The entire world has been going through a roller coaster journey since last year. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered the way we lived and worked. What impact has 2020 had on workplace perceptions? Are there any implications or inferences to be expected in the Learning & Development (L&D) sector of organisations? 

The new norm - hybrid work

When the pandemic left us in dire straits initially, the working routines of most companies essentially transformed with a considerable shift to remote work. As the world is healing from the sudden shock and the pandemic proves to be more persistent and endemic, the new norm is evolving with the workspace is hybrid work. 

In a hybrid work environment employees would alternate between working remotely and onsite, depending on their needs and convenience. A study by Accenture discovered that 83% of workers want a hybrid model, where they switch between onsite and remote working, while 43% of respondents to a Gartner survey said that flexible working hours helped them achieve greater productivity.

Therefore, it is evident that being a future key trend, hybrid work and the flexibility it implies will have a variety of company-wide ramifications, including a huge impact on HR and L&D, which will both need to plan for training their workforces differently than before. L&D strategies need a face-lift and are required to swiftly convert to a new, digitally delivered format.

Stats don’t lie!

As per the 2018 World Economic Forum report, 75 million current job roles may be completely misplaced by 133 million new job roles by the year 2022. Upskilling and Reskilling are the solutions to this problem. If upskilling improves the current skillset, reskilling focuses more on an entirely fresh skillset.

Before the Pandemic, only global corporations had to devise solutions for the effective collaboration of dispersed workforce. But now, regional companies are also confronted to face the challenge of dealing with a dispersed workforce.

With the influx of ambitious millennials into the workforce, effective learning and training platforms are in high demand. PwC also predicts that 72 percent of CEOs would boost their spending on virtual collaboration tools and 62 percent will increase their spending on management training. 

A recent report suggests that virtual classrooms will remain significant for talent development professionals after the pandemic. Organisations use virtual classrooms to deliver training to their employees and organisations expect their spending on virtual classroom training to stay the same or increase over the next year. So how to devise an effective training strategy that can ensure a successful outcome?

Get the offices hybrid-ready

After the thorough reassessing and redesigning of workplaces strategies, many organisations are looking to establish a resilient and flexible workplace where the on-site employees can successfully collaborate with their remote colleagues. This can be achieved only through a well-knit network of physical and digital work environments. 

If the future of the work lies in skills like adaptability and agility, to stay on top of the competition, companies should be ready to invest in the training of their employees. Sadly, some companies still lack in the training of their employees. In a way, the pandemic was an eye-opener. As circumstances change, businesses have realised the value of educating their personnel. L&D is becoming increasingly recognised as a critical component of business growth.

How L&D departments can future-proof their efforts

Create a long-term strategy for shifting from digital replacement to digital transformation, with training goals in mind and technology to help. Here are five factors to examine and implement into the future strategy to ensure effective training outcomes during the transformation process: 

Smart integration of training into the flow of work – Short, few-hour sessions spread out over several days or weeks are best for learning continuity and retention of interest.

1. Effective multi-channel Engagement - Focus on live, interactive sessions with a blend of the pre-recorded ones; in-classroom training alternated with the remote ones.
2. Provide a rich platter of content formats - Provide learning material through a wide variety of media such as live lectures, quizzes, team assignments, on-demand videos, presentation slides, and written material.
3. Incentivise and gamify learning - Gift employees achievement badges and certificates that can be shared on LinkedIn and other social media; recognise high achieving employees publicly every once in a while, to boost their confidence and love of interest.
4. Select the right solution - Pick the solution that is optimum for your training needs. This means choosing an L&D solution that can train the workforce both remotely and on-site with strong and varied technical capabilities effectively.

Conclusion

Connect your people, share knowledge, empower them, and set up the world for them! As the world adjusts to the new normal, businesses must take the next steps toward transformational education and training by employing digital tactics that encourage collaboration and active learning both on-site and online.