The latest season of Trust Code is out. Though its viewer-base is niche, it’s been growing strong— and inspiring spin-offs —for five seasons.
On the surface, Trust Code is essentially an integrity-education program for employees. But it’s Netflix-series-like packaging — tacked on to provide a hook of interest to what is generally perceived as mundane material — is a continuation of the Learning and Development (L&D) narrative that Satya Nadella started in 2014, when he took over as Microsoft’s CEO.
To adapt to a time when the business domain was in constant flux, Nadella wanted Microsoft to evolve from “Know-It-Alls” to “Learn-It-Alls”. He wanted his employees to be staunch believers of Continuous Learning. With his People’s Person Kathleen Hogan and her L&D blueprint, they embarked on this journey.
It’s been a rewarding one, to say the least. They’ve grown a lot, and they are very sought after by job-hunters. Without L&D as their compass, Microsoft would probably not have covered this much ground.
Going For The Skill
Hybrid Workplaces are here to stay. From an HR perspective, they’re the biggest policy-dictator for 2022. This year will also see maximum efforts being invested in “building critical skills and competencies”; a sentiment that we at Dale Carnegie also echo. While domain-related upskilling — as well as reskilling — should continue to be a priority, these three broad areas should also be given importance:
Communication: Since it is key to navigate and perform well in a Hybrid Workplace.
Organizational Culture: Since it serves as a base for interpersonal dynamics.
Talent Management: Since finding the right fit for personnel is crucial.
Now, let’s break down these broader categories into aspects and traits that influence the L&D dynamics in a Hybrid Workplace.
Speaking In Turn
Communication in this context refers to all the aspects that contribute to seamless coordination between employees. HR decision-makers should focus on these three aspects:
Digital Fluency: While Digital Transformation is the process of adapting to the digital shift, Digital Fluency refers to an individual’s capability of navigating work responsibilities in such a structure. Be it Microsoft Powerpoint, Google Meets, or even Machine Learning Models, employees should have the technological prowess to use relevant tools to function in an efficient manner.
Emotional Intelligence: The ability to perceive emotional cues from others, monitor and control your own emotions, and channel both to better your productivity. From a Hybrid Workplace viewpoint, this skill assumes more importance since emotional assessments are harder to make when communication tools are involved.
Cross-functional Collaboration: Coordination between agile, autonomous teams are the basis of a Hybrid Workplace. Hence, establishing a certain degree of cross-functional aptitude as an employee standard will be beneficial. The LinkedIn report referred to above made a pertinent observation — in the context of hiring in general, but still relevant for internal collaboration — for why companies should consider doing this: “learners without obvious skill adjacencies are making the leap into emerging roles”.
The Value Of Culture
To improve Organizational Culture, HR C-suites should look at inculcating these two traits among employees:
Resilience: Since a Hybrid Workplace involves more spontaneity in decision-making, and faster cycles in verticals, the ability to cope with rapid changes without compromising on goals is crucial. There are many definitions for Resilience. But in essence, it’s nothing but the mindset that employees need for circumventing change-related obstacles without any trade-offs in output.
Cultural Intelligence: Cultural Awareness, Diversity, and Inclusion are being viewed as three key aspects that will shape the business landscape. It’s imperative for companies to implement conducive policies (in this context) and instill these values within employees. All of this will contribute towards the overall Cultural Intelligence.
Enable The Able
Most of the dynamics listed above also “enable the able”. But here, the focus is more on HR aspects that have a direct effect on employees in terms of their designated roles.
Internal Mobility: A trend that LinkedIn Learning’s Workplace Learning Report for 2021 has singled out as an L&D driver for the future. Internal hiring — relocating employees from one vertical to another — has seen a 19 per cent upswing during the pandemic. Higher Internal Mobility also seems to be nearly halving employee-churn rate (from staying 2.9 years to 5.4 years). Such personnel can also help in the identification of skill gaps and adjacencies.
Virtual On-boarding: The normalisation of the Hybrid Workplace has also brought about changes in the way new talent is roped in by companies. Goes without saying that relevant, effective technological tools have to be used for smoothing out the process.
Pandemic or not, there’s enough evidence — monetary and otherwise — that L&D is assuming a policy-shaping role in organizations world over, paving the way forward for all businesses to learn and develop.