Is there a link between the ability to identify and address skill gaps, and the improvements in the wellbeing of employees?
The answer is a resounding YES! And we would only need to look at our own work life for confirmation of this. Who has NOT experienced anxiety and stress at having to deliver a job requirement that has caused sleepless nights. It could have been having to make a presentation to senior management, provide user training to a large group, or even having to just produce a report.
Why? because we were asked implicitly, to apply a skill that we had not yet mastered.
Having spoken to many clients and their workers, I have discovered a common theme in the very high priority placed on the well-being of the employees. While we obviously understand that there are many factors that can affect a person’s well-being and specifically being stressed, I believe that being able to clearly identify some of the causes of stress, can go a long way towards alleviating it.
Skill gaps and employee well-being
The following statistic from Australian Institute of Management is both alarming and insightful:
The biggest negative impact of the skills gap is more stress on employees (71 per cent), followed by lower staff morale (56 per cent), losing high-performing employees (48 per cent) and reduction in customer service standards (41 per cent).
So, with 71% of employees reporting more stress due to the gaps in their skills, and employers losing 48% of their high-performing employees as a result, clearly this situation is crying out for a solution, and should not be ignored. I feel the final statistic regarding customer service standards, could not be more eloquently described than with this famous quote from an industry leader:
….and helping identify and address skill gaps is one way to show you care.
AIM Victoria and Tasmania chief executive Susan Heron said:
“A skills deficiency hits more than a company’s short-term profits – it erodes employee confidence and prompts skilled workers to seek attractive employment opportunities elsewhere,”
And of course, issues regarding skill gaps are not restricted to commercial enterprises, it has the same impact in the public as well as the not-for-profit sectors.
Our focus with SkillsTX, is more and more towards talent management, as perceived from the employee perspective. This focus has allowed us to:
- Produce skill gaps that are able to be easily and quickly visualised and then addressed
- Ensure personal data privacy and GDPR requirements are met. (And we are already working on ‘forget me’ capability).
Just knowing what the cause of ‘a poor night of sleep’ is, we have heard, goes some way towards reducing stress.
The “ah, so that’s why every 3rd Tuesday I feel pressured, my work requires a skill that I haven’t had chance to acquire’.
And the other huge upside to being able to easily do skill gap analysis?
If we know the total skills across the workforce, you can better structure the work to allow mastered skills to be applied. This helps us all feel more accomplished, doing what we’re good at is a much better place to be.
If you would like to more about how SkillsTX helps you identify and address skill gaps and help REDUCE stress please contact us.
You can take advantage of our FREE SFIA self-assessment here:
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