The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), has urged employers of labor to bridge employees’ skill gap through upskilling to ensure organizational growth and development.
The Director–General, ITF, Dr Afiz Ogun, made the call at the Fund’s 2023 interactive session with its clients and other stakeholders.
The interactive session was entitled, “Upskilling for organizational growth: Adapting to Emerging Trends”.
Ogun, who was represented by ITF Director for Research and Curriculum, Mr Udeme Akpabio, said that the interaction would help to address issues relating to employee productivity.
He stressed that upskilling, through training and retraining of employees, would position the workers to deliver on their tasks effectively and efficiently.
“The annual interactive forum of the ITF provides a platform to interact and share training and skill development ideas with critical stakeholders.
“We will continue to interact with critical stakeholders with a view to position training and retraining of employees receive the needed attention,” he said.
The keynote speaker, Dr Anthony Garba, defined upskilling as ‘the investment in the training and retraining of employees to enhance their skills and knowledge’.
According to him, upskilling has become more critical for organizations to stay competitive and for employees to thrive, following the current technological advancement,
Garba stressed the need to check skills gap to achieve competitiveness.
He called for the rejigging of academic curriculum to enhance skills over paper qualifications.
This, he said, will make youths employable.
He also urged employers of labor to motivated workers to give in their best through training and retraining.
