Reskilling, upskilling, and cross-skilling existing employees is a fundamental part of a successful hybrid training strategy. Some 72% of global executives rank employee ability “to adapt, reskill, and assume new roles” as the most or second-most important factor to future business resilience, with 41 percent noting that developing their workforce through upskilling, reskilling, and mobility is one of their most important priorities.

Here are the reasons why reskilling, upskilling, and cross-skilling are a crucial part of your hybrid training strategy:

Contribute to Competitive Advantage By Improving Productivity

New technologies and pandemic-inspired innovation are transforming industries faster than ever, exacerbating a skills gap that’s already impacting productivity and the bottom line.

For organizations to remain competitive, reskilling is no longer optional. From Amazon to Microsoft to JPMorgan Chase, companies are investing millions of dollars in developing their existing employees—and it’s working. An overwhelming 91 percent of companies and 81 percent of employees believe reskilling and upskilling have improved productivity at work.

As many businesses adopt a hybrid work model where staff split their time between in-person and remote work, scaling consistent reskilling and upskilling experiences across functions and geographies will be critical to productivity.

Retain Top Talent in a Competitive Hiring Landscape

In such a competitive time, retaining top talent is crucial to sustaining productivity and growth. It’s often more cost effective than hiring new employees.

Career development and continuous learning are some of the primary drivers of job satisfaction, and employees are eager to learn. Reskilling, upskilling, and cross-skilling initiatives boost retention by helping employees grow in their careers while signaling that your organization values their continued contribution.

In this new hybrid era, employees expect flexibility, choice, and efficiency in how they engage with professional development. Training managers know that the most effective learning happens in the flow of work—in other words, through experience. Leveraging synchronous and asynchronous training models helps deliver on-demand reskilling and upskilling experiences that add value to employees when and where they need it.

Support a Culture of Innovation and Continuous Learning

Your company is only as innovative as its people. With industries, markets, and everyday business practices evolving, employee skills and knowledge remain the bedrock of organizational innovation.

In what Deloitte calls a shift from “an age of production to an age of imagination,” a future-proof reskilling and upskilling strategy must focus on soft skills like agility, creativity, and emotional intelligence. A culture of continuous learning encourages employees to reimagine their value and how they might better contribute to the business.

Employees seek purpose and impact, and innovation thrives when corporate goals align with employee career goals. Communicate business challenges with transparency and empower your workforce to problem solve in creative ways, directing their own reskilling and upskilling to meet organizational needs.

The business case is clear: Investing in long-term reskilling, upskilling, and cross-skilling programs is a critical step toward closing the corporate skills gap, reducing turnover, and improving employee engagement and productivity.