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How to Make Your Team Beat the Uncertainty

How Does Cross-Skilling Benefit Employees?

Sticking to just one skill-set might have worked in the past but the ever-changing environment we are living in, it is a wise decision to cross-train or cross-skill your employees. What it does is enhance the overall productivity of the team while boosting the confidence of the employees. Also, adding to the diversity of one’s KPIs always

Written by

Alok Mishra

Insurance Writer

Alok Mishra is a Digital and Content Marketing specialist with 10 years of experience. He has spearheaded Web Content, Social Media & Branding, and Community Building initiatives to drive growth for prominent brands.

Reviewed by

Bhaskar Sinha

Insurance Expert

8+ years of experience in Life Insurance with expertise in Developing Life and Health Products, Digital Sales, Conducting effective trainings and Key Account Management.

How Does Cross-Skilling Benefit Employees?

We are living in the most uncertain times in which nothing is constant or predictable. The current Coronavirus pandemic is a live example of the utmost uncertainty that prevails. It came out of nowhere and then flushed in fears in the people’s minds, be it the fear of losing jobs or contracting the virus.

There is a loss in profits at the business side and the resulting turbulence on the path of growth in many sectors. The entire business landscape has changed for many industries, with global economic contractions exceeding those of the Great Recession in 2009 and higher corporate stress.

Amidst the unprecedented challenges brought forward by COVID 19, many companies have risen to the opportunity. They choose to act swiftly to safeguard employees and enable a new way of working. While the research says more than 80% of people enjoy working from home, it is also the right time to understand more about the employees’ concerns.

What Are Employees Undergoing?

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Employees in different sectors in India are facing a tough time paired with many anxieties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the Indian Protection Quotient Express survey by Axis Max Life Insurance in association with Kantar, most Indians feel under-protected about managing their future financially.

As shown in the image, unemployment resulting from job losses and untimely death of the breadwinner in a family accounts for mental load for many individuals. People are worried about the sustenance of their loved ones if something unexpected happens to them. The anxiety levels also vary as per the regions, with people in Tier 1/Metro cities being more anxious these days than the pre-COVID-19 times.

You should also know that there has been a shift in the way people look at financial planning. Besides the turmoil that the COVID-19 pandemic has created in our lives, it has also taught us lessons about the need to plan for the financial future.

As per the IPQ 2.0, people prioritize saving money for possible unexpected times compared to the times when no one has ever heard about Coronavirus

What Are Organisations Undergoing?

The rapidly evolving Coronavirus threat has impacted the business community worldwide and continues to pose a serious disruption to global supply chains. As a result, a significant revenue loss can be expected, along with its impact on global economies.

As per the World Bank report, the baseline forecast of global GDP in 2020 outlines a 5.2 percent contraction, despite all the counter initiatives to combat the pandemic.

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On the bright side, the companies are taking measured approaches to mitigate financial exposure to the risk while also safeguarding their employees. Given the high severity of situation, they must think through its implications to their businesses and develop crisis management annexures. These include:

Introduction of Pandemic-Specific Policies

The change in company policies becomes a critical task during pandemic planning. It is because various business stakeholders need to feel a comprehensive response through resilient management activities to provide business continuity.

The establishment of pandemic-specific policies can be seen through digitization of employee communications. Additionally, companies are delivering pandemic-related training to prepare the employees and alleviate their concerns.

Growth Planning and Scalability

A pandemic like COVID-19 has severe consequences in highly impacted areas or geographies, making them out of reach for an extended period. With business impact analysis, companies are now identifying the functional chains and interdependencies in terms of people, process, data, and more to build potential mitigation strategies and meet their YOY growth targets.

They are also paying closer attention to the geographical concentration of business functions and how to segment them for work transfer. This will help avoid single points of failure and over-exposure to the business due to regional outages.

Digital Process Adaptation

By this time, most businesses have adopted digital processes to some part of their functions to continue serving customers facing mobility restrictions. The world is witnessing quick deployment of remote work and digital access to services across all domains, making us assume that COVID-19 recovery will have digital-backing.

Recent data shows that we are at least five years forward in digital business adoption. From banks to grocery stores to schools, there has been a significant shift to adapt the digital alternative to the business.

While the organizations worldwide have undergone changes into several facets, their human side is not left untouched either. They are also helping the workforce be digital-ready, preparing them for the future while also eliminating fears of well-being.

What Can Help Your Team Survive the Upcoming Rapid Shift?

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Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the roles and responsibilities of business leaders have also changed considerably. Previously, they were more focused on fostering innovations and driving revenue, but are now dealing with supply chain issues, operational challenges, and team shortages.

Although this is not a swift and easy transition for them, they can still move forward in such a crisis by cultivating the right behaviors in their teams and themselves. More particularly to helping their teams and workforce, they need to adapt boldly and engage well to make an impact.

If you, as a business leader, want to help your team beat the odds during the pandemic and beyond, follow these tactics:

Help Them Learn New Skills

With digital adoption rising on account of COVID-19, automation is coming up as the next big thing. It will result in re-bundling of tasks into new jobs and require new competencies in the workforce. The following results from McKinsey Analysis estimated reskilling needs of the workforce with their current occupations:

Thus, you need to nurture your employees' skills sets for digital transformation and easy adaptability to emerge successfully from the current crisis.

Benefit Them with Knowledge Sharing Sessions

These days, learning new things is not as difficult as in the past. One can have quick access to some of the best courses for skill development in different work fields. While the remote work processes seem to continue for some more time, you can push the workforce towards knowledge-centric online sessions.

Allow them to access a diverse variety of webinars on business-centric subjects to learn what is happening globally. By knowing the naked truth about businesses during COVID-19, they can better understand their role and benefit your organization as a whole.

Ensure the Financial Future of Your Employees

It is true that your employees’ well-being, particularly financial well-being, impacts the business output. Many people worry about personal finances and planning for a better future for their loved ones when at work. In the current pandemic situation, these worries have only risen over time.

As an employer, you can reap the competitive advantage of employee engagement and a higher level of productivity by addressing their financial well-being under group insurance plans. They will welcome your involvement in helping them plan for their family’s future.

With the right group insurance plan for your employees, you can take care of their financial security while also empowering your organization with more loyalty.

At Axis Max Life Insurance, we offer group insurance plans to provide insurance cover to employees in an organization at scale. You can choose a tailored life insurance plan that fits your budget and benefit your employees in the long run. It is an excellent option for you to increase employee retention within your organization. Know more about our plans here.

As the old saying goes – ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’, you must plan to cover the depth and breadth of your employees’ lives well beyond their work. Benefit them more and get benefited in return because #YouAreTheDifference.

Arn:- Nov/Bg/02

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How Does Cross-Skilling Benefit Employees?

How Does Cross-Skilling Benefit Employees?

What Are Employees Undergoing?

What Are Organisations Undergoing?