Top 10 targeted training strategies to bridge the skills gap

Business leaders are increasingly emphasizing the importance of upskilling through targeted training. By 2050, about 50% of people, or half of the workforce, will need to reskill.

Targeted training helps close this skills gap by providing individuals with the right skills and competencies to succeed. For companies, this means reduced turnover and increased ROI. Read on to know everything you need to know about it. 

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What is targeted training?

Targeted training combines formal and informal learning to address specific organizational skills gaps. It ensures that both new and existing employees are well-prepared and supported in their roles.

This type of training can:

• Accelerate the ramp-up time for new hires
• Positively influence other employees around those receiving training
• Convey to employees that you value their well-being
• Moreover, targeted training enables organizations to allocate their resources effectively.

As technology evolves and introduces new ways of working, employees need updated skills to succeed in their roles. Therefore, maintaining a healthy training budget and implementing regular targeted training is essential.

Why is targeted training important?

70% of business leaders admit a skills gap in their employees. Targeted training enhances employees’ skills and aligns them with organizational goals. Below are some of its benefits:

Better employee engagement

Providing targeted training to employees can significantly improve their satisfaction and loyalty. Employees who feel their skills are nurtured are likelier to stay in an organization. 

Cost-effective

Though providing employee training comes at a cost, the benefits are worth it. Organizations can avoid the shortcomings of generic training programs that may not meet their actual needs by concentrating on specific skills that enhance performance.

Enhanced performance and productivity

Targeted training boosts performance and productivity by providing employees with the necessary skills. This approach benefits individual employees and enhances the team’s overall efficiency and effectiveness.

Aligns with the company’s goal

Targeted training is crafted to develop specific skills essential for meeting broader business objectives. By recognizing the organization’s unique needs, these training initiatives can be customized to effectively address skill gaps, ensuring employees are well-equipped to contribute to the company’s success.

10 best tips for implementing targeted training in 2024

1. Identify skills gap

Find your employees’ skills gaps before deciding what training is needed. Compile a list of your employees’ qualifications, experience, and skills and match it with the skills requirement for their job.

Such a list can be created through employee self-assessments and skills assessment tests by the organization. 

Skills assessment evaluates your candidates’ skills, knowledge gaps, psychometric analysis, situational judgment analysis, and more. It gives you an idea about their power skills.

Testlify hosts an extensive library of 1700+ tests for 500+ assessments and more. 

Once you know where your employees are lagging, you can assist them with tailored training to meet the current job demands. 

Skill gap analysis also assists business leaders and stakeholders make important investment decisions while enabling HR professionals to make strategic choices in recruitment, learning & development.

Recruiters can use a mix of upskilling and reskilling activities to address the skills gap. 

2. Create training modules based on business objectives

Designing training programs for various jobs is relatively straightforward, but it’s crucial first to understand your business and its goals. 

For instance, if a company aims to improve customer service over the next year, it should assess its current customer interactions and identify employee skill gaps. The organization can then create targeted training that addresses those needs with clear short—and long-term objectives. 

A thorough understanding of the organization and its industry helps combine different learning methods—such as workshops and on-the-job training—to develop effective training that achieves the desired outcomes.

3. Provide individual training for employees

Every employee has different experiences, skills, and preferred ways of learning. Companies need to provide individual training sessions. Numerous factors should be considered, some of them include:

• cultural diversity
• geographical factors
• language differences
• time limitations
• varied knowledge levels
• diverse skill sets
• individual learning preferences
• technology accessibility

Hence, companies should know when to provide individual and mass training sessions. They can opt for mass training during a new product launch, process changes, etc. 

However, if not, training should be centralized among individuals based on their learning styles and skill levels. 

Different types of training include informal, trainer-led, video training, learning by doing a job, and group or workshop training. 

4. Define the objective of training

Clearly communicate and define the goal of training to your employees. Tell them what they should learn and, importantly, why they should. How effective will this training be in their careers? What are the benefits, and how can it help them adapt to evolving digitization?

Make sure the employees understand and feel responsible for their upskilling. 

When outlining your desired outcomes, be clear and specific. Instead of using vague terms like “understand,” “learn,” or “realize,” focus on action-oriented words that show exactly what you want to achieve. 

For example, use terms like “calculate,” “demonstrate,” or “create” to highlight tangible, observable actions. This will make your goals more actionable and easier to measure.

The best example of a targeted training goal would be “After completing the course, you will be able to design and present a marketing campaign using digital tools.” In contrast, a less effective goal would be: “During the course, you will learn about marketing principles.”

Setting up such specific goals leads to quantifiable results and streamlined strategies. 

5. Create an achievable training schedule

You can’t just identify a skills gap and bridge the gap immediately. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. 

