Investing in employees’ capabilities yields returns across a spectrum of operational outcomes
With changing labor markets and demand for increased efficiency, 93% of companies think adopting new technology (like intelligent devices) to improve work outcomes and team performance is vital to their organization’s success.¹ This is a promising start, but it’s only part of the process. Equipment and automation alone do not automatically mean a company will reach lofty productivity goals.
The truth is, many complex investments—from new machinery to software to consulting engagements—often perform below expectations when companies fail to fully support employee adoption. In order for businesses to thrive amid system upgrades and the rapid digitalization of the work place, they must prioritize reskilling and upskilling.
Employees also need to feel confident that automation won’t replace people altogether; they should view these improvements as upgrades—freeing them up to do higher level, more engaging work. Investing in continuous learning and making it part of daily tasks can go a long way toward reducing the impact of talent shortages while closing skills gaps.
As with all "big leaps" in an organization, the journey is as critical as the destination—perhaps even more so.
Here’s one example: An independent beverage bottler couldn’t keep up with production because it didn’t have enough capacity to meet customer demand. In response, the company made a strategic investment in a new piece of filling equipment that would increase production speed, creating the company’s fastest line in North America.
This miracle machine cost the company several million dollars. But even factoring in maintenance costs, depreciation, and time to profitability, the company believed that the potential increase in production made big-picture sense.
After the machine was installed, the operators were taught how to use it.
Or were they?
In reality, they were trained one time only, by the experts who set up the machine on the first day. Nobody from the bottling company captured any of the training details to replay and review in subsequent sessions, and no one delivering the machine provided operating and maintenance instructions to refer to should questions arise. Shortly after this minimal "training session," the company unfortunately experienced a lot of turnover.
With no documentation to train new hires and no reaction plans for operators, things were doomed from the start. If the machine began spitting out error codes, the company would immediately see excessive increases in downtime—instead of minutes, the machine would be down for an entire day.
When the machine had calibration issues, employees would start pushing buttons randomly in desperation, only to end up creating more problems. The machine would then have to be shut down until someone with the right skills could come to address the problem. The operators were trying their best, but they were in a no-win situation: they didn’t have the tools or resources to effectively address problems as they arose.
What was supposed to be an amazing investment to increase production capacity ended up creating even more capacity problems. Productivity actually decreased, and in turn the excessive equipment downtime caused product quality to suffer.
This is a true story. It happened because, in the excitement of planning their initial investment, the company thought through every component affected by the purchase the new machine, except for the most critical one—its impact on their people.
As we saw in the above example, properly training teams on any new tools or equipment is essential, right from the start. Anything a company buys to solve a problem or to meet goals must make sense to the people who do the daily work of making it operational and delivering results. More and more leaders are realizing that skilled workers are integral to the success of these investments: equipment and automation alone cannot shoulder the extent of work needed.1
In fact, 57% of supply chain executives viewed hiring and retaining qualified workers as their greatest challenge in 2023.¹ This prioritization must continue, if businesses are to succeed. For the foreseeable future, supporting employees and building their capabilities will be what yields returns across a spectrum of operational outcomes.
In 2021, the World Economic Forum report warned that over half of all employees worldwide would need to reskill or upskill by 2025—in other words, the future is here. Their report foresaw reskilling or upskilling as a necessary means for companies to stay ahead of the competition while retaining the workforce talent needed to manage rapid digitalization of the workplace.2
Not only has that prediction come true, it’s been compounded by the ongoing labor shortage across the supply chain.3 Even as Industry 4.0 becomes a reality, companies are struggling to fill even entry-level roles—let alone the highly skilled jobs required to integrate connected machinery and generative AI into the workplace.
As an aging population and rapidly evolving technological skills gaps have become the norm, PwC reports that the need to upskill, and reskill, the workforce has never been more urgent. A range of industries, from manufacturing to retail to health services, are still trying to mitigate the effects of these seismic changes in the workplace.1
It’s clear that replacing existing employees with more highly skilled workers isn’t really an option anymore. It’s too costly and there simply aren’t enough people to meet the need.
Instead, businesses are realizing that success lies in retraining their existing workforce. With the right tools, employees can get the support they need to master new skills faster and reduce their time to proficiency. It seems like an easily solution, but despite the majority of businesses acknowledging the importance of new technology to their long-term success, only 22% of those surveyed say their organization is ready to make the investment.⁴
This is short-sighted, as human employees and technological investments must work in synergy to yield the best results. Machines are only as good as those who are knowledgeable enough to operate and maintain them for optimal output, while skilled talent can only grow with the right equipment and training opportunities to support advancement.¹
Although the US alone spent more than $100 billion on training in 2022, recent studies show that only 12% of learners say they apply the skills from the training they receive to their work.5
If employees can’t immediately link and apply the new training to their everyday tasks, they will lose the majority of what they learn in six days.5 Fortunately, this forgetfulness greatly decreases when workers spend some time each day reviewing information:6 task lists, digital work instructions, and on-the-job, practical application of new skills are great ways to help your employees boost retention and build confidence.
And the way you train is important. You don’t want to get in your own way by ignoring how your employees actually learn. Some L&D efforts focus on the wrong metrics, like credits earned by employees, rather than emphasizing the actual business impact of the training.⁵ Shifting this focus is essential, as employees want to feel that they are a part of something, that they are contributing to the bottom line and the success of the business by putting their new knowledge to work. This emphasis adds real value, rather than just checking a "feel good" box.⁵
Finally, prioritize employee feedback on the training content and methods. People tend to discover ways to improve a process after doing it multiple times. If your employees notice a better way to do something or identify an error in the process, make it easy for them to share it! Help everyone continuously improve.
As you identify current and desired skills in your company, you can organize them into job role requirements and create paths for your employees to learn them. Creating visibility into skills and career paths can improve the effectiveness of your upskilling and reskilling programs and help employees see the long-term vision.3 You’ll benefit both from a more versatile team, and better retention among individual team members.
Reskilling or upskilling your people is vital to filling the skills gaps you already have. Don’t invest in innovation and automation without also investing time and training into your valued workforce, using the Acadia connected worker platform from Epicor. Leaving your employees struggling with old-fashioned or inappropriate tools only leads to consistently poor results and increased turnover. By contrast, invest in your people with the right technology and you’ll see returns—on the front line and the bottom line—for years to come.
