Blair Sheppard – Global Leader, Strategy & Leadership at PwC released his ‘Ten Years to Midnight’ book back in August 2020. And after almost two years of a global pandemic, it remains as relevant as ever. The book talks about a supposed timelines of 10 years that the world leaders have before it’s too late. The timeline focuses on 4 urgent global challenges and possible strategic solutions for them. Sheppard urges leaders to act fast, even as the the 70 years long social-economic progress triggered by the Marshall Plan unravels in front of their eyes.
My job is such an interesting one because it affords me the opportunity to continuously travel and creates opportunities for me to observe individals all across the country. I recently had a particularly interesting trip that I won’t soon forget because of a chance meeting I had with a violinist. I was enjoying breakfast at the hotel restaurant when I noticed a beautiful tune. My eyes began to search for the source of this melody and then I noticed a lean feeble man playing the violin. With a sympathetic look at my face, I watched the rather old man standing throughout his performance, while everyone else around enjoyed their lavish breakfast, the violinist gone unnoticed by them.
Work-related stress is a real thing, and it can turn the office environment toxic. There are infinite deadlines and a host of individual personal issues weighing on everyone’s mind. And the ever-increasing demands of management can in turn give birth to additional work-related stress . Employees are constantly exposed to tough situations; decisions of management can burden the tender shoulders of employees. Not only is this harmful to their mental and physical health, but it largely reflects in their work too.
If you have watched the movie ‘Pursuit of Happyness’, you would definitely recall the image of Chris Gardner, hauling a huge medical device – a portable bone density scanner – from one hospital to the other. He is often running between them and facing some very tough questions from potential clients.
The future of organisational landscape looks LIT! The latest generation entering the workforce in the near future is about to reinvent leadership and work styles, alike. With values as their guiding star, Gen-Zers are here to revolutionise everything we know about the corporate world. As the first digital native generation, using technology to influence the world around is child’s play to them.
The following blog has been contributed by Marcus – Editor, founder, and dating coach for men at MarcusNeo.Com. Unlikely bedmates, Marcus and FocusU share one common interest. It’s our passion for enabling action through inspired frameworks. His methods and courses continue to enable thousands of men find their most confident selves by honing their relationship management skills. And, in the following article, he shares insights on how leaders, across industries, can benefit from effective relationship management skills.
I learnt things the hard way and this blog is an attempt to reflect on the mistakes I made while collecting feedback for online game-based learning courses and gamified content. In my experience this holds true regardless of the type of content – gamified, storified, serious games, elearning, microlearning or nanolearning. If you are an online learning designer or just someone who is learning using online courses, I hope you add to my points and further help me and other learning designers become better.
The only thing worse than training employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay
– Henry Ford
There is no doubt that learning and development for employees is an integral part of an organisation’s growth. If you speak to managers or employees, though, not all of them will express complete satisfaction about the corporate learning and development structure in their respective organizations. Managers often feel that the employees are not displaying the behaviors or skills that their training should inculcate in them. It is also common to hear employees speak of training as a chore that needs completion.
This 2019 article by the Harvard Business Review quoted a survey in which three out of every four managers expressed dissatisfaction with their organization’s learning and development process. The same article quotes a Mckinsey survey in which just one in four employees felt that their training brought about visible and measurable improvements in performance.
The FocusU experience
For a decade and more, we at FocusU have been crafting and delivering experiential learning programs that have had impactful learning outcomes. All these years, most of our offerings were instructor-led and face-to-face. Last year we changed our approach completely, and pivoted to a bouquet of virtual learning.
This gave us a good view of what was working and what was not, both for in-person and for virtual delivery of our sessions. Here is our take on where we are going wrong with corporate learning and development in the workplace, and what we can do about it.
1. The wrong metrics
Most organisations still rely on an annual learning calendar for employees. The employee must go through all the recommended modules before the close of the year. In this social age, employees are also encouraged to post their certifications on social media. This drives a culture of showing off the courses completed. Neither business leaders nor employees seem too concerned about how much of the learning gets implemented at the workplace. The focus seems to be on how many rather than how well.
