Managers Must Focus on Rebuilding Organisation-Wide Erosion of Social Skills: Kavita Kurup, UST

Kavita Kurup, Global Head HR, UST shares how the organisation tackled COVID-19 by shifting to remote work, boosting employee morale and safety, offering skilling opportunities, and predicting HR experiments for 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges for companies across the globe, and we were no exception. With the shift to remote work and the economic uncertainty, we had to quickly strategise and pivot to what we had then called the “New Normal” to support our employees and customers. 

Some of the key challenges we faced were:

• Ensuring employee’s health and safety wherever they were
• Trying to keep employee morale up 
• Tackling the sudden onset of pervasive fatigue and burnout
• Keeping our learning culture alive 
• Doing all this without human interaction. 

Given that technology is ever-evolving, our employees must constantly learn, unlearn, and relearn while upskilling to the latest technology to stay relevant. The only solution to enable our employees to stay ahead of the curve during the pandemic, was to switch from hybrid learning to 100% digital learning. 

Learning & Development Hurdles

Our people were not aligned to learning digitally as we have a global workforce and our sessions allow associates to choose the way they learn – either attend a classroom session, be part of a virtual instructor-led session, interact with a leader, or use our world-class digital content and learn. The lack of human interaction was a challenge for us initially, however, thanks to our collaborative tools like Zoom, Teams, and Skype our employees have managed to adapt. In fact, at any given point in time, 65% of our workforce is in continuous learning journeys. 

The feedback received on wellness initiatives from the employees was extremely positive and showed us that we were moving in the right direction. 77% agreed they felt less stressed, and 83% agreed they were more present during the day, 83% felt that they react to challenging conversations and situations better, 71% felt they are more compassionate and patient with others and 60% agreed that they found it easier to wind down at the end of the day and got better quality sleep.

We also made shifts to ensure our learners continued skilling opportunities to stay ahead of the curve. 

Three shifts that we made were:

1. Training to learn
2. Organisation-managed training to self-motivated learning.
3. Event-based learning to continuously learn, unlearn and re-learn

Irrespective of the environment, associates can stay abreast of changes and stay relevant. We curated multiple learning paths and programs for employees to develop depth in particular/multiple technologies while understanding the breadth so that they understand technology as a function and its associated domains.

Another facet that emerged was the introduction of “live” sessions that brought the nuance of facilitator-led learning, albeit in a virtual environment. Leader messages that were recorded and incorporated into learning interventions, communications and engagement activities also helped us meet these challenges.

Experimenting with HR in 2022: 4 Key Aspects

1. Increased focus on investment in employee wellness and wellbeing

From offering time off for those who tested positive to organising vaccination drives at our campus and tying up with hospitals for vaccinations for our associates and their families, we ensured our employees’ health and well-being were our first priority. 

One of the challenges of the pandemic was keeping employee morale up while tackling the sudden onset of pervasive fatigue and burnout. 

To address this:

• We organised wellness interventions and physical health through workshops on healthy food. 
• Several webinars were conducted on various topics like Covid 19 preparedness. 
• We also partnered with a wellness platform that saw participation from employees who wished to meditate and focus during the day and had difficulty winding down at the end. 

The feedback received from the employees was extremely positive and showed us that we were moving in the right direction. 77% agreed they felt less stressed, and 83% agreed they were more present during the day, 83% felt that they react to challenging conversations and situations better, 71% felt they are more compassionate and patient with others and 60% agreed that they found it easier to wind down at the end of the day and got better quality sleep.

2. Availability of skilled talent at scale

The pandemic has accelerated businesses to fast-track into being digital. 

The organisation had a lot of projects to enable digital capabilities for the customers. The requirement for a large pool of skilled resources was critical to delivering the digital promise to the customers. 

The learning team successfully designed and deployed digital learning programs to enable about 2000+ graduates to fill the bottom of the pyramid. These graduates, with intense learning, were able to work on cutting-edge technologies. 

For E.g., Java Full Stack Developers, Site Reliability Engineers, and DevOps engineers successfully. This helped the organisation to scale its operations and improve its margins by 200 bps. 

3. Successful management of projects

Skilled project managers are a critical need to run projects successfully. The dual mandate was to have world-class PM (project management) skills and the organisation’s context to be successful. 

To cater to this need, the Talent Development function specially designed a program for PM capability development for aspiring and existing PMs. 

The multi-modal learning journey had components such as: 

• World-class content providers to learn the aspects of PM concepts 
• Industry certification support (Scrum Master, SAFe Specialist, PMP, Prince-2 etc.) 
• Webinars from Practitioners providing the organisation’s context.

Upon successfully completing their learning, these associates were considered for future PM opportunities, thus reducing the dependency on hiring from the market. Our external vs internal order fulfilment ratio improved from 65:35 to 55:45.

