To remain successful in the future, companies must retrain over 50% of their employees in the coming years. Traditional forms of continuing education are often unsuitable for this. However, a new learning culture can achieve this. We summarize three tips with which you can develop a new learning culture.
In the "Global Human Capital Trends" Report 2020, more than 50% of the surveyed companies stated that in the coming years, more than half of their employees must expand their skills. This presents companies with a huge challenge: for decades, "learning" meant that employees interrupted their work, left the workplace, and only continued to work productively after the training.
But with the increasingly rapid changes in companies and work processes, this type of "learning" is no longer promising. Companies must develop a new culture of learning in order to quickly and successfully train employees directly on the job.
You can find a detailed article on learning culture in the eLearning Industry blog: The Secret To A Successful Company Culture Of Learning. We summarize the three most important points from the article for you that you must consider when developing a new learning culture:
3 Key Elements for a New Learning Culture in Companies
1. Know the needs of your learners
Learning must not be forced. Employees are only motivated if training programs are aligned with their needs. So you must know the needs of your learners and support them in an individual, self-directed learning process.
2. Enable learning exactly when employees need it
Required skills and abilities change almost daily today. Therefore, employees must be given the opportunity to learn immediately and directly on the job. Similar to the private sphere, where Google is often used to immediately find new knowledge, exactly when it is needed.
A new learning culture also includes making learning content flexibly available. Companies should therefore use microlearning: small, informative bites of knowledge that employees can access at any time directly during work.
3. Recognize that real cultural change begins at the top
You cannot simply decree a new learning culture. Culture is deeply rooted in the company and must grow and consolidate step by step. To ensure this, the leadership must be on board, leading by example and driving the change forward. This can be achieved, for example, by leaders creating learning content or learning videos themselves and encouraging employees to learn at any time.
Conclusion
A strong learning culture is created when learning is not understood as an occasional measure, but naturally belongs to the daily work routine and the development of the company.
For this, it is not enough to regularly offer employees new training. The decisive factor is to create framework conditions for continuous learning: employees must be able to access knowledge when they need it for their current tasks, and at the same time be given enough freedom to help shape their own learning process.
An important role is therefore played by flexible and short learning offers that can be integrated directly into the daily work routine. Microlearning, for example, can help to make relevant knowledge available exactly when a concrete need arises. In this way, learning is not separated from daily work, but becomes a part of it.
At the same time, companies must know and take the needs of their employees seriously. Those who have an influence themselves on what, when, and how they learn can take on more responsibility for their own development. A good learning culture therefore does not create as many mandatory training sessions as possible, but rather supports self-directed and demand-oriented learning.
However, the decisive impulse must also come from the leaders. When they visibly support continuing education, learn themselves, share knowledge, and give their employees time to learn, they show that learning is not an interruption of actual work, but an important part of it.
A new learning culture does not happen overnight. However, companies can develop it step by step by bringing learning closer to daily work, promoting self-responsibility, and consistently leading by example in continuing education.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
What does learning culture in a company mean?
Learning culture describes the value that learning and personal development have in the company. A strong learning culture is shown by the fact that learning does not only take place in individual training sessions, but naturally belongs to the daily work routine.
How can a positive learning culture be developed in a company?
Companies should first know the learning needs of their employees and create suitable framework conditions. This includes flexible learning offers, opportunities for self-directed learning, and support from leadership. A new learning culture develops step by step and must be consolidated in the long term.
What role do leaders play for a successful learning culture?
Leaders have an important role model function. They can actively promote learning, encourage employees to develop further, share knowledge themselves, and show that learning during working hours is expressly desired.
Why is self-directed learning important for learning culture?
Self-directed learning enables employees to align their learning process more closely with their own needs and concrete tasks. As a result, they take on more responsibility for their development and can acquire new knowledge specifically when they need it.
How can learning be better integrated into daily work?
Learning content should be flexible and immediately available. Short microlearning units can, for example, be used directly during a concrete task. As a result, employees do not have to interrupt their work for longer training sessions and can apply new knowledge immediately.
