"Current day workplace is wrought with changes in terms of technology, connectivity, workforce capabilities, the way data is stored and processed, along with AI and ML and finally the COVID pandemic that has accelerated all these individual elements.

In a conversation steered by Aditya Kohli, the CHRO of Clix Capital, Shrikant Lonikar the CHRO and a Director on Board of Pernod Ricard India, Avadesh Dixit the CHRO of Acuity Knowledge Partners and Seema Singh the CHRO of India Post Payments Bank paved the road for the future of learning as they saw it.   

The panel began adeptly noting that the current day workplace is wrought with changes in terms of technology, connectivity, workforce capabilities, the way data is stored and processed, along with AI and ML and finally the COVID pandemic that has accelerated all these individual elements. It was established at the outset that organizations cannot hope to buy talent and must focus on building talent for the future. 

Commenting on the changes witnessed, Avadesh Dixit offered that the new hybrid workplaces will impact learning significantly. He notes that while technical skills maybe not be relatively altered by e-learning, soft skills will become harder to acquire and develop in a context where employees are not physically collaborating with one another or even seeing each other. His answer to tackling this is to tap into the problem at the source. To ensure that the leadership is committed to learning regardless of the situations they face. He feels once an intention for learning cascades from the leadership positions, the tools and training modules will fall in place. He adds that the leadership should encourage a push-and-pull mechanism where the pull would be to create experience-based learning content that interests employees and the push would be to encourage employees to learn through financial rewards or otherwise.    

Offering insights on training in a public sector bank, Seema Singh answered that she had to train not just officers, master-trainers but also the rural postmen and the customers to adopt digitization during the pandemic. She remarked that she had to look towards enabling an attitudinal change from the traditional roles to becoming new-age bankers across the country. 

Shrikant Lonikar’s perspective on learning and inspiring an attitudinal shift was rooted in kindness and compassion. He remarked that once a degree of selflessness permeated, then the individual opens up to learn. He adds that his organization focuses on placing trust and following a 70-20-10 model where 10% of learning happens in a classroom setting, 20% on shadowing and projects and the rest 70% on individual experiences. He believes that if people constantly ask the question, ‘How did my time add to my experience and how has it changed me?’ then learning will be more self-motivated. 

The panel primarily looked at learning not from a technological aspect but a human perspective and on that road, they agreed upon encouraging a feeling of empowerment through learning can go a long way in getting employees excited and passionate about learning. Avadesh added that learning should be voluntary and the HR should ensure the ease of learning, a broad range of learning material and allow employees to learn it at their own pace. 

Looking ahead, Dixit commented that on a Marco level, the country should focus on learning and skilling and the conversation around it must be deeply pondered and widely implemented.