Putting L&D at the center of your post-pandemic strategy will help with developing the core capabilities that help their leaders pivot as needed, and pivot again as new information comes in, as they identify what’s working and what’s not working.
– Larry Clark, managing director of global learning services, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
Larry Clark, managing director of global learning services at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning discusses the ways learning and development (L&D) leaders can chart a course to support a culture of reskilling and upskilling in the coming months. Clark focuses on how to build skills within the workforce that bridges the gap created because of automation.
In this edition of HR Talk, Clark talks about how SMEs and startups can offer some of the on-the-job training and upskilling programs for their employees. He also addresses the measurable impact of providing anti-racist training programs at the workplace and actionable ways for HR leaders to adjust their approach to reskilling during and post-crisis.
Key Takeaways on Bridging Skills Gap and Reskilling the Workplace
- Take some time to understand how the skill profile may have shifted.
- Create a sense of purpose, engagement, and belonging to thrive in chaotic times.
- Navigate complexity, accelerate talent development, and inspire engagement.
Here’s the edited transcript from our exclusive interview with Larry Clark:
1. In the early months of the pandemic, millions of workers were laid off in the U.S., and globally. What are some of the ways learning and development (L&D) leaders can chart a course to support a culture of reskilling and upskilling in the coming months?
The current pandemic has forced L&D to fundamentally rethink their approach, as well as the skill profile they need in roles. On the skill profile, learning teams need to take some time up front to work with business leaders and employees to understand how the skill profile may have shifted for success in key roles. For example, call center employees now working from home may be struggling less with the standard workflows and call scripts, and much more with time and priority management for executing their role without the structure of onsite leadership and camaraderie of peers.
On the approach to learning, I know many learning leaders that have had plans on the shelf to move to increased virtual learning, as well as blended virtual and online learning journeys. It can make learning more of a continuous process embedded in the flow of work. Now is the time to begin to execute against those plans.
Employee engagement and a sense of inclusion are as big a deal for the firm right now as deep learning and L&D is in a great place to support that.
— Larry Clark, managing director of global learning services, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
Finally, L&D can focus more on engagement more communications, more opportunities to learn, and generally just more touches with key audiences. Think “small and many†as you think of driving more learning experiences.
2. Swift developments around new-age technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Machine Learning (ML) and so on, disrupted job roles and the businesses. However, the pandemic forced businesses to adopt automation overnight. Which skills should HR leaders focus on to build within the workforce to be able to overcome the skill gap created due to automation?
The interesting thing about the impact of technology is that, while every company is now really a tech firm, the skills most useful in leading in that environment are the innately human ones.
Empathy, authenticity, grace, and compassion will never come from an algorithm. And yet, based on our research, these are some of the most critical elements of leading in a digital enterprise. At our recent Partners’ Meeting, which brings together more than 300 senior learning leaders from global organizations, we heard one theme loud and clear: Empathy.
That said, there is a massive gap in organizations, especially in business leaders around basic awareness of the critical aspects of technology. These include data and analytics, AI & machine learning, process-enabling technologies, privacy, and cybersecurity, and managing an online brand and market presence.
— Larry Clark, managing director of global learning services, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
HR leaders can work with their business counterparts to develop conversancy in their leaders across these areas, even helping them benchmark with others to see the possibilities.
We are not asking leaders to write code, but they need to understand the digital landscape and use that understanding to inform their decisions. In parallel, HR and L&D need to do the deep work with leaders to embed the emotional intelligence this new workforce demands to create a sense of purpose, engagement and belonging. The two together create the kind of momentum that helps the organization thrive in chaotic times.
Also read: Why Cloud-Based HR Software Is Critical to Navigate the Remote Work Landscape: Q&A With ZingHR
3. SMEs and startups have been the most hit due to the pandemic. How can SMEs and startups realign and reskill their workforce? What are some of the on-the-job training and upskilling programs for their employees?
Startups have an advantage in learning, they run everything based on the premise of rapid, constant change and the need for constant reskilling. The downside is they tend to have less infrastructure and expertise in learning and development. And probably fewer resources to devote to that work. There is plenty of fantastic expertise in the market to help advise these firms and help them focus their learning and upskilling efforts.
