Krishen Iyer’s Take on Organizational Reskilling Efforts

Human resources and C-suite professionals are navigating changing attitudes towards staffing. A significant reason these attitudes have evolved include artificial intelligence (AI). Artificial intelligence allows organizations to automate tasks that they previously delegated to professionals. As a result, employees may find themselves abdicating their responsibilities to AI technologies in exchange for taking on more desirable skills. Acquiring new skills within their present employer is one of the several examples of reskilling that have become more and more pervasive over the past year, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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While some reskilling strategies seek to make an organization’s skillset contemporaneous with present-day needs, questions remain about whether AI will provoke a wide-scale labor shortage. Automation, artificial intelligence, and digitization continue to outpace expectations, encouraging organizations to continue their investments in reskilling efforts. So, how can you indicate whether your organization’s reskilling efforts are worth the investment? Here’s how. 

Assessing the impact of reskilling programs

The metrics surrounding reskilling programs and their efficacy remains uncertain. For example, LinkedIn recently published a global survey of learning and development (L&D) professionals. The study found that organizations typically rely on soft metrics to assess the impact of reskilling efforts. These soft metrics include, but are not limited to, completion rates, satisfaction scores, and employee feedback. Alternatively, a smaller portion of the survey’s respondents reported using more complex metrics to indicate whether reskilling efforts led to more significant organizational improvements. Among those metrics are increased employee retention, productivity, or revenue.

One metric your organization will specifically benefit from evaluating includes cost metrics. Your organization should consider a cost-benefit analysis of reskilling to decide whether the juice is worth the squeeze. You can begin to calculate this metric by finding the sum of all costs pertinent to your reskilling efforts. Doing so requires adding up the cost of direct training, paid-time-off (PTO), and administrative costs. Once that is complete, you will proceed to add up the costs of not reskilling efforts. If you need to find new hires, then you will need to consider recruiting and onboarding costs. If you think you might have to lay off an employee if they are not reskilled, then include the severance costs and administrative costs in that calculation. 

How professionals receive amplified reskilling efforts

Measuring your organization’s employee retention can empower your organization to understand what their professionals gain from reskilling programs. One IBM study found that new employees are 42% more likely to continue working for their employer if they receive on-the-job training. Those results validate a positive link between the level to which a company invests in its employees and their organizational loyalty, a well-researched human resources trend.  

It is worthwhile for your organization to let its employees know that they are committed to their professional development. For example, a global professional services firm found that advertising an upskilling program on job listings led to a 9% increase in applications. I expect that this finding comes from a new hire’s eagerness to take on new skills with stride. If you continue to question whether professionals are getting as much out of their reskilling efforts as you are putting into them, consider a participant survey to understand where there may have been a disconnect. 

When I speak with my clients about their hiring choices and the rationale for such decisions, I like to remind them that the perfect candidate may not always appear when we’d like. Instead, employers should make a conscious effort to identify talent whose background and skillset demonstrate a potential to grow into the position and to learn along the way. The more employers understand exactly how willing new hires are to grow into the position, the sooner they will understand how reskilling efforts yield considerable recruitment benefits. 


Krishen Iyer is a marketing expert with nearly two decades of experience working with insurance distribution centers on enhancing their digital advertising strategies. As a California-based entrepreneur, Iyer is a self-starter who has developed and sold several companies throughout the Golden State. Among these companies include the Fresno-based Managed Benefits Services, which provides top-tier consulting to their health and dental insurance while under new ownership. 

Today, Iyer spends most of his time as the founder and president of MAIS Consulting Services, which first opened its doors in June 2020. The firm, headquartered in Encinitas, collaborates with health and dental insurance clients to enhance its marketing and contracting strategies. MAIS Consulting is committed to filling knowledge gaps in their clientele’s marketing and contracting policies, enabling them to achieve measurable business goals. The firm collaborates with insurance agencies throughout California and beyond. 

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