Human skills take center stage: NTUC LearningHub launches leadership academy for an AI-enabled workforce
NTUC LearningHub (NTUC LHUB) has launched a new leadership academy to help leaders build the human capabilities needed to handle rising complexity at work. The academy was officially introduced on 29 January at the NTUC LearningHub Human+ Symposium, officiated by Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information.
The message was clear: as AI scales across roles, skills like clear thinking, leadership, coaching, and people management matter more. Empathy and compassion aren't "soft" extras-they drive performance and social outcomes.
Why this matters for HR
- Perception gap on emotional intelligence (EI): NTUC LHUB's Leadership and Coaching Report 2025 found 83% of leaders believe they show strong EI, but only 50% of employees agree. Employees also ranked EI as the top capability leaders lack.
- Leaders are stretched: Constant change, competing priorities, and diverse teams call for managers who can stay clear, fair, and effective under pressure.
- People-first leadership fuels adoption of AI: The better your managers handle feedback, learning, and trust, the faster your org adapts-without burnouts or breakdowns.
Inside the NTUC LHUB leadership academy
The academy builds on existing leadership and people management programmes and adds nine new courses. Each is experiential and practice-led across three core dimensions: cognitive, emotive, and behavioural capabilities.
- Early-stage managers: Three courses developed with Harvard Business Impact focusing on self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and people-centric influence. Expect practical frameworks and tools you can use immediately.
- Mid-level managers: Two courses on influencing at scale, strategic change, and leading teams through transformation.
- Coaching capability: Two new coaching courses aligned with the International Coaching Federation standards.
- Emotional intelligence for mid and senior leaders: Two EI courses built on the Genos Model of Emotional Intelligence.
- Responsible people manager badge: Four courses will lead to the IHRP responsible people manager role badge, based on rubrics from TAFEP and IHRP, aligning with the Workplace Fairness Act.
Human+ brand: people + technology
At the event, NTUC LHUB unveiled its Human+ identity-"Human+ Championed by NTUC LearningHub"-to reinforce its focus on human skills that work alongside technology. Human+ brings together the new leadership academy and last year's thinking academy, equipping individuals with the mindsets and capabilities to thrive in tech-heavy environments.
The idea: strengthen cognitive, emotive, and behavioural abilities in tandem so leaders gain clarity, emotional intelligence, and practical skills to move work forward.
What HR can do next
- Run a leadership reality check: Measure EI, psychological safety, and trust from the employee perspective. Use the results to set clear leadership standards.
- Make coaching a norm: Build an internal coaching pool and set credential goals based on recognised benchmarks (e.g., ICF-aligned).
- Tie leadership to fairness: Map manager competencies to TAFEP/IHRP rubrics and the Workplace Fairness Act. Reward managers who meet the bar.
- Sequence learning by level: Early managers need self-awareness and EI first. Mid-level leaders need influence and change skills. Senior leaders need system-level thinking and coaching capability.
- Pair AI literacy with human skills: As your org deploys AI, train leaders to communicate change, reset workflows, and keep teams engaged. For AI upskilling options by role, see Complete AI Training: Courses by Job.
- Make it stick: Tie learning to on-the-job projects, peer practice, and quarterly reviews. Measure behaviour change, not attendance.
Bottom line
Leaders can't succeed on technical skill alone. As one speaker put it, the future of work isn't humans versus AI-it's humans doing better with AI. HR's edge will come from managers who think clearly, read the room, and turn change into progress.
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