Published on 27th January,2023
Published by Rohini Dureja
How L&D can upskill a hybrid workplace?
The pandemic changed the working style of most companies. Even as COVID-19 wanes, employees have continued to be inclined towards the hybrid mode of work and the work-life balance it promises. A survey reveals that 83% of employees prefer hybrid models and most companies have adopted models where employees can alternate between onsite and remote working.
Meaningful L&D initiatives can create the opportunity to embed an efficient and effective culture of continual learning and sustainable improvement at every level. As has always been the case, the successful implementation of an L&D strategy even in the hybrid workplace requires a strong culture of self-awareness, continual learning, and dialogue that aligns with the organisational L&D infrastructure. But success in the hybrid work environment also demands that some specific nuances be embedded into the L&D strategy.
Leadership should be social for holistic learning
Leaders drive learning through their actions and policies. How passionately leaders embody a sense of self-development in their teams by socializing learning significantly impacts learning. As does their ability to create an easy, on-demand, holistic learning ecosystem.
Embedding learning into the everyday!
A versatile, flexible, and inclusive organisational culture enables continual improvement. Training solutions assimilated into the workflow and integrated with daily routines offer precisely that. Opportunities open on many levels, including leadership development to facilitate change management. This becomes a motivational stimulus for teams and individuals, builds team cohesion, enables collaborative working, and drives cross-team development.
Thus, L&D professionals must coordinate team learning, learning in groups, developing communities of practice, and measuring outcomes in accordance with the business goals.
Many of these objectives are harder to achieve when employees are distributed across locations. But with flexibility, cost, design, and sustainability as the key influences, it is possible to adapt the best of onsite learning to virtual L&D.
So, how are the learning and development (L&D) needs of employees served in the hybrid scenario? Are they impacted positively or negatively? How can organisations deliver great learning outcomes? Let's examine.
Shifting needs of employees – shaping the L&D curvature
Improve ROI with VCRs
People come together to listen, learn, and unlearn from each other in Virtual classrooms or VCRs. These are communities independently capable of leading themselves to generate teams able to apply their knowledge for better outcomes. Productivity and ROI are also high with VCRs because it significantly cuts the cost associated with onsite training.
On-Demand Learning Binge
Employee engagement demands in L&D programs are seen as being higher in the hybrid workplace as employees “binge on” learning in a fluid mix of formats. In a sense, this has meant that learning has had to become more similar to travel and entertainment. Employees participate more (and for longer) in things they get to choose themselves. L&D professionals are now looking to enable and empower such sprints of self-driven learning. They are keeping menus customised & providing options for employees to choose from so that on-demand and need-based learning becomes a seamless experience. This is an extension of the on-demand learning enterprise learning used to allow.
Data in the DNA for healthy Learning Needs Analysis (LNA)
Effective L&D demands not merely time but strategic implementation to align performance with business goals and fulfil the “Learning Needs Analysis” or LNA requirements. And data drives the fine-tuning needed in learning avenues. Data informs the content type, learning style, and methodologies to deploy.
What can organisations do to meet employees' L&D needs?
L&D strategy in a hybrid workforce can have company-wide ramifications impacting HR practices and influencing business outcomes. Organisations, thus, need to plan on training their employees differently. Swiftly converting L&D into a digital-first format must be on top of the agenda.
Here are some of the key considerations of L&D in a hybrid work culture to keep in mind:
- Although VCRs offer global reach, performance tracking, and cost control, personalisation in terms of human interaction and motivation must remain the priority.
- Technology-driven L&D supports self-learning, but it should be co-driven by regular feedback to keep the process relevant to long-term business goals.
- Monotony in L&D programs doesn't work well with a distributed workforce. To make it engaging, employers should leverage tech integrations and explore options like game-based learning while still keeping the focus on peer-to-peer coaching and mentoring.
- L&D should connect with people and empower them in addition to sharing knowledge. The aim should be to offer them new opportunities to explore and grow as professionals.
The blended approach has emerged as an efficient strategy in the hybrid learning ecosystem. It combines the best of both conventional and tech solutions and offers a balanced environment for continuous L&D. It also focuses on employee well-being & relationships while still being efficient.
L&D for the future – how will it grow?
Effective L&D strategies have now become vital to deliver consistently high performance and make the workforce more agile, innovative, inclusive, and positive, especially amid talent shortages. Success requires continuous learning, but that is easier said than achieved. L&D in the age of hybrid work are more inclusive, adaptable, and sustainable.
Here is how data-driven L&D practices have become dynamic and are helping redefine learning programs in a hybrid workforce:
- Developing a holistic view of strategy execution challenges
- Targeted learning to align with the CEO’s and Board of Directors agenda
- Measured impact through leading metrics linked to the execution
- Positioning of collaborative learning to address strategic problems from the outset
- Using data to determine upskilling requirements in the organisation
- Enabling positive learning culture that supports self-learning, learning via instructions, and learning from experiences
What are the best L&D practices that Vi is undertaking?
At Vi Business, we are conscious of the content-binging trend among our employees. We believe in enriching and empowering people and letting them learn at peace and with ease.
As L&D enablers, we have created an eco-system to cultivate the culture of flexible-learning avenues and tune pathways to suit varied needs across different roles within the Vi Business. We provide our team with the flexibility to decide when, what, and how much they want to learn basis their roles & growth aspirations.
We have also created byte-size learning nuggets and on-demand webinars on functional areas, over and above the existing online platforms across leadership, behavioural, technical, and above all, special focus on future-fit business skills through customised interventions.
We believe – Keep it simple and easy!
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