Margaret SpenceFounder, The Inclusion Learning Lab · AI Governance Strategy for CHROs | Author, When AI Breaks the Law | SXSW Speaker: Human+AI CoLab and AI Skills Gap for Women | Substack: AI Governance for HR & The Undisruptable Woman

87% of Companies Fail at This Workforce Strategy #upskilling #futureofwork

13 Jun 2025 · 2 min

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1:35

In this concise monologue, the speaker critiques the common upskilling approach that focuses on vague "skills gaps" without linking training to concrete job outcomes. She proposes a four‑step framework: (1) define a specific target role (e.g., training 50 customer‑service reps to become cybersecurity analysts); (2) communicate the economic value by stating the expected salary ($75k‑$95k); (3) measure success by tracking how many program completers are hired into the role within six months, rather than merely issuing certificates; and (4) assess equity by asking who is excluded from training, noting the disparity between the 59% of workers who need retraining and the 11% who actually receive it. The speaker urges organizations to replace generic upskilling rhetoric with job‑focused, value‑driven talent development and invites viewers to follow for more actionable insights.

Chapters

The talent development word is upskilling. So how do you stop wasting money on upskilling? 87% of companies say they have a skills gap right now, but they can't name an actual job that needs to be upskilled or a job that they're training any employee for. So we need to stop saying we're upskilling our workforce and start saying we're training 50 customer service reps to become cybersecurity analysts, name the actual job. The second tip is don't just train people, tell them the salary. This program leads you to a role that's gonna pay you $75,000 or $95,000 a year. If I can name the economic value, then I am creating value not only for the employee but for the organization. Measure what matters. How many people who complete your program actually get hired into that role within 6 months? Or are we just wasting time and giving people these certificates that mean nothing? That's your success rate. And we have to assess equity. Ask the hard question. Who doesn't get upskilled? Who won't get access to this program? Because 59% of workers need retraining, but only 11% will get retraining. Try this approach and follow me for more talent development insights that actually work. Thanks.