Chaos

#learninganddevelopment #selfleadership #skillsdevelopment #toptalentmanagement

As the year slowly comes to a start (really slowly), I, as everyone else, am trying to put together my strategy for the year. What one does in this situation, is read market research, job trends, future job skill demands (as if anyone would be able to see the future) and try to synthesise the information into one usable package, that one can offer as a service. So far, for this year, what I put together is: chaos. Bosses want people back at work, but people don’t want to go back to the office. One states it is bad for creativity, others argue, that it is not. Bottom line seems to be in most cases, that what the boss wants, the boss gets, since after the great resignation we are now living the era of massive layoffs. So while a year ago employees had the upper hand, and everyone was oh so happy to accommodate flexible working conditions, the truths seems to surface, and the “old as time” strategy of feeding on people’s fears is taking lead again. And since we all know, what a beneficial effect fear has on creativity, we try to even it out somehow, to keep business running as a well-oiled, highly efficient machine.

So, how is this good for business? What can we do, to get ourselves out of this Mexican standoff, in which both sides only have to lose.?

When looking at the reports of the leading learning and development platforms, it’s clear digital skills are gaining market <image src=”Homes Simpson slapping his forehead saying D’oh ”>. I don’t really like to question the validity of these reports, since I imagine if people/organisations spend that much time, effort and money in generating such papers, there must be some truth behind it, and it’s not just an overpriced sales pitch. BUT! I must say, that at some points I had to laugh out loud! Apparently, in 2023, new to the list are skills that blend technical expertise and management skills. Really? How did we do this before? On the other hand, most important human skill (this is what we call them nowadays…) is storytelling. Again, really? I mean if you are just now starting to think of blending technical knowledge with management skills, you might need good storytellers, that is true. There is always a need for a good story of why are cars bursting into flames on the roads, and planes falling out of the sky… Right? Wrong!

Independent of what might be the actually required skill for a specific organisation, there seems to be another component to our Mexican standoff. Where do these skills come from, and where are they developed? Apparently, most organisations are transitioning towards skill based hiring and selection. This is all good and well, and this should put a strategic focus on skills development in any organisation. However, according to the same report, only 5% of the leaders think they are investing enough in developing the skills of their employees, to make them fit for the challenges of the changing markets. The immediate response seems to be budget costs, layoffs and hiring freeze. So we don’t invest in developing talent, we don’t invest in onboarding new talent. What do we do then? Keep our fingers crossed and trust in regression to the mean.?

The third component of the standoff that seems to be keeping us in this state of prolonged hibernation is responsibility. Who’s responsibility is it, to develop the skills required to make an organisation more efficient? There seems to be a big rant on all professional forums between employees and employers, each pointing the finger at the other one, as responsible to the why we are not able to do a proper job… Managers stating, that if employees do not have a developed sense for time management all is wasted, while on the other side employees complain about superhuman efforts required to meet deadlines, etc… We all know time expands to the size of the task we have to do. Sharpening a pencil for 8 hours can seem a stretch for some, but only to those who do not appreciate the perfection of it, right??

While it might seem, that there is no good resolution to this conflict and the perception of reality is relative on both sides, I would start by asking some very simple questions:

— when you wake up in the morning, do you have one fixed goal, that you actually reach during the day?

— when you promise yourself to exercise, do you do it?

— do you do your dishes before going to bed?

?— did you cross-off more items from your to-do list than you put on it?

— did you actually have lunch, instead of skipping it for a meeting?

— is the company strategy in line with the values that you expect your employees to live by?

— is your home at least as clean/organised/pleasant as you expect public spaces and offices to be?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, you don’t have an employee/employer issue, whichever side of the table you might be sitting on, you have a self-management issue. And to be even more precise, because many think managing is something you can do by the book, by learning some new tools, I will redefine the term to self-leadership. This should be your top skill to develop in 2023 and more so, probably for the rest of your life.

If one knows what to do, is able to set up healthy boundaries and within a set timeframe (that can be relative) is able to do the tasks planned, not much can go wrong. The boundaries are there to safeguard, that not more goes in than what can be processed. To be able to practice this with consistency, all we need to do is set up work triads. Where one is giving feedback, to calibrate the others. We all know, that behaviour changes are more successful, if they are in the center of someone else’s attention. If we are all aware and conscious about the changes we want to achieve (as individuals or as organisations), all we need to do is invest small amounts of effort, and with consistency in behaviour and accepting critical feedback, we will slowly start moving forward.

Start downsizing chaos by practicing self-leadership, and move yourself forward step by step. Investing in one person will raise the entire organisation. Drop by drop, may that be company investment or personal investment. What you already put in, cannot be taken out anymore.?

Successful organisations will be those, who place talent effectively in the right position, are constantly focusing on retaining their top talents and are helping individuals in the organisation grow and develop.?

There is no organisational development, without individual development.?