During the current global pandemic of COVID-19, the need to possess the right skills has become more important than ever before. The learning landscape has been changing significantly while individuals are focusing on pursuing a professional qualification. The shift observed is from traditional face-to-face rote learning towards a blend of online and face-to-face-learning.

According to the Learning and Development: Outlook in the Covid-19 year, a report by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) learning and development is rapidly evolving. The study conducted in India had responses from over 102 HR professionals, representing a diverse mix of organizations across industry types and employee strength. 73 percent of the respondents had at least 500 employees or more, while 23 percent represented small organizations with employee strength of less than 250 employees.

The study entailed the changing facets of learning and development for finance professionals as well as the overall organization. The survey highlights that increasingly individuals are keen to learn something new in the coming year to enhance their skills and capabilities and to add the necessary competency to be successful in the new COVID-19 era. Interestingly, only 20 percent of the participants preferred face-to-face as a learning method with 50 percent of respondents preferring online learning.

The survey highlights that increasingly individuals are keen to learn something new in the coming year to enhance their skills and capabilities and to add the necessary competency to be successful in the new COVID-19 era

The survey also revealed that 60 percent of respondents preferred a blended learning of online and face-to-face as one of the methods of learning and development. Besides, the survey echoed that 69 percent respondents demanded short term courses of less than three months, while 33 percent were interested in a course with duration between 3-6 months. This trend indicated the urgent need to develop new or add additional skills in the current portfolio of professionals. The focus currently is towards applied skills with 51 percent of respondents preferring a professional course and 21 percent a technical course. Only 16 percent of respondents preferred soft skills training.

Md. Sajid Khan, Head of International Development, ACCA, asserts, “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a truly unprecedented situation which has compelled organizations to think and reinvent themselves. This has put a spotlight on the role of learning and development, both from an individual and an organizational perspective. For an individual to play a critical role in driving this change, it is essential that they learn, evolve and adapt their skills. As highlighted in the report, this willingness to learn is commendable, and more people are keen to enhance their skills and build new competencies in the coming year”.