Donna Johnston, Learning and Talent Leader, Philip Morris International (PMI) comes with over 25 years of experience and has a proven track record within large complex and matrix organizations including HSBC, EY, GlobeOp and now PMI. She kick-started her career with a mix of commercial, talent and learning roles within financial services before moving into professional services where she specialized in talent and learning, strategy, design, learning innovation, operations and change.

In conversation with People Matters, Donna talks about rethinking the correlation between skilling and performance management, some non-negotiables as talent leaders reimagine learning and being vocal about the need for a timeout.

“Both organizations that I've worked in, in the last few years, to be honest, they've both been quite forward thinking in terms of how we work and having smart working practices. We've always had very flexible working practices. And I think it is critical to trust and believe that your employees can do their job wherever they are. So in terms of COVID, it hasn't really impacted in terms of how we're working,” shared Donna Johnston in an exclusive interaction with People Matters. 

Time-out and flexibility post-COVID

While existing culture and workplace practices ensured that the organization doesn’t have to suffer through the volume of change that a majority of global organizations are experiencing, what still applied to employees at Philip Morris, much like how it applies to workforce across the globe, is the need for a time out. 

“I ensure having some me time. It must be done deliberately. Being very open about the need for it is important. It’s our individual responsibility to find that time...But it also rests on employers to empower employees to be responsible for themselves and make sure they're doing great,” emphasized Donna.

The rising concerns around burnout can no longer be brushed under the need for sustainability. Employees have been pushing themselves through months of extra hours of working, some with paycuts, some despite the fear of ongoing layoffs, and some despite pressing personal commitments. Before it’s too late, employers must reciprocate the sense of compassion for survival and well-being, of the employees. It’s high time employers walk the talk on wellness, beyond limiting it to EAP services and virtual happy hours. Instead of forced engagements, the need to reset how we work will be more meaningful and will add more value to how workplace relationships strengthen over the coming times.

“I think wellness should be folded into everything, because at the end of the day, your organization cannot succeed without people. COVID has brought the focus back on the people involved, and this needs to be the new normal, because you cannot succeed without your people. It’s worth looking at what values have you set for your organization, and tie those values to the outcome - values about people, how you want them to work, and how you want that fortune to be reflected.” 

“I think that for business continuity, you need to put employees first and care about their well-being.”

Skilling and performance management: The need for a mindset shift

Donna encouraged leaders to ask themselves a question, “It’s simple, what are you looking at? Are you looking to grow your employees aligned to established notions of competencies or are you open to looking at alternatives approaches to understanding competency and skilling?” She added, “A lot of time people look at competency, and then look at performance management and employee engagement separately; it all needs to be together.” 

Donna believes that in understanding the need for skilling, it is critical to find out where is your organization really? How does that link into your performance management process? For companies that have OKRs, it's filtered down through the organization, so everything moves together. That setup suggested Donna, can create an opportunity to ask relevant questions to employees and understand if any shift is needed.

“You also need to get much more rich data, from your talent, from your learning, so that you can make much more informed decisions around analytics. Think about what data you can collect that can drive the organization to where it needs to go.” While elevating outlook and thereby processes, is likely to incur costs, that becomes a possible roadblock as organizations today strive to contain costs. However, Donna insisted that while not every initiative could be cost-controlled, there's always more efficient ways of working, and that is where competence and critical skills  comes in, to identify these avenues and redistribute costs where they add more value.

The evolving learning landscape

When asked about any changes in learning priorities post-COVID, Donna shared that it’s the same as what they have always been looking at; post-COVID is no different. “It's very much about where's the organization going, what's the transformation that we're going through.”

While the focus remains on aligning with current needs, Donna did highlight the need for a robust and regular feedback mechanism.

“I think we have to be really clear that 80% of the learning is done on the job. So for me, it’s being very clear about what's your feedback model? How are you making sure that people get feedback? How is that going to link to performance management?”

Speaking of non-negotiables that must be retained in the evolving learning landscape, in addition to continuous feedback, Donna spoke about the need for bite-sized (microlearning) learning. “We know that people learn in bite sized chunks, not everything together,” said Donna adding that knowing you can access learning anytime, anyplace, any device, if need be, through latest technologies, ensures learning never stops. 

Another non-negotiable added Donna is making sure that the learning is actually really different. “What is the point if you're investing in learning something that is not driving your country’s or market’s or region’s growth?” Linking learning to results and performance is key, Donna said. Additionally, how does learning application link to future skills? What does the future look like? Is it defined? How is learning linked to performance management? How does learning link to your critical skills? How are you learning on the job? “Providing clarity on these questions is critical to ensure that our people are getting the best learning at the right time.” 

Revisiting leveraging analytics, Donna recommended using the right analytics to be able to assess the effectiveness of learning programs, and any changes made therein. She also highlighted the importance of employee surveys to keep a check on employee pulse and learning experience and needs across geographies.

Design thinking, said Donna, helps understand what the learners market seeks and the right analytics can help create and curate the desirable and effective learning modules, thereby creating impactful learning experiences.