Future of learning in the wake of COVID-19

Across the world, organisations, in their response to the pandemic, shifted gears to virtual workplace models and remote working practices to enable business continuity. Increased cost-saving opportunities, improved employee productivity, and the absence of a vaccine indicate that this theme will sustain for the foreseeable future. And while the Digital India campaign had sown the seeds for a digital economy, it was COVID-19 that accelerated large-scale digital adoption and transformation, leading to an increased need for acquiring new skills. The pandemic highlighted the need to invest in digital technologies, such as video conferencing tools, cloud systems, and Learning Management Systems (LMS).

In light of ever-changing business scenarios, organisations are now increasingly looking to develop capability-building initiatives. Upskilling and lifelong learning have become imperative as emerging trends, such as Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to transform ways of working.

We believe that chief human resource officers, chief learning officers, and Learning and Development (L&D) teams have already realised that reskilling, upskilling, and out-skilling are the answers to these problems; just "learning", as we know it, will not suffice. A learning transformation is needed—one that focuses on the connection between continuous upskilling and actual work. Organisations must now ensure that "learning" comes to the worker—where the work is actually done.

In our quest to understand if the current scenario has accelerated mindset shifts in L&D organisations in India, we collaborated with NHRD to co-author this report. Our methodology was the combination of a survey and virtual one-on-one conversations with the leaders of 45 reputed Indian organisations, based on which, we identified six key learnings that are transforming the Indian L&D landscape.