Last week I was really excited to attend the #CIPD Annual Conference. In the run up I got thinking about how important learning is generally but particularly during the pandemic.
Normally training budgets are one of the first things to get cut when times are tough but it’s different this time – indications are that learning activity has actually increased, albeit in different forms.
Some of this learning has been in response to changes to the way we deliver our products and services to customers, some to accommodate changes in the way we work and communicate with each other but many people, and organisations, have used learning as a way to manage stress and maintain mental health.
Mind, the mental health charity, advocates learning as having a “positive impact on maintaining and improving our mental health and wellbeing”:
• Increasing self esteem
• Encouraging social interaction
• Giving us a sense of hope and purpose
• Helping us cope with stress (and anxiety)
These are all good reasons to make learning part of our COVID recovery strategy, and beyond – it’s essential to ensure people feel supported, are healthy and have the right capabilities so that our businesses are able to adapt.
So what’s all this got to do with being more human?
Learning how to be more human was a theme I picked up from the conference – people were talking about this before the pandemic but a lot more people are talking about it now and they are not “just in HR”.
Why does it matter?
1. To your Employees
We’re expecting a lot from our people at the moment, at a time when their mental and physical health is being challenged. Employees will do only their best for people they trust. Employees are more likely to trust employers that show their human side, support and care for their people, treat them as individuals and those organisations are proving to be more resilient and adaptable to the pressures of the pandemic.
2. To your Customers
Customer demand and behaviour has changed during the pandemic and that’s impacting many organisations. What seems fairly consistent right now however is that customers are missing and craving for more personal connection – to keep them happy we need to adapt our services and the way we provide them to include more opportunities to provide that human touch.
3. To your Business
The sand is shifting quicker than ever during this pandemic – businesses need to be agile to keep up. Traditionally we’ve required people to work to a standard process (breaking ‘jobs’ in to smaller parts) and follow specific systems and rules so at the end all the parts ‘fit’ together. Applying this methodology to the complex services and products we offer now would mean that problems left to the end are too big and costly to put right! Organisations with more agile ways of working, put people first, making it easier, quicker and less costly to adapt and change.
There’s never been a more important time for businesses to learn how to be more human – your actions today will impact current performance and influence how employee and customers see you after the pandemic.