Why we Upskill
What is upskilling and why do we do it?
Upskilling is the provision of training programmes and opportunities for the personal and professional development of employees. We recognise that development is a natural part of life and being happy, and that’s why we have embedded upskilling within our culture.
Our team is important to us and ensuring they are happy at work is one of our top priorities, for many reasons. We spend more of our weekday awake hours at work than we do at home, so making this a happy place to be really matters.
A happy team is one which is genuinely willing to up their game to ensure we have happy customers. And, a happy team cares about the company and the people within it. It’s why, when the weekends roll around, we choose to walk up mountains together, or cycle 170 miles across the country and spend three days and two nights together – and still be happy to see each other on the Monday morning.
Upskilling, and the benefits that everyone receives from it, is so much a part of who we are that everyone can recognise that we value our team enough to invest in them. If people aren’t given opportunities to develop themselves, they are likely to move on to somewhere they are. Our overriding aim is for our people to grow with us, rather than grow away from us.
Who do we upskill?
Over the years we have probably had every member of the team on a training course at some point. Some we’ve recommended, others have been requested because individuals feel it will benefit them and the company. And that’s the key, we want people to do things that they feel are benefitting them and increasing their knowledge base. Yes, it’s great that the company may reap the rewards of training, but it’s equally great to see the individual discover new passions and talents, and to watch their confidence grow in their role as they become more knowledgeable and improve their understanding. In some cases, this may even lead to a change in job role!
Our latest upskilled employees
In the last six months we’ve upskilled even more of our production team so they now have the expertise to use our new Biesse Rover A Machining Centre. This upskilling has brought significant benefits to us and to our customers. Once loaded and programmed, the machine will autonomously cut and drill full packs of raw material without operator input so that our shop-floor team can carry out more skilled tasks. The end result? Our manufacturing facility is more flexible and agile which enables us to produce the products our customers need to the deadlines that they require.
Our latest team members who have been upskilled include Chris who has completed his Warehouse Apprenticeship:
And Dave who has once again completed his SMSTS refresher course.
We also have Sophie from our accounts department on a three-year Degree Apprenticeship in Digital Marketing (we did say some job roles change as a result of upskilling, after all!)
“I’m incredibly grateful that work is investing the time and money into a Degree Apprenticeship for me. Marketing has always been something I’ve been interested in and I think it’s amazing that they’ll allow me to explore other job roles and opportunities outside of my day to day accounts role. It’s nice to not feel stagnant and to know that there are other personal development options open to you. It’s great to be able to grow with the company you work for. I started at Inscape five years ago with no knowledge of any roles really. I was still a university student and had only ever worked in retail fashion shops, so my role was quite basic and part time, just dealing with the goods-in paperwork.
“Over the years I’ve undertaken some day release courses and some longer-term accounts courses and have managed to grow my understanding and confidence as my responsibilities grew. I’ve gone from knowing very little to training others as we’ve grown as a company. I enjoy my role in accounts, and I really do enjoy talking to people on a daily basis and would like to think I have a good relationship with most of our suppliers accounts departments now too. But I’m ready to move onto something which I really feel I could do well at and enjoy a lot. I’m grateful that Gary (our Managing Director) is happy to let me explore a new role within a company that I enjoy being a part of.”
To summarise…
Upskilling has huge benefits for both the individual and the team that they work with as upskilled team members transfer their knowledge to other members of their team and as a result, their whole team, as well as the business they work for, reaps the benefits. Of course, all businesses need to upskill their employees so they can remain at the forefront of the rapidly changing, technology-based world we now live in, but allowing your people some choice in the areas that they would like to upskill in is what will really help to keep your business competitive and thriving.
People feel valued, listened to and engaged if they have some say in their personal development and progression, meaning they are more likely to enjoy what they are doing and that can only benefit both the individual and the business that has enabled them to enjoy what they do.