The onset (and after-effects) of COVID19 sent shock waves through the workforce. Individuals (and the companies for whom they work) were literally forced to adopt technical transformation overnight. Most organizations with remote job functions (sales, consulting, training) had an existing inventory of technology (web conferencing, CRM, LMS & performance-based technology) installed. The question became how to utilize said technology more-effectively and how to reskill the formally reluctant in the workforce to embrace the new normal.
So as of March 2020, organizations have had to to embrace two new realities:
- What technology do I have/need and how can it be utilized?
- How can I help the workforce get up-to-speed with whiplash intensity?
Organizational Development Professionals have partnered with HRIS teams to execute a digital plan that (somewhat) replicates what was. Thus, creating a renewed focus on training, engagement and adaptation. Technical Roadmaps to 2022 suddenly sped up to Q1 2020. Organizations had to pivot to maintain operational grace (as did their employees).
Change can be difficult to embrace until you have to.....
Reskilling The Workforce
In the past, Training Professionals have left remote locations wondering if they had effected change. As of St Patrick's Day, those tables have drastically turned. Now, employees are seeing voluntary programs becoming mandatory.
We've seen field staff professionals who thrived on charm now called upon to share subject matter expertise. Customers who were flattered by donut deliveries are now asking for value-added consulting and according product-development. Management teams can no longer allow tenured employees to maintain neutral comfort.
Tough times call for budget management and tenure alone is not a skill set.
The New Roadmap
Our technical teams are now inventorying the technology stack to create a simple and engaging employee experience.
(easier said than done)
Employees need an easy-to-access one-stop-shop to locate necessary technology and learn how to use it. Help desks are crashing with requests for information, learning management systems can no longer sit dormant and budgets for pizza parties are now being allocated to reward performance.
So how can you bring employees up-to-speed without having to reinvent your human capital management technology stack?
1. Create a Simplified Employee Profile
If you have an intranet landing page, you can create an employee profile. Then, create pathways to your essential employee technologies through single-source entry points.
Here, employees have streamlined access to all essential systems. Creating this middleware is easier than you might think.
2. Integrate Systems
Each day we all pull up 3 to 5 sites that consume our daily organizational habits. CRM, LMS, Recognition System, Performance Management.....
By developing a strategy that combines the use of these systems, employees will create a self-imposed efficiency flow.
But how do we keep employees systematically engaged?
3. Develop a Points System
Intrinsic motivation through badging and social feeds will keep employees on a path to success, but how do we measure results?
By integrating technologies per the above, you can create a connected points system to gage participation and reward success. Now, employees will have a lens into how their behavioral modeling (learning and recognition) ties into quantitative progress (performance management and metric results).
No one can connect a silver lining to the intense disappointment of 2020. However, those who have adapted have learned to endure. What's more, the adaptations made out of necessity during COVID will sustain success.
Organizations can save money by downsizing physical offices. Employee mental health will be strengthened by limiting commute time. Organizational efficiencies adapted during work from home mandates will serve as long term techniques to measure individual success.
The sun will shine on us all again soon. While we're stuck inside, we might as well develop tools to make the future more manageable.
Thank You for Reading,
Dave
