In an era dominated by fast innovation, constant changes in customer habits, and varying employer demands, being a learning organization has turned out to be a considerable asset for corporations. In the present-day context, employees regard upskilling as more than just an attractive incentive but something that affects the occupational advancement and the everyday working environment of an individual. Auzmor, which offers a modern learning management system, knows that in order to achieve a good employee experience, continuous learning is essential.
As competition for the best available talent becomes intense, more companies are coming to the realization that great employee experience is more than these primary incentives – good pay, attractive benefits, or great working environments. Rather, in the modern world, employees look for opportunities for advancement, improvement, and being able to learn continuously in their employment. It is worth mentioning that it is the opportunity to learn that not only improves retention but loyalty in general and the attitude to the job and work itself.
The Relation Between Continuous Learning and Employee Engagement
Employee experience includes every interaction that an employee makes during his/her lifecycle with an organization. This includes how a person is hired and how they leave in the case of resignation or termination. A positive employee experience is the combination of multiple cultures such as organizational culture, the well-being of the employees, the feeling of belonging in the organization, and the possibility to move forward in the career. But learning and development is one of the most important components.
Why is it so? Because people are by their nature learners. And it is quite natural that people would want to grow and change positively. When organizations encourage this very natural desire of employees by providing structured and continuous learning opportunities, employees feel engaged, motivated, and appreciated.
In a LinkedIn Workforce Learning Report 2018, it was found that the possibility of career development for employees made them stay longer by about 94% in a particular organization. This statistic, however, illustrates the importance of continuous learning regarding employee experience and especially retention. Employees want to develop professionally and personally in their workplaces and, therefore, seek their employers’ help in this project.
How Continuous Learning Improves Employee Experience?
Although the primary result of offering opportunities for continuous learning is centered on professional development, other implications affect the wider employee experience positively. For an easier understanding of how employee experience is influenced by continuous learning, let us try to break down the concept across multiple dimensions:
Skill Development and Career Advancement
Employees are always eager to have a glimpse of a better tomorrow, in which they will work within the company. When people feel stagnant or see that they are either ‘stuck’ in their position, or redundant, it is one of the foremost reasons that makes them seek employment elsewhere. The goal of the training goes beyond basic compliance. It satisfies the need to learn something new, whether it is learning new skills, a new tool, or how to become a leader.
In organizations that provide learning paths to employees, employees are empowered to draw growth plans for themselves. This ensures that each individual’s set of skills is improved, and at the same time, there is provision for campaigning for promotion into higher positions that entail better payment, and career growth. Such happy employees move on from one stage to another and so the level of engagement increases.
The LMS platform is developed by Auzmor in a way that every employee gets targeted learning experiences that match their skills and career aspirations with the intended outcome of improving employee performance. By offering tailored learning in such a way, they take the relevant training and encourage their career development.
Increased Engagement and Job Satisfaction
Internal and external satisfaction of employees is a subordinate function of determining the level of organizational engagement. When employees are provided with training opportunities, it is natural for them to be more involved in their daily activities. Since they improve, build confidence, and are always upbeat about what they do, organizations also benefit. To the workers, there is no boredom since learning is cultivated within the workplace hence new challenges are faced all the time.
According to a Gallup Poll, they were able to identify that companies with highly engaged teams had up to 21% greater productivity and yielded 22% more profits. In order for the employees to engage and grow, they must be actively learning, and this aspect of continuous learning is well-known to enhance employee well-being and generate better returns for the company.
Also, learning provides a fresh dimension of work. Through either P2P learning, problem-solving, or mentorship awards, people who are learners interact and support each other to secure a stronger culture within the company.
Boosted Adaptability and Agility
Innovation is needed to transform the systems of the world, given the reality that societies are dynamic. The ability to change quickly in response to these disruptions is what many companies lag and will become outdated. Constant learning ensures that all employees are ready for the modern systems by empowering them with the required information, skills, and tools to act on these problems not only today but in the future as well.
This flexibility leads to a more robust workforce. Employees are less willing to resist change if they perceive themselves as possessing the requisite abilities to adapt to innovations in technologies, processes, or the marketplace. This flexibility, however, fosters a conducive organizational climate where employees feel supported and encouraged to flourish, regardless of the constraints.
Encouraging Innovation and Creative Endeavors
It can be seen that the moment one takes up continuous learning; there is a stimulation of creativity and new invention. One is more likely to think outside the box when new aspects of learning are offered to employees, new ideas will be tried, and progress within the company will be made. There are cases of those companies that endorse the training and development policies and the employees engaging positively in the addressing of the problems and the enhancement of the growth strategies.
As was reported by Deloitte in 2017, Companies with a learning culture are 46% more likely to be the first to market, 92% more likely to innovate and increased productivity by 37%. More so, with a culture of continuous learning, employees enhance not only the amount of work but also the quality of work they do for the organization.
Making Strong Employee-Employer Bonds
Because employees are aware that an employer is genuinely concerned about their future growth and development, they will do everything possible to be loyal and dedicated to the set vision of the organization and strategy. Providing them with periodic learning opportunities confirms a loving and positive partnership. Employees’ development support provided by a company makes them feel appreciated and so be more emotionally attached to the employment, and retention of the employees is heightened.
In addition, continuous learning, most of the time, is reinforced by the use of a coaching and/or mentoring program that brings employees close to other employees on lower or higher managerial levels. Such participation leads to better communication, teamwork, and respect, all factors that make for a better employee experience.
Improved Employee Retention
Further, it helps to answer the talent retention questions which bring distress in many organizations. Employee turnover is very expensive, not only in terms of the money that would be spent to look for someone else and that person’s training but also in the excellent skills that may be lost. Functional or continuous learning is an appropriate strategy to reduce this problem.
