When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the world may have felt like it came to a grinding halt but the reality is that life went on. Even for businesses that weren’t deemed essential at the time, or companies that had to shut down operations temporarily because of a COVID outbreak, the need for continuing education for employees and leaders remained.
Like virtually every other industry, the education sector was forced to pivot to accommodate socially distanced learning, moving nearly all in-person continuing education and professional development programs online in a matter of weeks. This was not only an adjustment for the teachers and coaches, for many of the students it also was a whole new way of learning.
According to Mohan Sawhney, associate dean for digital innovation and McCormick Foundation professor of technology at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the roadmap for the future of executive education falls into three interval horizons:
- Reacting to the pandemic, an initial phase triggered in March 2020, when business schools and coaching programs had to transform executive education to an exclusively online format and create new ways of delivering program content.
- Redesigning the future. As in-person programs and hybrid teaching returns, executive education can be redesigned to deliver the best learning experiences.
- Reimagining what executive education can be. Over the next year and beyond, online courses will no longer be a pandemic-driven necessity, but given what’s been learned during the pandemic, disruptive business models and formats can be designed for the future.
“When executive education has been fully redesigned, complete with innovative technology and more profitable business models, we can then reimagine how it can be delivered,” writes Sawhney for Harvard Business Publishing. “This reimagining could lead to digital disruptions similar to what we’ve seen in other industries, such as travel and entertainment.
“Consider, for example, Orbitz, a site where competing airlines came together to create their own booking platform,” Sawhney continues. “We may see business schools forming a similar consortium with competitors to ensure that massive online learning platforms and startups who create ‘supermarkets’ for executive education don’t siphon off all their students.
“Or consider video streaming services, such as Netflix, that keep customers online by suggesting new content to watch. Business students may benefit from a platform that surfaces content for learners based on a recommendation engine. The content itself will become more atomic and granular, allowing the creation of personalized learning journeys for participants. Such a service would be sold using a subscription-based model, just as we pay monthly fees for Netflix.”
Ultimately, he concludes, the exact ways executive education gets reimagined “will be driven by in-demand trends and emerging competitors.”
In an effort to find out what the professional development experience was like during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it’s changed the way local companies look at continuing education moving forward, IB spoke with several area businesses about their unique education journeys over the past year.
While a common thread was the integration of online learning into their continuing education efforts, how far that will take each of them in the future remains to be seen.
W.E. Davies and Sons Remodeling
Kyle Davies, general manager and business development for W.E. Davies and Sons Remodeling in Madison, is the third generation of his family involved in the business. While that means there’s a lot of experience involved in the leadership of the company, navigating a pandemic was still something nobody was quite prepared for.
“Things like that don’t happen often but having a mentor and a business coach who have gone through [challenging situations] like this before helped us see business from another angle,” notes Davies. “We noticed this was a perfect opportunity to use our couple months of downtime to get employee certifications, sign up for online training courses, and even help our in-office staff focus more on the business than in the day-to-day tasks that we as owners fall into sometimes.”
Davies says when the schedule is booked solid, W.E. Davies and Sons employees are in high-speed, full-production mode and it’s difficult to stop or take breaks in their already busy work schedule, let alone to stay up to date on continuing education. The company took full advantage of its unexpected downtime to train new employees, keep current employees certified, and some of its leadership team caught up on readings and coaching sessions they may have been behind on.
“We quickly realized in just six weeks that if we spread tasks out over the course of a year, such as continuing education, coaching sessions, seminars, readings, etc., it is realistic,” says Davies. “We don’t need a six-week gap in the schedule to continue to learn, train, or grow. Time management is what we ultimately gained.”
Investing in yourself isn’t always top-of-mind or a priority when you’re so wrapped up in the day-to-day activities of running a business, explains Davies, and that’s why weekly coaching sessions, quarterly business growth planning, and having an extension of your team — a coaching staff, in this case through ActionCOACH — to reach out to has been the biggest blessing for W.E. Davies and Sons.
“If we did not see a benefit or believe in outside help from other businesses, it would be extremely difficult to get the perspective needed when finding ourselves in overwhelming situations such as a pandemic,” says Davies. “Because we invest in ourselves and our business through a coaching firm, we can stay focused and on the map that they help us draw to grow our company daily.
“All our employees have the opportunity to continue learning, growing, and developing new skills,” he adds. “For this reason, we reimburse our employees for any credits, certifications, or classes they take and successfully pass. We hope that by providing free knowledge, our teammates can grow not only individually but as a part of our company and family.”
Davies says he personally worked with an individual mentor and with the company’s leadership team coach on a biweekly basis. “Not only was I able to help fight adversity in the marketing world as the pandemic started to take place but I was able to shape some personal goals in my everyday life, which my daily activities at work would ultimately benefit from.