What to do about it
The L&D team must discuss the annual calendar with individual managers at the start of the year. For every employee under a particular manager, they need to agree on the expected changes in aptitude and attitude. If that is too difficult, then they can do the same for that manager’s team at least. Every manager must provide feedback at reasonable intervals about how many of those goals each employee has met.
2. The wrong modules
This happens when an organization creates a one-size-fits-all training calendar for all employees. For instance, every employee might not need to become an expert in business correspondence. Negotiation skills is another example of a skill that only selected employees would need to use within the next one year. Yet these are two of the dozen or so training modules that almost every employee trudges through in many organizations. This, in spite of no opportunity for them to use those skills. This is why measuring the effectiveness of such programs becomes difficult.
What to do about it
In continuation of the previous point, at least a part of the training plans for every employee need to be tailor-made either to impart skills she might need for a future role she is being considered for, or skills she is not proficient at presently. If the coaching skills for a particular skill is not available in house, the organisation should outsource a learning and development specialist to run that particular module.
3. The wrong length
The pandemic has brought to a grinding halt the days of employees spending an entire day in an indoor venue closeted with the learning and development trainer. People do not have that kind of attention spans anymore. Organizations need to rightsize their training modules as well.
What to do about it
More and more companies are using microlearning modules to coach employees about specific skills they need. Employees can access these modules at their own pace and time on their smartphones with the help of a mobile application. There are several examples of companies like Walmart, Uber, and others using microlearning to get more impactful results.
4. The wrong sources
This has more to do with a learning and enablement culture in the organization than the instructional design of a corporate learning and development plan. Leaders and line managers need to realize that learning does not need to happen during a designated training program only. When you have a question to ask, you usually end up searching for the answer on the internet instead of waiting for the next training program. You might also ask your colleagues or your manager, but whether this would happen would depend on the learning culture in the organisation.
What to do about it
Leaders of any organization must be willing to devote time to coaching their employees while on the job. People learn faster and retain better when they see someone doing it, rather than by someone telling them how to do it. The leader of a sales team taking along a junior employee during a sales call can be a huge learning experience.
Leaders setting an example can motivate others in their team to come forward to help their colleagues or juniors. This is not to say that an organization can do away with the formal learning and development process entirely. But the annual learning calendar can become more effective if coaching and training becomes an ongoing activity at the workplace.
Time to set things right
Learning and development is too important for organisations to ignore. The price they would need to pay is too high. But an even bigger mistake would be to do multiple training programs that fail to produce the optimal results and the proper engagement from participants. Managers need to stop looking at learning as something that happens in separate sessions outside the workplace. Employees need to stop thinking of a training session as a well-deserved break from actual work.
Even two years back, more than $1300 was the annual spend per employee on corporate learning and development worldwide. It is incumbent on all stakeholders to make every such dollar count. If you are looking for help, we would be glad to help you design a customised program, as per your team’s needs.
“When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat?” – Chuck Palahniuk
It goes without saying that the Corona virus pandemic has been a global catastrophe – destroying lives and livelihoods, alike. Confronted with the vulnerability of human life and the uncertainty of human existence, humanity stood in collective abject horror. Phrases like social-distancing, lockdowns, self-quarantine, herd immunity, containment, fatality-rate, and the likes became everyday terms, as we made peace with the new normal.
And yet, as it is with the darkest of clouds, this pandemic had its own silver lining. Numerous stories of heart warming kindness and humanity came to surface, as everyone struggled to safeguard themselves, and their loved ones.
1. Humility is a superpower
The pandemic has shown us that life is truly unpredictable. Not even the mightiest of nations have any control over its path. The coronavirus refused to respect even international boundaries. Thus, showing us how even the tiniest of virus can bring the economic progress of the world to a complete stand-still. This should remind us of the insignificance of human ego, wars, and power tussles.
2. Nature is inevitable
Despite all the scientific knowledge and progress that man has made, nature can flip our best laid plans on their heads. Humans have been trying to subjugate nature using the rapidly progressing technology. But nature cannot be won over, rather humans need to learn to co-exist with nature.
