Is personal development possible without a degree of discomfort?

Employers investment in development

I’m immensely proud of how many employers have dug deep in the past few years and, despite significant economic turmoil, have continued to fund, develop, and innovate to create numerous training and development opportunities for their employees. The context, of course, is that we’re at a time when personal development is top of 83% of employees’ wish lists.

While some employers are playing catch up, we’re currently seeing investment in personal and skills development in a way I’ve not really seen in previous decades. Skills gaps, AI, automation, changing priorities and continuous innovation and change drive much of this need for development. In reality, if employers take their foot off the pedal they risk damaging their own organisations.

An increasing variety of learning approaches

Familiar to you I’m sure, but these are some of the varied learning opportunities I see being offered currently:

• In house development – face to face and online.
• Training ‘pots’ for team members to select their own studies – often with no restrictions.
• Financial and time support with external qualifications/certifications.
• One to one Coaching and mentoring schemes.
• More focus on internal apprenticeships.
• Secondments and other similar extended learning opportunities.

According to Docebo, the upside for employers is that “investing in this area is critical for retention as 66% of UK workers said they would consider quitting their job within 12 months if L&D designed to help with career development was cut.”

On the flip side, I’ve read that 80% of employees want to learn more about how to use AI. Are we seeing a fear of being left behind?

What employers say are the challenges

So, let’s get down to the tough issue here, with all this interest in and investment by employers alongside all this demand for development driven by employees, why are so many organisations talking to us about their struggles to get employees (and managers) to take the opportunities offered seriously? 

Time management

Some book onto training, but then cancel at the last minute

• Time pressures and meeting clashes (time management skills) are often cited as the reason.

Some book, but simply don’t show up

• Poor time management skills, a lack of respect for other teams/people, a lack of understanding of the cost of providing training and a lack of clarity around what professional behaviour looks like are often the drivers of this kind of behaviour.

Commitment

Some argue about how much time training takes and won’t commit the time

• Everyone says they’re ‘time poor.’ But what’s really causing this? It’s time for some serious internal discussions to avoid holding everyone back. Here are four ideas from me:
  1. Does remote work mean we miss out on shared knowledge? i.e. we do our own thing not realising a colleague has been there already and can share their learning.
  2. Are distractions from phones and other things making us less disciplined and efficient, resulting in work taking longer to do?
  3. If we don’t value and respect senior colleagues, which I increasingly see, is this leading us to learn everything from scratch, effectively reinvent the wheel?
  4. Are we too stressed about changes (perceived or real) instead of adapting and getting on and doing?

Training pots are seldom tapped into

• • Some employees don’t know where to access their own training or they need to be told what to study. Will training pots ever work if you have a workforce who likes their hand to be held at all times? This raises issues of accountability.

Professionalism and accountability

Some attend, but then carry on with their normal work 

• • We’ve seen a real loss of understanding and management of professional behaviours in the last four years – this kind of behaviour is so disrespectful, but professional behaviours have to be role modelled from the top!

Some enter the training room saying: ‘I’m here, this is your opportunity to change me’, then point a finger at the trainer a few hours later saying ‘you failed, I’m not changed’.

• • Oh dear! This is about tolerating ‘child’ behaviours, even at senior levels, in an adult working place. Accountability can be hard work in the same way as taking responsibility is. As I frequently share during the sessions I deliver: “Your trainer is there to share knowledge and create opportunities to facilitate your learning. You’re there to listen, participate, and identify what you need to do to change your own behaviours, develop your own skill sets and increase your own competence. Your development is your responsibility and the only person who can change you, is you!”

‘Short termism’

Some don’t ever book onto training, despite saying it’s important to them

• • My best guess is that these people aren’t so good at looking and planning ahead, and seeing what their career needs rather than what today needs – or their managers discourage them from booking perhaps?

Some argue they get sufficient learning from a 2-minute TikTok

• • Encourage managers to engage with their employees’ learning and explore topics, challenging what they have learnt and what they want or need to learn more of. A 2-minute TikTok can be the starting point for learning, but it’s never going to provide comprehensive, or balanced opportunities for growth.

