The trend towards hybrid and remote working was already underway, albeit slowly, pre-Covid as a result of the introduction of WiFi. Employees were no longer physically bound to the desk via a USB cable, but were free to ‘dial in’ from anywhere with a good signal. During the COVID pandemic, remote working became a necessity for many organisations and employees, and although the trend towards the return to full-time in-office work is on the rise, it is estimated that around 40% of all employees still work on a hybrid basis with fixed days in the office and the rest of the time working remotely.
Although the hybrid working model offers many benefits including increased productivity, reduced overhead costs, and greater employee satisfaction and retention rates due to a better work-life balance, it also poses obvious challenges for organisations in areas such as communication, collaboration, building and maintaining company culture, and corporate training.
Building a culture of continuous learning is essential for corporate agility in this rapidly changing business landscape. Corporate training solutions need to be flexible so that they can cater to both in-office and remote employees, and must be adaptable across a range of delivery platforms. So, in this blog, we are going to look at the future of corporate training in the context of a hybrid workforce and share some strategies and best practices on how to adapt learning programs for today’s hybrid working landscapes.
Corporate training for the hybrid workforce
Corporate training for a hybrid workforce comes with its own set of benefits and challenges. It is important that all employees, whether remote or office-based, have access to and are equipped with the same skills and knowledge base. It is also essential to maintain training equity so that all employees feel they are supported in their career development and have the same engagement and motivation with training programs, regardless of location.
Digital platforms and e-learning tools allow employees to learn at their own pace, making it easier to maintain a good work-life balance. But this also means that training can become a lone task, with limited opportunities for team-building and collaboration, so it’s important to get the right balance of platforms, both in-person, online, and self-completion modules, to ensure that the spirit of collaboration and corporate culture is maintained.
Corporate training methods have significantly evolved in response to the hybrid workforce model and changed the way training is designed and delivered. In addition to in-person training, organisations can now utilise online Microlearning modules – ideal for compliance and specific knowledge training, Blended Learning Modules that combine real-time (synchronous) and self-paced (asynchronous) methods that allow employees to learn at their own pace, and of course, AI-driven Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as 360 Learning, Absorb LMS and Talent LMS. AI-driven platforms allow for a much greater degree of customisation and personalisation so that learning can be tailored to an employee’s specific career path, goals and company role. Gamification and reward programs designed around company culture also help to motivate staff to engage in learning.
One of the most notable shifts in corporate training needs for a hybrid workforce is the increased emphasis on, and demand for, soft or professional skills like communication, collaboration and presentation skills. With teams spending less time together in the office, these once informal and peer-to-peer learning skills are being lost.
Key trends in corporate training for a hybrid workforce
Investing in employees’ soft, or professional, skills such as business presentation and communication training, should be an essential part of any corporate program designed for the hybrid workforce. Communication between colleagues can become fragmented and diluted when it is dispersed across so many platforms – just think of all the communication channels and Apps you use every day! So good communication skills are vital to bridge the gap between these virtual methods and in-person interactions to ensure there is effective communication, collaboration and team cohesion.
Good communication skills benefit the hybrid workforce in several ways:
- Hybrid meetings are more tiring than in-person meetings and it is easy for people to disengage. Training on how to effectively manage and run hybrid meetings so that everyone feels included, and their voice heard, ensures meetings are always productive and key messages are clearly communicated. This includes how to adapt content delivery so that it’s better suited to remote meeting attendees.
- Poor communication directly impacts productivity – and this is even more true with a hybrid workforce. Ensuring managers are skilled communicators, both in-person and online, is critical for team engagement, group collaboration, decision-making, and innovation.
- Strong communicators become strong leaders, demonstrating the critical importance of communication skills for career development, building a pipeline of home-grown talent, and thriving in today’s hybrid workforce, where effective communication bridges in-person and virtual teams.
- When employees feel more confident about presenting their ideas, regardless of the business setting, they are more likely to feel empowered and committed to the organisation’s success.
In short, investing in communication skills training will help equip employees of all levels with the skills required to work effectively and efficiently in a hybrid environment.
The hybrid working model has also led to the recognition that employee well-being and mental health programs are crucial for equipping the workforce with the tools to manage stress, isolation and potentially, loneliness. Managers were once able to support their team on a day-to-day basis in the office. Now they need different and additional skill sets to support people working remotely so that team cohesion is not eroded and productivity is maintained. Companies that prioritise well-being are also more likely to attract top talent and improve retention rates, especially among the younger workforce who place great value on these initiatives.
Why blended learning programs work best
The COVID pandemic necessitated the need for training programs to move exclusively to online platforms. Even though several years have since passed there is still an over-dependency, in our view, on online training. While some training elements such as compliance training are well suited to online training, we believe that professional skills, such as communication and presentation skills training, should be conducted face-to-face, or blended, where possible.
Why? For a start, in-person training is far more effective for learning and practising important nonverbal communication techniques such as how to harness the power of body language, eye contact, moving with purpose, posture and gestures – all of which are important tools for effective communication.
In addition, with in-person training, coaches can provide participants with more detailed and nuanced feedback to help them progress their skills.
In-person training also strengthens peer interaction and allows teams that may not spend a great deal of physical time together to bond through informal interactions and role-playing.
It goes without saying that when developing a blended training program, it is important to consider which delivery environment is best suited to the audience – and their location will of course be a key factor. But it’s also important to consider the content and what you’re trying to achieve from the training.
Recommended for in-person training:
- Soft, or professional, skills such as sales training, communication and business presentation skills training.
- Technical skills training that needs hands-on experience – as opposed to purely theoretical learning.
- Wellness and mental health training.
- Diversity, inclusion and equity training.
- Team building.
Recommended for online training
- Compliance and legal training.
- Industry and product information training.
- Software and I.T. skills.
- Refresher courses.
Recommended for blended training
- Almost all professional training, including communication and presentation skills training, can be conducted as a blended training program where some of the theory is learnt online and followed by in-person workshopping, role-playing, feedback and personalised coaching. Other training that suits a blended approach includes:
- Leadership training.
- Customer service training.
- Change and project management training.
The need for regular assessment
Before the rise of the hybrid workforce, measuring the success of any training program was relatively easy. But this now becomes more complex with some of the training moving to online sessions and digital self-completion modules. There are advanced analytical programs that can measure completion and engagement rates. But the ultimate measure of success is how much the training has changed behaviour, attitudes, competence, and confidence.
Creating a culture of continuous learning
In today’s rapidly changing business environment, company and employee agility has never been more important. And that means, now more than ever, organisations need to create a culture of continuous learning.
So, no matter how you’re delivering your training for today’s hybrid workforce, keeping your finger on the pulse in terms of the skills your employees need to survive and thrive is crucial.
Develop your team’s communication and presentation effectiveness through training or 1-to-1 coaching.
If you’re looking for help on how to get the most out of corporate presentation skills training for the hybrid workforce, then our personalised training or coaching that is tailored to your business, is just what you’re looking for! Contact us today.
For nearly 20 years we have been the Business Presentation Skills Experts, training & coaching thousands of people in an A-Z of global blue-chip organisations – check out what they say about our programs.