In fact, for many, the new normal has helped them reconnect with nature, thanks to the increased indoor time. From picking up gardening to building individual organic gardens in the backyard, we are finding ways to be one with nature.
3. Frugal living is easy
The necessities of life are very few. During the endless lockdowns, we learnt that we can easily live with just the essentials. Being forced to cut down clutter has simplified our lives, like never before. Sustainability is becoming the new way of life.
4. Flexibility helps
Nothing in life is indispensable. Lockdowns and social-distancing forced people to unlearn old habits. Even the most prolific shoppers learnt to live without their favourite brands and stay indoors. Closed bars and restaurants forced people to eat healthier, home made meals, and abstain from indulging in drinks and parties.
5. Health is Wealth
Nobody wants to die. Even the most fearless of folks have an in-built survival instinct. Resilience became the most sought-after life skill. Relatives couldn’t attend the funerals of their near and dear ones. Lockdowns became successful, without much effort, as it was a question of life or death.
6. Freedom is priceless
After long periods of lockdown, people began to realise the value of freedom. During periods of respite, most of us rushed outdoors. As the song goes –
“You need only light when its burning low,
You only need the sun when it starts to snow..”
7. Adaptability is the key to survival
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.” — Charles Darwin
This pandemic has brought to surface the undeniable importance of adaptability. Work-from -home (WFH) and digital meetings became the new norm. Digital financial transactions and e-commerce came into prominence. Even tiny-tots and students learned to attend classes online. Families and friends met on Zoom calls. Even the elders in our families learnt to use the most sophisticated of digital platforms.
8. Smart phones and internet connectivity have become basic necessities
As lockdowns and social distancing continue, internet connectivity has become a basic necessity. It now falls in the same category as electricity, or the water supply. This simple fact points to the increasing dependence on technology for our most basic needs. From the work we do to even the food we order.
9. Becoming more Human
Before the pandemic, people were caught-up in the rat-race. Most could not find enough time for their families, friends, or even personal hobbies. But, thanks to Covid, we were forced to take a pause. Family-members discovered new found intimacy. Living-rooms started being used for actual living, and not just to impress guests. People experienced what it is “to be” instead of what it is “to do” all the time. Many people discovered new hobbies, skills and interests and some even changed professions.
1O. We are inter-dependent
The pandemic brought to the fore that one individual cannot survive without the co-operation of others. We need to co-operate at many different scales-local, regional, national and global. It has shown us with crystal clarity that all of humanity is in the same boat. It has shown us the folly of pretending that we can achieve security in isolation – the virus can be defeated somewhere only when it has been defeated everywhere.
11. Recognize the unsung heroes of the pandemic
The pandemic has forced us to appreciate the true value of many people, whose roles in society tend to be undervalued: the nurses, the doctors, the people sitting at the checkout counters in supermarkets, the delivery personnel, the police personnel, the ambulance drivers, the many nameless Samaritans who suddenly offer help to the old and vulnerable. The pandemic has revealed a vast sea of kindness and benevolence in our communities and around the world. It has led to countless acts of selfless heroism in hospitals and care homes. It has impelled many of us to use our greatest strengths to serve our fellow human-beings, suddenly giving our lives new, inspiring meaning.
12. Be vigilant
We have learnt, the hard way, that to tackle the pandemic, we need to have an early response system, effective command and a strong leadership. Disaster management response has to be swift, focused and well-coordinated. Pandemic control measures need to be taken effectively, by medical professionals with public co-operation. Health disparities need to be bridged, systemic lacunae need to be fixed and individuals need to take responsibility – not to harm or kill another individual by their reckless action and misbehaviour.
Conclusion
In these pandemic-battered times, all we wish for, is for things to return to normal. We are tired of gearing up to open the door when the doorbell rings, pray that no one else enters when we are in a lift, sanitize our hands when we open a door and wear a mask even when we are in a car all by ourselves because a court has deemed it to be a public space.
But, if and when the pandemic peters out and we return to the old normal, it is important to remember the lessons we have learnt and not lapse to our old patterns, again.
