Employee Training For Change Management
As an L&D professional, you play a critical role in supporting employee resiliency. Employee training and development programs, at an organizational level, develop the competencies and capabilities needed for teams to successfully meet the demands of change. Learning programs are also an investment into the flexibility, growth, and resiliency of employees, who, in turn, create the competitive advantage that drives successful outcomes.
How? Learning programs are vital for upskilling your talent, developing cross-functional teams, managing change, and succession planning. Effective employee trainings not only help employees to become more valuable and successful in day-to-day operations; they also inspire team buy-in and motivation and support collaboration. Providing the right employee training and development programs demonstrates the company commitment to internal advancement pathways to leadership roles and overall investment in employees.
Let’s go further in depth to discuss the three main areas in which employee training programs may be used to enhance employee resiliency—for individual employees, teams, and the organization as a whole.
How To Boost Employee Resiliency
Upskilling
According to a recent LinkedIn Learning report, skillsets for jobs have changed by 25% since 2015. By 2027, that number is expected to double. Learning opportunities for employees help them to become engaged and resilient by providing opportunities to excel, and provide pathways for development to meet changing job roles and responsibilities.
To design successful upskilling courses, consider creating skills matrices for internal job roles. Your goal should be to link performance behaviors with desired outcomes so that you may provide learning experiences targeted to providing the skills needed to improve performance. That, in turn, will lead to the targeted organizational outcomes.
Once you’ve completed a needs analysis with performance mapping as a foundation, you’ll have a clearer path to design the right training to meet your point of need. L&D teams may use this information to develop streamlined, skills-oriented internal training modules for employee development that build both competencies as well as capabilities.
For example, these training modules may cover specific processes, use of technologies, existing and newly updated compliance topics, interpersonal skills to improve communication, and critical thinking for employees tasked with more complicated decision-making roles.
Cross-Skilling
Internal mobility—both upward and lateral, in some cases—is a valuable motivator for employees that want to remain relevant during change and continue their career growth.
It is useful to design cross-skilling modules for hands-on learning on the job (OTJ) to develop cross-functional teams that collaborate more effectively. Having available resources as well as increased internal collaboration are both powerful strategies to enhance employee learning, performance, and increase engagement. Use of microlearning modules, videos, and internal reference guides can help employees find time in their busy schedules to learn new skills, as well as provide opportunities to get help quickly to answer lingering questions as they perform new duties for the first (or even second) time. This can contribute to a more cohesive culture and more positive attitudes overall.
It also reduces seat time spent in traditional training, as your team can use the resources on the job, as part of asynchronous training blended into their workday as it fits, and in more traditional sessions and seminars with blended learning resources.
Leadership Training
Did you know most managers have no leadership training for the first decade? That’s according to recent reports compiled by Harvard Business School researchers. But challenges in delegating, communicating effectively, and thinking like a leader can not only hinder progress but put a strain on the whole team. You need adaptive leadership equipped with the leadership skills they need to:
- Think critically
- Adapt to changing conditions
- Communicate effectively
- Provide clear feedback and direction
Internal training that empowers leadership with the skills they need to successfully lead teams through change is a potent strategy to increase resiliency.
Other interpersonal skills are needed to develop the emotional maturity that will empower them with empathy and self-awareness. These skills increase trust and collaboration and support cohesive team environments.
Conclusion
In this era of rapid technological advancement, shifting markets, and continual change, organizations can improve resiliency, agility, and flexibility with learning programs that create the conditions for success. The use of internal upskilling and cross-skilling programs is vital for the development of employees and succession planning. Leadership training provides the skills necessary for frontline managers and higher-level leadership to successfully guide teams to improved performance and through times of transition.
