“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who
cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
-Alvin Toffler
That’s exactly how the millennials feel
which is why 86% of employees believe providing learning
opportunities is an important responsibility of employers. Keep in mind that
millennials form almost 50% of this
global workforce!
The 2021 millennials and GenZ are here to
demand accountability and the provision of a continuous learning opportunity is
one of the accounts.
What is Continuous Learning?
Did
you know?
94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invests
in their learning and development.
So,
why is the concept of continuous learning relevant?
Let’s find out!
At the individual level:
Continuous learning focuses on the
expansion of learning ability through consistent
upskilling and up-gradation of knowledge. The dynamic work and life
environments require strong continuous learning skills in order to adapt
successfully.
At the team or organizational level:
Continuous learning is visible in a team’s
ability to learn continuously in order to deal with the dynamic economic
changes and, to survive and thrive in the end.
Why is Building a ‘Continuous Learning Culture’ a Challenge to HR?
1. Increasing Employee Adoption
The employee adoption of these learning and
development programs is the biggest challenge for the HR department. And, even
though employees value their career development more than ever, they prefer to
engage in such programs when provided the opportunity to learn at their own
pace.
This engagement increases when the program
is based on the learning experiences they want, where, and when they want.
2. Onboarding the Leadership
Executive leaders are the faces of any
organization and as such, the middle and lower management and the employees
look up to them for bringing the necessary changes. Thus, they have the power
to shape and advocate a culture for continuous learning and growth throughout
the organization.
However, in reality, sometimes, even the leaders
fail to view such programs as a need. Even when they realize the value of such
programs, they sometimes are clueless as to where to start.
3. Involving Managers in Employee Learning
Managers form the middle level management
of an organization and their involvement is the most important factor of
employee engagement in the learning process. This group is directly responsible
for leading the employees. Their involvement, thus, can be a huge incentive in
guiding the team towards a career-enhancing learning culture.
Getting the managers involved in the
employee learning process is yet another big challenge for HR.
How to Overcome these Challenges & Foster a Continuous Learning
Culture?
Now, that we have identified the reasons
why building a continuous learning culture in an organization is the biggest
challenge to HR, let’s have a look at some ways to overcome the same:
1. Create an open mindset.
There are two types of mindsets while being
involved with learning programs- Fixed mindset and Growth mindset.
Studies have shown that people with a fixed
mindset continue to struggle to take advantage of any learning programs in
place. Also, they face emotional difficulty while receiving feedback and may
also give up when faced with hurdles.
While employees with a growth mindset see
such learning programs as an opportunity to grow and expand their horizons.
Thus, in order to ensure the effective
implementation of continuous learning programs, it is very important that both
the employees and management realize why these are important, and why they need
to participate.
Establishing a culture of continuous
learning is not just about introducing new policies or opportunities. HR needs
to explain the requirements of such a shift.
2. 360-degree peer-to-peer development reviews.
Putting a peer knowledge-sharing structure
can help overcome the challenge. HR can set a specific time during which
colleagues can share tips, insights, etc. with each other. This can help them
get comfortable with the new culture of learning.
3. Teach people to provide effective feedback.
Giving effective feedback is an important
and very powerful skill, yet most new managers lack the skill. Giving great
feedback is a combination of several skills like good observation, communication,
and listening.
Thus, teaching these future leaders to
develop those skills early on will ensure they are prepared to take on their
teams when the time comes.
4. Set learning goals within teams
Other than having managers set standard
performance goals for the team, all team members should be asked to set their
personal performance goals too and share them with the rest of the team. This
can ensure that the goals are reachable and more personal.
Also, these personal goals of employees can
let the managers know what their team members want to learn.
5. Start a peer-to-peer coaching ecosystem
Did
you know?
70% of skills are picked up by employees
through their jobs, 20% through peers
and colleagues, and 10% through formal training sessions. Source- Docebo
Google aims to build a culture of
continuous learning through a peer-to-peer training initiative called the “Googler to Googler” program. Under this
program, any employee can volunteer to coach their peers on skills that they
have mastered.
Such a system will provide a free flow of
knowledge and a personalized learning opportunity amongst the team.
HR can set up fortnightly or monthly peer coaching
classes organized by the employee volunteers. These workshops can be led in the
form of presentations, group discussions, show and tell get-togethers, etc.
These 5 ways can help HR a long way in
overcoming the challenges of fostering a continuous learning culture in
organizations and building a dynamic, need-ready team.
The Takeaway…
An organization reaps the benefits of
supporting and encouraging its human resources to learn in the form of employee
loyalty, increased productivity, and brand reputation in the competitive
market.
Fostering a culture of continuous learning
can help organizations develop new products, services, etc., and maintain their
value with the ever-changing changing workplace environment.
Thus, even though building a culture of
continuous learning is the biggest challenge to HR, management and leadership
must continue to implement measures to foster the same.