Skills Swap: The Art of Reskilling, Upskilling and Cross-Skilling

Your skills and abilities are the threads that weave your success. But have you ever considered what happens when the fabric of your profession or industry begins to shift? Do you unravel or do you adapt like a skilled potter molds and reshapes the clay to fit the new pattern?

Only one word can truly encompass what the job market looks like right now. No, it’s not “horrific,” and it isn’t “bleak,” either. It’s competitive.

While the market has never been known to be particularly forgiving, you are not the only one who has noticed that things are more alarming than usual. With the emergence of AI and other productivity-boosting technology, people whose jobs used to be a necessity are now getting let go left and right.

But a few people have not just survived this market — they have capitalized on it. This is not a coincidence! It is actually a result of a critical skill, one that’s coveted now more than ever: Adaptability.

These technological advancements are not going away. In fact, they are going to continue evolving more and more. The good news is that you have the potential to evolve alongside them. Today, we are going to show you three types of skill swapping and how figuring them out might just be your ticket to a more secure career.

Strategy One: Reskilling

Reskilling, to put it simply, is reinvention.

Imagine a software developer reskilling to a Project Manager or an Agile Coach or Scrum Master reskilling to software programming. This transition involves learning coding and software development principles, which enhance their ability to work more effectively with development teams and understand the technical challenges they face. This new skill set not only widens their opportunities but also adds more value to their current role.

Reskilling is all about recognizing the changing demands of the job market and proactively acquiring the skills needed to meet those demands.

I’ll share a quick story. As a practicing lawyer in my home country, I faced a daunting reality when I migrated to the United States. My legal credentials and experience were not directly transferable, and I struggled to find footing in the United States legal system.

Yet I was resolute in reinventing myself. Intrigued by the idea of helping organizations adapt and thrive, I embarked on a reskilling journey. I pursued certifications in coaching and change management and devoured books and courses on organizational development and leadership. I networked tirelessly, attended conferences, and sought guidance and mentorship from experienced professionals. As I gained confidence and expertise, I started receiving consulting gigs from larger organizations. And before long, I had reinvented my career leveraging my legal analytical mind and problem-solving skills to help enterprises succeed.

That said, time and prioritization challenges for professionals can definitely start to make themselves apparent throughout the process. Balancing the need to reskill with existing work demands and responsibilities requires careful planning and time management.

Nearly endless resources are available for reskilling, including online courses, workshops, and certification programs. Websites like Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning offer an insanely high number of courses that can help you gain new skills relatively quickly.

The best part? Reskilling is cheaper now than ever. You do not need to break the bank to enter a new field, rather you need to dedicate your time and effort!

Strategy Two: Upskilling

If reskilling is reinvention, upskilling is upgrading.

You are not trying to do something entirely different but rather learn the newest (and most lucrative) version of something you are already quite good at. If you love what you do but fear that you are on the bottom rung of those who do it, then upskilling is a great way to secure your future in that field.

For instance, as seen in my experience as an Agile coach, a ⁠marketing professional can upskill in data analytics, enhancing their ability to measure campaign effectiveness and drive business growth.

To start upskilling, figure out what skills are in high demand within your industry. You can do this by looking through job postings, reading industry reports, or talking to colleagues and mentors. Get curious. Ask yourself questions like :

• What are my clients increasingly asking for?
• What skills are required for the next level of your career? Do I possess them?
• Are you feeling challenged or complacent in your current role?
• If your current industry landscape changed today, are you prepared?

Once you’ve identified these skills, the next step is simple: Get that learning hat on! Enroll in courses, attend workshops and webinars, and seek out any opportunities you can to find the next best step for your success.

Upskilling can also help professionals overcome corporate structural barriers. Rigid structures and bureaucracy often prevent organizations from developing new skills and adapting to change. By upskilling, employees can advocate for a more flexible culture in the workplace. Here’s how:

● Highlighting the Benefits: Employees who constantly learn and develop show how their new skills help improve efficiency, innovation, and the overall growth of the business.

● Leading by Example: When employees take the initiative to upskill, they set a precedent for their coworkers, encouraging a culture of self-improvement.

● Promoting Adaptability: By gaining diverse skills, employees can navigate different roles and responsibilities, making the organization more adaptable to change.

When employees seek opportunities to upskill, they can use that as evidence that a more dynamic workplace is for the better!

Strategy Three: Cross-Skilling

If reskilling is reinvention, and upskilling is upgrading, then cross-skilling is ‘expanding your toolbox’ making you more versatile and resourceful.

When you cross-skill, you take lucrative skills from totally different fields and mesh your knowledge together to give yourself a professional leg-up on the competition.

Here’s what cross-skilling may look like. A customer support specialist cross-skilled in technical writing, creating user manuals and knowledge bases that reduce support queries and improve customer satisfaction. These skills are not always literal, hard skills; cross-skilling can also involve developing soft skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork.

In an agile team, cross-skilling can lead to T-shaped teams. Let’s assume we have an agile team developing a mobile app. The team consists of

Adam a Java developer

Amy a UX designer

Grace a QA engineer

In a traditional siloed team, each member would focus solely on their area of expertise. But in a T-shaped agile team, each member has a broad range of skills (the horizontal bar of the T) and deep expertise and specialty in one area (the vertical bar of the T)

Now, to create a T-shaped team, where each team member collaborates to cross-learn new skills in a way that complements their specialist skill:

- Adam, the Java developer learns the basics of UX design and QA testing

- Amy, the UX designer, learns the basics of Java development and QA testing.

- Grace, the QA engineer, learns the basics of Java development and UX design.

By doing this each team member has T shaped skill set. The team will not only deliver a more holistic and user-centered product, but each individual will have gained a new skill that enhances their versatility and increases their value and impact.

Cross-skilling can also provide a strong justification for organizational investment in Skill Swap initiatives! By adapting to market needs through reinvention, investing in employees to stay competitive, and overcoming structural barriers, organizations will see firsthand that these initiatives help not only the employees but the company as a whole to thrive.

Learning skills outside of your field is not an easy feat, but it is rewarding. By taking that (somewhat hesitant) step outside of your comfort zone, you open the door to opportunities you never would’ve thought about!

Swap Your Way To Success

As I have mentioned, the job market right now is not the most forgiving. There’s increased competition every day, and it can feel impossible to stand out. But, by practicing skill swapping, we shape our skills and abilities to adapt to new circumstances, much like the Potter shapes the clay to create a beautiful and functional piece of art. By embracing this process, we can transform ourselves to stay relevant, competitive, and successful in our professional lives.

The bottom line is that learning is not something you stop doing once you get your diploma. For those who truly have a hunger for advancing themselves in the professional world, learning is a lifelong endeavor. You are the only thing standing in your way to becoming the best, most well-rounded version of yourself!