The drastic change that 2020 brought forth saw all organizations faced with a difficulty never imagined before. Overnight, organizational systems turned online, trying to find that perfect balance between remote working and optimum collaboration among their employees. It’s been well over a year now, and companies have only grown more resilient towards indictments that are being thrown their way. The organizational system boats are not in uncharted waters anymore. Continuously advancing in the face of uncertainty, organizations have been steadily working towards investing in upskilling and digital learning to ensure productivity and to help employees adapt to the changing workplace dynamics. 

But one might ponder how learning has evolved over the past few months and taken the front seat during these times? Are all employees looking to reinvent learning, focus more on agility and self-development? The answer is yes. 

As job roles changed and hybrid roles came into the picture, Organizational Learning, which had already been morphing to provide for younger, more agile employees, saw a dramatic shift into the fourth gear. COVID-19 acted as a catalyst to a change that had been spearheaded by skilling and self-development at the workplace. Old tricks are obsolete; employers are looking for fresh new job roles that their employees can partake in, and these jobs are not traditional; they constantly need upskilling.

In fact, according to our latest report, Udemy 2021 Report - What the World is Learning at Work: March Top In-Demand Job Skills, sectors that witnessed a surge in demand for courses are the manufacturing industry, financial services, and consulting services. This goes on to show that employees are on the lookout to thrive in today’s dynamic workforce by achieving an edge over others.  

Moreover, certain trends have taken over the world of work very rapidly. Factors such as collaboration and resilience have become the backbone of any organization. Here are a few key trends that are constantly re-imagining organizational learning at the workplace: 

• Building Resilience: The pandemic has given the world a new paradigm of work, one which requires building resilience, both in the workforce and at the workspace. For an organization to build in resilience, leaders need to re-evaluate their workforce strategy by implementing three important pillars: Respond, Recover, and Thrive, i.e., respond to the crisis at hand, strategize recovery, and thrive for the next normal. The ability to survive and adapt has become the biggest asset for any organization, thus building resilience is a necessity. 
• Transition to digitally agile roles: The adoption of digital technologies like AI, machine learning, and augmented reality is significantly reshaping the workforce and giving rise to completely new jobs. Newer technologies will significantly alter the skill profiles of future jobs, and workers will have to equip themselves with the necessary skills to stay relevant in a competitive job market. 
• Hone your digital skills: Digital transformation of organizations has been set forth due to the pandemic. Those who can keep thriving and running the digital business during economic downfall will be on the must-hire demand list. As now companies are shifting their base to digital, so the opportunities to put digital skills to work will be countless. 
• Work-Life Balance: With 24/7 connectivity and easy accessibility, our professional lives in recent years have overflowed into our personal lives. Job burnout is a real thing, it can cause fatigue, mood swings, irritability, and a decrease in work performance. Employees are now realizing the need to set boundaries, enable time management to lead a healthy lifestyle. 

The pandemic has pushed organizations to look for critical problem solvers who are agile, who can think out of the box, and also who can manage the crisis as and when required. Traditional approaches to learning are no longer agile or impactful enough to meet the enormous challenges ahead. Organizations need to constantly reinvent and reflect on their learning culture by engaging their employees in upskilling courses that will ultimately aid them in becoming resilient and job-ready for the future.