Startups should see learning and upskilling as something they continuously embed in the work of their teams, instead of large monolithic programs that can feel separate from the intensity and urgency of a start-up culture.
— Larry Clark, managing director of global learning services, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
4. Anti-racist training has picked up demand considering the #BlackLivesMatter movement for U.S. businesses to confront racism at work. What is the measurable impact of providing such training programs at the workplace? Which industries have benefited the most from anti-racist training programs?
Focusing on diversity and inclusion helps employees thrive and ultimately has a positive impact on your bottom line. For example, a McKinsey & Company studyOpens a new window of 1,000 companies from 12 countries shows a correlation of diversity and inclusion with financial performance, specifically profitability.
The same survey also found that employees are 30% more likely to feel that their innovative potential is unblocked at an inclusive organization. Teams with inclusive leaders are also 29% more likely to report behaving collaboratively and 20% more likely to report making high-quality decisions.
— Larry Clark, managing director of global learning services, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
Having a diverse and inclusive workforce can also be a differentiator in talent retention and acquisition, as 86% of Gen Z and millennialsOpens a new window say that a company’s concrete commitment to workplace diversity affects their decision to work there.
Also read: How Schneider Electric Is Reinventing Employee Well-Being in the Workplace: Q&A
5. What new challenges have emerged for C-suite to consider for the future of work? Will it help to have a chief learning and development officer to advocate for the pandemic-changed skill needs of employees? In what measurable ways, have HR leaders adjusted their approach to reskilling during and post-crisis?
The new challenge that has emerged for the C-suite is that the need for agility, the need to respond to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It can happen even faster than we’d imagine, which requires responses in real time. And what we are finding as we come out of this crisis that we have a crisis in leadership on our hands, our leaders don’t have the skills they need to navigate that kind of a world effectively, or manage their teams to do so.
Putting L&D at the center of your post-pandemic strategy will help with developing the core capabilities that help the leaders pivot as needed, and pivot again as new information comes in, as they identify what’s working and what’s not working.
Equipping leaders with these capabilities will enable them to drive performance and prepare for a future that will be perpetually undergoing rapid change.
— Larry Clark, managing director of global learning services, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
One such example of putting this into practice was done by Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Through its LEAD (Learn, Engage, Achieve, Deliver) programOpens a new window , the hospital focused on agility, resilience, networking across silos and dealing with complexity and rapid change, which are skills that are not often used in the field of academic medicine. These skills became critical during the coronavirus crisis, as physicians in the program had to adapt on the fly in order to treat a new set of complications that had emerged among children who were diagnosed with COVID-19. Similarly, another physician had to quickly transition from working in the neonatal unit to the COVID ICU.
Also read: 15 Tips to Hire Talent Post the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
6. What trends do you see in the reskilling and upskilling space in 2021 that SMBs and startups should know about?
Ensuring the workforce has the right skills they need to thrive in the current environment should always be at the top of the list when it comes to reskilling and upskilling. While digital skills are undeniably important, leadership skills, such as navigating complexity, accelerating talent development and inspiring engagement, hold the key to unlocking the skills needed for real innovation and change. Following that, L&D leaders should focus on skills needed to drive business transformation, create a leadership pipeline, and foster a culture of learning. By honing these skills, companies will be able to more easily adapt to the technological changes that come in the months ahead.
About Larry ClarkOpens a new window
Larry Clark is the managing director of global learning services at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. He oversees all solution delivery and support services for Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning’s client engagements globally, with a focus on driving learning design innovation and bringing Harvard’s most current research in leadership and management to client solutions. His background includes more than 25 years of experience in learning design.
About Harvard Business Publishing Corporate LearningOpens a new window
With more than 25 years of success delivering dynamic learning experiences to the world’s biggest brands, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning partners with Global 2000 companies to co-create leadership-development solutions that align with strategy and engage learners. The company combines unrivaled subject-matter expertise and scale with unmatched flexibility and contextualization to bring the right programs to the right learners in the most useful ways.
About HR Talk
HR Talk is an interview series that features top people and talent leaders from HR tech and Fortune 500 companies who are redefining the future of work. Join us as we talk to these HR tech and people analytics experts to get in-depth insights, and some pro-tips on how HR tech can best work for you and your people.
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