Bright Ideas by ColorVizion Lab is the go-to newsletter for people leaders transforming the talent experience. We answer the tough questions people leaders face daily—with straight talk and real solutions. Cassandra Cassillas, Senior Consultant at ColorVizion Lab, answers this week’s question.
❔How do we close the skills gap before it costs the business?
In 2023, the global talent shortage reached a high. Now, companies are facing something even more costly: a widening skills gap that’s leaving entire industries unprepared for the future.
Look at what’s happening in the public sector. Thousands of federal workers have been laid off due to budget cuts. But what happens when agencies need to hire again? They’ll be forced to bring in new employees who lack the institutional knowledge of those who were let go, leading to years of costly retraining.
And this isn’t just a government issue. It’s a preview of what’s coming for every industry that isn’t thinking ahead.
Companies that see layoffs as a quick cost-cutting fix may be making a dangerous mistake. Cutting jobs saves money, but it erases expertise. And when they eventually need to fill those roles again, they’ll realize too late that their talent pipeline is dry.
Meanwhile, AI and automation are reshaping job requirements faster than most organizations can adapt. The skills employees needed five years ago aren’t the same as what’s required today, and the gap is only getting wider.
Yet many companies are still taking a reactive approach, waiting until productivity drops, hiring stalls, or high-potential employees start leaving for companies that invest in their growth.
According to the World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025:
- 63% of employers say skill gaps are the biggest barrier to business transformation.
- 85% plan to prioritize upskilling, but for many, it’s already a game of catch-up.
- 40% expect to reduce staff whose skills are becoming obsolete instead of reskilling them.
The businesses that excel in the next decade will be the ones investing in upskilling now. Not when the problem becomes impossible to ignore.
So how can people leaders contribute to closing the skills gap at their companies?
Let’s talk about it.
⚠️Warning signs of a widening skills gap
Skills gaps don’t announce themselves with flashing red lights. They creep in quietly, showing up as missed deadlines, rising error rates, and employees who seem overwhelmed by new challenges. Leaders who wait for a crisis to act will find themselves scrambling to catch up.
Here’s how to spot the early warning signs before it’s too late:
1. Repeated performance bottlenecks
If the same projects keep stalling, requiring multiple rounds of rework, it’s likely a skills gap issue. Employees might be missing key technical or strategic competencies, which causes delays and inefficiencies that compound over time.
2. Subtle clues in employee feedback
Pay close attention to what employees say in 1:1s and team meetings. Casual comments like “I’m not sure how to handle this new software integration” or “This project feels way outside my skill set” can reveal training needs before they escalate into full-blown performance issues.
3. Lack of agility during change
Does your team struggle with new tools, unexpected client demands, or industry shifts? If every adjustment feels like an uphill battle, it may signal that employees lack the adaptability or up-to-date skills to keep pace with evolving job requirements.
4. Data points to underlying issues
If customer satisfaction scores drop, error rates increase, or teams are logging excessive overtime to redo work, a skills gap might be the reason why. Tracking these metrics can help people leaders identify where upskilling is most needed.
5. Senior employees spot it first
Highly skilled employees and mentors often see problems before leadership does. If they’re noticing gaps in junior team members’ abilities or struggling to delegate because of a lack of expertise, it’s time to act. Encouraging peer feedback and mentorship programs can surface these issues early.
6. The talent pipeline is weak
If there’s no clear successor for key roles or high performers seem disengaged, it may be a sign that your company isn’t providing the challenge and growth opportunities they need to stay engaged.
Cassandra Cassillas, Senior Consultant at ColorVizion Lab, shares what happened to a fintech client that discovered an analytics shortfall when they expanded into crypto services.
Employees had strong finance backgrounds but lacked the blockchain and AI-driven analytics skills. The gap only became clear when customer inquiries kept escalating and response times went up.
“Once leadership conducted a skills inventory, they were able to upskill the team with targeted training, drastically reducing response time and earning rave reviews from early crypto adopters,” Cassandra says.
🗓People leaders’ 90-day plan to upskill their workforce
The workforce is evolving fast and skill-building needs to keep up. With AI reshaping jobs and industry demands shifting, companies can’t afford to wait until gaps become crises.
Here’s how people leaders can use this 90-day cycle to assess, train, and reinforce employee growth.
