Upskilling Employees: How to Build the Capabilities That Drive Performance
Updated: Aug 18
Organizations frequently respond to performance challenges by asking for training. However, not every performance problem is a learning problem. By the time a Solution Architect reaches the Upskill need, the first two phases of the EDUCATE framework should already have established that:
learners understand why change is necessary,
they recognize their own opportunities for improvement, and
the root cause analysis indicates that additional capability development is required.
Only then does the Solution Architect determine how those capabilities should be developed.
This distinction is important because training is expensive—not only in development costs but also in learner time, lost productivity, facilitator resources, and opportunity cost. The goal is therefore not to maximize training but to maximize learning efficiency.
Once learners understand why they need to change (Engage) and recognize where they have opportunities to improve (Diagnose), the next responsibility of the Solution Architect is to determine how those capabilities will be developed.Contrary to traditional instructional design, the Upskill phase does not begin by selecting a delivery method or developing content. Instead, the Solution Architect makes three fundamental design decisions that collectively define the learning architecture.
What capabilities must be developed?
What learning experiences are most effective for developing each capability?
How should those experiences be sequenced into a cohesive learning journey?
These decisions transform the solution from a collection of training events into a purposeful capability development strategy aligned with business outcomes.
Design Decision 1: What Capabilities Must Be Developed?
The first responsibility of the Solution Architect is to identify what employees must be able to do differently to achieve the desired business outcomes. Every learning solution should begin with performance, not content.
Employees are not successful because they know more; they are successful because they consistently apply the right behaviors, make better decisions, and perform critical tasks more effectively. The purpose of upskilling is therefore to develop capabilities that enable improved performance.
To determine those capabilities, the Solution Architect works backward from the desired state and ask:
What must employees do differently?
What decisions must they make?
What conversations must they have?
What problems must they solve?
What level of performance is expected?
Once the desired behaviors are understood, the Solution Architect identifies the capabilities required to support them.
Skills Create Performance
Skills represent the observable behaviors employees perform in the workplace.
Examples include:
Coaching employees
Conducting discovery conversations
Operating equipment
Negotiating agreements
Delivering presentations
Troubleshooting customer issues
Writing effective AI prompts
Leading difficult conversations
Skills answer the question: What do employees need to be able to do?
Skills are developed through demonstration, practice, feedback, and repeated application.
Knowledge Enables Performance
Knowledge is rarely the end goal of a learning solution. Instead, it provides the foundation employees need to perform effectively.
Examples include:
Understanding products before selling them.
Knowing company policies before making decisions.
Understanding a coaching framework before conducting performance conversations.
Learning regulatory requirements before applying them in customer interactions.
Knowledge answers the question: What do employees need to know in order to perform successfully?
Knowledge should therefore be introduced only when it enables a specific behavior or business outcome.
Together, knowledge and skills form the building blocks of performance. The Solution Architect's responsibility is not to maximize content coverage, but to identify the minimum capabilities required to produce the desired business outcomes and design a learning journey that develops them efficiently.
Design Decision 2: Which Learning Experiences Best Develop Each Capability?
After identifying the required capabilities, the Solution Architect determines the most effective learning experiences to develop them.Learning science consistently demonstrates that lasting capability development requires more than exposure to information.
People learn by:
connecting new information to existing knowledge,
organizing information into meaningful mental models,
applying knowledge in realistic contexts,
receiving feedback,
reflecting on results,
and repeating the process over time.
This means that effective upskilling is an active process rather than a passive one.
Different instructional methods and delivery media have strengths, limitations, costs, and scalability considerations. The Solution Architect evaluates these trade-offs to create the most effective and efficient learning solution.
The Solution Architect asks: What learning experiences will best develop the required capabilities while respecting our constraints?
Design Decision 3: How Should Learning Be Sequenced?
Learning rarely occurs through a single event. Employees develop capability through a series of connected experiences that reinforce one another over time. The Solution Architect therefore designs a learning journey rather than an isolated course.
A learning journey may begin by introducing concepts, followed by demonstrations, guided practice, coaching, reflection, and application on the job. Each experience prepares learners for the next, progressively building competence and confidence.
Learning Experiences Available to the Solution Architect
One of the most common mistakes in learning design is to begin by selecting a medium—such as eLearning, instructor-led training, or video—instead of determining the learning experience employees need.
