Skills Strategies for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Future of Work

Skills Strategies for a Strong,
Sustainable and Balanced
World of Work
A guide for Chief Human Resources Oﬃcers
February
2023

FOREWORD
Based on the real-life experiences from organizations (showcased as case studies), we initiated a report
to cover the importance of designing and implementing comprehensive skill development strategies for
creating future-proof businesses and a more sustainable future of work. This report can emerge as a
guide for CHROs to understand how a strong skill development strategy can simultaneously create value
for the business, the workforce, and society. The self assessment questionnaire in the report helps
organizations assess their skill strategies and facilitates in designing a comprehensive plan for the
future skill-development program for the organization.
Rituparna Chakraborty
Co-Founder & Executive Director
TeamLease Services
And
Chief Executive Oﬃcer - TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship
Developing and using relevant skills effectively is
crucial for any country to thrive in an increasingly
interconnected and rapidly changing world. As
demand for new capabilities gathers pace, skilling
which includes reskilling and upskilling can enable
organizations to develop the skills needed to remain
competitive. The World Economic Forum estimated
that by 2025, 85 million jobs could be displaced by a
shift in the division of labour between machines and
humans. At the same time, 97 million new roles are
expected to be created and driven by advances in
technology and continuous digital transformation.
Even for the talent that is able to remain in the same
roles, the expected share of core skills that will
change is 40%. This emphasizes the dire need for
skill in every job and any company.
In this direction, many of the businesses are
structuring and restructuring their skills strategy to
cater to business needs. This process requires
organizations to decide what are the relevant skills
needed for their workforce to eﬃciently perform their
roles, assess skills that their employees possess and
plan how to enhance the current skills to implement
the required ones. Apprenticeships and Degree
Apprenticeships are a great way to mitigate the skill
gap within organizations and can help to create a
future-ready talent pool. These programs can emerge
as effective strategies to prepare for future work and
help employers to combat skill shortage.
<< 2 >>

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword 2
Skills strategies for a strong, sustainable and balanced world of work / Ⓒ copyright TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship 2023
Table of Contents 3
Executive Summary 4
Rapidly Evolving World of Work 5
Factors Driving the New World of Work 6
Technological Progress 6
Digital Transformation 6
Talent Crunch 7
Rise of Gigonomy 7
Purpose and Passion 8
Develop a Plan Based on Employee Expectations 8
Analyzing the Skill Gaps 11
Grasping the Skills Mismatch 11
Understanding the Skill Deﬁcit 12
Addressing Skill Gaps 13
Drawbacks of Failing to Address Skill Gaps 14
Skill Development: Key to a Strong, Sustainable and Balanced World of Work 15
Advantages to Society 15
Advantages to Business 16
Case Studies 17
Skills Strategy for Workforce: Actions Points for CHROs 23
Long-term Strategic Workforce Planning 23
Training and Development 24
Strategy Transformation 25
Forward-looking Skills Strategy for CHROs 26
Step 1: Develop a Skills Matrix 27
Step 2: Conduct a Skill Audit 27
Step 3: Target a Speciﬁc Learning Journey 27
Step 4: Intertwine Upskilling and Company Culture 27
Step 5: Communicate Required Skills Demand 28
Step 6: Develop and Implement an Upskilling Program 28
Step 7: Measure the Success of Upskilling Program 28
Self Assessment Framework 29
Self Assessment Questionnaire for Skill initiatives of Organization 30
Conclusion 37
References 38
<< 3 >>

Executive Summary
raditionally, training and development activities were a part of the routine growth and
development activities. Organizations did not rely on these activities to deal with competitive
challenges or to improve ROI. However, today the overall perspective towards such programs
T
has changed signiﬁcantly. Companies now rely on training and development as a performance metric
that can help organizations develop human capital. Many organizations recognize the role of skilling and
upskilling in building new skills and generating innovative ideas to provide high quality customer service.
Advancements in technology and labour market dynamics have made upskilling initiatives a critical
mission for organizations. Companies have started to shift their focus from hiring new talent to
upskilling their current employees. This has helped employers to close the skill gap and increase
retention through various initiatives which also cater to the personal development goals of the workforce
and offer new growth opportunities.
Effective skill development initiatives are fundamental to achieving the vision of any company. With this
objective, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship is pleased to present this report to brief and inspire CHROs
and HR decision makers to create a skill development journey for their organizations. The report
presents a wide range of effective skill strategies for middle level and workforce comprising of
executives and blue collar, documenting the best practices adopted by top global companies in the form
of case studies.
‘Factors
driving the
new world of
work’ provides
the main
factors that
are driving
change in the
world of work.
‘Analyzing the
skill gaps’
presents the
skill gaps that
exist in the
country. It has
also captured
how these
skills gaps
can create
challenges for
business and
society if not
addressed.
‘Skill
Development:
key to a
strong,
sustainable
and balanced
world of work’
has listed out
the
advantages of
skill
development
strategies for
employers and
society.
‘Skills
Strategy to
Workforce:
Action for
CHROs’
highlights
speciﬁc
actions for
CHROs to help
kick start skill
development
in their
companies as
part of their
skills strategy
initiatives for
the new world
of work.
‘Forward-looking
skills strategy for
CHROs’ explores
in detail the
crucial steps to
develop a
forward-looking
skills strategy
based on the
case studies
listed out in the
report, covering
the business
need, target
audience, key
activities and
measurement of
impact of
programs.
<< 4 >>

