In essence, what truly matters to India’s workforce is changing at a dynamic pace, with job satisfaction and growth being one of the most important aspects. With HR leaders striving to find the perfect model for ‘new normal’ at work, continuous learning has become imperative, now more than ever.
Why is Continuous Learning important?
No, it’s not just checking off the annual performance review button but helps in –
- Employee Retention & Talent Acquisition: A lot of good employees currently, need to know the learning curve & growth opportunities they may have if they join you. This helps attract and retain valuable talent especially from millennials and Gen Z. As per this LinkedIn survey, 80% of the respondents believe learning adds to the purpose of their work.
- Employee Development Strategies: A culture that encourages learning helps in boosting productivity. The employees are happy, and the company’s investing in their overall development. Also, enhancing employee skills and retention.
- Leadership Development: Continuous learning is important to identify and nurture leadership talent within the organization to drive future growth and succession planning.
- Strategic Alignment: In upskilling the existing pool of talent, an organization readies the workforce for cross-hiring and fill the vacant positions than initiate the hiring process from the start which is more cost effective. Therefore, HR initiatives in avoiding hiring process from ground zero is important to align with broader organizational betterment.
How to promote continuous learning at work?
- Be committed towards inculcating continuous learning as part of the pedigree: By highlighting our commitment to ongoing learning during the recruitment process, we must encourage the leadership team to establish clear training and development objectives from the outset. Placing emphasis on imparting learning initiatives will not only draw in individuals who prioritize continual growth but also motivate current team members to prioritize skill enhancement.
Further, a key role here is to identify Skill and Knowledge Gaps. It’s important to ask oneself, ‘What are we missing? How can we better it? What do we need to address to be fill the gaps?’
- Make resources available: Offer a wealth of learning materials, ensuring that accessibility is not a hindrance. Further, consolidating all training and development resources into a single location will ensure that all staff members are aware of where to find pertinent information.
For instance, some team members may prefer to pursue continuous learning during their personal time hence, brief training materials could be made available during commutes or brief intervals between meetings.
- Invest in technology and latest tools: The next-generation systems help in collaborative learning. Consider utilize online platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Udemy etc to allow employees to leverage development activities at their convenience, rather than attending compulsory training sessions. Customized training modules can be established for employees according to their job roles.
- Move out the silos: Continuous learning shouldn't and cannot be confined to formal education, technical workshops, or external classes. There's a wealth of knowledge team members can gain from each other. Sharing and learning from each other’s expertise and experiences will always be the most advantageous for all.
This could be structured, such as regular meetings or specific training sessions led by seasoned staff members or in informal knowledge sharing sessions.
- Performance & Change Management: While we follow all these and imbibe a culture of learning, it’s pertinent to address modern approaches to performance management. This includes closing feedback loops, agile goal setting, and regular check-ins. Further, change management needs to be at the core of HR goals. This means, facilitating organizational change, including communication strategies, stakeholder engagement, and mitigating resistance.
Continuous Learning for Leaders
Today leaders grapple with challenges of diverse nature including digital advancements, socio-political issues, keeping up with the current generations & evolving work culture. To triumph these challenges, leaders must embrace continuous learning. It helps in;
- Being flexible: One of the most important traits for a leader is to be flexible and nimble especially w.r.t the changing times. Being open to accepting new perspectives, ideas and inputs allows a leader to keep up.
- Expanding One’s Horizons: Continuous learning expands perspectives, exposing leaders to new concepts, innovations, and most relevant practices. Leaders well-versed in various subjects can leverage a diverse wealth of knowledge to navigate intricate challenges.
- Being Relevant and Resilient: A hallmark for effective leadership is to be relevant through all ages & stages. Continuous learning empowers leaders to be relevant. Further, leadership often involves dealing with hard times. By nurturing a growth mindset, one learns to stand the ground and tackle the challenge. Continuous learning aids them in being resilient.
- Lead by Example: Leaders who embrace continuous learning set a precedent. When they actively engage in growth and development, it motivates their team members to follow suit too. This fosters a culture of ongoing enhancement within the organization.
In nutshell, cultivating a culture of continuous learning is no longer a choice or a luxury, but a necessity. By doing this, as leaders we don’t only upskill the existing talent but also help them thrive and give them a competitive advantage. Not only the employees, but it also helps the leaders to evolve with the changing landscape at work efficiently. Collaborative continuous learning is the future.
