The previous two years have seen tremendous technical and economic shifts across most industries. As we approach 2023, knowing the demands of the company becomes more critical than ever for L&D professionals. In today’s digital age, the role of L&D function is not merely training their workforce. In essence, they must foster a learning culture that accentuates good leadership, key talent acquisition, employee upskilling, coaching, and more. Almost every organization has understood that there must be a strong correlation between business strategy, talent acquisition teams, and HR function. So, L&D must be placed within a broader framework to bring out the best in employees and formulate the best decisions that propel the business forward.
The primary responsibility of the L&D function is talent management but doing it without hampering other business priorities is a must. Following are the five key practices that L&D teams must follow to avoid the pitfalls:
- Spin Around Hybridization
Though many employees are going back to offices, the hybrid work mode is here to stay. As per Gallup, employees appreciate working from home, with more than half wanting to spend the rest of their career working remotely.
A well-structured L&D strategy may help organizations tackle the challenges of a hybrid work model. L&D must adopt location-agnostic practices, which include identifying and cultivating employees’ skills (communication skills, stress management, teamwork, etc.) which are required to adjust in the hybrid work environment.
- Focus on Workforce Upskilling/Reskilling
With a major technological workplace shift, there is an emerging need for employees to develop new skills or hone their existing skills to remain engaged and productive.
As we head towards 2023, L&D teams will continue to leverage upskilling/reskilling opportunities to keep employees abreast with the new workplace trends and technological innovations. As per the LinkedIn Learning Report, 64% of L&D pros said that reskilling the current workforce is their topmost priority.
- Keep Employee Well-being a Priority
In addition to managing workforce skills, L&D experts’ purview revolves around employee mental health. The last two years were very distressing for everyone and strongly impacted the quality of work.
So, to cope with anxiety and depression, the L&D function must devise inspiring training sessions on stress management and mindfulness and others to de-stigmatize employee mental health. They must proactively support employees and share insights on stress management and others to stay positive.
- Build Strong Resilience during Uncertain Times
Economic headwinds and technological disruptions have led to a volatile and complex work environment. Dealing with this uncertainty requires business leaders to craft a strategic plan for dealing with these unprecedented conditions while mitigating the risks involved.
Organizations can no longer rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. L&D talent experts must practice a dynamic approach that focuses on- identifying the uncertainties before taking crucial business decisions, rethinking current strategies, and taking considerable action to drive growth and success.
- Foster Collaborative Learning Culture
Delivery of a traditional, siloed, top-down learning approach is a major challenge in the current scenario. In contrast, collaborative learning is bottom-up, scalable, fast, and outcomes-driven.
Today, L&D pros must embrace collaborative learning culture where employees feel more connected, motivated, and valued. As per LinkedIn Learning Report, 56% of L&D pros agree that their learning culture is getting stronger now than before the pandemic. Employees can declare their pertinent needs, and L&D talent teams can ensure the delivery of desired courses and focus on what matters the most. The results are amazing- better employee buy-in, higher productivity and engagement, and organizations remain nimble.
Parting Thoughts!
With a major shift towards a new work environment, the role of the L&D talent function is also in transition. As the scope of L&D is widening, they are in a position to thrive in business and drive people development. L&D talent teams must prepare to deal with disruptive forces and seize every opportunity to make their organization more agile, flexible, and competitive.
Talk to our experts at Infopro Learning and see how our strong L&D team can take you ahead of the curve in today’s changing business landscape.
