Aimee's L&D Musings: Building resilience through culture.

For my 3rd LinkedIn article, I wanted to give them a name, and L&D musings seem to be appropriate since I generally get to writing these articles when I get one of those moments of clarity that engages my brain cells. Many times we go about our day, knowing that we know what we are doing, but some other days, we act with more clarity and purpose. Those days are always a win, as they make me see my own progress in this journey I am now on.

Early in my Learning career, I found myself a mentor, as soon as he introduced himself to me, I immediately knew that I had found my mentor match, as his journey was strikingly similar to mine (fast forward that by a few years). We do not have a strict mentorship relationship, but on occasion, I give him a call and share some musings with him, which he reciprocates, I always walk out of those discussions with this renewed sense of purpose and drive! (it is also amazing to find someone who has your best professional interest in mind). I do feel lucky to be surrounded by many mentors (some of whom may not even know that they are mentoring me - but I sure am careful to learn from then what I can) who are all passing some sort of wisdom that I try to pass on through my work in the Learning space.

Well before this turns into an emotional post, let us get to those musings! So, for those of you who have read my other 2 attempts at being an article writing millennial, you already know that I have been actively working in the learning space only for the last 3 years, but in this little span of time, whilst reflecting back on my experiences in this field, I can already see that there has been a gradual shift from those classical approaches of learning, to more focused approaches of bespoke learning solutions which are targetting both organizational and individual needs. Learning is now being seen more strategically attached to business results through talent management. Ensuring the latest trends is important, however, there are many considerations in formulating L&D strategies - starting by understanding learning needs to the return of investment to the business.

I am halfway through my CIPD in L&D, and a recurring thematic that comes to play in many of the topics we discuss is the need to conduct analysis such as PESTLE and SWAT, especially in the face of new circumstances... (at the cost of sounding like a broken record).... due to COVID and how our workforces are now dispersed, this would probably be a good time to do that.

Such workforces also bring into the equation many considerations around wellbeing, collaboration, and the associated tooling. Branding and culture are also important, making sure these are reinforced constantly. Whilst being in the same office has the advantage of behaviors being modeled, this benefit may not be true anymore - and the human elements get easily lost in the translation of the virtual world. With all this going on, how can we ensure that our colleagues can handle so many changing factors in their home life and work-life?

According to recent LinkedIn research,?resilience is now the number one power skill to develop?in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, and Australia (LinkedIn Learning , 2021).

This is not surprising, as it is known that having a resilient workforce benefits organizations in more ways than one. The main points are:

• Colleagues are more motivated
• they are capable of dealing with change
• less susceptible to burnout
• improves overall health
• Better mental health
• Improved performance

Building the case for why you need a resilient workforce is easy. However, actually going about it is another story altogether. Becoming resilient is a very personal journey and requires each individual to go on this voyage with support and self-reflection. Having said this, there is still a lot we can do to grow a resilient culture; where open and honest feedback is common practice, frequent one-to-ones are the norm, and 360 feedback is encouraged. Eliminating the fear of speaking up by using feedback opportunities in discussions with managers as golden opportunities on changing one's mindset and self-talk to a positive growth experience will bring one closer to developing resilience from within.

Reflecting back on my own self-development journey in my working life as well as in my personal life, when I lacked the confidence to speak up about my own personal truth, I drowned in my own negative thoughts. Nowadays, I have surrounded myself with positive and honest mentors, who have guided me through these periods (with a lot of patience I may add) and now I believe to be in a better position to deal with these everchanging circumstances.

If your 2022 learning agenda has resilience on the top of the agenda, taking an honest look at the culture of your organization and whether it is promoting conversations that encourage resilience should definitely be the first thing on your to-do list!

Well, that's is for today! Tune in for the next one! :)