Every organisation needs ongoing access to new skills and knowledge to stay ahead of their competitors. Creating a workplace environment in which all employees are continuously participating in learning activities that benefit themselves, their team and the business is a good place to start. This is what’s known as a continuous learning culture — an approach to staff development that can positively impact organisational strategy, innovation approaches and other vital business functions.
Learning cultures are undeniably good for business, and they also matter to employees — research shows that organisations with strong learning cultures have engagement and retention rates that are between 30-50% higher than those without. That’s because employees value professional development — according to LinkedIn, the opportunity to learn and grow is now the second most important factor impacting workplace happiness.
Building a continuous learning culture in your workplace
The good news is that no matter which sector you work in, you can embed learning at the core of your organisational values. Here are some strategies to get started:
Take a top-down approach
Employees cannot be expected to build a learning culture on their own. Buy-in from senior leadership is vital to fostering a workplace environment in which learning is both valued and prioritised as a vital business function.
Establish your learning domains
Effective learning cultures add value to organisations and help to future proof them against changing market conditions. Do your teams need skills in AI, negotiation or communication? Identifying the knowledge and skills that will help propel your business forward can help lay the foundations of a strategic workplace learning culture.
Let employees lead the way
At McKinsey, rather than leaders telling staff what they should be learning, employees are in control of their own learning and development plans. This doesn’t happen in a vacuum — team leaders provide guidance around learning opportunities that add organisational value, but employees have autonomy around how to operationalise those recommendations into a concrete learning plan. Not only does this approach give team members a sense of control over their work, but it’s also ‘a much more deep and effective way of embedding [learning] into the culture’.
Take a team-wide approach
Individual learning plans are important, but so too is a cohesive, team-wide approach to knowledge acquisition. Building shared knowledge can foster trust and collaboration between team members and prevent knowledge hoarding, which can put organisations at risk of losing valuable corporate wisdom if key people choose to move on.
Access expertise within your organisation...
Tapping into existing organisational knowledge is a great way to set the scene for a flourishing learning culture. Encourage formal and informal interactions that drive knowledge exchange within teams — a rotation of short, sharp employee presentations at weekly WIPs or brown bag sessions over lunch are both easy ways to get people talking to their peers about what they know.
...and beyond it
In a changing global workforce, learning never stops. Seeking training and insights from beyond your organisation insights can also connect you to vital expertise that will power your business into the future. In recent years, there’s been an explosion of content in the enterprise learning space. If you’re looking for highly specialised skills development, or you need support establishing a framework for a successful learning culture, the expertise you need is just a few mouse clicks away.
Build your learning culture with Plus UTS
Leverage the power of a learning culture that speaks to your organisational values with a customised professional development program. As a leader in enterprise learning solutions, Plus UTS can help you define your teams’ specific learning needs and create a tailored education package that will help you build a culture of continuous learning for your business.
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