As an employer, you’re likely well aware of the importance in developing a positive employee experience (and if you’re unsure of what that is, check out this blog) by investing in your staff’s skill-building opportunities as well as their work/life balance.
This emphasis on their skillsets is indicative of a company’s ‘learning culture.’ For this blog, we’ll be taking a look at what that means, and why it’s important. Also, how to get started.
What is a learning culture?
It’s rather simple really. A learning culture exists when the company provides consistent resources towards the development of their employee’s critical skills and competencies. The employers recognize that while new skills might be necessary to perform tasks as their industry evolves over time, their current employee’s are the ones to execute them. They’re taking the ‘long view’ as is often said, to make sure that they equip their team to stay on top of new technologies.
By doing so, they’re feeding into a positive employee experience AND retaining talent. Employees feel invested in and are less likely to go on the hunt for a new job, simply because their current workplace is making sure they stay relevant in their field.
How to start developing a learning culture
- Conduct a needs analysis of your employee’s skills. What’s lacking? It’s important to identify the relevancy of a training before making employees go through the process. Will this skill benefit the work in the future? And does it contribute to the career development of the employee (which is at the heart of a learning culture)?
- Identify and accommodate learning styles. There’s a lot of them out there and making sure that employees are being engaged in a way that works for them is essential for cementing a new skill.
- Put the skills to use right away. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it, right? Make sure some aspect of the new technology is in practice as soon as training concludes, from there the employee will be able to expand its’ usefulness as needed.
Developing a learning culture within your company takes some effort but the results are 100% worth it since employers and employees will benefit from a culture that is invested in the growth of everyone involved. If you’re interested in learning more (or getting going!) Eos HR can help! We’re a team of HR professionals helping small businesses implement smart solutions to stay relevant and create positive change in their industry. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.
#hr #weareEOSHR #learningculture #employeeexperience #employeetraining #smallbusiness