The Benefits of Upskilling vs. Reskilling: Which Will Rocket Boost Your Career?

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Introduction to Skill Development in Today's Workforce

As career coaches working with mid-career professionals in most industries, we are witnessing a high degree of concern about the impact of new technologies on clients’ prospects for meaningful, rewarding work. In the face of rapid advancements in technology, the concept of “upskill vs. reskill” is emerging as a critical consideration for both employees and businesses. These advancements have resulted in existing organizations’ discovery of new ways of operating their business and entirely new businesses’ emergence to deliver new products and services. 

On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a new phenomenon. I (Michael) started my career when mainframe computers were used, mainly at large companies, to primarily track inventory and sales, as well as print paychecks. The introduction of mini-computers was a revolution, followed by the emergence of mobile phones that have computers more powerful than the ones I started with, which occupied a street block and required major cooling systems. So, what’s the big deal about new technologies now?

What is new is the pace at which these changes are occurring. In the past, a generation of workers spent most of their careers using pretty much the same tools and technologies. Now, however, the pace of development requires current employees to adapt and re-adapt to new tools and consequently skills several times in their careers, at a breathtaking pace.

Widespread utilization of robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), predictive analytics, blockchain, and other technologies are creating additional challenges for both businesses and individuals so that they can remain competitive. Of course, just like any other situation, challenges are also the harbingers of opportunities.

If you do a Google search for “upskilling meaning” or “reskilling meaning,” you may get a binary distinction. But first, let’s take a close look at the implications of the rapid introduction of technologies for both the employer and employee. Obviously, from a business’s perspective, to remain competitive, a company must deliver services faster, at a higher quality, and more cost-effectively, while improving or at least maintaining its profit margins. To do that, a business is confronted with the question of whether upskilling, reskilling, or hiring new talent is the right approach while introducing new technologies to remain competitive. 

Similarly, the introduction of these technologies, in most cases, results in changes in business processes and how employees are engaged in those processes. These disruptions may result in the elimination of job roles altogether or the ability of a company to accomplish the same function with a simplified role. As such, employees have a vested interest in determining if upskilling or reskilling is more relevant to their career growth.

Some recent studies report that over 80% of learning and development professionals see significant skill gaps in their organizations. This gap is predicted to widen. These findings point to the critical role of upskilling and reskilling as strategies to adapt to the rapidly evolving workforce landscape.

With these challenges in mind, let’s take a look at the simplified definitions and distinctions between reskilling and upskilling.

Upskilling is defined as enhancing your existing skills, typically to meet the new demands of your current position, enhance your expertise, and potentially embrace more responsibilities. Reskilling, on the other hand, focuses on acquiring new skills to move into different roles, either as a response to technological shifts or emerging needs within your current organization or as a way to pursue emerging opportunities elsewhere.

Whether you're an employee seeking career growth or a business looking to foster talent development, recognizing the differences between upskilling and reskilling is important for achieving both career advancement and organizational objectives.

However, both upskilling and reskilling place a demand on individuals and businesses for continuous learning and skills development.

These challenges also bring benefits for both employees and businesses. For example, dedicating time and resources to upskill or reskill can unlock new career opportunities, improve job security, and lead to better pay and job satisfaction for employees. At the same time, for businesses, supporting employee development can boost employee morale, enhance adaptability, and reduce the costs of recruiting new staff.

Let’s expand on the upskilling meaning and reskilling meaning, as well as the benefits and practical applications of each, providing insights to guide your decisions on personal or organizational development. You'll learn how to upskill yourself, what upskilling means, and why upskilling and reskilling are important for maintaining a competitive edge in today's dynamic workforce.

Understanding Upskilling and Reskilling

What is Upskilling?

As we briefly touched on earlier, upskilling refers to the process of enhancing and refining the skills and knowledge employees already possess, so they can perform their current jobs more effectively. This may include learning new tools, techniques, or technologies to boost productivity, quality, and efficiency in their existing roles.

For example, a marketing specialist might learn advanced digital marketing techniques to meet clients’ new and evolving marketing requirements. As another example, an IT professional could update their skills to work with the latest software tools and platforms. In both these instances, the roles of the professional remain the same, but the tools they need to perform their job evolve.

What is Reskilling?

Reskilling, on the other hand, involves acquiring entirely new skills in order to transition into a different role, either at your current organization or a new employer. This need often arises when new technologies or changes in business models make certain skills obsolete, or when an employee's current role is no longer needed. Of course, we also have many coaching clients who consider reskilling as part of their career change strategy. Reskilling enables them to position themselves for opportunities in new roles, either at their current employer or a new one.

An example of this could be a factory worker who learns a new software system to operate advanced machinery. Another is a customer service representative who transitions to become a data analyst, And a third is a software developer who transitions into a technical lead or a scrum master.

Differences between Upskilling and Reskilling

Based on a simplified definition, the primary differences between upskilling and reskilling are their objectives and the extent of skill acquisition required. Upskilling aims at deepening existing skills to improve performance in the current role, while reskilling involves acquiring new skills for a transition into a different role. 