Studies show that closing a skills gap takes six months or less. Therefore, setting up a reasonable time for training sessions is important. 

Let your employees know when they are expected to acquire new skills and what training and equipment will be provided to make it easier. 

Compensate with the employee’s current workload and schedule training accordingly. Set up dates for anyone unable to attend each training session.

Make sure there’s a buffer time in between each training session. 

6. Integrate formal and informal learning opportunities

Some organizations depend exclusively on formal training, which often consists of intensive sessions in classrooms or online formats. While this approach provides a wealth of information, it can overwhelm employees, resulting in poor retention. 

Additionally, new hires and existing employees struggle to apply what they’ve learned without real-world context, leading to limited recall and practical use of the training.

Conversely, other organizations focus primarily on informal learning, which includes shadowing experienced colleagues, collaborating with peers, and receiving feedback. 

While it encourages practical skills, it can also lead to inconsistent knowledge and practices. In this scenario, employees either manage to adapt and thrive or face challenges that can result in frustration or even departure from the role.

Blending formal and informal learning approaches is crucial to maximizing effectiveness and ensuring a more comprehensive and applicable training experience.

7. Decide on the training format

Below are a few employee training formats depending on the factors mentioned in the article. 

On-the-job training

This is the most effective targeted training as it doesn’t involve reading material or special classes. Employees learn and acquire new skills and knowledge by doing a particular job. This way, it’s not just theoretical; they also have hands-on experience.

Video training

Videos can increase retaining information by 83%, making this form of training the most powerful. Employees can consume and retain information easily, which helps them acquire new skills much quicker. 

Instructor-led training

This traditional training method involves a development professional leading sessions, often using a mix of instructional tools and informational materials to engage participants and enhance learning.

eLearning

eLearning or electronic-learning, web-based learning, or online learning helps employees to learn from their homes. This type of targeted training offers comfort and ease. Employees can upskill themselves by taking courses on any digital adoption platform, learning management system, live webinars, educational platforms, etc. For example, you can discover all about Open edX, one of the leading platforms for delivering high-quality online learning experiences at scale.

Group training

As the name suggests, this involves sessions with large groups of employees learning through guided discussion and activities. Such training boosts employees’ bond as they become invested in each other’s learning success. This is one of the most cost-effective options. 

8. Support employees to apply the new skills

Present employees with opportunities to apply the newly learned skills. Allow dedicated time and space for employees to ask and clear their doubts after each session. 

Ensure that management understands the outcomes they can expect from employees after training. 

Facilitate regular check-ins between the training participant and their manager or supervisor to discuss progress and provide positive reinforcement. 

Instead of punishing unsuccessful attempts to apply new skills, frame them as valuable learning opportunities.

Encourage management and colleagues to model the skills being taught, as this can greatly assist trainees in applying their new knowledge. After each training session, follow up with trainees and managers to monitor progress and support their development.

9. Conduct surveys and feedback sessions

Conduct anonymous surveys, focus groups, discussions, and interviews to determine whether trainees can understand and if it positively impacts their career growth. 

Encourage your learners to feel comfortable sharing honest and critical feedback without fearing repercussions or being treated differently.

Take the time to listen to the feedback you receive. Analyze it thoroughly and identify lessons that can help improve your targeted training. This should be an ongoing process of evaluation and refinement to ensure your training remains effective and relevant.

10. Measure training result

Measuring the effectiveness of training is the most critical and challenging part. Companies plan training sessions for employees; they attend such training, and that’s it.

There are no metrics to evaluate whether employees have really learned it, whether it is beneficial to them, and whether they are applying these concepts.

Measuring training benefits companies in the following ways:

• Its impact on employee development.
• Whether it aligns with your original objectives.
• Its influence on overall business performance.
• Employees applied what they learned from the training in their jobs.
• They developed a step-by-step process to implement their new skills in the workplace.
• Employees followed this process to achieve desired results, iterating as necessary if results were unmet.
• They completed a skills test to assess their acquisition of new skills.
• Employees can teach this process to colleagues, peers, and team members.

While measuring the ROI of every training initiative is not necessary, it’s essential to identify the appropriate level of evaluation for each program.

Close the skills gap using targeted training programs

Targeting training is not just for identifying and taking measures to close skills gaps but also for benefitting the employees and eventually leading to better performance. This way of upskilling employees becomes very crucial. This is why assessing each employee becomes important. 

Testlify has a library of 1700+ tests that you can create to evaluate your employees, either by pooling from the existing questionnaires or by creating customized questions.

8 in 10 leaders think the skills gap is a major issue. Don’t let it stop your business. Book a free demo or sign up for free.