🔄 Step 1: Assess skills and identify gaps
Run a quick skills check by surveying employees on their strengths, growth areas, and future skill needs. Compare responses against company priorities to pinpoint critical gaps.
📊 Step 2: Tie learning to business impact
Upskilling should drive company goals. Connect training initiatives to measurable business outcomes like revenue growth, efficiency, or innovation to secure leadership buy-in.
🎯 Step 3: Deliver bite-sized, actionable training
Deprioritize overwhelming courses and instead, implement short, focused workshops or microlearning sessions that help employees upskill in real time. Think 30-minute sprints on AI tools, customer insights, or leadership tactics.
🤝 Step 4: Tap into internal talent
Upskilling from within is faster, more cost-effective, and builds loyalty. Leverage mentorship programs and peer-to-peer learning networks so employees can share expertise across teams.
📈 Step 5: Talk about career growth during performance check-ins
Make learning and development part of monthly and quarterly reviews. Show employees how upskilling connects to their future career paths and growth within the company.
🔄 Step 6: Encourage cross-functional learning
Skill-building should break down silos. Facilitate cross-team collaboration to stretch employees’ expertise and improve adaptive learning.
🔍 Step 7: Maintain transparency during transitions
Be upfront about shifts in the business and clearly communicate how employees can continue growing within evolving structures.
🔁 Repeat every 90 days
The companies that prioritize learning today will have the talent they need tomorrow. After each cycle, reassess, refine, and relaunch.
💪Challenging your high-potential employees before they leave
A critical component of upskilling your workforce is to invest in your high performers early. They want growth, impact, and challenge. And if they don’t get it, they’ll start looking elsewhere.
The best way to keep them engaged is to push them beyond their comfort zone in ways that develop their skills and benefit the business. Here’s where to start:
✅Assign stretch projects: Give top talent high-impact tasks that extend beyond their current role, like leading a new market expansion or spearheading a cross-functional initiative. The challenge keeps them engaged while preparing them for bigger leadership roles.
✅Give them a seat at the table: Invite them to executive meetings or strategic offsites. Letting them see high-level decision-making firsthand accelerates their leadership development and deepens their investment in the company’s future.
✅Let them shape their own growth: Instead of dictating development plans, encourage employees to co-create their own learning roadmap. When growth is a joint venture rather than a top-down directive, they’re more likely to stay motivated and committed.
✅Rotate roles to spark fresh energy: Short-term assignments in different departments, or even a lateral move, can reignite passion while broadening their expertise. Cross-training not only prevents stagnation but also strengthens workforce adaptability.
✅Link their work to real impact: People want to see the difference they make. Show how their projects contribute to revenue, customer satisfaction, or brand reputation, so it’s clear how their efforts shape the company’s future.
One of Cassandra’s e-tail clients had a lead product manager who felt like she’d “mastered” her role and was itching for a fresh challenge. Rather than risk losing her, leadership tasked her with launching a brand-new subscription service where she oversaw everything from pricing models to marketing campaigns.
“That high-visibility, high-impact project re-energized her,” Cassandra says. “She was able to assemble a team to work on this with her, which gave her the challenge she needed to feel like she loved her job again and was growing in a meaningful way.”
📘People leaders: Don’t forget to prioritize your own development!
ColorVizion Lab’s People Leader’s Playbook will help you better connect with senior leaders, execute your people strategies, and prioritize your own professional development in 2025.
Download your free copy today and share it with others in your organization.
📞 Ask us anything! Submit your anonymous questions
Do you have questions about employee engagement, upskilling, or people management that no one’s talking about?
Our team wants to hear! Submit your question here and we may dive into it in an upcoming newsletter.
📰 Story of the week: The labor market is struggling to absorb displaced federal workers
Job applications from federal workers have increased dramatically, according to a report from Indeed. Although this is a well-educated and highly specialized segment of the workforce, the employer demand for knowledge workers has gone down.
With employee confidence dropping to a new low, how will it impact the future of work? Read the full story here.
📢How does your employee engagement plan prioritize upskilling?
As disengagement increases across every sector, learning and development must be a core component of your people strategy.
ColorVizion Lab can help your team create an action plan that keeps top talent performing at their highest potential.
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