Is Hybrid Working Impacting Your Employee Training?

The way we work has changed dramatically.

The days of being in the office every day are a distant memory in many organisations.

Instead, colleagues may venture in a couple of times a week or maybe just once a month.

Some employees remain fully remote.

And there continues to be much debate around the benefits and disadvantages of hybrid and remote working.

But is it having an impact on training?

Well, the statistics suggest it is.

A study from WFH Research found remote workers spend 25 per cent less time on career development than their office counterparts.

“That’s a telling stat, and there are several reasons for it,” Dan Boniface, our head of training, said.

“Isolation is one of them. Hybrid and remote working can feel lonely at times, particularly for someone who lives alone.

“Feeling isolated can impact motivation. And you can feel like you are the only one having to do the training.

“Training is also about collaboration and working with others. Knowing others are doing it for similar reasons is motivational.

“When we are in the office, we feel like part of a community, and are more likely to get involved in what others are doing. You also have what is called ‘nudge theory’. This is when people subtly push each other in the right direction.

“You can have a situation where someone says, ‘How’s your training going?’ and the other person replies, “Yea, it’s a great course – you should get in it.’ And that energy and passion nudges them to do the same thing.”

It can also be harder for line managers to pick up on training needs in their team.

Dan said: “When people are working remotely, you have a situation where managers only speak to them for a specific reason. Where as in the workplace you can observe, see what is happening and pick up on any training needs.

“One way around this is to ensure you have regular informal catch-ups – as many of us did during lockdown restrictions – that lead to open conversations.”

Despite the stats, workers don’t need to return to the office en masse for workplace learning to be effective.

Online training offers the opportunity for people to develop their skills and learn new ones from home and dip in and out of the learning when it is convenient.

But, as we have shown in our recent blogs, they must be able to see how the training will benefit them to avoid an ‘I’m too busy’ response.

A good tip is to encourage those working from home to use the ‘recovered commute’ to learn – this is the time they would have spent travelling to the office.

Dan said: “When you work at home, you don’t have the commute time. When you finish your day, it is a two-second walk from the home office to the kitchen or living room. You don’t get that switch off time you have when you are sat on the train, for example.

“But if you are disciplined and manage your day well this can be beneficial. If working at home means you don’t have a half-hour commute each way, that’s an hour of learning you can do every day.

“Block out the time in your diary. If your working day starts at 8.30, get to your desk and do half an hour of learning. That’s enough time to do a module on one of our new online courses.

“Then you can come back to it at the end of the working day or the next day.”

And Dan also has advice on how you can help remote workers overcome the isolation that might impact their learning motivation.

“If you have people working remotely, create a WhatsApp group or forum for everyone involved in the training,” he said.

“It helps to create that sense of belonging. It allows people to feel connected with others doing the same thing. And they may push each other on.”

We have three new online learning and management courses for people at different stages of their careers.

Our online First Line Manager training course has been created to help them make the first steps into management. It is ideal for assistant managers, supervisors, office managers, foremen or shift managers – anyone who has been asked to make the leap from high performer to manager.

Have you got leaders with management responsibilities but no formal training, who are serious about developing their essential skills and abilities? Our online ILM Level 3 Leadership and Management course will help them lead people through organisational change, budget cuts and other pressures. And move up to the next level of management.

Our ILM Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management online training is created for senior and middle managers. It will help them develop their skills and experience, improve performance of themselves and the organisation, be able to understand and affect a positive cultural organisation, and innovate and implement change.

And we have new online course for those looking to get into coaching and mentoring. The new online ILM Level 5 certificate in coaching and mentoring course is perfect for those who want to provide coaching and mentoring for others. A skilled coach or mentor is increasingly crucial for every organisation as work moves away from command-and-control styles.

For more information on any of these courses, or anything else that we do, get in touch with us by calling 0844 800 3295 or sending us an online contact form.

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