Rapidly Evolving World of Work
he world of work is changing tremendously, as it tries to keep pace with several disruptions
arising from ever increasing competitiveness of other businesses, back-to-office and
technological advancements. The rules of work are drastically changing as a digital
T
transformation is sweeping the workplace. The changing dynamics in the world of work have ushered in
new trends like ‘great resignation’/’talent exodus’, and the ‘upskilling imperative’ as a retention
mechanism has become the key priority of talent management teams. The talent of today wants to stay
updated, competitive and tremendously engaged. The accelerated pace of disruption is severely
impacting the workplace and of course HR who are burdened with the responsibility of creating a
balanced approach with respect to employees. They must introduce new capabilities while nurturing
timeless skills in a bid to prepare employees to become future leaders and stay ahead of the
competition.
Work is the engine of any economy and relevant skills are its most important assets. New technologies,
socio-economic development and critical situations like COVID-19 have placed the world of work in a
state of constant flux, creating opportunities but also exacerbating inequalities. As businesses scramble
back to normalcy, they discover a substantial skill deficit in the workforce which needs to be addressed
to remain relevant in the future.
<< 5 >>

Technological Progress
echnology has been continuously
evolving in a new avatar-technological
advances like automation, AI, robotics
T
data have created new ways of getting work
done. Additionally the technological
transformation has impacted the nature of the
work, which will ultimately lead to the
redesigning of most jobs. According to the
report ‘Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce
transitions in a time of automation’ by the
McKinsey Global Institute, 800mn jobs could be
lost by automation by 2030 worldwide. However,
the report also points out that technology will
not have any negative impact on the job market,
on the contrary it will lead to the creation of new
jobs.
Digital Transformation
igital transformation is not about
technology replacing the human
workforce; it is about digitizing the work
D
environment to help companies succeed in
meeting the business objectives. Companies are
rapidly adopting new technologies for their
workforce and work processes to cope with the
restrictions on mobility and supply chain
disruptions. In the future, there will be many
more signiﬁcant changes in the way we work
with emergent technology evolving new
paradigms of nature of work. The tremendous
increase in the multigenerational workforce will
be another factor that will inﬂuence investments
in skill development. Companies are closely
following these trends to drive their businesses
smoothly and transition more effectively while
retaining their competitive edge.
Factors Driving the New World of Work
<< 6 >>

Talent Crunch
recent study by NASSCOM forecasts that the demand-supply gap will increase 3.5x by 2026.
It also mentions that only 35% of the STEM graduates of 2020-21 are actually employable,
and the remaining 65% would require upskilling to get a job. The Talent Crunch is a crisis that
A
costs nations and companies trillions of dollars.
Rise of Gigonomy
7.7 mn workers are engaged in the gig economy which is expected to expand
23.5mn by 2029-30. 47% of the gig work is medium skilled, 22% is high skilled
and 31% comprises low skilled jobs.
From April 2020 to September 2022, IT ﬁrms have hired over 1,20,000 people, or
around 80% of the total technology services workers who were earlier employed
on a gig-based model. 12% of tech companies have 20% or more of their
employee base as gig workers.
Moving on an exponential growth trajectory, the gig economy workforce is projected to
increase 3X from 7.7 million in 2021 to 23.5 million in 2030. The growing gig
economy is inﬂuencing a paradigm shift in the workforce, workplace and work
models which can reshape the future of work.
Estimates suggest that by 2025, there are likely to be 350mn gig jobs contributing
$355 bn to the business sector. Since possibilities are abundant, gig model can
potentially become a great skilling through jobs model for India.
<< 7 >>
The big questions remains……
Are we ready to groom TALENT?
Are we ready for the upcoming
SKILLED LABOUR SHORTAGE
that will affect most companies?
Are organizations equipped with the
RIGHT KIND OF SKILL STRATEGIES
for their workforce?

Purpose and Passion
mployees are actively seeking opportunities to connect the impact and value of their work with a
sense of purpose, passion and mission. Social Innovation, equitability, environmental and social
causes are widely becoming mainstream conversations amongst today’s employees. Some
E
companies have understood the need for employees to engage in purposeful work and thus they
facilitate opportunities where employees can make a meaningful impact on society. Creating a vision
that resonates with and drives employees to engage in creative initiatives has become a core
expectation from senior leadership. The loneliness of the pandemic has brought to the fore a need for
community and belonging and the workplace can strive to fulﬁll that need by connecting with the
individual employee as well as the community.
Develop a Plan Based on Employee Expectations
survey conducted by TeamLease EdTech indicates that expectations of a salary hike, the lure of
a new job role and the fear of job loss are among the biggest drivers for upskilling. The survey
indicates that 53% of respondents looked upon the upskilling initiative as a means to achieving
A
a higher salary hike while 73% of them believed that upskilling would improve their chances of
promotion or shift to a better role. Interestingly 31.5% of the respondents received a pay hike of about
25% and 46% of them received a pay hike of about 10% when they were upskilled.
<< 8 >>

Reasons for Employee Upskilling
Fear of job loss
20%
Shift to new industry
8.7%
Shift to new role
19.3%
For better opportunities/
salary upgrade 23.8%
Improve technical skills
15.9%
Improve soft skills
12.3%
<< 9 >>

Monetary Beneﬁts After Upskilling
46%
31.5%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Received a pay hike
of about 25%
Received a pay hike
of about 10%
Source: Report on Impact of Upskilling on Performance Management, TeamLease EdTech
When employers are assessing the rationale behind a skilling initiative for their workforce, the general
tendency is to focus on the business perspective. However, meeting employee needs should also be a
focal and key component in obtaining employee buy-in for training objectives. The secret to achieving a
good RoI on training and development expenditure is to match employee expectations, add value, and
chart out a clear career progression plan.
<< 10 >>

