Learning is a fundamental human instinct, as human beings we are drawn to learning about the world around us, and to pursue learning new skills and behaviours. A lack of learning opportunities in our lives can lead to dissatisfaction, lack of motivation and can even have a negative impact on our mental health.
Developing a learning culture in your organisation can be hugely beneficial for not just individual employees, but the overall success of an organisation. A huge 94% of employees asked said that they would stay longer at an organisation if it invested more in their learning (2020 Workforce Learning Report) and 76% of employees say that a company would be more appealing if it offered additional skills training to its staff (Lorman.com).
The importance of creating a culture of learning is clear, however not all businesses are successfully implementing effective learning opportunities. Research by The Learning Wave found that a staggering 74% of employees report feeling that they are not meeting their full potential due to lack of development opportunities at work.
Benefits of creating a learning culture
Higher employee satisfaction
With 85% of employees claiming to be disengaged in their job (Gallup), offering learning and development opportunities in the workplace gives employers more chance to develop and expand their current role, giving them more motivation and opportunity for growth.
Reduction in staff turnover
A lack of training has been linked to higher employee turnover, in fact, 68% of employees have left a job because of a lack of learning and development opportunities (Totaljobs.co.uk). However, offering exciting opportunities to grow and develop in your organisation can lead to a reduction in turnover, and therefore a reduction in recruitment costs.
Higher profit margins
Research has shown that companies offering comprehensive training have up to 24% higher profit margins (Huffington Post), showing that investing in training is not only good for individual employees but good for the overall success of a business.
More competitive
Making sure your employees are up to date with the latest skills required in their field can help keep your business competitive in the marketplace. By staying on top of latest trends and new technology, you can ensure to close employee skill gaps.
Encourage curiosity
A good place to start with developing a learning culture in any organisation is encouraging curiosity in the workplace. Allowing employees to have an open and curious mind will allow them to have different ideas on how processes and tasks could be done differently and assess where there are skill gaps that could be worked on.
You can start by encouraging them to question, “Could this process be done differently?” or “Is there something we could be doing that we’re not?” Getting employees engaged in these questions will naturally lead to more insightful answers and ways of working.
Provide employee feedback
Another way to encourage an environment for learning is by providing balanced and fair feedback. Manager’s reluctance to give negative feedback, as not to cause an uncomfortable situation, can sometimes lead to a lack of employee growth where the individual is unaware of the areas in which they need to improve.
Providing insightful and balanced employee feedback allows for employees to reflect on what has been done well and what could be improved on in future, allowing them to assess whether there is a skill gap and whether necessary training could be necessary.
Reward and recognise
It’s no surprise that people are more likely to feel motivated and appreciated if they have been recognised or rewarded for their work. A significant 51% of employees were dissatisfied with the amount of thanks they received for doing a piece of work (Achievers.com). Being recognised in the workplace is more likely to make an employee feel like a valued member of their team and encourages further hard work, with 40% of employees saying they would put more effort into their work if they were going to be recognised for it (Achievers.com).
Don’t punish people for trying
Unfortunately, not every new idea is going to always go to plan. In the learning process there can mistakes along the way. An important way of encouraging learning is to not punish employees for trying something new, even if it isn’t successful. Praising employees for testing new ways of working will help develop a learning culture, where mistakes are allowed, and are there to be learnt from.
Apprenticeships are an excellent way of developing your Learning and Development employees, to create impactful learning processes in your organisation. Lifetime’s Level 3 and Level 5 programmes have been created to upskill your employees to drive engagement, innovation and reward in your organisation in turn for encouraging your people to grow.
