5 Powerful Ways to Lead a Culture of Learning

Today, our world thrives daily in a culture of learning without even realizing it. Learning is one of the most basic, and yet arguably, the most valuable of all the skills we master in our lifetime. As infants, we learn to survive through interactions with our parents, who provide food, warmth, clothing, and love. In childhood, we learn from our peers what social groups are. Later, as school-aged kids, we learn from teachers how to acquire the necessary skills to succeed in school.

Lastly, as adults, we understand learning is an integral part of our existence and a component we can’t live without. Growing intellectually becomes a way of life, and we know we must be open to learning new things. Without this understanding, we would fall short quickly because change constantly happens around us. As a result, we would be unable to adapt, greatly hindering our quality of life.

For example, we rely heavily on technology in the modern world. Unfortunately, technology rarely stays the same for long. If we own a smartphone, we must learn how to use new features the manufacturer releases when they update our device. Much to our dismay, if the release has to do with security, and we refuse to learn how to use the new feature, we unnecessarily put our security at risk.  

Humans are wired to learn. Learning is not just part of survival; it is how we thrive. When you understand how crucial learning is, to work in an organization fostering ongoing learning and development becomes paramount. We need to work in a culture of learning where employees can continuously seek, share, and apply new knowledge and skills to improve individual performance. We may not be aware that this is vital to the organization’s success as well.

Learning experiences happen all around us. As a great leader, you can allow learning experiences to occur naturally, which promotes organic growth, or you can direct these experiences for a more robust outcome. When learning becomes intentional, it has a greater purpose and impact.

Here is a list of 5 ways you can lead a culture of learning at your organization.

1. Implement a blend of formal and informal learning opportunities: One of the most successful ways to learn formally is through group training sessions tailored to the team’s needs. First, determine your team’s needs. You can do this by using a series of individual assessments to uncover the team’s top 3 strengths and opportunities. Then, conduct training sessions on the team’s top 3 opportunities to improve. A top way to learn informally is by using a proven method of community learning. Lunch and learn sessions are a relaxed way to allow a team to learn something new together in a more casual setting and then build off the skills they learned in team-building exercises in break-out sessions. These can be as simple as bringing the group together, catering lunch deli style, including drink service, and facilitating discussions on the team’s known struggles.
2. Lead a culture of learning through continuous development and growth: Use targeted leadership to build a culture around constant learning, development, and growth. Thought leadership and affirming leadership styles are complementary styles that invoke employee-led solutions to challenges and promote innovative problem-solving. These two leadership styles can encourage the team to be open to growth which is the portal to learning and development. Take some time to research leadership style types and use the ones that make the most sense based on your team’s challenges.
3. Encourage knowledge sharing and discourage knowledge hoarding: Set the stage early with the team to let them know that everyone has a voice they are encouraged to use respectfully. Inspire a mindset that no suggestion or idea be insulted by another team member. Stress team cohesiveness and the importance of not having a single point of failure on any process or procedure. These methods help individuals learn they have a safe space to create ideas and share their best talents with their team. This exercise leads the team to have an open mind and want to share. With this mindset, an organization can use frequent cross-training for processes and procedures to ensure knowledge is always spread evenly across the team.
4. Empower employees to plan their learning/development: Hold employees accountable for their learning and development plan to improve or maintain their best performance. Conduct weekly or monthly one-on-one sessions with each employee. Document their specific progress at each session and celebrate milestones they meet. During your sessions, topics should include short- and long-term career goals, progress and hurdles for their workload, and a review of their development needs/goals.
5. Reward your employees’ efforts to learn and grow continuously:  Reward employees’ efforts to learn and grow continuously by using team and individual recognition on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. For example, get creative with rewards and engage employees to brainstorm ideas to keep it exciting and engaging for them. For example, to teach peer recognition is valued, delegate to a committee of team members and rotate them frequently. Use trophies, certificates, and other incentives such as appreciation luncheons, breakfast for champions, award ceremonies, or team outings. 

Leaders of all levels can significantly influence employees’ actions in the workplace. Every leader should learn to lead by example. Leaders can model their learning and development by openly talking with their employees about it. Doing so will reinforce a culture of learning and show that developing new skills and capacities is a priority for everyone. Even though executive team members may not participate directly in learning programs, they can frequently emphasize the importance of learning in company meetings and communications, which will provide helpful reinforcement for middle managers.

Leaders should remember that every individual learns differently—and every employee brings their own level of background knowledge and experience to the table. Additionally, each employee’s state of life differs, which means that not everyone has the same level of responsibilities or free time to focus on training. Therefore, an organization should offer different training methods to accommodate the team’s diversity and enhance work-life balance.

It is essential for managers to regularly check in with their employees to assess what they gained from a learning program. Managers should understand how employees balance new skills with their other responsibilities. Knowing how to encourage employees to put their learning into practice is essential. Similarly, as employees engage these new skills in their roles, frequent feedback on their performance will help them refine and cement those new learnings.

Constant coaching and feedback should be at the forefront of the organization’s learning plan to ensure employees give their best performance. Leaders should be trained regularly to provide the best coaching methods. Not only should employees receive regular feedback on their performance, but they should also have measurable goals set. Employees should clearly understand how to achieve these goals and regularly improve their performance.

A lack of regular feedback and coaching can cause an organization to lose money, leading to an unproductive and disengaged workforce. To prevent this, the organization must also recognize that regular feedback and coaching is a leadership skill and not a repackaging of management skills. Not all managers can lead this way since coaching is about leading someone’s development, and management typically deals with supervision. As a result, not all managers are leaders, and not all leaders are managers.

Organizations should invest in training leaders to provide ongoing coaching even if employees receive coaching from someone other than their direct manager. Ongoing coaching equips employees with the knowledge, tools, and opportunities necessary to perform their roles effectively. Leaders responsible for workplace coaching focus on the employees’ needs and the organization’s goals. We can further define workplace coaching as a leadership strategy addressing workplace objectives. It also empowers employees to meet the same goals.

When an organization seeks to determine its ongoing development needs, leadership should view it holistically in three ways: (1) as a whole; (2) broken down into teams; (3) and individually. Viewing from this perspective will allow leadership to understand actual progress and opportunities for growth across the entire organization, not just one or two areas. The organization must be viewed holistically to establish the business needs to build an educational plan. Outstanding leadership understands that individual talents are as important as a team’s collective talents. As a result, an organization’s decision to build an educational plan can make or break an organization’s future.

People are often the most significant asset a company has. Visit a company with a world-class product run by a group of overstretched and disheartened employees, and then visit another company with well-balanced and passionate employees with a mediocre product. Which company would you rather do business with? Do you see a difference in the outcome and opinion of each visit?

Every person in the organization can grow beyond where they are today through a culture of learning. Today’s analyst will be tomorrow’s Vice President. The most effective way to cultivate that potential is through building a culture of learning. Leading your organization to achieve new heights means you develop employees today who will achieve great things tomorrow.