Analyzing the skill gaps
Grasping the Skill Mismatch
n India, the number of young people in school and set to graduate from school is higher than ever. It
is likely that we will see an even larger number of youth graduating with high school certificates and
degrees. 1.3 billion people of India is making the country the second most populous country in the
I
world with an average age of 29 years, and has the youngest and largest workforce in the world. Also,
India is the home to a fifth of the world’s youth demographic and this population advantage plays a very
important role in achieving the aspiring target to become a US$ 5 trillion economy.
With nearly 500 million people of working age, the domestic labour market is second only to China and
far bigger than the US. However, the country is struggling with significant skill gaps and a minimal
percentage of the workforce is recognised as formally skilled. According to the India Skills Report 2022,
49% of total youth (age group of 22-25 years) in the country is employable. This indicates that 1 out 2
Indian youths are not employable. The study also mentions that about 75% of companies surveyed
quoted a skill gap in the industry. The National Employability Report for Engineering, 2019 found that
about 80% of Indian engineers did not possess the skills required to meet the demands of employers.
The World Economic Forum indicated that investment in upskilling could potentially boost India's
economy by $570bn by adding 2.3 million jobs by 2030.
<< 11 >>

Understanding the Skill Deficit
ore than two million jobs in AI, cyber security and blockchain are expected to be unfilled by
2023. In addition, digitalisation and the adoption of automation and AI across industries has
resulted in accentuating the problem as the available professionals cannot progress into
M
these in-demand roles because they do not possess the technical know-how for these new and emerging
job profiles. Companies are becoming desperate for a skilled workforce. As they continue to struggle to
find the skills they are looking for, their competitiveness and growth prospects are at risk. At the same
time, an enormous and continuously growing chunk of unemployed and underemployed remain
inaccessible for most companies due to the skill gap.
In 2020, there were 900mn people (67% of the total population) in the working age group of 15-64 in
India, which is expected to expand by another 100mn by 2030. India is witnessing a rise in literacy rates
but the level of vocational training/skilling is low. Closing the skill gaps of our educated and qualified
workforce is very critical if we seek to achieve economic growth and prosperity of our country.
The growing demand for automation and technical skills
like Big Data Analytics and AI indicating that more than
half of the employees (52%) need to reskill themselves in
the next 2 years to stay competitive in the world of work.
In order to stay relevant and to match the projected
demand created by technology, on an average, an
employee has to develop more than five new digital skills
by next year.
The World Economic Forum has also estimated that 50% of the workforce will need to reskill themselves
as the future of work will require advanced technical skills and softer transferable skills. There is value in
giving students early access to those skills so they have enough time to cultivate those skills before they
enter the workforce. Recognizing the skill gaps, training the current workforce and aligning the skill
initiatives with the future skills are the best ways to address the issue of skill gaps.
<< 12 >>

Addressing Skill Gaps
Skill gap analysis is a critical tool for any organization to assess the effectiveness of the workforce. With
the advent of AI, automation and other advances, many roles are becoming obsolete and organizations
are seeking new skills to step up business growth. The rapid transition to a virtual world occasioned by
the pandemic has exposed gaps in the capabilities of companies and their workforce. There is a growing
need for organizations and its employees to quickly acquire and master the relevant skills as well as
auxiliary skills such as collaboration, problem solving and innovation.
Amidst this rapid digital transformation the most important and challenging task for CHROs is to design
and implement a robust skill strategy that can identify and address the skill deﬁcit. Organizations need to
equip employees with the right skills to perform and thrive in the future.
n recent years, we have witnessed mounting problems pertaining to the supply and demand of skills
- people in search of a job do not possess the right skills to take up the jobs available. There is a
dearth of digital talent which is an essential and in demand for a highly digitalized world. Many
I
organizations are also struggling to hire the talent they require. A 2022 survey by Deloitte found that the
labour and skill shortages are the 2nd most cited external factor disrupting business strategy. In
addition, a Salesforce survey found that 76% of global workers are not equipped to operate in new
digitally focused workplaces.
<< 13 >>

Disadvantages of Failing to Address Skill Gaps
Not taking any action in addressing the skill gaps and not strategizing in implementing
skill initiatives poses tremendous risks for the business, employees, and society.
Skill gaps lead to lower productivity, lower sales, lower
revenue, and unproﬁtable delays in new launches which can
result in losing ground to the competitors.
Companies failing to develop inclusive skills miss out on the
value that talent from diverse backgrounds and perspectives
brings in developing new products, services and business
models. This contributes to perpetuating social inequalities,
breeding discontent, eroding social cohesion and ultimately
contributes to a more volatile business environment.
Companies that fail to proactively develop the
right upskilling programs need to resort to
unsustainable short-term solutions which drive
up costs and compromise long-term beneﬁts.
Companies without skill development initiatives
tend to be unsuccessful in attracting current
and future talent, fail to remain competitive in
the market and drive business priorities.
<< 14 >>

