With the myriad of challenges workers and organisations now face, engaging and developing people is more critical and difficult than ever. ROHEI is discovering new and exciting ways to continue equipping and engaging the workforce in this hybrid, ever evolving era.
It is now or never that companies need to posture their people to thrive in the new normal. Yet even before the existence of COVID-19, employers were already considerably challenged by the demand for upskilling and reskilling their workforce for highly evolving business environments. With the entrance of COVID-19, the difficulty has compounded. The global workforce is now more distributed and work arrangements becoming indefinitely hybrid. Companies are also faced with shorter runways and smaller budgets for learning and development.
It is on this basis that ROHEI is committed to living out our mission of “inspiring hope, joy, courage and purpose in the global workforce”, albeit in new ways and platforms.
Three significant questions emerged as ROHEI continues to capitalise on its core strengths, at the same time pivots to meet the evolving needs of the workforce:
How might we increase engagement remotely?
How might we make remote learning engaging?
How might we facilitate learning and application when staff are more pressed for time?
Let’s take a deeper dive into each of the questions...
How might we increase engagement remotely?
In July 2020, ROHEI was invited to take part in a Hack-a-future as part of the Emerging Stronger Taskforce (EST) Singapore’s EduTech Alliance for Action (AfA). The aim of EST is “to provide recommendations to the Future Economy Council (FEC) on how Singapore can stay resilient and create new sources of growth moving forward.” The EST is a subset of Singapore Together – the vision for “Singaporeans to partner with the Government, and with one another, to own, shape and act on our shared future together”.
The solution that resulted from the process is the birth of WorkGuide, which aims to scale credible work guidance. It hopes to build a community that can provide support where it becomes the “go-to local guide” with the largest resource of questions and insight on work matters for a more engaged, agile and resilient workforce.
WorkGuide is a communication and culture alignment platform that scales conversations and fosters engagement. It taps into ROHEI's expertise in creating safe spaces for authentic conversations. Key features differentiate the platform from others - asking of work-related questions in a psychologically safe manner, searchable video answers from credible sources sharing practical and personalised guidance, along with a ‘video booth’ to help mentors, coaches or leaders - called “guides”- create compelling video answers.
The interactive platform provides a unique human experience for staff posting the questions and the experienced guides in providing answers. The anonymity in asking questions on WorkGuide provides a safe space for users to ask potentially revealing or sensitive questions. The platform then allows for quick access to leaders and key individuals in the organisation who would be the most credible and relevant people to address the questions. It removes the barrier to raising important questions and issues by employees.
It is particularly useful for onboarding and engaging new employees. Feelings of anxiety and being unequipped for the workplace have been exacerbated by the pandemic with many working remotely. Many are concerned that they do not have access to credible information or people who can provide relevant and practical guidance. It is understandable that they have questions or doubts in the initial onboarding process. Finding easy access and psychological safety to answers is paramount, especially for those who are not as comfortable or articulate in raising their queries openly.
Feedback from some of the participants can attest to the benefits that WorkGuide offers:
"It's a trusted space, unlike blogs where people are just sharing their opinions but might not have the experience." —SWATHI, 23.
"This is different from other forums because video responses are more engaging and easier to digest." —JAZRAEL, 20
"It's so easy to feel insecure like you're the only one asking this question. With this community, it's comforting. I can just ask anything!" —LOUISSE, 22
"WorkGuide is meaningful. If my experience can benefit others, then that's something that I am really keen to be a part of." —KAH KUANG ONG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT YOUTH CORPS SINGAPORE
How might we make remote learning engaging?
ROHEI recognises that the global workforce is increasingly facing “Zoom fatigue” which can lead to disengagement in interaction and learning. In line with our belief that learning must be caught instead of just taught, it is imperative to meaningfully engage learners in the online space for the transformation of hearts and minds.
Our methodology employs a multi-modal learning design that encourages peer discussions, peer learning and skills practise with cognitive, emotive, and even tactile elements, all done virtually. Our relational facilitators are enabled by a skilled learning support team to ensure a safe and seamless learning environment. Our unique offering of High Engagement, High Touch, High Impact is still evidently experienced by our participants through our remote learning programmes.
The intentionality behind the design of interactive activities as part of our experiential learning led to a collaboration with The Escape Game (TEG), America’s #1 Escape Game. The fun and immersive experience where learners are on a time-sensitive mission to uncover clues and solve puzzles to connect the dots of the game. The end goal of TEG experience is to facilitate participants in discovering things about themselves and others in a way that will create a lasting and positive impact for direct application back at their workplaces.
Compliments from clients:
“The experience for participants through the challenge was consistent with what we wanted.”
“Participants were generally quite engaged in the game, with the younger staff leading in the games. We are pleasantly surprised that the senior staff, who have not used Zoom before, were able to catch on and contribute to the team as well.”
How might we facilitate application and learning when staff are more pressed for time?
As organisations pivot and adapt in order to stay afloat, it is imperative to respond to changing needs of the workplace and the workforce. Hence there is an urgent need to upskill or reskill their workforce (Mercer, 2020 Global Talent Trends Study). Learning & Development (a crucial extension of HR) is evaluating the best way to achieve ROI on learning interventions - how to encourage the application of the learning acquired back at the workplace. This places immense pressure on managers to significantly increase the value of learning by engaging their staff at the workplace to reinforce the use of new skills on the job.
Staff, on the other hand, are overwhelmed by the expectations of transferring knowledge acquired to their jobs, on top of their day-to-day responsibilities. ROHEI addressed this pain point by reframing the learning deliverables using the ‘1 Degree Shift’ method recommended by Flora Sage – a 1-degree change can drastically transform the trajectory of one’s life, e.g. 1 degree is all it takes to convert water to steam or 1-degree shift in-flight course alters one’s destination.
PROGRESS°ON, leveraging technology to increase workplace application on clients’ existing platforms, was introduced to break down the entire learning journey into bite-sized micro-practices to encourage the development of skills within the flow of a workday. Information is delivered through accessible messaging platforms and reinforced by supervisors via micro application trackers and team engagement guides.
Continuing to help the workforce flourish
ROHEI’s commitment to help organisations Honour People and Results remains. However, the shape and form in which we live it out is evolving. As we continue to value people, with the help of technology, there are exciting new ways, and discoveries yet to be made, to help the workforce flourish in the new world of work.
Speak to one of our Consultants to find out more about our remote learning interventions, WorkGuide and PROGRESSºON for better engagement and learning impact.