“When the pandemic started, the first thing in my mind was to cut marketing costs, but with the help of multiple coaches, I quickly realized I needed to do the opposite. With everyone meeting online, being on social media more, and watching more television than ever, I realized that this was a time to shine and pivot our business in a way that helped homeowners really create some spaces they have never visualized before. That’s where our business shines!”
115th Mission Support Group, Wisconsin Air National Guard
Though not a business like any other, the need for continued training for the Wisconsin Air National Guard didn’t stop when the pandemic hit. According to Lt. Col. Thomas J. Bauer, deputy commander for the 115th Mission Support Group, training is not anything new for the Wisconsin Air National Guard.
“We understand that it is in our best interest to take steps to better ourselves,” Bauer explains. “We have several training opportunities, both formal and informal, which we provide for our members. The pandemic did slow this process; however, we also used the opportunity to explore new scenarios, specifically a pandemic, to see how well we could continue to operate.”
Most of the 115th’s training was immediately switched to some form of teleconferencing. For some that worked well, says Bauer, for others not so much. “Getting back in a classroom setting is important because the communication flow is much better. This is important with force development, followership, and leadership,” he notes.
Specifically, COVID provided several challenges regarding work and training, especially having students come together in a classroom environment. The 115th’s past experiences for formal professional development were primarily in the classroom to facilitate open discussion so members could learn from each other, which can be a challenge in a virtual environment. One of the benefits the 115th did learn is that there are several capabilities available to help members learn and collaborate virtually, which opened its field of participants to literally just about anywhere in the world.
“Our response to the pandemic has opened several opportunities for continued creativity in how we deliver education and professional development in a variety of ways,” notes Bauer. “If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that there are always opportunities for creativity and alternate ways of continued success in the face of challenges. The idea is to overcome these challenges by molding programs that align the needs of the individual and those of the organization.”
While members of the 115th did attend more classes virtually, Bauer says many if not all of them were very happy to get back into a classroom setting with additional safety protocols such as social distancing and masks. “We have learned that hybrid models offer more opportunities for distance learning virtually. Additionally, we now understand that telework and virtual training not only works but is appropriate in some, but not all, cases.”
Fox Arneson
Carrie L. Arneson, CFO of Fox Arneson, a full-service commercial builder and general contractor in Madison, notes COVID brought a time of such uncertainty, but also opportunity for her firm. “We decided to invest in professional development for our company to come out stronger and better positioned when the pandemic ended,” Arneson explains.
Fox Arneson opted for one-on-one training for its leaders through ActionCOACH, eschewing larger online groups for more focused coaching. “We learned that one-on-one learning is a wonderful way to get to the heart of issues that are really holding us back,” Arneson notes. “Sitting in a large group presentation doesn’t provide the accountability to ensure what you learned has been incorporated into your life. Having a coach to follow up with each week provides that accountability and we’ve really seen progress in how our company is running.
“Life is all about learning and providing more value to those you interact with,” Arneson continues. “Our goal from investing in ourselves to become better leaders was to provide our employees with a company that has the necessary components to ensure they have a great place to work and that our clients continue to feel the quality and dedication we’ve always provided to helping their businesses grow.”
Arneson says having that one-on-one coach experience was wonderful because it allowed Fox Arneson staff to work with someone who was not in the weeds to provide a different perspective and bounce ideas off.
“One thing we learned is that we can never stop learning, whatever way that happens to be. While big conventions may not be the way of the future for a while, learning to connect on smaller levels and venues [has been very worthwhile].”
Dave Jones Inc.
Taking care of family is a core tenet of most businesses, but none more so than true family owned and operated businesses like Dave Jones Inc., a second-generation HVAC contractor based in Madison. “During the time of the pandemic, it was a priority for us to provide our DJI family with the stability of work,” says Holly Kellesvig, executive vice president/COO. “We invested in training when work was not available, and we utilized employee feedback to better provide opportunities to learn.”
Employees at Dave Jones weren’t the only ones continuing their professional development during the pandemic, however.
“Our leadership team continued to hold their 1-to-1’s with our leadership coach, we just went virtual versus in person,” says Kellesvig. “We also started conducting leadership trainings with Dale Carnegie Training for our upcoming/emerging leadership groups within our office and field staff.”
Going virtual, the 450-employee team at Dave Jones learned to adapt and ended up thriving, says Kellesvig. Adopting a learning management system propelled the desire for training opportunities, and the company developed additional in-house trainings to enhance the skills found throughout its job sites and offices.