Skill Development: Key to a Strong,
Sustainable and Balanced World of Work
ompanies have a great role to play in reskilling/upskilling the workforce. The right approach by
an organization begins with developing the skills of their existing workforce to prepare them for
the future. This will help to create positive value for society and will also strengthen the
C
business. As AI, analytics, automation and digitization continue to disrupt and transform businesses,
existing jobs need to realign and pave the way for new roles by closing the skill gap. Upskilling is a
win-win for all as it will enable organizations to build a future ready workforce and it will help an
employee to stay relevant and future-ready.
ADVANTAGES TO SOCIETY
Upskilling programs and continuous learning help society by reducing the number of
people that struggle to find work due to lack of relevant skills. Increasing employability of
people and enabling them to access opportunities can contribute significantly to the
livelihoods and economic wellbeing of people
Layoffs have increased recently and the new roles/new jobs are also emerging, employees
are on their toes to stand out as potential candidates for new opportunities. Hence,
upskilling is the key to staying updated and ready for new job roles/opportunities
Upskilling is particularly important considering stakeholders increasingly expect companies
to put people and society at the heart of their business. Those watching are not simply
shareholders; the new corporate stakeholder includes consumers, influencers,
policymakers, and more
<< 15 >>

ADVANTAGES TO BUSINESS
A key business benefit of
sustainable skill
development is that it
empowers individuals to
grow and contribute to the
success of the company by
helping them enhance
their skill set to cater to
the changing needs of the
business.
In 2020, a survey conducted
by PwC found that 93% of
CEOs who had introduced
upskilling programs said
these programs increased
productivity, helped attract
and retain talent, and
delivered a resilient
workforce. However, only 18%
of CEOs surveyed stated they
had invested in upskilling; the
opportunity for those who
haven’t yet made the
investment is significant.
Of course, ‘upskilling’ can mean
different things in different
territories or industries. For
sustainable skills development
to be as effective as possible
over the long term, businesses
need to engage with other public
and private organizations
including education providers,
policymakers and other
businesses – in their own
industry as well as those with
adjacent skills needs. This kind
of engagement can create
synergy in defining skills more
clearly, ensure the effective use
of available resources and lead
to the development of
fit-for-purpose programs.
<< 16 >>

Case Studies
n organization’s skill strategy is a key part of its overall workforce strategy. In this regard, a
detailed analysis of skill strategies initiated by the global companies for their core employees are
listed below along with a detailed action oriented skill strategy for CHROs.
A
Accenture and Henkel
Business Need To enhance its systems to nurture existing talent, pinpoint skills gaps and offer
targeted learning programs to its 53,000 employees
To promptly and continually upskill its workforce to anticipate customer needs and to
develop innovative quickly and more effectively
Program Global digital upskilling initiative
Target Audience Henkel employees
Key Activities ● Digital Capabilities Assessment, in which Henkel employees voluntarily
participated in an anonymous assessment of their strengths and skills gaps.
Through this process, a detailed understanding of current capabilities and
aptitude in skill areas likely to grow in the next 3-5 years
● Conceptualized job-team/role-specific learning program based on the
strengths and skills gaps
● Two digital upskilling programs for 500 IT employees and 1500 finance
managers with a combination of selected best practices from Accenture
Academy and Henkel use cases
● Offered contemporary courses in a Learning Management System (LMS),
relevant to the participant’s job functions
● Integration of AI based skill management tool contained with 53,000 skills on
the cloud platform to power the LMS. The strategy was to prioritize training in
these skills to make the work more impactful
● Additional Digital Upskilling programs tailored to Marketing, Sales, Purchasing,
Corporate Communications have been launched, with HR, R&D, and Supply
Chain to launching soon after
● On the recruiting side, two new pathways opened for talent recruitment and
development: a manager can quickly create a job requisition based on certain
digital capabilities; or an employee seeking a new role can learn about the
digital skills necessary to be considered for the job and then take relevant
courses to become a viable candidate. In addition, the application process for
external candidates has been reduced from around 30 minutes to 60 seconds.
As a result, the go-live, applications for open roles increased by 40 percent
How was the Impact of
the Program Measured?
● Developed new talent-management processes in a third-party cloud HR
system
● The system enabled a new manner of assessing employees’ existing roles and
ambitions
● Decoupling performance evaluation and potential helped facilitate
professional development. The process made it easy to digitize, track and
optimize the talent lifecycle
● Creation of ‘Recruiter Toolbox’ for digital roles within the TMS, established a
clearer connection between the technical skills required for specified role and
what recruiters looked for on candidates’ resumes
<< 17 >>

Amazon
Business Need Focused on creating pathways to careers in areas that will continue to grow in the
years to come such as medicine, cloud computing, and machine learning
Model ● Career Choice
● Associate2Tech
● Amazon Technical Academy
● Machine Learning University
Target Audience 29 million people trained for free by 2025 worldwide
Key Activities Career Choice
● Career Choice is an innovative Amazon program uniquely designed to upskill
employees interested in pursuing a future outside of Amazon
● By delivering training in high-demand career paths, giving eligible employees
the tools they need to make a move and pursue their career aspirations
beyond Amazon
● As part of the program, company will pay up to 95% of tuition and associated
fees for courses at accredited schools that lead to vocational certifications or
Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees in the following eligible fields of
study
● Administration and Business Services
● Information Technology
● Healthcare
● Mechanical and Skilled Trades
● Transportation
Associate2Tech
● Associate2Tech is a program that provides fulfillment center employees with
the opportunity to move into technical roles within Amazon’s vast operations
network, regardless of their previous IT experience
● This 90-day program is designed to provide associates with on-the-job training
for IT support technician roles and pays for their CompTIA A+ Certification
test, a widely recognized certification in this field
● No existing degree is needed, and participants enjoy paid study time during
their work week, while being paid their regular salary
● 38% of entry-level technician hired were previously fulfillment center
employees
● 80% of participants have transitioned to IT roles within Amazon’s OpsTech
organization, and 15% of participants have been promoted and now hold
engineer positions
Amazon Technical Academy
● Amazon Technical Academy (ATA) is a training and job placement program
that equips non-technical Amazon employees with the essential skills needed
to transition into and thrive in technical careers at Amazon
● Combining instructor-led, project-based learning with real-world application,
graduates master the most widely used software engineering skills and tools,
including AWS cloud computing technology
● The tuition-free program was created by Amazon software engineers with
deep expertise in what is required to succeed in a long-term software
engineering career for Amazon employees
<< 18 >>
Case Studies

