Now what did I plan to get done this year?

I hope you all (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway) had a great summer and were able to get a proper break after a couple of tough years. At first it seemed strangely quiet. During the pandemic period people still seemed to work in the summer and the need to develop people was urgent so decisions got made quickly. This year things slowed down a lot.

At first we were a bit worried about how quiet it was, however, when we looked back at past trends we realised we were just going back to how things used to be before COVID, and we enjoyed the lull. Its hard to work flat out all year and the training delivery year usually has quieter periods in summer and at year end where we can catch up and do longer term development work, and even go on holiday.

However, we also know what happens next. As our clients come back from vacations their minds inevitably turn to what they need to achieve before year end, and as September begins our phones and emails are getting busier.

The more organized of them are also kicking off their strategic planning processes and starting to think about longer term people development for a post-COVID environment.

We are seeing several priorities from our contacts in the run up to the end of 2022 and into next year

• Many have reorganized this year and now to need to build or settle in new teams and organizations to thrive in a more integrated, more “matrixed” organization
• As organizations adopt longer term remote and hybrid working, they are realizing that nearly all soft skills will now be exercised in a world where some people are present, and others are remote
• They are moving from an emergency response to the changes forced on us by the pandemic into planning a more sustainable system of work for the longer term and this requires a major overhaul of capability building
• They are trying to reset the excessive meetings culture that emerged during the lockdown period and have fewer, better face-to-face and virtual meetings.
• Few have attempted to enforce the return to the office yet, and many still need to support their managers in establishing new hybrid patterns of work together with their teams
• Senior leaders are working on how to update and adapt their corporate culture, leadership criteria and capability building for the future

It is a fascinating time for culture and capability building and coincides with an increasingly challenging business environment. It will be interesting to see how organisations navigate the many pressures.

If you have objectives in these areas that you need to deliver by the year end or are starting to plan for 2023 and would like some ideas, why not give us a call.