Learning is a journey, not a destination!

As we become accustomed to continuous transformation in today’s VUCA context, leading organizations are recognizing – not just the value – but the necessity of skilling their workers and investing in L&D. But, where does the learning start and stop? Experts are often asked who is leading by example in today’s transitional world of work, “who’s doing this correctly, and how?”. The answer is, no-one can really say for sure! We are all navigating changes to our working (and personal) lives and, while we haven’t reached a concensus on a singular best practice or model, it’s a great time to experiment, adopt a growth mindset and learn by listening to come up with innovative solutions to today’s challenges. We have to change along with our working world, and learning from the valuable experiences of our peers from different industries, geographies, and levels of management is a great way to enhance your perspective and hone your approach.?

Quickfire Interview with Kunal Srivastava,?

Every fortnight we feature a top, highly-engaged BeNext learner for a quickfire interview on their experience of their program. Here, we speak to Kunal Srivastava, Learning & Development Champion @ Bristlecone | Ex-Birlasoft, who recently took part in the BeNext ‘HR for Start-Ups: Building a Winning Team’ program.?

1. What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today????

Leaders today are having a hard time figuring out how to manage remote the workforce in the new normal. Organizations across the world have been struggling with this and challenges only seem to become more complex. Lack of collaboration between team members has hindered creativity. The work life balance for many employees has taken a hit. Then, there is the fear of COVID which has also led to individuals being impacted adversely. Considering all these factors, being able to ensure productivity and motivation of employees along with achieving organizational goals has been a major talking point. We are seeing that some organizations have already initiated some ‘best practices’ to manage this, however it would vary depending on the industries those organizations are a part of and also the size of those organizations.

2. What is one book, article or podcast on leadership or the world of work you’ve enjoyed recently????

I recently read High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard, which left a deep impression on me. The book focuses on the quest for high performance and how we can become high performers by working on our social and personal habits. This way, we can attain and sustain success. It’s an excellent read for those as well who are striving towards building high performing teams/organizations. Also, it’s a perfect read for leaders (both aspiring and tenured).

3. How has your experience of the BeNext certification program empowered you? ??

The new normal has raised a lot of questions pertaining to HR. The BeNext certification program not only addressed those relevant issues, but also provided a structured and yet flexible approach to how we can solve those issues. Taking a wide array of possibilities into consideration, the program helped me develop a mindset regarding how we look at these challenges and then how we can proceed to resolve them. The program instilled the confidence in me that no matter how complex or uncertain the future of work looks like, we as professionals can always find a way forward.?

4. What have you enjoyed most about the learning journey??

I thoroughly enjoyed our weekly interactions with Ankur Warikoo whose perspective and guidance was highly refreshing! Along with that, the cohort learning ecosystem which BeNext provided added a lot of value. Learning together alongside other industry professionals and having a diverse mix always enhances learning, creativity and makes the whole journey exciting!?

5. What is one innovation that you believe will transform the way we work????

How we define and perceive a “workplace” needs to change if we are to adapt to the external work climate which is changing rapidly every day, especially in the post-COVID world. How digital tools and physical spaces can be combined to create a modern digital workplace will transform the way we work.?

6. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?? ?

The best advice I have received is from my father who has always told me “No matter how challenging life becomes, always keep your physical and mental health as a priority”. Over the last 18 months, this advice has helped me get through some very challenging times, both at work and in my personal life. I’ve come to experience that irrespective of our career progression, if we ignore our own lives, our health, or the people we care about, we would never feel content or remotely happy. So then, what’s the point of doing anything??

Thank you for talking to us! You can connect with Kunal on LinkedIn here.?

What we're doing…

Over the coming weeks, People Matters BeNext is offering a whole suite of Cohort-based certification programs designed to set your skilling strategy on a new trajectory:

The HRBP in the New World of Work - Enroll here?

Women in Leadership: Lead, Influence, Transform – Enroll here

Designing Employee Experience in a Hyrbid World – Enroll here

Webcasts:?

Ahead of the Design Thinking & Agile for HR Teams program (starting this week!), our Virtual Learning and Development Manager, Cindy Scholts, spoke with Zahira Sughra Zainuddin, Head, Group Strategic Business Alliance / Special Projects at Petronas and Kristyn Haywood, Founding Director of People for Success. Here, Cindy, Zahira and Krystyn explore how Agile and Design Thinking can help define the ‘value’ HR brings to an organization, how it can enable a human centric approach, and how the role has expanded to include strategic partners and problem solvers.

In case you missed it, Cindy Scholts also caught up in conversation with Godelieve van Dooren, one of our experts speakers who is contributing on BeNext’s currently-running ‘Building a Culture of Empathy for Productivity & Innovation’ program.

Tune in to this webinar to find out more about how empathy helps build and sustain positive workplace relationships, encourages cooperation and collaboration, and facilitates conflict management. Get tips and advice on how to build, nurture, and grow organizational empathy from the top down and gain some insights into our currently running program.