she is bored?

It is important to consider job design and how each position fits in your organisational structure. This way, you can nip issues before they arise through well-designed positions and structures.

We also encourage you to consider how you might utilise your staff to upskill and train each other to increase engagement and address resourcing limitations. 

If you would like to know more about upskilling and training employees, please contact our Workplace Relations Team on (07) 3872 2222 or at workplacerelations@amaq.com.au.