Key Activities ● During the nine months of full time instruction, participants are provided a
stipend to cover living expenses and a subsidy to maintain their benefits plans
● Graduates are placed on Amazon software development teams to
demonstrate their skills through a three-month internship before transitioning
into a full time entry level role as a software engineer
Machine Learning University
● It is an initiative that helps Amazon employees with a background in
technology and coding to gain advanced skills in this discipline. As machine
learning plays an increasingly important role in customer innovation, MLU
helps employees learn core skills to propel their career growth—skills that are
often learned only in higher education
● Divided into six-week modules, the program requires only a half to one full day
of classes a week. This program removes a number of barriers for employees
to continue to gain technical skills, including providing graduate-level courses
at no cost; allowing employees to stay in the workforce as they learn the latest
advancements in their field; and offering employees paid time to study during
the work week
AT&T
Business Need Skills and capabilities required in its workforce
Program Workforce 2020
Target Audience Reskilling 100,000 employees by 2020
Key Activities ● Created an environment that promoted reskilling and was conducive to
internal personnel transfers
● The need based analysis of skills and abilities for roles within the company
were identiﬁed and jobs with similar skills were standardized and integrated
● Introduced a remuneration system to offer incentives to those who acquired
the skills deemed important to the company
● Provided employees with a ‘Career Intelligence’ tool to aid their career
development. The tool enabled employees to search for opportunities within
the company and allowed them to access information such as future
prospects and potential salary ranges for speciﬁc departments along with the
skills required for the jobs of interest. In addition to this, the tool helped
management to understand the distribution of skills within the organization
and to check the existing gaps
● As part of the initiative, it enabled employees to earn credits for completing
courses on topics such as web development, data analysis or programming in
collaboration with external educational platforms
● Provided courses for engineering roles and a master’s program in CS in
partnership with Georgia Institute of Technology
● An in-house internship system allowed employees who have undergone
upskilling to venture into new roles for a certain period of time
● Launched a one-stop learning platform for employees in 2017 ‘Personal
Learning Experience’ - Using this, employees evaluate their skills and search
for currently available roles within the company. Based on their results, they
can learn what courses are required for doing the job and then manage their
training accordingly such as booking courses or updating their learning status
<< 19 >>
Case Studies

Impact of Program ● Availability of information about new employment opportunities within the
company and the skills required, along with the provision of appropriate
learning opportunities indirectly supported employees by enabling them to
autonomously map out their careers and undertake reskilling as required
● Through this initiative, 81% of the company’s technology jobs were filled
internally. In terms of comparing employees who participate in the reskilling
program and those who do not, re-skilled employees did 1.1x better than
unskilled workers in terms of year-end appraisals, 1.3x in terms of awards and
commendations, and 1.7x in terms of promotions
● In addition, employee turnover recorded was 1.6x lower for re-skilled
employees
● Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing telecom industry, successful
reskilling has enabled AT&T to secure the skilled talent the company needs to
drive its future growth.
Infosys
Business Need To build a talent model which enables the employees to work from where they need to
- home office or office space
Model ● 5C Model for Engagement or 5C Framework - Connect, Collaborate, Celebrate,
Care and Culture
● Infosys Career Mosaic
● Constellation Program
Target Audience Entry-level and mid-level Infoscions
Key Activities ● Connect - Created common engagement platforms to allow quick onboarding
for new employees, connect with employees in formal and informal setups
and facilitate coaching and mentoring
● Collaborate - Drive collaboration in teams via knowledge sharing sessions,
ideathos, hackathons and coaching. Invest in collaborative tools to recreate
physical workplace experience and provide required resources to teams to
work effectively
● Celebrate - Appreciating success through RISE (real, instant, specific and
exciting) framework
● Care - Organizing virtual sessions with trained experts to build strong personal
relationships, to create mutual trust and to be more empathetic
● Culture - Initiated several virtual initiatives to support managers to drive the
company values of C-LIFE (Client value, Leadership by example, Integrity and
transparency, Fairness and Excellence)
● Career mosaic are key ways in which Infoscions can progress, show how they
can build a truly purposeful career and upward professional trajectory
● By mastering a digital skill, preparing infoscions for a career in new
technologies by providing a structured training path in skills that a person is
passionate about. In this way new skills are encouraged with increased
visibility for career progression. It leads to deepening their knowledge and
puts them on the path to become power programmers and lead digital
transformation for our clients
● Opt for an agile career by changing projects after a minimum tenure and apply
the newly acquired skills and can take up short-term internships
<< 20 >>
Case Studies

