Page 68 - IMDR - Journal of Management Development and Research - March2019-20

Formal Recognition of upskilling- Many SMEs do not recognise informal or online

skilling for work enhancement and therefore, faces challenges in creating the desired
shift.

Wage enhancement alignment with upskilling- After getting upskilled, if an existing
job is getting performed efficiently, the employee may demand an increased wage.

However, if organizational policies and yearly budgets are not aligned, upskilling faces
rejection from employee’s perspective.

Support of HR policies- the common question after getting skilled is what is next for

me? If this question is not answered satisfactorily in SMEs as concepts like succession
planning or IDP individual development plans are not in place. The absence of

supporting policies in HR makes upskilling a difficult concept to execute.

Way forward

After above given reflective data and current reality, the next question to ask selves is

what are the alternatives/options?
1. Non-Traditional ways of upskilling- Instead of 8-hours face to face skilling

session, a virtual session will be much more cost effective.

2. Informal ways of upskilling- Concepts like “Lunch & Learn” and “Talent who
eats” are in trend to set up more informal ways of learning. These bite-sized

learning programs are facilitated by employees for the employees.
3. Microlearning- In today’s age of digitization where Tik-Tok can become a

new marketing platform, learning ways should also aligned with such
transformations. Instead of formal e-learning platforms go for MOOC- Massive

open online courses. Before enrolling employees for an intensive three-months

virtual course, try and find a microlearning module for same.
4. Shared ownership- In order to understand and create a shared ownership of

upskilling through creative ways, below model will help you to craft it rightly-
a. Tell Problems to your employees in order to enroll them to upskilling-

A futuristic problem statement might push your employees backward
from enrolling themselves for positives.

b. Ask Problems in order to facilitate them to enroll them for

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