Pandemic Priorities

A lot can happen in a normal year. And even more can happen in an unusual year. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted business in every sector. Here in Northeast Indiana we see this with Sweetwater Sound’s record year and the difficult challenges created for the arts community.

More generally, the pandemic has dramatically effected the employee development priorities for businesses across the world. LinkedIn Learning publishes an annual report including the development priorities of learning and development professionals. The 4th annual report listed the following as the most important skills for 2020:

1. Leadership management

2. Creative problem solving and design thinking

3. Communication

These are all universal needs for any organization to operate at a high level. Yet, the pandemic changed all of that. While those traditional skills are still important, the professional and personal disruptions created by the pandemic have profoundly changed the skills our teams must develop to succeed. The most important skills listed in the 2021 report include:

1. Resilience and adaptability

2. Digital fluency

3. Communication across remote teams

It is a whole new world.

As the pandemic landscape continues to change, it is crucial that leaders constantly monitor and adapt how they support, relate to, and develop employees. This means investing in thoughtful learning and development programming that meets employees where they are now, and at minimum takes into account:

• Managing the ongoing stress of living and working in an ongoing pandemic;

• Maintaining community;

• Adapting to the explosion of technology they must use and support to accomplish their work; and

• Leading diverse teams remotely.