The Evolving Landscape of Talent Development: Adapting to Changing Workforce Demands
Kanwarpriya Khanna, Director - HR, Aon, in interaction with Higher Education Review, shared her views on how organizations leverage tools to enhance talent development, strategies organizations should implement to foster a culture of lifelong learning, how organizations adapt their talent development initiatives and more. She has over two decades of experience in the field of Human Resources. Kanwarpriya is SHRM-SCP and MHFA certified, and is currently pursuing her second MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur focusing on her commitment to continuous development.
The ongoing digital transformation has reshaped business models across industries. How are organizations leveraging digital tools and platforms to enhance talent development and create more effective learning environments?
Rapid technological advances are reshaping the world of work, bringing new efficiencies, accelerated innovation and new products and services. However, this also brings new challenges, like whether our workforce is future-ready with the desired skills. As per the McKinsey report, most CEOs are noticing employee skill gaps. Despite this, many HR leaders do not have a strategy to cater to the same. Due to this, organizations nowadays struggle to build capability in new-age areas. It is critical to know the skills of the future and how roles will evolve in the future with rapid changes in technology. TD professionals must work closely with the businesses to identify those skills and start building for the future TODAY!. digital tools and platforms play a crucial role in this!
Organizations are implementing cloud-based learning management systems, or LMS, that offer flexible and scalable training solutions. The platforms enable the delivery of learning materials, nurturing a culture of continuous learning. Besides, there is immersive technology like virtual reality or augmented reality, which further helps enhance engagement. There is also a lot of focus on data-driven insights. Advanced analytics and AI personalize learning experiences by analyzing employee performance data, the skill sets required for the role, how they are faring against those, etc. More importantly, digital tools powered by AI allows companies to customize training programs based on individuals' needs, offering real-time feedback and adjustments to learning paths. Several collaboration tools are also available nowadays that facilitate communities' practice and foster social learning. In addition, micro-learning’s or bite-sized learning’s are focused training modules that improve retention while fitting into everyone's busy schedule.
With the growing trend of remote and hybrid work models, how has talent development adapted to ensure that employees are engaged, productive, and continue to grow professionally in these environments?
The hybrid and remote working environment is here to stay, and the emergence of remote and hybrid working models has impacted all functions and processes, including talent development. Nowadays, companies are implementing several approaches to address this; for instance, they are emphasizing continuous learning by offering access to online training resources and development programs, which include flexible schedules for employees to engage in skill-specific courses, webinars, and industry articles that cater to their different learning styles and needs.
Moreover, virtual onboarding and mentorship programs allow newer employees to feel a sense of belonging and emotional attachment to the organization or the employees. Effective remote onboarding programs are crucial for integrating them into the organization. Companies are adopting virtual orientations and mentorship programs that facilitate connections between new and tenured employees, helping them assimilate the corporate culture faster. In fact, our organization has a first-year journey of new employees mapped digitally for them.
Organizations are also shifting their focus from traditional productivity metrics to outcome-based assessments. We encourage quarterly development-focused check-ins with our employees to track how they are progressing on their development goals. And it's not just all about performance all the time; it's also a lot of focus on development. And creating a positive remote culture is vital for employee retention. To sustain the emotional commitment with the organisations, virtual team-building activities help tackle feelings of isolation and strengthen team dynamics.
In your opinion, what are the key drivers behind the changing expectations of the modern workforce, and how should organizations adapt their talent development initiatives accordingly?
In this highly complex business environment, things are changing faster than we would expect them to be. Employees are expecting flexible work arrangements to accommodate their personal lives and well-being. There is also a lot of emphasis on diversity and inclusion. The current workforce is more different than ever, and they look for an environment that values differences and promotes equitable practices. As per a report I was reading, one of the top three drivers that matter to all generations were focused on development. It was consistently amongst the top three, irrespective of the year or generation. Employees want access to continuous learning resources, mentorship programs and career development initiatives that empower them to enhance their skills and advance in their careers.
As digital natives enter the workforce, expectations for seamless technology integration have risen. There is an emerging demand for regular feedback and recognition from employees who want to understand their performance, receive constructive criticism, and be acknowledged for their contributions to foster engagement and motivation. It has an impact on talent development initiatives, it is crucial to invest in continuous learning, providing access to learning anytime and anywhere and creating regular touch points for feedback and recognition, allowing employees to understand their performance better while appreciating their efforts and have a variety of learning offerings with more focus on experiential learning, focusing on the 70-20-10 learning model.
Given the growing importance of continuous learning, what strategies can organizations implement to foster a culture of lifelong learning and skill development within their teams?
Its very important for organizations to foster a culture of lifelong learning and there is a lot one can do for that. First and foremost is to establish continuous learning as a core value. It is vital that organizations should prioritize learning as a fundamental value which can be achieved by incorporating learning goals into performance reviews. For instance, one of the EVP pillars of our organization is that our colleagues are more relevant and that makes our job even more important and we have to live up to it every day. And that’s the first step to Fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptability – to make it part of our way of operating through its EVP. For us PUSH strategy doesn’t work, we focus on a PULL approach, and it’s a delight to see our sessions being overbooked everytime we roll any offering. That PULL approach is the culture of learning that I am really proud of in my organization. What has worked best for me is to have a communication strategy linked to the learning strategy. The more you talk about the initiatives, others sharing their stories of how learning interventions have helped them. We do road shows, training fairs, success and even failure storytelling through speed mentoring sessions.
In addition, customizing learning experiences to individual employee needs assistance, maintain motivation and engagement. Companies can support personalized plans that include a mix of formal training on the job experience and self-directed learning opportunities. We have something to offer to everyone – be is an individual contributor, a people leader, key talent etc. When you personalize and cater to individual needs, PULL factor takes over!
Most importantly, commitment to continuous learning starts from the top leadership, ensuring that sufficient resources, including dedicated budgets, time allocation, and access to relevant tools and platforms, are provided to support continuous learning initiatives.
How do you see talent development evolving in the coming years within organizations? What strategies or initiatives should be implemented to effectively prepare for the workforce needs of the future?
Talent development professionals are being looked at as champions for leading the organization's build strategy instead of a buying strategy. Role of Talent Development will continue to evolve – it will be about future skills and not upskilling or reskilling anymore, development of a CrossFit talent capable of adapting across various roles would be the key, and to effectively prepare for the workforce requirements of the future, companies should think about some of these things - For instance, employing predictive analytics to predict future talent requirements, finding skill gaps, informing proactive recruitment and training strategies and developing comprehensive learning frameworks by creating structured yet flexible learning frameworks that enable employees to pursue customized learning paths aligned with their careers.
Also, by investing in technology-driven solutions and implementing AI-powered platforms that facilitate personalized employee experience, from recruitment through career development. Promoting DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), ensuring that talent development initiatives are inclusive and accessible to all employees, and fostering a diverse workforce that reflects various perspectives.
