Reskilling and upskilling bubbled to the top of pressing workplace issues during COVID-19, and they are here to stay. That was the message from Jacqueline H. Burandt, Sam C. Rindell, and Mike Siano during Sunday’s healthcare lunch & learn sponsored by Cornerstone. Gregory Rider, director of corporate compliance at EmblemHealth, served as moderator.

Burandt, co-editor of the ATD Talent Development and Training in Healthcare Handbook (ATD Press) and president of Award-Winning Results, which helps organizations create an award-winning culture, shared that a learning culture begins during onboarding. Learning should be open to everyone from frontline workers all the way up, noting that the best way to reach employees is through their managers.

Siano, principal of thought leadership and advisory services at Cornerstone OnDemand, emphasized that a learning culture starts at the top and advocated for securing champions. Then build the culture, starting small with a team that is already engaged.

Rindell, head of enterprise leadership development at CIGNA, addressed burnout, a prevalent issue in the healthcare industry. He advised that talent developers understand what’s important to employees from a health and wellness point. To also address retention, he suggested getting good people managers. Identify potential people leaders early rather than promoting good employees who may or may not want to manage and then invest in those aspiring managers.