It’s time to start planning our return to the workplace. Adjustments made during the pandemic will extend into and affect our return to the office. Employees returning to work doesn’t necessarily mean children are going back to school, families are healthy, or each individual’s situation is anywhere near back to normal.
While we are planning for facilities management, social distancing, and PPE availability, employers should also plan for various learning and development initiatives that can ease the transition.
Your management likely has new things to consider and be trained on, such as new processes and procedures related to health and safety, changing business priorities, and a schedule to safely return employees to work.
Returning to work provides an opportunity for L&D to help our employees feel supported
and
cared for and know that their health and safety are priorities. Here are the five areas that should be considered for returning to work:- REQUIRED TRAINING and COMPLIANCE
- Were there any required training or deadlines that were missed due to furloughs? Compliance deadlines?
- Are there any new requirements, knowledge, or information that you haven’t historically trained on? (e.g. social distancing requirements, PPE training, OSHA safety training)
RETURN TO WORK
-What training do you want your employees to complete PRIOR to returning to work, will this be required?
-COVID safety refresher, hand washing, social distancing, etc.
-CDC return to work guidelines (https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf)
-SHRM guidelines and checklists (https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/Pages/communicable-diseases.aspx)
BUSINESS STRATEGY
-Have business goals, focus or strategies changed? Do teams need to be trained on new goals?
-What impact has this had on your L&D plans for 2020?
-What was formerly trained in person, large group training, and/or requiring travel? This will likely never be coming back. L&D can, and should, take this opportunity to plan how to improve and modernize their training and development programs to help better train and retain employees.
-Where can we implement a blended learning approach, and where can Instructor-Led Training be completely replaced by elearning?
-Has there been any shift in leadership style during this time of crisis?
-Flexibility for employees, what considerations should be made for new schedules, new shifts, etc.?
ROLE SPECIFIC
-Many roles have been eliminated or taken on more responsibilities to respond to this new reality. This likely means that employees will have skill/knowledge gaps that we will need to identify and fill. What training is required to ensure these employees are productive?
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
-With so many changes occurring in companies, it is very likely that L&D has identified new opportunities/knowledge gaps that need to be addressed and planned for.
-Gather feedback from your employees, they will be able to provide you with the best information regarding where training will be most beneficial.
-Who are your new subject matter experts, or champions that you identified? Who are the employees you can lean on to help drive your program forward?
If your L&D initiatives have been paused during the pandemic, there are endless opportunities to get ahead on other L&D projects, such as building toolkits, communication plans, 2021 training curriculum year, or getting a solid handle on reporting and metrics for your program.
At the end of the day, remember we are all dealing with this situation in different ways. Be empathetic with your employees and identify the areas where we can help them succeed and thrive as we continue to grow and learn from this situation. This is your chance to redefine that normal for your employees and learners, show them you’re here to help them succeed.