The Solution Architect separates these decisions. This distinction prioritizes aligning the approach to the need and allows the same learning journey to be delivered in multiple ways. A high-touch leadership program may rely on live workshops and executive coaching, while the same sequence of experiences for a global audience might use virtual classrooms, AI roleplays, digital coaching, and collaborative learning platforms. The learning architecture remains the same; only the delivery media changes.
No single learning experience is universally superior. The most effective solutions combine multiple experiences, each selected because it develops a specific capability within the overall learning journey.
The first decision is what experience will best develop the desired capability. The second is which medium is best suited to deliver that experience based on constraints and advantages of the medium.
Many experiences can be delivered through multiple media. For example, a roleplay may occur during a classroom workshop, in a virtual meeting, through an AI simulation, or with a manager during a coaching session. Likewise, reflection can occur in a workbook, a discussion group, a mobile app, or an AI coach.
By treating experience and medium as separate design decisions, the Solution Architect can optimize both learning effectiveness and business constraints.
Learning Experience | Example Delivery Media | Best Used For |
Presentation | Classroom, webinar, video, podcast, AI avatar | Introducing concepts and providing context |
Reading | Article, playbook, PDF, knowledge base, mobile app | Foundational knowledge and reference |
Demonstration | Live demonstration, recorded video, simulation walkthrough, screen capture | Showing procedures and best practices |
Discussion | Classroom, virtual meeting, discussion forum, social platform | Sharing perspectives and building understanding |
Reflection | Workbook, journal, digital form, AI coach, facilitated discussion | Building self-awareness and critical thinking |
Knowledge Check | Quiz, polling, flashcards, game, mobile app | Reinforcing understanding and recall |
Case Study | Classroom discussion, eLearning, workbook, video case, AI facilitator | Decision making and problem solving |
Scenario | eLearning, facilitated workshop, branching simulation, tabletop exercise | Applying knowledge in realistic situations |
Roleplay | Classroom workshop, virtual classroom, AI simulation, manager coaching | Communication and interpersonal skills |
Guided Practice | Lab, simulation, workshop, on-the-job practice | Developing procedural and technical skills |
Coaching | Manager conversation, professional coach, peer coach, AI coach | Individual skill development and feedback |
Mentoring | In-person meetings, virtual sessions, community platform | Professional growth and career development |
Peer Learning | Workshops, learning circles, communities of practice, collaboration platforms | Sharing experiences and best practices |
Feedback | Manager review, peer feedback, AI evaluation, customer feedback | Performance improvement and skill refinement |
Observation | Job shadowing, video review, live observation, virtual shadowing | Learning through modeling expert performance |
Practice Assignment | Workplace project, simulation, stretch assignment, guided exercise | Reinforcing new capabilities through application |
Performance Support | Job aid, checklist, knowledge base, AI assistant, mobile app | Supporting performance in the flow of work |
Collaboration | Team project, workshop, digital collaboration tools | Building teamwork and cross-functional capabilities |
Assessment | Exam, certification, simulation, observation, portfolio review | Measuring proficiency and readiness |
Teaching Others | Peer instruction, presentations, mentoring, facilitation | Reinforcing mastery and long-term retention |
Experiences develop capability. The media delivers the experiences. The Solution Architect should always determine the experience learners need first, then select the medium that best balances instructional effectiveness, learner preferences, scalability, development time, cost, and organizational constraints. Every approach involves trade-offs.
For example,
A live workshop provides rich interaction but limited scalability.
Microlearning is highly scalable but less suitable for developing complex interpersonal skills.
Coaching is highly personalized but expensive.
AI simulations provide unlimited practice but have a higher cost to deliver.
Selecting the right solution therefore requires balancing multiple factors:
effectiveness
learner experience
development effort
delivery cost
scalability
speed to deploy
accessibility
measurement capability
The Solution Architect evaluates these trade-offs before specifying the learning solution.
Personalizing the Learning Journey
One of the greatest advantages of modern learning technology is the ability to personalize development. Because the Diagnose phase establishes each learner's current capability, the Upskill phase can focus only on the knowledge and skills that an individual needs.
Rather than requiring every learner to complete identical training, personalized learning journeys:
reduce unnecessary training time,
increase learner engagement,
improve relevance,
accelerate capability development,
and improve return on investment.
Key Takeaways:
Effective upskilling solutions:
Begin with the capabilities employees must develop.
Match learning experiences to the nature of each capability.
Blend multiple experiences into a cohesive learning journey.
Prioritize active participation over passive consumption.
Balance effectiveness, scalability, cost, learner experience, and time to develop.
Personalize learning whenever practical.
Prepare learners for sustained performance rather than short-term knowledge acquisition.
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