4. Future-ready Workforce 

Technological advancement exerts pressure on the organisation differently. For example:

• There is a constant need to reskill our workforce and eliminate technology obsolescence. 
• Our customers are fast-tracking into digital and adopting multiple new technologies. This means that associates must acquire new skillsets that augment their current skills to deliver projects successfully. 
• The Talent Development function identifies the future skills working with the talent supply chain and provides appropriate learning interventions for the associates. 
• Modern workplace learning principles were applied to build meaningful learning paths for associates to upskill. 
• Multi-modal learning journeys helped associates learn at their pace and convenience. Long breaks from work are a thing of the past. 

2023 predictions

            1. Restructured hiring models

One of the shifts will be from quiet quitting to quiet hiring, wherein the organisation will focus on fulfilling their talent requirements through internal talent refresh and deployment and focusing more on alternate workforce models like a gig, crowd workers, contractors etc.

           2. Going beyond wellness

Organisations will have to go beyond wellness and provide healing. One of the biggest catastrophes the pandemic brought us was unwitnessed grief. Having a witness is crucial in healing from the emotional turmoil and trauma that come with grief and mourning after losing a loved one. Without a witness, there is a lack of closure which can exacerbate the pain of the loss. 

          3. Revamping social skills

Managers must focus on rebuilding the organisation-wide erosion of social skills. In conjunction with balancing teams’ expectations around hyper flexibility and growth opportunities with productivity pressures from senior leaders, this will further widen the managerial capability gap.

Upon successfully completing their learning, these associates were considered for future PM opportunities, thus reducing the dependency on hiring from the market. Our external vs internal order fulfilment ratio improved from 65:35 to 55:45.

Tips to land a dream job in 2023 

To increase their chances of landing their dream job in 2023, candidates should remember the following aspects:

• Keep abreast of the latest developments in their fields. Continuous learning and relearning are the keys to this. 
• Build their online presence, and ensure that they have an updated LinkedIn profile and that their accomplishments are clearly reflected.
• Network and build professional relationships to help them land their dream jobs
• Continue to stay authentic to themselves and their resume. The individual’s credibility is key as we explore the future of work in its latest avatar. 
• Although technical skills remain indispensable for thriving in numerous job roles, candidates must frequently undergo retraining to keep up with the rapidly advancing technology.
• Employers have begun to recognise that human skills, also known as power skills, are the key competencies that aid individuals in staying relevant and adaptable in the long run. 

Business cycles prep for hiring and slowdowns in 2023

In short, companies need to adopt a proactive and strategic approach to workforce planning. In contrast, candidates need to focus on continuous self-development and improvement along with building a robust professional network to prepare for business cycles of hiring and slowdowns in 2023. 

What companies/organisations can do to prepare:

1. Analyse and ascertain the workforce needs

A thorough analysis of the workforce needs should be conducted, including inputs from businesses, identifying specific skills and competencies that will be required not just in 2023 but in the coming years, and assessing the current workforce to determine if there are any gaps.

         2. Develop a comprehensive workforce plan and leverage technology 

The plan should outline the organisation’s hiring and retention strategies for the year ahead. This plan should consider short-term and long-term business objectives and be flexible enough to adjust to changing market conditions. 

By using technology such as data analytics, companies can gain valuable insights into their workforce and make informed decisions about hiring and retention. This can help companies manage their workforce more efficiently and effectively

        3. Invest in employee learning and development

Organisations should prioritise learning interventions and programs that help build in-demand skills such as digital literacy, data analysis, and leadership development to stay ahead of the curve and weather any uncertainty brought by business cycles.

In addition to continuously updating core domain knowledge, these efforts will ensure that the organisation remains competitive and adaptable to the market’s changing demands. Continuous learning and skilling are imperative to build a skilled, relevant, and adaptable workforce.

Prepping tips for candidates:

• Focus on building in-demand skills and develop a diversified skillset 

Candidates should focus on building skills in high demand, especially those related to digital technologies, such as data analytics and cloud computing. Also, having a diversified skillset will help candidates adapt to different roles and industries. It can improve their employability and better prepare them to weather business cycles. 

• Be adaptable and agile

Adapting to new environments and working effectively under pressure is crucial during business cycles of hiring and slowdowns. Candidates should be flexible, open-minded, and willing to take on new challenges.

• Networking is the key

A strong professional network can be an asset in navigating the job market. Candidates should seek opportunities to connect with others in their industry and participate in relevant events and forums. Networking can provide access to job opportunities and valuable insights into the current state of the market.

About the author: With over 20+ years of experience, Kavita has led several organisational transformation initiatives. She previously served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Learning Officer at Axis Bank. She has led various HR teams across the industry for years. In the past, Kavita has worked with JP Morgan Chase, ING Vysya Bank, Citibank, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd.