Employee onboarding is a critical first step in a new hire’s journey. But it’s just that – a first step. Even after an employee has gone through an onboarding process, there will always be opportunities for ongoing learning as team members mature in their roles. 

Continuous learning and coaching models are important because businesses are always changing. As new products are made available, messaging and processes will change, requiring new training and coaching. Significant business changes such as acquisitions and organizational changes can be particularly challenging to navigate when it feels like everything is in flux. 

The good news is that every organization goes through these changes and the challenges that come with them. For example, one day you might get a call from a sales representative who needs help to improve how they deliver their demo presentations. Ad hoc requests like this pop up routinely, but they can quickly pile on to an already heavy workload. 

In this post, I’ll share how skills enablement programs ensure that every rep in your organization has the knowledge and practice to grow within their roles. 

What is skill enablement?

Skill enablement programs are designed for enablement leaders to measure the strengths and weaknesses of the roles they support. By understanding where these roles need to improve, enablement teams can develop formalized support and resources to help them develop the skills they need to excel in their roles. 

How to practice skill enablement

In order to be effective, skill enablement programs should be personalized for the individual employee. It’s important to remember that every person is on their own journey, so their strengths and weaknesses will vary. As a result, it’s important to tailor training in such a way that sales reps can improve upon their weaknesses. 

Implementing a skill enablement program can ensure that your go-to-market (GTM) organization is prepared for challenges. Organizations that practice Skill Enablement benefit from:

• Consistent Enablement and upskilling across teams
• Clear paths for movement across GTM roles
• Benchmarking for seller growth and development

According to Forrester, organizations that don’t have Skill Enablement programs may face some or all of the following challenges: 

• Sellers who disengage: this can cause buyers to tune out of your organization
• Increased turnover: each lost employee can equal a $110k loss for your organization
• Productivity drops: output from newer sellers may decline by as much as 50%
• Missed revenue targets: revenue may drop by multiples of 5 without consistent Skill Enablement. 

In order to keep employees ready and engaged, it will be necessary to continuously support them in their roles after onboarding and beyond. As it is noted above, neglecting Skill Enablement can have dramatic results for your organization. So it’s important to determine what your organization can do today to ensure that your employees are prepared for whatever may come tomorrow. 

How Seismic can help  

We’ve made it easy for your organization to begin its skill enablement journey. If you’re ready to get started, we’ve put together several resources to help you begin to establish continuous development within your organization. These two handouts will give you a launchpad for brainstorming how you can approach continuous development in your organization. 

In the Skills Matrix Template, we’ve provided a list of 10 skills that are important to sales roles. This list is meant to serve starting point where your organization can begin to align skillsets with the sales roles you support. 

The second handout titled Skill Enablement Process checklist shares a high-level workflow that you can use to prepare, launch, and scale your skill enablement program. If you are an existing Seismic customer and are interested in speaking with an enablement expert, be sure to check out the Skills Matrix Services Package. Our services can help you uncover coaching opportunities and deliver more personalized training to your go-to-market teams. Please contact your Seismic CSM for more information! 

If you’d like to learn more, please register to join our webinar, Skill Enablement: How to unite content, training, and coaching to upskill your go-to-market teams.