“We certainly have learned more about how to set and what to set as expectations for etiquette for training and how to hold people accountable in a more virtual world,” says Kellesvig. “COVID forced us to utilize more technology and we are better for it.
“Technology has really allowed us to utilize time better,” Kellesvig adds. “Instead of having someone from the Milwaukee area drive two hours for a one-hour meeting and then drive the two hours back, taking them off the job for five hours versus one hour, attending virtual meetings has really been a positive for our company. Going virtual has helped us to be more efficient and has been a cost saver as well.”
Waunakee Remodeling Inc.
Although COVID was very disruptive toward the ability to train in traditional settings, Dan McGowan, president of Waunakee Remodeling Inc., says his company still saw value in continuing education for its critical staff. The smaller and more condensed training class schedule simply afforded Waunakee Remodeling the confidence to safely support its people with growth opportunities.
It also changed how the company approached conducting its training sessions. In the past, staff attended evening training, so company support was mostly emotional — “How was your class last night?” or “Tell me about your experience.”
Today, Waunakee Remodeling clears an entire day on the schedule for training and backfills employee tasks with other staff. “Our support goes beyond the costs of the class and one staff member to everyone helping and buying into the benefits of the class,” McGowan notes.
“The benefit to our company is specific to the individual,” he continues. “We work to support our people’s opportunities and encourage growth. The fear of staff taking those skills to another company is of little concern for us. ‘Culture eats process for lunch’ is a phrase we believe in. People struggle leaving a company with a fun, supportive culture.”
Part of creating that kind of company culture is encouraging staff to share their successes and struggles. “Our leaders have the patience to not only listen but also commit to assisting their people to grow even if at the expense of them outgrowing opportunities at our organization,” says McGowan. “Being present for staff and customers is a core principle we believe in. The program we use through Dale Carnegie Training helps with managing people’s emotions as well as personal growth. During the shutdown, these tools were very relevant and helpful for managers.”
Despite the benefits of pandemic-era continuing education being offered virtually, McGowan sees a need to regain some of the human element.
“I believe the future in this area is still to be determined. People crave people. Virtual business is needed and currently has brought some efficiencies to the table, but time will tell if this is sustainable to keeping a consistent workforce. I believe without some personal interaction that office culture will suffer. Those who can safely support this need will flourish no matter what the future work environment holds.”
Corporate Contractors Inc.
With offices in Beloit and Delafield, Corporate Contractors Inc. immediately saw the benefits of online training.
“It allowed our associates to continue their education while staying safe,” says Heather Dobson, director of business and workforce development. The company utilized online courses through Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, which offers relevant programming for tradesman at all levels, including both field and office staff.
Dobson notes the pandemic was a challenging time for everyone, but Corporate Contractors felt it was important to use this time wisely. During the pandemic, associates became more tech savvy through implementing more virtual trainings.
“This only helps our leadership as we continue to use many of the programs that were utilized during that time,” explains Dobson. “For example, some of our meetings are held virtually now to avoid commute time for our partners. One of
the trainings that we participated in at ABC of Wisconsin was a foreman leadership training, which helped associates who were new to that role learn the skills necessary for success. Participating in this class during the pandemic allowed them to talk about issues that would not have otherwise been discussed because it pushed unprecedented challenges to the forefront for those in leadership.
“Additionally, leadership was closely monitoring trends and attending virtual meetings and webinars, which better prepared them to send out communication through video and written messages to our associates, as well as promoting our nontraditional benefits, which include Dream Builders, Wellness, and Corporate Chaplaincy programs to help associates deal with the personal struggles they may have been experiencing.”
One thing Dobson says Corporate Contractors learned early on was that when participating in virtual training, it was important to provide associates with a quiet space and the necessary technology to focus. “Many of our associates liked the convenience offered through virtual training. Additionally, it was easy to add additional students closer to the start of classes because there wasn’t a limit on seating.”
According to Dobson, Corporate Contractors views continuing education as an investment in its associates and an opportunity to encourage others to push themselves. The company funds the trainings that associates participate in and Dobson believes that having opportunities and resources available through trainings at ABC of Wisconsin, technical colleges, consultants, a lending library, and internally distributed materials are a way to invest in the company’s future.
“Though we have mandatory training for certifications, many of the trainings our associates inquire about are the trainings focused on leadership and communication,” Dobson explains. “Since CCI utilized virtual training more than ever before in the past, many of our associates have become more comfortable with this format and recognize the types of virtual trainings that they prefer. We’ve also invested in technology to allow these trainings to stream more seamlessly. While our associates are anxious to get back to more in-person training opportunities through ABC, they are welcoming to virtual opportunities for the convenience and flexibility that it offers.”
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