Welcome to 2021.

It seems that everyone is taking a collective breath as we look forward with expectation of promise and insight in a new workplace environment largely mandated by long-term impacts of COVID-19. By the time the pandemic will be deemed “over”, a large fraction of the global developed workforce will have spent nearly two years in work-at-home environments, as many companies are targeting late 2021 for reopening their offices. Some others have rethought their workplace policy altogether. In October, DropBox announced its “Virtual First” strategy - as an ongoing policy “remote work (outside an office) will be the primary experience for all employees and the day-to-day default for individual work.” There is also evidence that employees want some voice in when and how they work from home, seeking a model of “flexible work” that complements, rather than intrudes upon, life at home.[i]

Virtually There Session Recap 

How can learning leaders and other stakeholders better engage their workforce?

Gaining emotional and professional buy-in from employees requires a structured approach focused on communication. The language used to share corporate updates, train new skills, and clarify company values can fundamentally change how the target audience receives the message.

In global companies, language matters tremendously: it’s not just word choice that matters, but the dialect of delivery can either create a sense of inclusivity or ostracize entire subgroups.