However, this simplified distinction overlooks the intricacies of complex organizations. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you have worked for a manager who has shielded you from the demands of his leadership for a long period, allowing you to focus on the specialized aspect of your job. Then suddenly one day, your manager moves on, and while you are waiting for a replacement, which may take months, you need to interact and be responsive to the demands of upper management. Now in addition to performing your specialized duties, you are required to deal with the expectations of leadership. Officially, you have not changed jobs, but suddenly you discover you need to quickly learn an entirely new skill, managing up. Whether this is considered upskilling or reskilling is less important than the fact that this category of skill, as we will discuss later, should be considered a strategic skill, which is one of a set of skills that require special coverage.

By definition, reskilling typically demands a more significant investment of time and resources than upskilling, as it entails learning a completely new subject, rather than merely updating current knowledge. For our example above, managing up would fall into the category of reskilling, even if you were still performing your tasks as, let’s say, a senior project analyst.

Practical Considerations

As an employee, your consideration for upskilling vs. reskilling is primarily driven by your long-term career goals. Sometimes this converges with your employer’s needs, and at other times it may diverge. 

When your goals and those of the employer converge, then upskilling or reskilling becomes more of a label for whatever your mutual interests dictate. However, even in such a situation, there is one category of skills that you can never get enough of, and that is interpersonal skills. These skills are almost always transferable and will continue to become even more valuable.

When your long-term career goals and the interests of the employer do not align, you may need to find out what could be the most desirable projection for your career. This can be explored and/or validated with the help of a career coach. The shape of that trajectory will determine a) whether you should focus on upskilling or reskilling and b) how much of one of them you may be able to do while working in your current position.

As an employer, the primary question may be the choice between new talent acquisition and re-tooling existing employees via upskilling or reskilling. Several years ago, I was hired by GE at a pay scale I could not believe to help them use new software to support the consolidation of their operations in Southeast Asia. I had the privilege of getting to know many of the local staff, who were probably more educated and talented than I was. But the very tight schedule demanded that they “parachute” in a specialist rather than take the time to reskill the existing staff. 

When looking at the existing employees and deciding whether to upskill or reskill, there are some additional aspects for managers to take into consideration. For example, upskilling is generally less mentally taxing and can be more easily integrated into an employee's current workload. So using an employee who can be upskilled may prove to be more practical than reskilling another willing employee who has little or no background. That is because reskilling can pose a greater challenge due to the need to learn entirely new skills, potentially leading to mental fatigue, while we are requiring the employee to continue to perform their existing duties.

These are not, however, hard and fast rules. For example, there were a few instances when I worked for IBM when the company elected to reskill me rather than hire new talent. They made that decision because the effort required to reskill me was a smaller investment than the time required for a new hire to gain my institutional knowledge.

Aligning with Organizational Needs

We can summarize the above examples into a more general conclusion that upskilling or reskilling should be subjugated to the strategic goals and needs of an organization. The starting point for an organization is identifying the skill gaps, as well as mapping an inventory of current employees' skill sets. With these two sets of information, a company can determine which employees and in what manner, upskilling or reskilling, can be supported and trained to transition to the required roles. In other instances, the managers will identify the skill gaps that need to be addressed, at least in the short run, through talent acquisition.

The Strategic Advantage of Upskilling

The Transformative Impact of Reskilling

Conclusion

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I identify which skills are most in-demand in my industry?

Search job boards for positions in your industry or field to identify commonly-listed skills. Network with professionals who work in your field to learn their perspective, or look at industry reports and certifications listed in job descriptions. 

2. Are there free or low-cost ways to upskill or reskill?

There are multiple free online learning platforms, like Coursera, edX, and Khan Academy, and you can get free certifications from Grow with Google. Public libraries often offer free workshops, or you can do volunteer work that uses skills you want to build. 

3. How can I balance learning new skills with a full-time job?

Create a schedule for yourself that includes defined, non-negotiable time for learning. Use your commute to listen to podcasts or audiobooks, and embrace the flexibility of online learning. 

4. What's the best way to showcase my new skills on a resume and LinkedIn profile?

• Use a reverse‑chronological job experience listing on your resume that describes the impact of your skills, and tailor your summary and bullets with quantified proof of results.
• Start bullets with action verbs and end with quantified results (numbers showing time saved or increases in revenue, quality, or adoption).
• Include keywords in your LinkedIn headline and be sure your About section describes tangible results with metrics.
• Include at least 50 skills, tailor Featured items (portfolio, case study), and seek out Recommendations specific to your target job.
• Make sure your resume and LinkedIn match titles, dates, and core achievements.

5. How can I convince my current employer to support my upskilling or reskilling efforts?

Research your current company to identify skills that align with their mission and objectives. Start learning on your own time to demonstrate initiative and build a compelling proposal where you can demonstrate some results of your self-learning. Make a formal request in which you describe a return-on-investment to your current employer.