Employees who are eager to learn are a real asset to any company. However, the term “lifelong learning” is negatively viewed by many workers. Therefore, HR developers face the challenge of igniting the joy of learning while also achieving sustainable learning transfer. Find out in this article how you can actually implement “lifelong learning.”
“Lifelong” and “Learning”: Negative Associations
Both the term “lifelong” and “learning” are rather negatively connoted by most employees. Or what do you first think of when you hear the words separately?
“Lifelong” has a strong connection to the justice system: a harsh penalty for serious criminals; coercion and lack of self-determination. And let’s be honest: Even in the realm of marriage, “lifelong” often has a connotation that scares many today.
And “learning”? This is a term we primarily still know from school. Probably for most, not the most pleasant or fun part of school life. The first typical sentence that comes to mind from my school days is: “I can’t, I have to study.” – Joy? Not really!
What does the average adult probably think when it comes to the terms “learning” and “lifelong”?
The Goal: Positively Connotate Lifelong Learning
However, lifelong learning is fundamentally something very positive: to develop oneself throughout life and never to say: “That’s it, my (vocational) education is complete. From now on, I never need to learn again.” That sounds both unrealistic and truly boring!
HR developers therefore face a significant challenge: Teaching adults to enjoy learning (again).
Outdated Learning Methods Due to Lack of Better Ideas
Lifelong learning occurs in the private sector as well: a new hobby, household skills, or experiences that make us wiser over time. On the other hand, it also takes place in a professional context: Here, learning is not only important for the individual but also for the future of the company. Employees who continuously develop are a true asset for any employer.
In many German companies, corporate learning still looks much like it did decades ago. HR manager Ana-Cristina Grohnert recently described this vividly in a Spiegel article:
We send entire groups of people to remote hotels for weekends. This takes a toll on leisure, family, and even work time. The results of mass in-person learning and other past learning methods are often meager.
Classic seminars last one to three days – once or twice a year. The learning transfer nearly always falls by the wayside with such short and disconnected learning phases. While employees may appreciate “getting out” and possibly meeting new people, doing something different from the usual workday, it certainly is not a form of lifelong learning.
Learning and Fun with Gamification and Blended Learning
But how can you connect learning and fun? With the buzzword Gamification, some HR developers are currently trying. My colleague Laura recently wrote about it: Gamification: Learning playfully for adults – here’s how it works!
In broad terms, the approach in Gamification means: motivating people, setting incentives, becoming active themselves, and wanting to learn on their own. This works, for example, with the principle of Blended Learning: Here, the best of classic face-to-face learning is combined 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 workday as they are continually prompted with online impulses for exercises or further reflection.
Online, additional motivators can be integrated, following the principle of ‘playful learning’: For example, unlocking new content gradually or achieving a special certificate – all of that can be easily implemented online and makes learning fun!
Learning as a playful challenge: With the Gamification approach, lifelong learning can succeed.
Meaningfully Utilizing Digital Learning Offers
However, digital offerings are not the “cure-all” for unmotivated participants or lack of learning transfer. Always tailor the format to the specific goal of the learning measure: For some goals, personal contact is valuable; for others, an online impulse is the better format. Typically, training consists of several sub-goals, for which different formats are sensible.
This means: Only in a mix of various learning offers—for example, digital learning and face-to-face learning—can lifelong learning actually succeed.
Free Guide
Blended Learning in 9 Steps
Download the free guide now and see how you can get started with Blended Learning. With many examples and tips for trainers and companies.
Study: Why Companies Should Utilize Digital Learning
Why are digital learning offers a good choice for companies to achieve sustainable lifelong learning? There are many reasons that the Institute of the German Economy examined in a survey.
In the study “Further Training 4.0 – Digitalization as a Driver and Innovator in Corporate Training,” companies indicate that they particularly appreciate the good integration of digital offers.
However, individual adaptation to needs and the combination of face-to-face and digital media are also viewed as particularly advantageous:
Results of the IW Continuing Education Survey 2017: That’s why companies utilize digital learning offers.
Conclusion: How Lifelong Learning Can Actually Succeed
If you want to encourage employees to view learning positively and thus with motivation in the long term, the following methods may help:
Blended Learning: Use digital learning methods or classic in-person seminars depending on the goal of the individual teaching unit.
Digital Learning Impulses: The employee can decide for themselves when and where corporate learning fits best for them.
Gamification: Use playful incentives to ensure that employees remain motivated in the long term.
With digital learning impulses in the form of Blended Learning and Gamification content, the term “lifelong learning” is being positively reconnoted.
Last but not least, an important aspect: Employees themselves know best how lifelong learning can be positively connotated for them. If you haven’t done so recently or at all: Often, a small survey within the company helps to discover the individual wishes and ideas of the employees.
And then it’s time to just try it out! The easiest way to start with Blended Learning is to largely leave existing in-person events unchanged – and only expand with online support in the following weeks.
This way, you can easily see which approaches work well and which methods are best suited for which goal. Making lifelong learning a long-term reality!
