Reimagining the future of work with a focus on flexibility and skills
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Learning and development has become a key priority for employees looking for growth, upskilling and career development. It also enables employers to strengthen their overall culture and incorporate programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion into their strategy. LinkedIn’s latest report examines the changing role of L&D in a successful organisation
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THE PANDEMIC has seen employees significantly shift their priorities, and the Great Reshuffle has resulted in some serious rethinking around career paths, relationships with employers, and what employees want to achieve over the next several years.
Employee flexibility and personal wellbeing are now at the top of the priority list, as well as a sense of professional growth and purpose. Similarly, organisations have been considering how to retain their best talent and future-proof their businesses – and learning and development professionals have a prime opportunity in 2022 to offer the growth employees are looking for.
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“We’re transforming our culture to one of self-motivated and self-directed learning where employees want to learn and are not just forced to learn”
Eileen Reyes,
Security Bank Corporation
LinkedIn has released its sixth annual Workplace Learning Report, which takes a deep dive into the transformation of L&D within organisations. Its figures show a huge demand for flexibility, upskilling, and new opportunities for professional
development, as well as a recognition of L&D as vital to talent retention and company culture. After several years of transformation, data shows that the skills gap has also widened, and employers need more staff trained in areas such as technology, cybersecurity, data and decision-making.
According to the Workplace Learning Report, the increased demand for upskilling means that L&D is now the “hot seat at the center of adapting to change”. Indeed, 2021 saw a 94% increase in demand for L&D professionals in Southeast Asia – a sure sign that L&D is set to play an increasingly vital role in the development, culture and future-proofing of businesses.
L&D is now instrumental to company strategy and culture
In November 2021, LinkedIn surveyed over 1,400 L&D professionals and 610 learners across the globe. The resulting figures show that L&D has become a central part of business strategy, with 91% of L&D professionals having been key to helping their organisations adapt to change.
Companies have also reflected the need for upskilling in their budgets, with 56% of Southeast Asian L&D professionals expecting their budgets to increase in 2022.
With learning leaders having proved invaluable throughout the toughest years of the pandemic, jobs and promotions within this space have also been growing. L&D professionals saw 15% more promotions in 2021 compared to their HR counterparts, and companies are increasingly creating specialist executive-level roles to oversee learning.
“It’s unsurprising that we see more and more progressive companies naming chief learning officers, as was the case with chief diversity officers when diversity became recognised as a business advantage,” says Andrew Saidy, vice president global talent at Ubisoft International.
Far from just being a necessity, learning has also been recognised as a vital part of overall company culture. Training on diversity, equality and inclusion been key to this cultural shift and has remained an essential aspect of L&D programs worldwide – though according to Forest Wolf CEO Crystal Lim-Lange, there is still some work to be done in making these programs culturally relevant to every region.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are not a cultural ‘one size fits all’ around the world. For instance, lots of companies have started rolling out DE&I training in Asia and found the Western approach doesn’t work,” Lim-Lange says.
“Asking people to reveal vulnerabilities openly, stressing politically correct language, or having unskilfully facilitated conversations can actually backfire, making people feel anxious, resentful and unsafe.
Diversity and inclusion is the fundamental foundation of psychological safety. But it helps to pitch it as a path to higher performance.”
“Diversity, equity and inclusion programs are not a cultural ‘one size fits all’ around the world. For instance, lots of companies have started rolling out DE&I training in Asia and found the Western approach doesn’t work”
Crystal Lim-Lange,
Forest Wolf
Employee upskilling and empowerment
The pandemic forced many employees to quickly acquire new skills, and L&D departments have been front and centre of that adaptation process. Now they are in a prime position to answer the calls for skill building and to tie that into career growth, talent retention and job satisfaction.
When asked about key priorities for the next year, L&D professionals saw the demand going in a number of different directions. L&Ds in Southeast Asia ranked NET skills as the top focus for 2022 (45%), followed by upskilling and reskilling employees (44%), leadership and management training (36%) and digital upskilling (26%).
Security Bank Corporation vice president and academy head Eileen Reyes says the culture of learning has also changed, with employees actively seeking out training and development.
“We’re transforming our culture to one of self-motivated and self-directed learning, where employees want to learn and are not just being forced to learn,” Reyes says.
Ketchum’s chief employee experience officer, Amanda Kowal Kenyon, adds: “We’re focusing on how to create a long-term, attractive career home where folks have many opportunities to move up and around into different teams and projects. That starts with embedding learning and skill building into people’s actual day-to-day experiences.”
Setting L&D up for success
While L&D has traditionally sat in an HR ‘silo’, the Workplace Learning Report highlights the need for learning to be integrated into every level of an organisation.
The figures also show the potential for turning the ‘skills crisis’ into an opportunity, as 79% of L&D professionals agreed that it is less expensive to upskill an existing employee than it is to hire a new one.
However, to do this successfully, companies need a budget. RedThread Research co-founder and principal analyst Dani Johnson notes that many L&D leaders feel underprepared for the level of responsibility they are now being asked to take on, and so increased resourcing, management and leadership training will be just as important as upskilling staff in more technical areas.
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“L&D is having a bit of an ‘oh, @#&%’ moment,” Johnson says.
“L&D functions are being expected to lead strategic initiatives, like mobility and upskilling. Our data indicates that L&D professionals may feel underprepared, and they’re actively seeking leadership, business and data skills as much as – if not more than – traditional L&D skills.”
Strong internal mobility has proven an effective way to retain talent too, with companies that excel at it able to keep almost twice as many employees compared to those that don’t. The Workplace Learning Report says that ultimately, the best thing a company can do is ask the employees themselves: What do they want in their learning? Which skills are they looking to acquire? Are there any areas of the business they are particularly interested in?
“Don’t wait for the business or the client to tell you what they need,” says TechnipFMC vice president, talent and engagement Nikhil Shahane.
“Proactively identify what’s happening externally and how that impacts your business and people. L&D should focus on anticipating the skills of the future, recommending learning technology, and sharing the value of learning with leaders.”
To read the full Workplace Learning Report, click here.
L&D’s impact in Southeast Asia
91%
94%
Demand for L&D specialists increased
by mid-2021
of L&D professionals in
Southeast Asia helped their organisations adapt to change
Top focus areas for L&D in Southeast Asia
Building NET skills
45%
Upskilling and reskilling employees
44%
Leadership and management training
36%
Digital upskilling and transformation
26%
Top focus areas for L&D
in Southeast Asia
Building NET skills
45%
Upskilling and reskilling employees
44%
Leadership and management training
36%
Digital upskilling and transformation
26%
Top focus areas for L&D
in Southeast Asia
Building NET skills
45%
Upskilling and reskilling employees
44%
Leadership and management training
36%
Digital upskilling and transformation
26%