Enthusiastic learners are a real asset to any company. However, the term “lifelong learning” has negative connotations for many employees. Therefore, trainers face the challenge of igniting a passion for learning – while also achieving sustainable learning transfer. Find out in the article how you can actually implement “lifelong learning.”
“Lifelong” and “Learning”: Negative Associations
Both the term “lifelong” and “learning” have rather negative connotations for most employees. Or what comes to your mind first when you hear the words separated?
“Lifelong” has a strong association with the justice system: a harsh punishment for serious criminals; coercion and lack of self-determination. And let’s be honest: Even in marriage, “lifelong” often has an aftertaste that scares many today.
And “learning”? That’s a term we primarily associate with school. For most, it’s probably not the most pleasant or fun part of school life. The first typical sentence from school that comes to my mind is: “I can’t, I have to study.” – Joy? Not at all!
What does the average adult think about when they hear the terms “learning” and “lifelong”?
The Goal: Positively Associating Lifelong Learning
However, lifelong learning is essentially something very positive: Developing oneself throughout life and never saying: “So, now my (education) is completed. From now on, I never have to learn again.” That sounds unrealistic, but also really boring!
Trainers therefore face quite a significant challenge: To rekindle adults' desire to learn.
Outdated Learning Methods Due to Lack of Better Ideas
Lifelong learning takes place, on one hand, in private life: a new hobby, skills in the household, or experiences that make us wiser over time. On the other hand, it also occurs in a professional context: Here, learning is not only important for the individual but also for the future of the company. Employees who continually develop themselves are a true asset to any employer.
In many German companies, corporate learning still looks like it did several decades ago. HR manager Ana-Cristina Grohnert recently described this vividly in a Spiegel article:
We send entire groups of people to remote hotels over weekends. This comes at the expense of leisure, family, and also working time. The results of mass face-to-face learning and other learning methods from the past are often meager.
Traditional seminars last one to three days – once or twice a year. The transfer of learning in such short and disconnected learning phases almost always falls by the wayside. While employees appreciate that they can “get out” and maybe meet new people. Something different than the usual work routine. But a form of lifelong learning this is certainly not.
Learning and Fun with Gamification and Blended Learning
So how can you combine learning and fun? With the buzzword gamification, some trainers are currently attempting this. My colleague Laura recently wrote about it: Gamification: Learning through play for adults – here’s how it works!
Broadly speaking, the approach in gamification also just means: motivating people, providing an incentive, becoming active themselves, and wanting to learn from within. This works, for example, with the blended learning principle: This combines the best of traditional face-to-face learning with the advantages and playful nature of digital learning.
Employees experience learning with the blended learning concept as refreshing and varied: In short, focused in-person events, they are motivated. The actual learning then takes place in the working day, while they are continually prompted with online impulses for exercises or to think further.
Online, additional motivators can be incorporated, entirely according to the principle of ‘playful learning’: For instance, unlocking new content gradually or achieving a special certificate – all of this can be easily implemented online and makes learning fun!
Learning as a playful challenge: With the gamification approach, lifelong learning can succeed.
Effectively Utilizing Digital Learning Offerings
However, digital offerings are not the “cure-all” for unmotivated participants or lacking learning transfer. Always adapt the format to the specific goal of the learning measure: For some goals, personal contact is valuable, while for others, an online impulse is the better format. Generally, further training consists of several sub-goals, for which different formats are appropriate.
This means: Only in the mix of various learning offerings, such as digital learning and in-person learning, can lifelong learning actually succeed.
Study: Why Companies Should Use Digital Learning
Why are digital learning offerings a good choice for companies to achieve sustainable lifelong learning? There are many reasons, which the Institute of the German Economy investigated in a survey.
In the study “Continuing Education 4.0 – Digitalization as a Driver and Innovator of Corporate Training,” companies state that they particularly appreciate the good integration of digital offerings.
But also the individual adaptation to needs and the combination of face-to-face and digital media is rated as particularly advantageous:
Results of the IW Continuing Education Survey 2017: This is why companies use digital learning offerings.
Conclusion: How Lifelong Learning Can Actually Succeed
If you want to encourage employees to view learning with joy – and thus with motivation – in the long term, the following methods can help:
Blended Learning: Use digital learning methods or traditional in-person seminars depending on the goal of each teaching unit.
Digital Learning Impulses: The employee can decide for themselves when and where corporate learning works best for them.
Gamification: Use playful incentives to ensure that employees remain motivated long-term.
With digital learning impulses in the form of blended learning and gamification content, the term “lifelong learning” is positively redefined.
Not to forget a crucial aspect: Employees know best how lifelong learning can be positively defined for them. If you haven’t done this recently or ever: A small survey in the company often helps to learn about the individual wishes and ideas of employees.
And then it’s time to simply give it a try! The easiest way to start with blended learning is to leave existing in-person events largely unchanged – and merely expand with online support in the weeks that follow.
This way, you can easily find out which approaches work well and which method is best suited for which goal. So that lifelong learning becomes a reality long-term!
