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elcome to 2023! What a year 2022 was. We survived the “Great Resignation,” quiet quitting, layoffs, and the increasing costs of labor. Goodbye 2022! 

The year brings about changes across the work landscape and within our budgets. As we look toward  2023, we need to look at our workforce and determine how to retain current employees, and how to bring new employees into the organization. Wages, benefits, retirement plans, and other compensation will always be at the forefront of current employees’ and prospective employees’ minds. What can we do as HR professionals or business leaders to address this? Each of these considerations have a cost that impacts the bottom line. However, continuing the recruitment carousel impacts the bottom line as well as customer satisfaction just as much. So, the question we must ask ourselves in the parking industry: “How do we do more with what we have?” The answer is upskilling.

What is upskilling and why does it matter? Great question, and I am thrilled you asked! Upskilling is a trend that can be used to provide training and development opportunities to your existing staff. Fortunately, I already know your next thought: how much is this going to cost us? As seasoned human resources professional, I will tell you—it depends. Before you talk about upskilling, the leadership team needs to take a hard look at what makes sense for the organization. Where are the skill or labor gaps? Is the organization local, or does it have multiple locations throughout the country? Once those and a host of other questions are answered, you can move on to what upskilling looks like for your organization.

Upskilling can be done in a virtual or in-person settings. In many cases, it doesn’t have to cost you—the leader—more than your time. A great way to upskill your top performers is to put a mentoring/development program into place. Be sure to make this a formal process. This will show the employee you are investing in them, and in turn, the employee will be invested into the organization. This investment is an investment in time to teach a future leader how to prepare for the next role.

Another upskilling option that can be done virtually or in-person would be hosting Lunch & Learns. Lunch & Learns—also known as “brown bags”—are short, training-focused programs that take place over your attendees’ lunch break. You might host a Lunch & Learn to introduce a new concept or strategy, or to discuss a key topic like diversity or wellbeing. These programs may not need to be as formal as the mentoring/development program but can be beneficial. Your high performers not only gain knowledge, but they also present and share their knowledge on several topics.  This creates synergy and allows staff to draw on different experiences while sharing knowledge.

One other option is a Learning Management System or LMS. These are organization-specific, curated programs that have been developed by companies with large employee populations spread throughout a large geographical area. These can be very useful for self-directed upskilling opportunities.  Think of these like the “Master Classes” of your organization. These types of programs can house a wide range of learning opportunities such as new Excel spreadsheet tricks or teaching new supervisors or leaders to interpret your business units’ P&L or daily revenue reports. The caveat is to make sure content is updated regularly.

As we look through finalized budgets for 2023 along with the number of positions open, assuming most of them are hourly positions, remember the cost of that new hire. According to SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) the average cost of new hires is $4,700. However, often that number should be inflated to three to four times the actual salary of that position. Katie Navarra goes into detail in The Real Costs of Recruitment on Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website.  It has become more important than ever for employers to find ways to keep high performing talent engaged on a personal and professional path to success.  It’s a win-win.

As we continue forward into 2023 with the possibility of a recession, it will be vitally important to find ways to upskill current staff. Remember it’s not doing more with less; it’s about doing more with the resources we have in place. ◆