Disengagement

Some have been stung by attending boring or uninspiring training previously 

• • Pretending this is not an issue will not make it go away. Ask about what has not been engaging, how it could be made to be more engaging, and be prepared to adjust your thinking.

Some suggest there’s nothing they need to learn

• • Perhaps it’s time to talk about growth mindset? Those who choose not to learn and develop will be putting your organisation at risk. And the more senior they are the greater the risk.
  • Senior team members especially have so much to learn about modern styles of leadership, tech, AI, culture, the global workplace etc, so now is not a time to sit on our backsides and think that 30 years’ experience is sufficient.

What’s holding employees back from engaging with development opportunities?

Aside from some of the challenges set out above, what exactly is holding so many of our employees back? 

• A lack of role models in organisations advocating the value and benefits of continual development.
• The dislike of being challenged – even the mildest of challenges can provoke extreme emotional reactions in some. Could this be down to a lack of resilience?
• A fear of embarrassment if they partake in a group activity. Since remote working has become the ‘norm’, there’s a false expectation (among some) that they’ll never be required to be visible or contribute in group activities. 
• As I said above, some believe that their personal development is everyone else’s responsibility. This relates to our understanding of accountability at work.
• Managers, HR teams, trainers and so on through what I believe is, at times, a hyper focus on wellbeing, have inadvertently made people feel too comfortable. As a result, I see people no longer being able or willing to step out of their comfort zones. I genuinely believe that good training and development should feel uncomfortable at times if we are to stretch ourselves and learn.
• Limiting beliefs about certain topics or, might I go so far as to talk about indoctrination of the masses by TikTok on certain topics that leads to the oddest of reactions at times! A few of the more common ones include:
  • ‘All managers are bad’
  • ‘All companies are out to get you’
  • ‘Discomfort is bad for our mental wellbeing’
  • ‘Stress should be avoided at all times and causes us harm’

Where to from here? Here’s the plan…

Numerous challenges, very few of which are easily rectified!

From a trainers point of view, I’d suggest both employers and employees, in respect of learning and development have become discombobulated! By that I mean confused, unclear, disconcerted, messed up, out of sorts.

For those who know me, I’m always interested in practical solutions to real problems, so I believe it’s time for a little recombobulation! Getting it back on track, creating clarity and removing uncertainty. Here’s my plan!

Focus on role models

Let every senior person shout from the roof tops when they attend training and share what they are learning. All too often the attitude to training can be traced back to the most senior people in the organisation. There’s always more for senior people to learn and personal development is never wasted time. So don’t let your senior people wriggle and squiggle suggesting they have better things to do with their time!

Engage with your colleagues

Ask for specific reasons they don’t engage or value training opportunities. What can you learn from this and what changes will you introduce as a result?

Focus on professionalism

Set out your standards of behaviour if the understanding of professionalism has gotten a little blurred in your business in recent years. Don’t be afraid to do what is right for the organisation and don’t shy away from clarity and formality. We’re recombobulating, remember!

Focus on responsibility and accountability

Say it as it is. You employ adults so expect to see adult behaviours, which will inevitably include a can do, positive, solution focussed attitude to all things, including personal development.

Address the elephant in the room

Discussions must be had about why everyone insists they are so time poor. Where’s time being wasted? What work is duplicated? What is the root cause of this very real and very modern issue in your workplace? If this is about a leadership style then be forewarned that the Pace Setting Leadership Style if continued for too long will lead to burn out, disengagement and the inevitable loss of valued staff.

And finally, talk about resilience!

Growth and change can be and will be uncomfortable. If we hear something that feels uncomfortable we need to be able to bounce back quickly. If we encounter an obstacle we need to be able to deal with it and move on quickly. If our skills are out of date, we need to accept that and develop new skills. What we’re finding is employees have less resilience than might be expected as a result of too much ‘parenting’  in recent years. We all need to step back and allow adults to behave like adults, as this is the fastest way to build their resilience.

Please do share your thoughts in the comment box below!