Corporate Resilience Achieved By Training
In the past year, everything about daily life has changed. It has changed for the world of business as well. From multinational conglomerates to corner stores, organizations have had to entirely rethink how they serve their customers and how they support their employees.
It’s no secret that thousands of formerly successful companies are struggling right now. Yet in the face of a once-in-a-century global crisis, some businesses have actually thrived. They’ve improved existing projects, added revenue streams, and attracted new customers. They’ve done all this by adapting their products, services, pricing strategies, and distribution channels to meet wildly fluctuating conditions in the marketplace.
What separates the winners from the also-rans? In a word, resilience. When faced with any sort of crisis, the resilient organization doesn’t panic or deny reality. It pivots, adapting quickly to what the changing circumstances demand. So, how can your organization develop that kind of resilience? There, too, the answer comes down to one word: training.
In the pre-digital age, training was a nice-to-have and was thus among the first things to go when profits were down. But today, training is embedded in the modern enterprise’s DNA. It is ongoing, and it’s viewed as indispensable to the organization’s success. Of course, the argument for training is even stronger right now. With ongoing training, your people can become more flexible, innovate more quickly, and accelerate time to market.
To equip your people with greater resilience, focus on these 4 opportunities for development.
1. Train To Do More From Home
Let’s face it, many companies would not have allowed their employees to work from home if they’d had any choice in the matter. Things are different now. In the past year, millions of employees have shown that they don’t need to be watched for every minute of the eight-hour day. Working from home, they’re delivering results and enjoying the liberation from their daily commute. In fact, working from home is working so well that many organizations are viewing it as a permanent option.
Of course, this new way of working will force other changes in your organization. To start, you’ll be more dependent on distributed computing models, particularly in the cloud. You’ll also have to rethink how your training gets delivered. Every training provider offers self-paced online modules. But not all learning styles are the same, and many of your people will want easy access to Instructor-Led Training delivered virtually. This will be especially true in cloud, DevOps, and the other technologies where your investments are heaviest. To ensure your training will be a success, make sure your people have access to live, hands-on labs, advanced-level content, and instructor office hours. You’ll also want to know that the training modules are flexible enough for the courses to be completed without interfering with the employees’ regular duties or their work-life balance.
2. Train To Do More With Your Data
How we work isn’t all that’s changed. Consumer trends are shifting at a blinding pace, and businesses that can’t pivot quickly will fall behind. The most successful companies will be those that can reinvent on the fly, constantly reassessing everything from their products and services to their delivery options and payment structures. To carry out that real-time reinvention, you need a data science team with the skills to capture, aggregate, and analyze the data that will inform your business decisions. If useful business intelligence is something you’re lacking, it’s time to address the data analytics skills gaps within your organization.
3. Train To Innovate In The Cloud
More and more companies are moving to cloud platforms. The cloud offers more than cost-effective infrastructure; it’s a key enabler of experimentation and innovation. Teams with access to the cloud can quickly test theories and try out new ideas in a low-risk, high-reward environment. By giving your people the training to succeed in the cloud, you’ll be unleashing your brightest minds to create new solutions and stay ahead of your competition. You’ll also be maximizing your technology investment through better approaches to your current deliverables.
4. Train To Deploy Faster With Less Risk
No matter where your teams are working, DevOps will help them speed up software delivery while reducing the risk of errors. More than a process, DevOps represents a shift in workplace culture, one that empowers your people to break down silos, innovate quickly, and make the best possible use of your next-generation technology. DevOps is the modern route to greater agility, productivity, and profitability. And more of its benefits are realized when organizations commit to ongoing training.
Conclusion
Everyone is looking forward to the day when life can return to normal. But it’s clear that the global crisis has created some new realities, new circumstances that will be with us long into the future. The organizations that come out on top will be the ones that can respond instantly to changes in consumer tastes and expectations. That degree of responsiveness is what every enterprise craves. Ongoing training can make it a reality.
