Marriott International is embarking on a massive technical transformation in its hotels in the coming years, which means 120,000 employees will need to be trained on the new systems put in place. So what will that training look like in a post-pandemic, hybrid work environment?

“We have a strong focus right now on designing what will that learning strategy be to get folks up to speed more quickly,” said Jayana Garvey,VP of global performance and brand talent advisory for Marriott, during a panel discussion titled “Innovative Ways to Build Skills in a Hybrid Workplace” at From Day One’s Washington, D.C. conference.

The days of week-long, in-person training to learn a new system are gone, Garvey says. “We’re seeing an exploration and shift in terms of learning and the flow of work.” That shift includes delivering tips and skills-based content in a more invisible way throughout an employee’s workflow.

“Rather than sitting through four days of training on how to use that new piece of technology, you will be served up prompts and information in the flow of using it,” Garvey said, while comparing the concept to getting a new iPhone. “When you get it, you just know how it works. You don’t need to read five manuals. It guides you. It prompts you.”

Developing Soft Skills 

Marriott, like many other organizations, is trying to figure out how to build skills in a hybrid workplace, in particular, those so-called soft skills. “It’s just more impactful when you can hear things and do things daily,” Garvey said, while noting that many of Marriott’s general managers do a daily standup with their people so they can deliver information every day that helps drive performance in the business. “I think we'll be seeing more and more of that, where you're figuring out how to embed it in one's day to day where it doesn't always feel like a one and done event.”

The U.S. General Services Administration, which manages and supports the functioning of federal government agencies, is taking a similar, organic approach to training, sharing information, and relying on personal interaction to develop leadership and management skills, says Merrick Krause, GSA’s deputy chief human capital officer. “We’ve been actually trying to move away from the term soft skills and into just skills or I think of it as leadership,” Krause said. “And it’s leadership training all the way up. That’s something that we’re trying to build into the career paths for at least our mission-critical jobs and then hopefully many others–this idea of soft skills development and skills development that follows someone throughout their whole career arc.”

Other panelists said they rely on outside sources, such as LinkedIn courses, to ensure that employees and candidates have the core qualifications needed. “One of the things we were able to do very successfully during Covid was to implement our connection with our learning management system to LinkedIn. We now have a strategy for developing others that includes the first-level supervisor, all the way up to the leadership team that is congruent,” said Lin Burton, chief learning officer with the U.S. Department of Justice. “The second step is to take those skills and embed them within the engagement. We’re not only practicing it, but we’re giving them an opportunity to apply and others to observe.”

Meeting Worker Development Goals Through Coaching

Career coaching also took on new importance during the pandemic, says Sarah Sheehan, co-founder and president of Bravely, an employee coaching company. “The No. 1 reason that people are using coaching is for development,” she said.

Young employees, in particular, expect to have development resources–including coaching–available to them. “We’ve seen a huge shift over the last couple of years, and that this next generation, they’re not going to stay at your company for very long, potentially. But the expectation is that you’re going to serve them while they’re there and you’re going to give them everything that they want and the need to be successful and develop is one of them. They want to figure out how to get to the next level.”

But even beyond professional development, coaching can give employees a sense of connection with their organization and their fellow employees, says Krause. “When Covid hit, it rapidly became clear also that coaching and mentoring was really necessary. I think even more necessary when people were separated,” he said. “Now we've evolved our coaching to all grade levels, including executives [who] are required to have coaches.” Junior employees are generally coached internally, but for supervisors through management, GSA makes sure external coaching is available, “and I think that’s been very popular,” said Krause.

The Department of Justice also introduced coaching–and leadership coaching in particular–at the beginning of the pandemic, Burton says. “We did leadership coaching at every level,” she said. Teams received not only executive coaching in conjunction with George Washington University, but also peer coaching from those who have gone through the GWU program. “We see a lot of movement and staff value for the work that they’re doing and how it's really helping them in the work that they do and how they vision their careers,” said Burton.

Supporting the Individual

In many cases, delivering training in a hybrid work environment comes down to recognizing and supporting the individual, whatever their learning style, Sheehan says. “When you think about historical learning and development programs, everybody gets the same content. We’re not the same, we’re uniquely different. It’s really important to think about, you know, who your people are individually, and what their goals are and create development plans based on that because my skills are different than your skills.”

Sheryll Poe is a freelance journalist based in Alexandria, Va.