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Every organisation has skills gaps. Whether they’re small or large, they always exist in some shape or form. Importantly, if they’re not identified and addressed, they can cause significant damage to an organisation in terms of lost productivity and efficiency. The difficulty in addressing skills gaps is often the result of not knowing where to start or what approach to take. We’ve spoken to LightArc’s Ashley How, who provides insights into some methods you can use to identify and address any skills gaps in your organisation and how to overcome challenges you may face along the way.
The need for ongoing review and regular evaluation of efficiency is key to the growth of any business. And while many managers believe improvements could be made that would result in a more productive workplace, they often don’t know where to start. “When you’re trying to identify skill gaps, it’s important to take a step back and look at your organisation as a whole,” Ashley says. “This means looking at how efficient your processes are and whether or not there are any bottlenecks that are causing delays.”
One way to do this is by conducting a review of your current staff and their roles within the organisation. This will give you an idea of who is doing what and where any potential skill gaps may be. It’s also important to talk to your employees about their roles and what they feel they could be doing better because oftentimes, employees themselves are the best source of information when it comes to identifying areas where they feel they could use more training or support.
Once you’ve identified any potential skills gaps, the next step is to address them. One approach is to learn from what other organisations are successfully doing and explore what strategies can be imported to your business to boost performance. It’s essential to factor in any additional training and development opportunities for employees who may need it, and this could involve sending them on courses or providing in-house training that covers the specific skills they need to develop.
Data management and reporting is certainly an area that benefits from upskilling both staff and processes to ensure seamless workflows. LightArc helps with this by offering a range of software solutions that can automate and improve upon manual processes, ultimately saving businesses time and money. A great example of this can be seen in the fact some businesses are still relying upon Excel spreadsheets to manage their data. There’s considerable duplication involved when it comes to collating information and then reporting from a spreadsheet, and it’s ultimately a format that’s rarely prepared for a wide audience. When staff are educated and upskilled in a solution that handles relational data, greater efficiency ensues. For example, this can be shown quite simply as when inputs are changed at the data level, everything else is updated automatically and doesn’t require manual overrides from spreadsheet cell to spreadsheet cell. The result? Less time is taken on the task, and there are fewer chances for error.
If you’re looking to identify and address any skills gaps in your organisation, LightArc can help. Our team of experts can provide insights and advice on overcoming common challenges and improving efficiency across your business. Contact us today to find out more.
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