Impact of Program ● Internal Job Posting enabled talent rotation. Through this initiative, employees
explored opportunities across service lines and moved to the next level with a
job. To give priority to internal talent, all job openings are first made available
as internal job postings, unfilled opened for external talent
● 80% of digital project requirements were fulfilled through internal job postings
● Constellation program extended an opportunity to involve in the leadership
succession pipeline, access to external coaching and an ILI leadership
counsellor to progress on their leadership personal development plan,
opportunity to be part of development programs offered by IVY league
institutions, opportunity to be a part of cross-functional team working on
strategic projects and career and development conversations with a senior
leadership panel and feedback from multiple sources
HSBC
Business Need Build future skills and to offer industry-leading learning and development
Model My Skills Festival
Target Audience 1mn employees in 2021
Key Activities ● In the final quarter of 2020 HSBC started the creation of a Future Skills
‘movement’ which was launched off the back of a week-long MySkills Festival
● The purpose of the week was to create a unique space for colleagues to come
together, experience new things, engage with intriguing content and get
inspired as to what the future of work could mean for them, HSBC and the
wider communities that they support
● The MySkills Festival attended by approx. 2,000 colleagues on the importance
of Future Skills and the power of a personal growth mindset
● The MySkills Festival offered 60 personal development events
Unilever
Business Need Reskill and upskill employees with future-fit skills by 2025
Engage employees by aligning opportunities to their own sense of purpose
Improve organizational agility to maintain business continuity
Democratize career development and increase workforce visibility
Model Flex Experiences programme
Target Audience Entry-level and mid-level executives
Key Activities ● By accessing the FLEX platform, employees worked on projects for a small or
large proportion of time, increased the depth of their expertise in a current skill
or build new skills and experiences
● Through the power of AI, suggest opportunities that match profile and
aspirations and by giving full visibility to all opportunities available globally
across all areas of the business
● Unilever’s upskilling and reskilling initiative stemmed from an understanding
that technology is quickly changing
<< 21 >>
Case Studies

Key Activities ● Two-sided talent marketplace to prove mutually beneficial by matching
employees seeking purpose-driven learning opportunities to projects and gigs
posted by managers searching for an extra set of hands
● As part of the upskilling or reskilling goal, 7% of employees in 2021 were
targeted. These skills include those that were prioritized as important enablers
of business growth, such as data science, agile working or digital expertise for
manufacturing
● Flexible working programme matched people with project opportunities in
other business areas and locations to experience different roles and projects
and build skills, without having to change their core role. The AI-powered
talent marketplace allows team leaders to resource projects at speed and
helps employees develop their skills and build experience in line with their
Future-Fit Plan. In 2021 for example, Flex allowed to reprioritise more than
110,000 hours to nearly 1,350 critical projects
● Future-Fit planning enabled employees to embrace and benefit from change. It
shows them that, even where companies can’t protect specific jobs,
companies can help protect their livelihoods. It helped to make sure to have
people with the right future skills in place
Impact of Program ● The technology is powered by Israeli-based startup, InnerMobility by Gloat,
which has worked closely with Unilever to create the bespoke platform. Over
the past year the platform has been trialed with more than 20,000 employees
within Unilever, across 90+ countries, unlocking 60,000+ hours in the last two
months alone, and driving increased employee engagement and satisfaction
● On average, invested around €570 per employee on training and development
in 2021, and used Degreed and many other training options, the average
number of hours of training and development per employee reached 26
(measured by Full Time Equivalent), an increase on the previous year
<< 22 >>
Case Studies

Skills Strategy for Workforce:
Actions Points for CHROs
Long-term Strategic Workforce Planning
07
Develop a learning strategy:
Create a learning roadmap entailed
strategy to upskill the workforce which
complements the recruitment strategy
to ensure that the organization has a
talent pool of the requisite skills and
capabilities needed in the future
06
Determine target talent:
Identify the ideal employees
that can successfully undergo
the upskilling initiative
05
Conduct a learning-needs assessment:
Identify the skills needed and
the extent of the skills gap, assess
current training and learning offerings
01
Workforce analysis:
Assess the current state
02
Workforce mapping:
Obtain accurate and relevant
information about the workforce
03
Workforce forecasting:
Predict company’s work to
ensure right amount of employees
04
Assess gaps of Workforce:
Create a process to periodically
evaluate employees and their skill
levels and match it with the skills
required to achieve business goals
1
2
3
4 5
6
7
<< 23 >>

Training and Development
Proactively design programs which are inclusive and can be accessed by everyone. Degree
Apprenticeship programs can help businesses to introduce upskilling initiatives to middle
management professionals who show commitment and promise of longevity with the
organization. This will help to facilitate their professional growth, develop requisite skills
and improve retention at the same time. Apprenticeships programs can be implemented
on a larger scale for junior level executives/workforce. These programs are mutually
beneficial as apprentices will get an opportunity to learn new skills while being paid a wage
and employers can retain and nurture an employee who can develop the skills needed for
the business to succeed.
Design Programs
Physical learning (instructor-led courses/programs), Self-learning (web-based, podcasts,
videos, mobile learning etc), Social learning (discussion boards, coaching/mentoring,
feedback, just-in time learning etc), Online learning (certified courses from education
institutions, courses in partnership with the industry, blended learning
programs/apprenticeships/Degree Apprenticeships)
Identify the Learning Delivery Mechanisms
VR, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence and visualization tools can be used to
engage your workforce and supercharge their learning
Utilize New Technologies and Tools
<< 24 >>
Incorporate elements that encourage and incentivise employees to persist and engage in
continuous learning activities
Performance Evaluations
Award bonuses and appreciation badges to employees who have earned upskilling
certifications
Create Self-motivated Learners
Middle-management can be rotated across different verticals and exposed to different
functions within the organization so that they, in turn, can provide the team with a broad
understanding of the business and implement best practices across the organization
Rotate Mid-Level Management

