In a 2022 survey, one-third of company leaders reported that spending on capability building has increased since 2020 despite other urgent business priorities.
In a similar vein, Kevin Carmody, one of the founders of McKinsey’s Transformation Practice said, ‘To thrive in this fast-changing world, leaders must treat capability building as a strategic weapon.’
Is the L&D in your business plan viewed as a ‘strategic weapon’? Is it taken seriously? Or just something that’s ‘nice’ to offer when you have the time?
As shown above, most business leaders understand that in order innovate and adapt they need to invest in people, and build skills, confidence, and capability. But is what you are paying for delivering the right results?
There are so many multi-faceted pressures on all organisations at present to deliver what is being asked by our shareholders, members, customers, trustees etc. And business leaders know that when the going gets tough, we look to our teams and our people, to rise to the challenge.
A major challenge for many of us is finding and, of course, keeping the right people. Do you have competent managers who know how to get the best out of their team members? Do you know who you need to keep, who your key players are, and which are the ones with the most potential? In addition, do you know who you need to find and recruit to the team?
If you don’t have all the key players in place or are struggling to fill some important gaps, you are not alone. According to the Learning and Work Institute, the skills shortage in the UK, will cost the country £120billion by 2030.*
Are you going to be one of those who lose business because of skills shortages, or one of those not innovating as you haven’t got the team pulling in the right direction? In other words, is some of that £120 billion going to come out of your revenue?
Spending your L&D budget on the things that will build capability
At Jaluch we are fortunate to work across hundreds of organisations and so have the benefit of a ‘helicopter’ view of a full range of people issues including culture, employee engagement, staff development etc. In fact, we have over 20 years’ experience in this area.
At this moment, we recommend organisations pay close attention to the three areas of L&D:
- Digital skills and adaptability
- Resilience and confidence
- Management and leadership skills
Digital skills and adaptability
At a guess, around half of every workforce struggles with change. Some value maintaining the status quo, avoiding change wherever possible. Others have limiting beliefs around their ability to adapt and learn or view any changes initiated by the leadership team with suspicion.
All this resistance can make innovation and growth feel like really hard work, akin to pulling your team up Everest instead of working to scale the mountain together.
Two actions we recommend:
- Developing digital skills may be a huge mental barrier for many, but it’s essential. Try showing how honing digital skills can be fun and rewarding … and life changing even.
- Help your employees understand why they might resist change. Help them understand how our brains can work against us, and how to overcome limiting beliefs.
Resilience and confidence
We are in two minds about where Gen Z are heading in terms of their careers. A world of self-employment or a world of ‘different’ employment? What we do know, is that they are often unsatisfied with what the world of work appears to offer them. They can also lack resilience, especially in relation to feedback, and self-confidence.
But we need Gen Z in our workplaces. For their ideas, fresh thinking, and positive energy, as well as their skill sets around multi-tasking, social media, and all things digital! Of course, many of them are representative of our customer base too.
We recommend you consider how you can develop the resilience and confidence of those who say they struggle with this. Putting energy and resources into this training might just help you retain some great employees who can work with you on your future.
Who can help you think out of the box on this one as your L&D teams probably don’t have prior experience? We will return to this topic in another HR Blast.
Management and leadership skill
You can have 50 amazing people in your team, all with a strong work ethic, great team-working skills and fantastic qualifications but your department will fail in one way or another if those 50 amazing people aren’t managed properly.
Contrary to popular belief, great managers and leaders are developed, they’re not simply born that way.
With 20 years of leadership development under our belt we have observed changing trends, read some great research, and generally been observing and learning as we go. The new buzzword around L&D is ‘blended learning’ but our MD was talking about this to HR Directors in the Middle East as far back as 2010. But perhaps we were ahead of the curve, so have been waiting patiently for our clients to see this as the great approach we know it is!
It’s certainly an important way to get value from your investment in development, so any comprehensive, dynamic leadership programmes should be using it.
So what exactly is blended learning?
Essentially, it means using a range of styles and techniques to ensure content is engaging, impactful and fun. It also has to be delivered in a way that is inclusive of all kinds of learning styles (audio, visual, kinaesthetic), different people (such as those who are neuro diverse, or with limited language skill) and all kinds of culture (eg some cultures prefer more formal learning whilst others prefer more informal learning).
Different formats included within Blended Learning could include eLearning, live online training, webinars, self-study, video/digital, games/gamification, and team activities.
Aside from blended learning, here are our top tips for choosing leadership programmes for modern professional workplaces.
Use technology
Choose a programme that uses the latest, interactive technology to ensure the content is targeted, fast-paced and highly effective. This includes fully realising the potential of virtual reality, to help you reskill and upskill your teams. If this approach feels slightly ahead of the curve for you, remember that developing digital skills in your team can be hugely empowering – both for them and you. There may be a mental barrier for many, but digital skills are essential. Technology will provide you with great analytics too so you can see what your learners are engaging with and what they are not!
Content matters
Remember, it is as much about self-development as it is skills-development. Your teams need to be able to adapt – and get the best from themselves, as well as from those around them. So, choose a comprehensive programme that has a good balance of content – business skills (such as writing a marketing plan), personal/soft skills (effective collaboration, for example), life skills (which could be managing stress and anxiety).
Measuring impact
Any leadership programme you invest in should have an immediate and lasting impact, so you can start to see a return on your investment. That means seeing your employees grow as people, while also gaining the practical skills and business competencies, they will need to make a more meaningful contribution. Digital tools with really help here, but always take time to identify how you will measure success before you begin!
Make it personal
In isolation, eLearning, can be hugely impersonal. It’s often not how learners would choose to learn, but it does have its place in a blended learning programme, but don’t forget the live training too. Choose a programme with small cohorts and experienced trainers. By getting to know each delegate, skilled trainers will then be able to adapt and flex the content to meet their cohort’s individual needs. The programmes themselves should also be flexible to fit around the needs of your business.
Do some research
Before you decide, do your research. Find a programme that is run by a business that is a good culture fit with your own. Don’t be limited by those suppliers who only know your sector (how can you innovate if you don’t invite in new ideas?), or by those with big names or big budgets for advertising and marketing. Look behind the façade for the content and style. Choose wisely.
And finally…
Digital leadership programme teaser…We have an early bird rate for any leaders to sign up for our 12 or 24-month leadership programme beginning January 2023. It includes two topics a month, one eLearning and one live online training plus ‘games’ in between sessions to keep the learning going. An exciting journey at an affordable price for any business ready to develop its people. This is an open course so any number of delegates can be accommodated. Please ask for details.