Abstract
The COVID‐19 pandemic changed how organizational leaders managed their staff and handled operations. As those operational changes were implemented, the experiential learning theory (ELT) was practiced by the leaders, staff, and human resource development (HRD) practitioners. In general, employees’ operational practices were created to work in a building and not remotely. The normalcy of driving to the workplace changed for many employees to work from any remote location. The purpose of this article is to highlight how ELT helped organizational leaders and HRD practitioners adapt during the COVID 19 pandemic. Many employees did not think that work in their profession could be completed remotely, but when a worldwide pandemic occurred, organizational leaders and HRD practitioners were ingenious and practiced ELT to stay open for business.