Expanding the value of skills learned at the workplace during the course of one’s career to
create a growth path will encourage employees to be more open to learning new skills and
approaches
Growth Mindset
Appropriate application of skill sets opens a wide array of opportunities and decision
making capabilities at work
Decision Making
<< 25 >>
Strategy Transformation

Forward-looking Skills Strategy
for CHROs
Develop a Skills
Matrix
Conduct a Skill
Audit
Target a Speciﬁc
Learning Journey
Intertwine Upskilling
and Company Culture
Communicate Required
Skills Demand
Develop and Implement
an Upskilling Program
Measure the Success
of Upskilling Program
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
<< 26 >>

Step 1
With apprenticeship programs, companies have to have structured and planned
actions to respond in the most constructive way possible to evolving trends, instead
of reacting in an ad hoc manner. Organizations must understand the importance of
designing mid as well as long-term business plans to tackle successfully that may
impact their workforce, and implement short-term goals and actions. Therefore,
companies have to develop a skills matrix to distinguish skills required currently and
in future to identify employees’ proficiency of skills, to assess skill gaps and to
actively address them.
Develop a Skills Matrix
Step 2
Many organizations are focussing on upskilling that are delivering business strategy.
This is carried out by aligning a skill strategy with the wider business and people plan
to support learning and development across the business to drive business priorities.
To ensure an alignment of business and upskilling strategies, conduct a skills audit to
identify the most essential capabilities needed for the companies by employees to
achieve the business goals. Companies may have multiple skills strategies and
programs, but it can be beneficial to focus on one or two to establish focus and to
businesses to drive workforce transformation in key business areas.
Conduct a Skill Audit
Step 3
Once the skills audit has been completed, companies have to be tasked with deciding
the learning journey to target their upskilling efforts. Companies need to prioritize
who to start with, where they can deliver the most business value etc. Through formal
evaluation track the progress effectively and to timely address non-performed
employees to engage them in more formal conversation or regular interaction to
address the issues.
Target a Specific Learning Journey
Step 4
Evaluate and adjust policies, processes and incentives of organizations to reinforce
and encourage a culture that supports the upskilling efforts. In this regard,
companies need to have a clarity on how much of a commitment they can lend in
terms of investment and time. C0mmon language built around a consistent message
on the company’s upskilling activities/plant not only helps in facilitating a learning
environment but also helps employees to internalize the message and make
themselves part of the upskilling initiatives.
Intertwine Upskilling and Company Culture
<< 27 >>
for CHROs

Step 5
Define the demand signal and assess the way to communicate which channels,
mechanisms or tools clearly and consistently to describe roles and skills across the
talent marketplace and company’s own workforce such as at-risk or underqualified
workers, but also executives and team managers who can relay the information and
ensure needed skills are developed. Outside the organization the demand signals can
be targeted at business leaders from other organizations, career advisors, educators
or individuals etc. Sending a demand signal helps companies to communicate what
they are looking for and helps potential future recruits develop in the right direction
with their career plans.
Communicate Required Skills Demand
Step 6
Upskilling is a long-term investment in augmenting the knowledge, skills and
competencies that are in need and help employees to advance their career. An
effective upskilling model is continuously learning. One-size-fits all approach for
upskilling programs is unfeasible. Employees vary with degrees of expertise in certain
critical skills or none at all. Some of the employees of departments/teams are more
likely to have technology related disruptions than others. So, the upskilling plan and
goals for each team/department has to change accordingly. Any goals set for
employees have to be specific, time-bound and measurable.
Apprentices don’t have to be new hires, and degree apprenticeships are a great way
to upskill existing staff. With apprenticeship programs being available for any job
roles, upskilling employees in a particular skill set contributes to their growth within
the company and the company can retain and develop expertise from amongst its
own. Degree apprenticeships provide work-based learning opportunities up to
Master’s degree level for employees. These programs are crafted in partnership with
industry and the higher education sector so they can focus on the development of
targeted industry-specific skills.
Develop and Implement an Upskilling Program
Step 7
In any of the upskilling programs, pre and post assessments play a major role in
measuring the effectiveness of a program. The periodic approach allows to track
progression of the cohort through its upskilling journey. Other than traditional metrics
of content consumption and utilization, companies have to layer in a level of business
metrics - employee retention, roles filled internally and hired new for the projects.
These metrics can be correlated to a financial metric to enable a concrete RoI
calculation for the upskilling program.
Measure the Success of Upskilling Program
<< 28 >>
for CHROs

Self Assessment Framework
ntegrating a 360-degree skill assessment program is very important for the growth of any
organization. Regular feedback and insights reinforce learning and help people to continuously
progress, and one simply cannot afford to neglect this aspect.
I
There needs to be a global strategy in place to assess and develop skills internally for the beneﬁt of all.
This focus on continuous assessment and development will help to keep the entire workforce motivated,
and will assist in improving retention and prevent losing talent to the competition. This is a prominent
concern of most CHROs in the current climate. The questionnaire below is designed to help
organizations assess their skill strategies. It will further facilitate in designing a comprehensive plan for
the future skill-development program for the organization.
<< 29 >>

Q1 . Name of the organization
Q3 . How many people work in your organization?
Less than 10
10-24
25-99
100-249
250-499
500 or more
<< 30 >>
Background Information
Section 1
Self Assessment Questionnaire for
Skill initiatives of Organization
Q2 . What is the main business of the establishment you work for?
Q4 . With respect to workforce, would you say that your
organization is currently working
Well above capacity
At capacity
Below capacity
Well below capacity
Don’t know
Scan this QR Code and
take the Assessment Online!

