Career Moves Group caught up with Pash Reddy, Global Training Director at Forensic Risk Alliance. Pash has over 18 years of experience within the Professional and Financial Services sectors, supporting overall business strategy and driving business growth through Digital Learning and Development initiatives. More recently, she judged the 2020 CIPD PMA Awards for the Best L&D Initiative.
What are your thoughts on the impact of Covid-19 and how this will change the future of work?
Everyone has felt the disruption of recent events because we have been physically forced into it, regardless of where we work. With a disruption of this magnitude, the entire ecosystem has naturally shifted on such a scale that we have needed to shift with it. Internally, organisations have seen significant changes, with many teams downsizing; resulting in those remaining, taking on additional responsibilities.
For this reason, now more than ever, organisations must provide continual support to employees ensuring their continued wellbeing. Teams need to feel connected, which is why technology will remain integral in our evolving future. Additionally, leaders need to take on the role of an orchestrator, using all resources to be more agile, flexible and responsive to the future of work needs.
How can leaders support employees that may be suffering from fatigue?
In the current environment, empathy is a crucial skill needed to support employee wellbeing. By listening to employee pain-points, working with them to resolve issues and understanding what motivates them, it can spark curiosity and inspire them to learn. If leaders create a culture of learning, they are adopting a growth mindset that can help their employees feel inspired, even when they are suffering from fatigue.
Introducing an internal buddy system can support employees to connect with others and find innovative ways to spot and reduce fatigue. Sometimes it is simply a case of injecting new talent into a workforce, who will share the workload and collaborate with others. Leaders can also achieve diversity of thought through effective resourcing.
How can organisations be responsive during times of unprecedented change?
No one could have foreseen the dramatic shift in how we work, naturally, there have been points when morale has been low. It is therefore important to be able to create a new sense of purpose for employees.
It is for this reason, at Forensic Risk Alliance; we are creating a financial literacy programme targeted at schools. It is a great way of galvanizing individuals across the organisation to give back to communities in need and acts as a great motivator when morale is low.
Previously, we engaged in face-to-face learning at our global offices, whereas now we have really enhanced our technology-based learning. We have curated content that allows employees to learn from online platforms and resources. Additionally, we are hosting online learning surgeries where people can drop in to discuss case studies and to share their experience of using these new skills in the workplace. We allow people to share experiences and best practices, in turn creating a real sense of community, because ultimately, people learn from people.
How does Learning help employees harness the power of potential?
We hire for potential rather than because someone seemingly has everything. Being enablers in unlocking someone’s potential by providing them with the tools and resources that they need is really powerful.
Learning professionals are architects, who design and develop learning solutions that are aligned to business goals. We must be clear on what is expected of employees and support them by providing learning opportunities to gain the required skills and knowledge to execute on business strategy whilst ensuring personal and professional growth.
Connect with Pash Reddy on LinkedIn here
