Cultivating a Culture of Learning in the Workplace

In the dynamic realm of corporate environments, the cultivation of a culture of learning is a strategic imperative for long-term success.
As we embrace April 2024, Executive Agenda is dedicated to unraveling the significance of continuous learning in the workplace. Join us as we explore the importance of continuous learning, strategies for implementing effective training programs, and ways to encourage a learning mindset among team members.
 

Importance of Continuous Learning in the Corporate Environment

Continuous learning is not merely a checkbox on a professional development plan; it's the lifeblood of organizational growth. In an era of rapid change - technological advancements and evolving market environments, the ability to adapt and upskill is critical. Continuous learning is not just a personal endeavor but a corporate necessity for staying ahead in today's competitive business environment.
 

Several resources that explore a culture of learning from a corporate perspective are:

• MIT Professor Peter Senge’s book “The Fifth Discipline, The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization” considered one of the seminal management books of the past seventy-five years by the Harvard Business Review, is a bestselling classic. Start here! He will help you “discover how to reignite the spark of genuine learning”.
   
• McKinsey's article on "The CEO's role in leading transformation", which emphasizes the importance of a learning mindset at the executive level and modeling the learning behavior you want others to mimic.
   
• LinkedIn's "2024 Workplace Learning Report", which provides a comprehensive overview of trends and best practices in corporate learning. While this article reviews the learning organization in light of learning for the corporation’s sake, I would encourage you to go beyond that and help create an environment for learning for the individual’s sake as well.
   
• Harvard Business Review's "Building a Learning Organization", a classic article that explores the elements of an organization that prioritizes continuous learning.

 

Providing Market Value to Your Employees

An organization that values its employees provides them growth opportunities and market value. Humans need to feel they are growing and becoming more valuable. Whether they are taking on new hobbies, home learning opportunities, or work challenges, learning about things that are interesting and increase one’s value brings excitement to new endeavors. Employers may provide these opportunities in a variety of ways:
 

• Effective training programs are the backbone of a learning culture. You will need to implement programs that resonate with the diverse needs of your workforce, but also demonstrate that leaders at all levels in the organization value continual learning – from reading on their own, to creating on-the-job training and immersive workshops. Foster desire to learn and find methods that align with your organizational goals and support continuous skill development, as well as personal enrichment by expanding individuals’ current knowledge/abilities.
   
• Training for job-related work (strengthens the employee in their current role)
   
• Training for work possible / future possible work (prepares the employee to take a greater role or to evaluate new products/services/technologies) to possibly be used in the future. While this training doesn’t guarantee an opportunity to use the training at the current employer, it gives the employee market value and allows them to continue to grow. The training will likely be useful to the current employer even if the work for which the employee has been trained does not take place. The knowledge of how that particular work does or does not fit in with the company strategy will be useful for future evaluations.
   
• Training that provides lattice growth opportunities (a similar, but lateral function). Here an employee has the ability to cross-train, and receives the potential to be prepared for a different job within the same (or a different) company.
   
• Learning (reading and discussing new ideas) will help employees take information that they read about and discuss/figure out how those ideas might be used at their company. Being able to take concepts that work in one industry and translate them to how they can work in another industry will help expand the thinking of employees – with employees who become more innovative and creative. (An example of this is taking a concept that may be standard in one industry, but unknown in another industry and thinking about how that concept may be applicable in a completely different environment.) By the way – this is an excellent reason to be part of an organization like EA - where you regularly receive input from a group of various disciplines and various industries!
   

Don’t be afraid to provide market value to your employees! Help them learn and grow. They will be better employees for it and will value their employment for the opportunities to learn and grow!
 

Cultivating a culture of learning is a journey that requires commitment and strategic vision. At Executive Agenda, we understand the transformative power of continuous learning. By recognizing its importance, implementing effective training programs, and encouraging a learning mindset among team members, organizations can position themselves as industry leaders. Stay tuned for more insights as we continue to explore the dynamic landscape of executive leadership.

 

About the Author

Susan Ellmaurer is a veteran generalist with a broad range of business experience. Her professional experience spans systems engineering, sales and district sales management, human resources management and executive level leadership. Susan has worked in insurance/finance, manufacturing, technology and public higher education. She has worked for a small manufacturer, two Fortune 100 companies (Xerox and Honeywell), both with a significant international presence ($4-6 billion in sales revenues), a large not-for-profit organization (Catholic Knights) and a large public higher education institution.

She has managed the M&A due diligence process for both IT and HR functions, and has extensive experience in strategic planning and creating, as well as managing, the metrics for continual improvement. Susan’s most recent responsibilities were leading the HR department at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Susan has a BS degree from Southern Illinois University in math with a concentration in computer science. She was a 14-year member of EA 16 prior to becoming an Executive Agenda Chair in 2020.