Q6. If no, having any plans to hire them
Yes
No
Don’t know
<< 31 >>
Q7. What are the key skills and qualities you will be looking for from your employees?
(Please tick what you consider to be the ﬁve most important skills you would want to extend to your employees)
Technical skills required by organization
Problem solving
Team working
Communication skills
Agility/Flexibility
Basic IT skills
Advanced or specialist IT skills
Adapting to new equipment or materials
More complex numerical or statistical skills and understanding
Knowledge of products and services offered by your organization
Other (please specify)
Q5. Do you have apprentices/degree apprentices
in your organization?
Yes
No

<< 32 >>
Assess your skill initiatives
Section 2
Q1. Did you assess the skill gap in your organization before considering any skill
training?
Q2. In general would you say that skills available are well matched to the needs of your
organization?
No
In the process of mapping the skills
Partially
Yes
Q3. What kind of upskilling/reskilling program are you looking at
Just-in time
Short-term
Long-term
Hybrid/blended
Not willing to do
No
Will assess in future
Yes
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
Q4. What are the learning programs/resources you are
willing to invest in?
Self-Learning (Web-based learning)
Social Learning (Coaching/mentoring/on-the-job training)
Physical learning (Instructor-led courses/programs)
Online Learning (Certiﬁed courses)
1
2
3
4

<< 33 >>
Q6. Which skills will become more important to your workplace??
Q5. How long are these programs?
1-3 months
4-6 months
Within a year
1-3 years
Marketing and sales skills
Technical skills for the specific job
Managing remote and on-site workforce
Operations/finance/HR/Marketing
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
Q7. How do your employees receive skill training?
Peer Learning
Online - self paced
Blended learning
Training by industry professionals/experts
1
2
3
4
Q8. Who created training material for skilling initiatives?
Generic microlearning courses available online
Courses designed in tandem with industry and technical institutions
Certified courses offered by designated bodies
In-house team in collaboration with universities
1
2
3
4

<< 34 >>
Q9. Did you assign any courses to your employees?
No we do not engage in training activities
All employees are required to undergo stipulated hours of learning
We are in the process of assessing the skill deﬁciencies and planning programs
Targeted skill speciﬁc training modules
1
2
3
4
Q10. Did you sponsor their upskilling/reskilling initiatives?
No
Partially
Yes
Fully funded with the long term contract
1
Q11. What kind of employee upskilling/reskilling tools you used?
Q12. What is your expectation from upskilling/reskilling programs?
Increase productivity
Employee Retention
Ensure employee growth and development
Mutual growth for organization and employees
2
3
4
Customized video training program
Learning Management Systems
Apprenticeship/Degree Apprenticeship programs
AI based adaptive learning
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4

<< 35 >>
Scoring Criteria:
The numerical ﬁgure against your answer selection corresponds to the score for that answer
Your suggestive skilling strategy based on your assessment scores is as follows:
41-48: You are on the path on implementing a successful skill strategy for both middle-management
and the workforce in your organization
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
31-40: You can consider evaluating and recalibrating your skill strategy to include the larger workforce.
Adoption of Apprenticeship programs can go a long way in supporting your wide scale skilling initiatives
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
21-30: Your skill strategy is concentrated at the bottom of the pyramid and it may be strategically wise to
focus on upskilling middle management as well. Degree Apprenticeship programs can be a win-win
strategy to ensure effective skill development along with ensuring long-term retention of core employees
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
>20: Follow the CHRO Skill Strategy guide to create and implement an effective skill strategy plan

Conclusion
s we begin to recover from the pandemic, many businesses find that many skills that are
relevant for future growth are missing. Even before the COVID-19, employers were concerned
about finding and nurturing the right talent required for the modern world of work. The situation
A
has accelerated over the past two years with the increase in digitalization across industries. Therefore, it
has become essential to inculcate and nurture the right skills based on the immediate and future needs
of the business. The adoption of the industry best practices as suggested in this CHRO skill strategy
guide can inspire and strengthen organizations to empower their employees. Upskilling initiatives
through degree based apprenticeship programs can help to bring in fresh perspectives into the business
while keeping employees up-to-date on new ways of thinking in the industry. This means that a degree
apprenticeship will be of value to the organization as well as the individual. It can also serve to inspire
and influence other employees thus building a culture of growth and development. By implementing right
skill strategies, CHROs can contribute to creating an inclusive and equitable ecosystem that promotes
learning and promotes employment and decent work for all as outlined by SDGs.
<< 36 >>

References
1 India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy, NITI Aayog, 2022
2
How can India prepare its youth for the future of work? Here's what's needed now, World
Economic Forum, October 2022
3 Skill Strategies for a sustainable world of work, GAN Global, 2021
4 Setting up for Skilling up, Accenture and Henkel, 2021
5 Infosys Talent Pulse Report 2021
6 Amazon Upskilling 2025 Report, December 2020
7 Getting back to the future...of work, PwC, July 2020
8 Upskilling India Building India’s talent base to compete in the global economy, IBM, 2017
9 Why it's important to upskill your workforce, SAP
<< 37 >>

CONTACT US
TeamLease Services Limited
315 Work Avenue Campus, Ascent Building,
#77, Koramangala Industrial Layout
Jyothi Nivas College Road, Koramangala,
Bangalore, Karnataka.
PIN - 560 095
www.degreeapprenticeship.teamlease.com
degreeapprenaticeship@teamlease.com
<< 38 >>

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