Partner Article

Could you be harming your business by putting specialist skills at risk?

A squeeze on headcount, skills shortages and having to do more with less are all issues that many UK businesses are facing in the current economic climate, writes Oliver Watson, managing director, PageGroup.

With extra demands being placed on all employees, it’s no surprise that our recent research found that UK professionals are now spending at least 10 hours a week – the equivalent of 65 days a year - on activities outside of their main remit.

This might just be a short-term fix but taking on extra responsibilities over an extended period of time can potentially put employees’ key skills and business growth at risk.

According to our research, this is already happening to many individuals and often, within just two years of them starting their current role. In fact, 51% of employees said they consider themselves to be generalists, despite having entered the workplace with specialist skills.

Whilst widening people’s roles at work may be a temporary measure, over the long-term it can affect motivation and if specialist skills lay dormant for too long, it can be difficult to pick them up again.

Organisations need to recognise the long-term implications of spreading their workforce too thinly. Here are some suggestions on how businesses can support staff and nurture their specialist skills to help fuel business innovation and growth.

Training and development

Where employees are being given additional tasks, our research found that many businesses are failing to offer any form of training on these new responsibilities. This has led to some professionals feeling both overwhelmed and unsupported. With a changing role, it’s really important to offer staff training and development because it will help employees to have a clear idea of their additional duties and enable them to be more productive in their position.

Think laterally and listen to employees

In some cases, people will have skills that may be better applied elsewhere within the business. It’s important to think about how your employees can move around within the organisation, to help boost efficiency and ensure that you are making the most of their skill sets. Regularly inviting them to discuss where they see opportunities for their skills to be best applied in the workplace will enable them to make the most of their specialism and develop their skills. At the same time, opening up the conversations will make employees feel valued, helping the business to retain top talent.

Start planning for the future

By starting to think about the skill sets which will help drive your business in the next five years, you can ensure that you both maintain and bring in the relevant skills that will support business growth.

In order for businesses to innovate and grow during the recovery, specialist skills need to be protected, nurtured and kept within the business. Having a competitive edge is key so it’s important to think about ways in which specialist skills can be harnessed, at the point of someone joining the organisation, right through an individual’s career.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by PageGroup .