Future Workforce Development: Developing Fearless Leaders + Thriving Employees
U.S. Federal Government + Academia
During the pandemic, the combination of COVID fatigue and organizational fatigue led to the Great Resignation, with record numbers of workers resigning. And the Great Resignation has been followed by a new phase that has been coined “quiet quitting” where many workers are doing the bare minimum. Every client we work with across every sector was impacted by these once-in-a-lifetime workforce challenges.
To support our clients through these challenges, we implemented programs centered on 3 critical workforce development themes.
Developing Fearless Leaders
Fostering Thriving Employees
Defining Career Development Pathways
To develop Fearless Leaders, we delivered Leading Change workshops and corresponding toolkits for leaders struggling with disruptive changes and resulting anxiety brought on by the pandemic. Our interactive Leading Change workshops equipped leaders with the tools to foster psychological safety in the workplace, match leadership styles with individual needs, and instill a feedback culture to continuously attune to team needs.
In addition to workshops focused on leaders, we also conducted a number of in-person team workshops to bring full teams into the practice of psychological safety, situational leadership, and feedback. These workshops provided both leaders and teams with new mindsets, practices, and shared language for communicating, adapting, and aligning during the most challenging periods of the pandemic and post-pandemic transition period.
To Foster Thriving Employees, we led Reconnecting workshops with clients who had teams that were returning to the office and/or transitioning from pandemic survival mode to post-pandemic thriving mode. Our Reconnecting workshops were tailored to each client and team’s unique needs but all of them included a focus on reconnecting as human beings, building social cohesion, and re-energizing around an inspiring vision of the future. We also conducted employee well-being surveys, designed employee-focused virtual Town Halls, and implemented employee tools and resources focused on Resilience.
Another challenge many leaders faced during the last 3 years was maintaining a sense of progress and mastery. Many teams felt like their work and their personal and professional development were on pause during the pandemic. To support these leaders, we developed and implemented Career Development Pathways that clearly defined the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) that comprised distinct professional competencies. These pathways also identified specific professional development opportunities to master each competency and re-engage employees in professional development.
This is the most challenging moment for leaders in most of our lifetimes and many organizations are still returning to a new normal. We’ve been honored to work with leaders and practitioners across the globe to re-engage teams, develop Fearless Leaders, reconnect as humans, and co-create an inspiring vision of the future.