Learning in a Crisis – Why we should be doing more NOT less!
In any crisis situation, whether it be financial, disaster or pandemic as we’re currently experiencing, one of the first investments which often takes a back seat is people development. Why? Well to some organisations it’s seen as non-essential, not a top priority - something that can wait until the sun is shining again - another cost which can be saved. Admittedly in the first few days and weeks of a firefight I would tend to agree, but it’s very easy during this challenging and often chaotic period to lose sight of your most important asset which is the competence of your team.
Some of you might argue, well he’s bound to say that if he works for a learning organisation. True, but I have worked on both sides of the fence both as a supplier and as a client of Learning & Development services. Therefore, I recognise the importance of continuity when it comes to your people development strategy. Why, because it has a direct impact on how quickly you will recover from this economic downturn and hit the ground running again when it all finally ends…
Big 5 tips
1. The show must go on…
The first thing to remember is that learning should continue to take place in your organisation, albeit it in different guises. The majority of people are working from home now so it takes real skill to lead and coach them remotely. Most managers have never done it before, so they need to learn quickly how to do this effectively. The business benefit here is continuity – you want to achieve a seamless transition from office-based to home-based working. If managers don’t have the skills it can very easily all fall apart. You should make it a priority to develop your management team quickly so they are in a position to maximise the output and performance of your staff.
2. Learning – but not as we know it!
In the current situation we don’t have the option (or some might say luxury) of traditional instructor-led and classroom-based learning, and that’s no bad thing at all. It just means we need to be more creative in engaging our audience and find new methods to improve their skills. By no means should these techniques be seen as a poor relation or second best. In fact, remote coaching, whether that’s for teams or individuals, is an extremely powerful tool and addresses business challenges immediately in minutes rather than the days or weeks which some courses might take. Ask any senior executive who employs a coach about the power and impact of short coaching conversations and you’ll understand what I mean. Look at your key business priorities and consider how they could be solved promptly and effectively through remote coaching.
3. Employee Engagement
Another important factor in all of this is your employees' commitment to the cause. If they don’t continue to have developmental opportunities there is a huge risk they can feel ignored and disconnected with the organisation. This can cause harmful, long-term damage to your business culture which no amount of future effort and investment can recover. Think of it like the maintenance of a car or a piece of important machinery. You might think that because things are running OK that you can afford to miss a few interim services. It’s only later on down the line that you start to see the impact of that short-term neglect. In fact, you should view the current situation quite the opposite - people actually need MORE attention and development at this time, NOT less!
4. It matters to the people who matter
Of course, a factor directly related to employee engagement is customer satisfaction. The obvious connection here (Service-Profit Chain) is that if your level of employee engagement wains then it is bound to transmit to your customers and result in a decline in their satisfaction. There is another factor to remember here though…customers are extremely sensitive to your organisation’s culture values and image. After all it’s what sub-consciously attracts them to your company in the first place. It is your biggest attractor but can be your biggest detractor if you get it wrong. If customer see you are investing in your people, they see it as an investment in them also, because you are largely doing the opposite of what they expect. It’s great PR to be able to say that in these troubled times you are putting your staff first and investing in them rather than cutting costs like most other businesses.
5. Make hay before the sun shines…
Last but not least we need to remember that the current crisis isn’t going to last forever. One day (hopefully in the not too distant future) we are going to return to some level of “normality”. This “normality” however might be very different to what the world looks like now. For those organisations that are fortunate enough to still be in business, your staff will need to adapt to new ways of working. Don’t wait until it’s too late, be pro-active and prepare them for that day NOW.! Those organisations that are ready and can hit the ground running will be the ones that achieve lasting future success and recover fully from this crisis. There is a great quote by Charles Darwin which says…
“It is not the most intellectual or the strongest of species that survives; but the species that is able to adapt to and adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”
Carl Gregory is Head of Client Engagement for The OCM Group. He is an expert in leadership, behavioural change and organisational culture with a proven track record of helping companies increase their productivity and profitability.
The OCM Group are coaching and mentoring specialists who use this expertise to support our clients achieve their strategic goals. We don’t offer generic leadership, innovation or change programmes but instead identify and build the leadership capabilities required to achieve strategic goals through innovative coaching and mentoring programmes.