Learning culture will benefit for both employer and employee

 

Today, globalization, innovations and technological changes are greatly influencing the business environment. To survive in this changing and challenging environment organizations should build their core competencies and sustain their competitive advantages.

Organizational learning is the most widespread and fastest-growing of intervention in HRD practice to lead organization effectiveness in the past decade. (Cummings & Worley, 2005) A learning culture is a type of organizational culture that integrates with organizational learning.

What is learning culture?

Reynolds (2004) describes a learning culture as a ‘growth medium’, which will ‘encourage employees to commit to a range of positive discretionary behaviors, including learning’ and which has the following characteristics: empowerment not supervision, self-managed learning not instruction, long-term capacity building not short-term fixes. 

Top management should know the value of learning and development, to perform a learning culture in the organization. Learning culture demonstrates and encourages individuals and organization to learn and both parties (employer and employee) can get benefit from it. Learning culture doesn’t happen suddenly. It takes significant time to develop.

 

How to Developing a learning culture within the organization? Reynolds (2004)

1. Develop and share the vision

It is essential to create a clear vision for the organization and that should be shared with the employees. Then the vision becomes “our vision” or the “team vision”. Every workers should have proper idea on what should they exactly do for achieve that vision.

2. Empower employees

Here responsibilities should share with the employees. An employee can’t accomplish something if they are not empowered.

For empowering the employees, company can give them the authority to make decisions, can involve them in making company decisions, can offer flexible working hours (Shift base, work from home) and can provide required training.

3. Adopt a facilitative style of management

This means there should be a participative decision-making system. Participative decision-making encourages team members to express their ideas and think innovative.

4. Provide employees with a supportive learning environment

There should be an internal environment that facilitates employees to discover and apply knowledge. Internal systems and standards should be supportive, Peer networks should encourage for learning and allocate some time and space for learning.

5. Use coaching techniques to draw out the talents of others by encouraging employees to identify options and seek their own solutions to problems.

As the coaching techniques company can give career coaching, Life or personal coaching, Business coaching, Performance coaching and succession coaching. Every employees face the day to day work related problems. If the top management given a proper coaching sessions, employees will able to seek their own solutions to the problems which they are facing.

6. Guide employees through their work challenges

Every workers need proper guidance to perform their tasks most effectively. If the top management give a proper guidance employee may learn how to be relax when facing to the challengers and they will know how to handle the problems in critical situations.

7. Recognize the importance of managers acting as role models

Most employees follow their managers as a role models. A role model can increase their follower’s morale by using their traits, attitudes and behaviors. To become good role models managers should show respect for others, understand their employees, spend some time to listen to their employee's complaints and share their past experiences.

8. Encourage networks

When the employees work with cross-functional teams they will have the chance to learn each department's activities, procedures, policies and the work-related issues they have faced. As well as formal networks, informal networks also play a vital role in learning culture.

09. Align systems to vision

Arrange and maintain an internal system that facilitate to work rather than problems making.

Why learning culture is important?

All the companies compete for improving their operational efficiency. As a result of the successful learning culture employees can improve their skills and competencies and high skilled workers will actively contribute to achieve organizational objectives cost-effectively. Learning culture will be a competitive advantage in talent acquisition. If there is having a great learning culture candidates motivate to apply for the organization's future vacancies and top talents will also retain with the organization. And this will create the atmosphere to develop future leaders also. For future vacancies training existing employees inside is very cost-effective rather than hiring ones from outside.   

Learning culture spreads the “growth mindset” in employees. As a result of this employees will accept the day-to-day operational challenges, develop new skills and tend to make innovations. When the learning culture is embedded with practical skills and tips,that will help to increase the employee’s productivity.  On the other hand, if there is a learning culture employees believe that their organization is investing on them and that will increase the employee morale and motivation to perform their tasks successfully. This encourages having better conversations within the peer group and apart from sharing knowledge that will increase the team bond also.

 

To get and furthermore idea on learning culture please watch the following video.

                                                                                                                            (Learning Insights, 2018)

References

Reynolds, J. (2004) Helping People Learn, CIPD, London.

Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G. (2005) Organization development and change. 8^th edition. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Thompson.

Learning Insights (2018) How organizations build a learning culture [online video] Available at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOCEoaf_tTA [Accessed 19.03.2023]