Take the Opportunity for Development

As you look ahead to recovering from the pandemic, we have made the point that you need to hold onto your people if at all possible.

Remember, to be able to overcome the challenges facing you, you need a workforce that is prepared to grow in an uncertain environment. A lot of companies are cutting their training and development programs – when companies need to cut costs, the training budget is often the first thing to go. But you don’t want to weaken your skills right when you really need to be strong.

If your workload has decreased, consider how to use that downtime for development. All too often, in normal conditions, leaders say, “I’d love to be able to develop my people, but we just don’t have the time.” OK – well, now perhaps you do. Don’t waste this opportunity to develop skills and broaden people’s perspectives so they can be more creative about problem-solving in the months ahead. This could be your chance to improve the hard skills and soft skills of your workforce.

Of course, if revenue is down then you are probably trying to reduce your costs. That means you may need to look for online programs and other low-cost options. If you work with trainers who normally teach in person, perhaps you can negotiate a lower price for online learning. And of course, there are other options such as LinkedIn Learning and Coursera that could offer classes temporarily at a lower cost. You could also look for opportunities for your employees to conduct some training programs for each other, especially as a way to improve understanding across functions.

You may want to consider individual coaching for your rising leaders. Even though you aren’t able to hold workshops in the way you used to, your leadership pipeline is still flowing. People are still getting promoted, people are still moving into new roles, you may still be hiring. If you can’t do group development programs, at least consider individual programs for people who could use it the most.

Challenging times are not an excuse for cutting back on professional development. If anything, it’s during the tough times that development becomes even more important. Don’t lose out on long-term performance in favor of short-term cost savings.