What has happened to L and D in this corona virus crisis?
When lockdown started every piece of learning and development work I had lined up to deliver to clients was cancelled overnight.
What to do? I have continued to learn and develop my knowledge and capabilities, as well as reflect on what L and D will look like post covid, alongside looooong walks, gardening, writing, developing resources and webinars, business planning and moving more to online communication.
Shifting online to continue L and D was not an option for some clients, and for different reasons - no resources or infrastructure to do this, focused on other things such as delivery to beneficiaries in challenging circumstances, re-deployment of staff, pivoting to other work, staff relocation to home/dispersal/sickness and furloughing.
Has L and D been thought about?
I wonder how much L and D and development of people has been thought about within organisations during this time? In a crisis, in not so good times, whatever that may be, learning and development is usually hit very hard and is an early casualty.
What is startlingly obvious to me, however, and hopefully to others to, is that learning and development is how employers help people to become more skilled and capable in their jobs, it drives performance, it builds competencies and behaviours. In other words, organisational learning and development:
helps people perform better in their roles
helps drive organisational performance
What does early reporting say?
Early surveys and research results from the CIPD and other national bodies over the past few weeks have identifed some interesting information about peoples’ working lives under covid:
More stress and presenteeism, perhaps due to continued anxiety and uncertainty over job security, but also a ‘zoom fatigue’ - and here was me thinking that zoom meetings are the chance to have better and more valuable meeting practices; and that learning can continue online. I think people have had so many other disruptions to their lives, circumstances, health and finances, to contemplate finding time for formal type learning and development has perhaps been a ‘step too far’. Add to that organisations cutting or pausing it anyway. It will be interesting to see in future surveys what peoples’ lockdown learning habits have been.
There is likely to be more emphasis on learning that supports and increases managers’ skills and capabilities in a newly organised workforce environment where people remain dispersed, for example, managing performance and development remotely to outcomes, inter alia.
Fewer workers are saying work is good for them in the annual snapshot of work quality just published this week; the same mailshot from which I read this also mentions that the UK annual learning and skills at work survey is highlighting trends and practices for the post-covid world of work.
State of play 2020
If no time has been given to formal learning and development, I don’t doubt informal and peer and social learning has continued, even expanded. Hopefully going online for work has accelerated and promoted this as well. It was always going to happen, so this is a good outcome for L and D - it’s been accelerated even if it hasn’t been formally captured.
Covid-19 has forced organisations to re-deploy staff at a rapid pace. This has implications for rapid upskilling and good management support too, and includes coaching, development and training activities. A role for L and D to take up.
Whilst many have frozen all but essential recruitment, for those new employees not affected, onboarding, induction and management and development remain really important activities to implement.
WFH and remote working will remain and/or be a blended part of working post covid, so this has implications for how learning needs are identified and how it is facilitated in the workplace. And it has implications too for developing an agile and adaptable workforce. If L and D has been paused, who is thinking about this and working on this transformational action that needs doing?
Don’t cut L and D
The current state of work and how organisations cope will need resilient, agile, flexible people. The future of work into 2020 and beyond and how organisations operate going forwards when we are out of lockdown (this time) relies on investment in L and D, not a pause or cessation.
L and D is an essential component of organisational, and personal, health and success. If it has been cut or paused during lockdown it must be unpaused as we ‘go back to work’. Challenging times offer the opportunity to do things differently, such as leverage technology, so this can be capitalised on; and learning helps people prepare for the new future and feel valued, more motivated, skilled and confident.
Digital does not replace past or current forms of development. It is part of the solution going forwards.
In conclusion
Covid-19 has triggered exceptional times for L and D and helping people to learn and develop in the new world of work is an opportunity.
I hope sincerely that L and D is valued and recognised for the integral part it plays in helping us all get back on our feet.
L and D remains current and relevant by responding to organisational change and by practitioners and leaders ensuring that it becomes more embedded in the natural flow of work.