6.1 Learning Culture

Learning is essential for employees to develop skills and enjoy job satisfaction.  Individuals and teams are offered the time and space to continually develop knowledge and skills that improve employee performance and personal growth. A learning culture is an entire organization committed to learning for the benefit of individual employees, teams and the organization.  A learning culture is essential to organizations and promotes a positive impact through innovation, employee engagement, and employee retention.  An important factor is building a learning culture is aligning professional development opportunities with the organization’s business strategy.  A learning culture requires that Human Resources have a plan and budget that meets the learning needs of the company’s employees.  The plan must also align with the company’s mission, vision and values. It is important that Human Resources get “buy-in” from senior executives who will champion the learning culture ideal to all the other employees.  This can guarantee success.

When individuals and teams grow due to a learning culture, they have improved mindsets and want to learn and share their knowledge. The outcome is high-performing teams with high performance and productivity, which helps the company achieve it’s business goals. Companies with strong learning cultures are more “adaptable, flexible and innovative. They are also more likely to embrace change and less likely to be risk-averse” (Tenney, M.).

Organizations that have built a learning culture have employees who are more invested in the organization’s success. Continuous learning, whether in classrooms, online or on the job, witness improvements in the lives of their employees, have a competitive advantage in the economy, and improve customer service.

Human Resources is generally responsible for building a learning culture.  They involve senior management, supervisors, and other leaders.  A Learning Culture is created by Human Resources by following the steps below.

1. Assessment:  Assess the training opportunities that exist.  Conduct a skills gap analysis, a learning needs assessment and a climate survey to identify strengths and weaknesses of the employees.  These help HR to also identify levels of employee engagement and are to improve. Based on the results, HR can design and implement a custom employee development and career planning program that aligns with the company’s goals and vision.
2. Provide learning opportunities: HR designs innovative, diverse programs for employees.  These opportunities include classroom training, coaching, mentoring, webinars, online learning, and project-based learning.  Employees are offered opportunities to take a learning path, work at their own pace and follow their interests. HR can cater to the varied learning styles, needs and motivations of the employees.
3. Reward learning:  HR needs to recognize and reward the learning efforts of its employees.  They can do this through continuous feedback, showing appreciation, offering certifications, etc. for those who complete their training. Other times, employees may be offered bonuses, incentives, career advances or recognition awards for their efforts.  This helps to boost motivation and self-confidence within the employee teams and departments.  Also, it creates a positive work environment.
4. Instil knowledge sharing and cooperation: HR can create opportunities for employees to share knowledge, communicate and exchange ideas and insights, and provide feedback on products and services with each other.  This includes outside vendors, customers, and other experts.  By sharing and cooperating, the employees build trust, build a culture of openness and respect.  They are more apt to share their opinions and ideas, offer recommendations, and encourage more collaboration. This type of sharing creates an environment of creativity, problem-solving and a sense of belonging for the employees.
5. Provide support and role modelling: HR can provide training and coaching on “what makes a successful learning culture” with the company leaders.  This helps to build and sustain innovation and the learning culture.
6. Monitor and assess:  HR can collect and analyze data through employee surveys and questionnaires on satisfaction of their learning.  They can also include performance and productivity analysis. The results of this data can help improve areas and enhance the effectiveness of the learning culture plan.^[1]