How communicators can talk about upskilling opportunities

When your employees are interested in upskilling and taking the next steps in their careers within your organization, that’s a great sign that you’ve got a robust culture in place. But for employees to reach their desired goals, they need to know what programs are available to them, and communicators are responsible for getting the word out about them.

The 2025 InStride Talent Priorities Report shed light on what employees are seeking out of their career development and in turn, how communicators can react to that information. For instance, the study reported that 65% of employees reported that upskilling opportunities influenced their opinion to apply at their current companies, and 61% of employees reported that learning and development programs had an impact on their decision to stay in their roles.

This data furthers the idea that internal communicators need to have a clear plan to discuss the development opportunities available to their colleagues. Resources can include easy-to-access FAQ documents on an intranet platform that outline available programs and frequent calls-to-action in employee newsletters that guide people to the proper upskilling pathways.

Additionally, collaboration with HR is a key piece of the upskilling comms puzzle. Communicators should work closely with their HR colleagues not only about how they could frame current upskilling offerings and relay feedback on what further growth opportunities employees wanted to see. This symbiotic relationship is key not just for providing employees with the upskilling resources they deserve but create real avenues for higher employee retention rates. In practice, that might mean comms sharing the results of pulse surveys with HR, who can in turn adjust offerings, allowing comms to then share messages about responding to employees’ needs with new programs.

It’s often said that it’s easier to keep a current employee than hire a new one, and the data bears this out — the report found that 37% of employees desired further education and upskilling opportunities to move up within their current organization. Having robust internal messaging about upskilling isn’t just good for a company’s culture — it’ll help keep the best people in place. And that’s good for business.

Current leaders should talk upskilling with growing leaders

Ninety percent of employees surveyed expressed interest in leadership development. With a number that significant, internal communicators need to take note.

While comms pros might not be in charge of exactly what leadership development programs a company offers, they can absolutely influence how they’re talked about. Just as importantly, they can influence how the company’s current leaders discuss upskilling and the path up the ladder, which can greatly influence culture in a positive fashion.

In a piece for Ragan last year, Lizz Summers, director of corporate affairs, rental division at Cintas, said that internal communicators need to relay the importance of upskilling communications to leaders and frame it as necessary to the function of the business.

“Leaders don’t always have experience or insight into our world and what we do, and it’s incumbent on communicators to keep them appraised of industry developments,” Summer said. “More importantly – we must demonstrate how they can benefit the organization and help it meet its business goals.”

Some concrete steps comms pros can take to work with leadership on upskilling programs include:

• Share data. The top brass like numbers. If you’re trying to put together a messaging campaign for a given upskilling opportunity, showcase its success via metric evidence. This can encourage leaders to speak positively about it themselves. That extra push can cause a major jump in program participation.
• Keep the conversation within the company’s values and culture. No matter the upskilling program, how it’s talked about should reflect the company’s tone and voice. Communicators and leaders alike should steer talking points about employee growth opportunities and upskilling in the direction of the stated mission and values of the company. That consistency can increase the likelihood that those high-performers who use these programs stay in their positions — and leaders like retention, as it’s good for the bottom line.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.