10 ways to close your skills gaps with MHR

Upskilling made systemic and trackable

Modern workplaces have key skills that are always needed. From health and safety, to training on key software or machinery, tracking who’s done what can be a huge undertaking.  

People First Learning is an LMS that can bring all these disconnected tasks that Your Skills Gaps with MHR come from running an effective learning strategy into one centralised platform. 

Key features:

• Centralise all learning materials, creating a single place where employees can access, complete,  and revisit training
• Use course tracking to identify employees who require additional learning and address gaps promptly
• Equip line managers with tools  to monitor team progress and proactively recommend content

How this helps:

People First ensures essential skills don’t fall through the cracks, providing teams with consistent, meaningful training programmes.

Put learning in employees' hands

For more long-term learning goals, things can get a bit trickier. Employees need to feel like they have agency over their own development, with the space to experiment and grow.  Without that,  they’ll feel like they’re stagnating. 

People First’s interactive LXP creates that space where employees can independently explore their own learning journey, with minimal intervention required from you. 

Key features:

• Empower your people to independently explore learning paths with People First’s interactive LXP  
• Gamify employee learning with  features like leaderboards, points, and sharing options to encourage participation and build a culture  of learning from the top down
• Incorporate diverse formats - videos, playlists, community contributions - to appeal to a range of learning preferences
• Use our AI recommender tool to suggest training courses for the role  you want to progress to  

How this helps:

Employees are motivated to close their skills gaps on their own terms, boosting engagement and initiative. 

AI-enabled skills mapping helps you find the right people for the right job

The best way to overcome a skills gap is to take inventory of what you currently have and what you need to find. People First uses AI-powered tools to help your team map critical skills across the business while identifying potential candidates to fill future gaps. Unlock hidden strengths while preparing for tomorrow’s demands. 

Key features: 

• Use People First’s AI-powered tools to map critical skills across individuals and teams, pinpointing gaps, redundancies, and opportunities
• Plan for future workforce requirements by aligning current skills with long-term business growth strategies
• Leverage AI insights to identify transferable skills, create flexible development plans, and ensure employees are ready for changing role demands
• Build a comprehensive skills inventory to avoid costly redundancies and focus on  targeted development opportunities 

Benefit:

By combining skills mapping with  AI-driven job planning, you will not only uncover untapped potential in your workforce but also future-proof your organisation against evolving business challenges. 

The more people engage, the better result

System engagement is king when it comes to getting the most out of any retention strategy. Employees that disengage fall through the cracks, leaving them more likely to leave before you realise there’s a problem. People First will help you identify how and when people are engaging with its systems. 

Key Features:

• Identify underused features in People First and deploy engagement campaigns to drive adoption
• Empower managers to spot learning disengagement and intervene with personalised plans
• Provide visibility into L&D investments, ensuring employees feel supported in their development 

Benefit:

Engaging employees with systems designed for learning ensures no skills development opportunity is missed.  

It's more than a pay rise

Financial wellbeing is a key concern for employees across many different wage brackets. Everyone gets stressed by money now and then, which is providing support in this area can help reduce your attrition by as much as 16%. When employees feel secure in their finances, they won’t bring as much stress to work, letting them focus on their tasks. People First can supply a range  of financial wellbeing solutions to help.  

Key Features:

• Offer tools like Stream and  earned pay access through People First to reduce employee financial stress
• Help your workforce manage personal finance challenges with built-in coaching and guidance features
• Tie financial security to long-term retention strategies by incentivising stability and commitment 

Benefits:

Financial stability enabling employees to focus on long-term growth. This then boosts learning progression.

Sense how they're really feeling

Employees might be telling you they’re perfectly content, but if your retention numbers don’t back that up, sentiment analysis could be the key to finding the issues. This handy AI-enabled tool will analyse what your people are really saying. 

Key Features:

• Uncover dissatisfaction in skills or training
• Adjust L&D and recruitment strategies based on employee feedback
• Address pain points with skill-building

Benefit:

Target your retention strategy to the real issues your employees are facing, not what you imagine they might be.  

Development is a conversation, not a lecture

The world of work has moved on from the yearly appraisal to more relaxed check-ins. Holding these regularly helps employees and managers discuss challenges and development paths, fostering more effective working relationships.  That’s the sort of thing that helps retain an employee for years. 

People First makes organising check-ins easy, both for the manager and employee.

Key Features:

• Use People First’s check-in tools to  give managers better visibility into  their team’s development goals
• Enable transparent discussions about strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth based on  real-time data
• Monitor check-in frequency and  follow-ups to ensure no skill gaps  are ignored or overlooked

Benefit:

Continuous feedback ensures individual and team skills gaps are always addressed and actionable.  

Use recognition to fill gaps and inspire growth

A little recognition can go a long way toward making an employee feel truly appreciated. People First creates opportunities for people to organically let each other know how helpful they’ve been, with easy to make recognition posts. This creates a culture of positive feedback, which is incredibly motivating for everyone. 

Key Features:

• Highlight skills and behaviours that align with organisational goals through People First rewards programmes
• Use peer recognition to celebrate achievements and reinforce skill-sharing between employees
• Motivate teams by linking recognition with measurable L&D milestones via gamified systems

Benefit:

Celebrating wins for everyone pushes people to develop further and encourages team cohesion.

Sense how they're really feeling

Good recruitment requires your team to work at pace. The best talent are in high demand, and any delays could cause you to lose out. With People First Recruitment, we’ll smooth out some of the biggest blockers, ensuring you can stay in communication with key candidates and progress them along your pipeline quickly. 

Key Features:

• Leverage People First’s AI tools to profile roles and source candidates with the right skill sets
• Use behavioural and skills-based interviews to identify talent who fit your long-term strategy
• Configure automated CV parsing to quickly shortlist candidates who can  fill immediate gaps

Benefit:

Targeting hires to fill critical gaps streamlines recruiting and reduces the learning curve post-hire.   

Get employees up to speed

Did you know that half of employees who receive a bad onboarding quit within their first year? Going beyond the recruitment process to create a smooth onboarding experience is vital if you want a good retention rate. People First makes for a unified, consistent onboarding experience that helps an employee get accustomed to your culture before  their first day even starts. 

Key Features:

• Design customised onboarding paths in People First to align with the skills each role demands    
• Incorporate learning materials during onboarding to immediately address known gaps. This also manages minimum level knowledge required for new starters
• Use early check-ins to ensure recruits are building the skills they need from day one

Benefit:

A tailored welcome ensures employees feel confident and productive in their new roles. 

With People First, mastering skills gap management becomes an achievable goal, not a daunting task. By aligning its advanced tools with your recruitment, retention, and development strategies, you can future proof your team for years to come. Close the gaps,  build potential, and empower your workforce today.