In today’s fast-paced environment, employees are expected to adapt to new technologies, practices, and skills quickly and consistently. In order for organizations to remain competitive, they need their people to continue developing well after they finish onboarding. As a result, it’s not surprising that leaders are directing so much attention to Learning and Development (L&D).
Usually, when we think about workplace learning, we imagine people taking a course or two, then moving on to their usual workflows. However, this isn’t what an ideal culture of learning looks like. Rather, learning is much more effective when it is part of the everyday employee experience. When people have the opportunity to learn from each other and see leaders actively promoting learning, you are more likely to see habits develop that encourage continuous improvement.
Let’s explore how organizations can foster that kind of culture.
Promote Collaborative and Social Learning
Think about a time when you learned something by watching someone else complete a task, or by having a coworker show you a shortcut. These are moments of collaborative learning, and they allow employees to learn with and from the people around them. They could take place in group discussions, lunch ‘n learns, or more formal peer coaching. The formats can vary. What really matters is facilitating opportunities for people to interact and learn together.
The social element to this process is essential. Learning experiences can become more engaging and impactful when learners reflect, share experiences, and discuss how concepts can be applied to their work.
This means L&D professionals should consider what happens beyond a learning module. For example, could employees discuss a topic together after completing a module? Or maybe experienced employees can share their knowledge with newer team members? If leadership creates the space for these sorts of interactions, it could do a lot to help training material feel more practical.
Encourage Leaders to Participate
Leaders have a significant influence on how employees perceive learning. If an organization tells employees that professional development is important while leaders never demonstrate its importance, then it can feel hollow. One way to demonstrate importance is to make training feel relevant.
Leaders can do this by connecting it directly to the work their employees are already doing. Instead of asking them to simply complete a required training, they can explain how the information would help them solve a problem that they’ve consistently faced.
Once the training is completed, learners should feel that it was valuable. It doesn’t help if leaders never bring it up again. What would help is if leaders open spaces for reflection, discussion, and application. For instance, they could set up time for the employees who took the training to gather and discuss it with each other. What did they like? What was interesting? How can they imagine applying certain principles? This not only emphasizes the importance of the training, but it also reinforces the most critical concepts.
Build Habits of Practice and Continuous Improvement
Learning becomes much more valuable when employees have opportunities to practice what they have learned. A training module might introduce a new skill, but employees need time and repetition before that skill becomes part of their normal workflow.
For example, each employee on a team can apply some of their newly learned skills in a team-wide challenge, where everyone completes their own version before they all regroup and learn from each other’s work.
Additionally, employees could set small development goals and revisit them regularly. Leaders should use one-on-one opportunities with them to discuss growth and check in on progress. The key here is consistency. Spending hours every week on formal training is rarely necessary. Instead, a few intentional moments of practice and reflection can have the desired impact.
Make Learning Something People Enjoy
Creating a culture that enjoys learning requires organizations to look beyond the training catalog. This culture comes about when employees interact with one another, when leaders demonstrate that continuous learning is valued, and when employees have the opportunities to practice, reflect, and try again.
It’s important to stress that none of this means formal training should disappear. Courses still provide valuable structure and help learners develop foundational knowledge. However, they often work best when they are supported by a workplace that pushes learning beyond the course itself.
This is the fundamental challenge for L&D professionals. How can you create learning experiences that employees want to engage with, while also making room for continuous improvement to be a normal part of work?
There likely isn’t one answer. Still, the first step is changing how we think about learning. Instead of treating it as something employees stop work to do, training and learning should be components that work is incomplete without.
This should help learning become less of an occasional duty and more of a habit. Eventually, this should help make it something that employees enjoy and feel the tangible benefits of.
Ready to design learning experiences your people actually want? Apti helps organizations build learning cultures that stick — not just courses that check a box. Let’s talk about your team’s learning experience.