As previously stated, workers are quite likely to remain in an organization that constantly develops their skills. The provision of learning and development opportunities has been known to foster retention of employees as it increases their engagement, appreciation, and readiness to perform.
For instance, IBM’s Employee Experience Index indicated that in companies where employees believe that they cannot achieve their career objectives, they are 12 times more willing to change their jobs. Continuous learning increases the productivity and satisfaction of employees while lowering the costs incurred through employee churn.
The Role of Continuous Learning in Employee Development
Employee development is not only limited to transforming workers for the job they occupy—it goes beyond and its target is to create workers for the future. Organizations that develop their members are more likely to build in-house capacity for leadership, enhance the motivation of employees as well as their alignment with the strategy of the organization in terms of its vision.
This progressive growth feature includes continuous learning. Instead of applying the ‘no more than’ concept in the provision of training whereby one training session or isolated courses are provided once, organizational leaders need to work towards establishing learning-oriented organizations with a focus on employee growth for all periods within the employees’ lifespan in the organization. This entails tackling the different training modes that can encompass classroom-based training, e-learning, actual workshops, or job placements.
Key Benefits of Continuous Learning for Employee Development
Confidence and Competence
If organizations provide their staff with a way to learn continuously, they will be more secure about what they can achieve. This competence further provides a boost to their zeal thereby, enabling them to assume further obligations and achieve targets which ultimately engages them in bigger aspirations that are aligned with the organizational significance.
Pathways to Leadership
Leadership development from the inside is one of the best strategies for the company’s sustainable progress. Lifelong learning keeps the employees so engaged that they perfect valuable leadership attributes such as analytical skills, effective communication, and being team players. With the help of potential leaders, organizations can hand over leadership with ease and decrease the chaos that leadership changes tend to bring about.
Personal Growth and Job Satisfaction
Continuous learning does not only apply in enhancing career advancement since it also helps employees achieve personal career objectives. It does not matter whether they are trying to learn how to be qualified personnel, or they are learning soft skills like time management, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, or everyone’s effective management skill development. Employees feel more rejuvenated in their jobs as this sense of people’s growth directly affects their job satisfaction levels.
Future-Proofing the Workforce
In fact, by enabling employees to partake in continuous learning, companies are helping the workforce to future-proof themselves. Employees are more ready to face changes in the organization in terms of changes in trends and changes in the use of different technologies. Such future-proofing is most important in areas that are rapidly being transformed by technology because this is critical for growth in the business.
How to Build a Culture of Continuous Learning?
Any organization that wishes to carry out or enhance its continuous learning initiatives certainly first needs to embrace a learning culture. This implies that learning is not just a box to tick off once in a while. Following are some of the best practices that can yield better outcomes as far as a learning culture is concerned:
Align Learning with Business Goals
A learning culture starts from the top of the organization where all learning outcomes are linked to major achievements by the organization. When the employees see that their abilities are of some value; in terms of the company’s growth and its direction in the future, they tend to buy into learning endeavors. Such alignment helps leadership appreciate real returns on learning investments and builds a strong case for more learning funds and time. However, there must also be a learning perspective that is consistent with the company’s objectives and aspirational direction.
Offer Different Ways of Learning
Acknowledging that not all employees learn at the same time or in the same manner is crucial for the success of any learning program. Apart from lectures, which are not very effective, a variety of modes of instruction – including e-learning, simulating, training, mentoring, or group tasks – can reach different audiences. This variety does not only improve motivation but also gives room for employees to choose to learn. For instance, online learning allows students to learn at their own pace while workshops or mentoring programs allow students to implement new ideas.
Distribute Learning Materials
Accessibility is very central if there is a need to ensure that learning is incorporated into daily activities. LMSs can promote active and self-directed learning in ways that fit worker’s different career paths, goals, and other performance aspirations. Such LMS systems allow employees to access, track, and complete training content and modules at their own pace. By erasing learning deterrents such as time stress or inappropriate barriers, organizations empower their employees to master more competencies. For instance, Auzmor’s LMS encourages autonomy by helping employees easily find learning materials and finish training at their own pace.
Foster Knowledge Sharing
For an organization to succeed, it must not only care for how far members individually progress but also how much of the knowledge in the organization is made available for sharing. For example, peer-to-peer learning is encouraged so that individuals get a feeling of belonging. Professionals who have experience and knowledge can teach, run workshops, or share their expertise on internal websites. This not only uplifts individual skill sets but fosters an environment that encourages rather than suppresses the habit of pursuing knowledge. It is possible to arrange sessions on intra-departmental platforms or workshops to present knowledge as well as practices with an aim of letting colleagues learn and build team cohesion.
Measure and Adjust
It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the new programs implemented so as to make sure that their learning objectives are realized. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the learning programs’ effectiveness and continuously give room for betterment. Companies can measure such metrics as employee rate of participation, course completion rates, performance as well as productivity indicators.
It is also important to collect user feedback to determine what could be improved, such as the quality of the resources or relevance of the content. It is also beneficial to understand how the learning aspects of the business impact the overall success through performance metrics such as the increase in customer satisfaction as well as improvement in innovation levels.
In light of these results, organizations need to review their learning approaches so that they can meet the needs of the changing employee and organization lifecycle.
Conclusion
Continuous learning is not a fad, it is one of the core elements. Employees and organizations who prioritize lifelong learning experience a culture where they are inspired, appreciate their worth, and soar to the height of their capabilities. Platforms like Auzmor that seek to enhance the employee learning experience by providing elaborate LMS systems, understand the fact that creating a culture of continuous learning is not just a business tactic, it is the secret to achieving sustainable growth.
Most importantly, through continuous learning, employees are personally and professionally developed such that they do not become redundant; they are versatile and ready for the future. In turn, the organizations get a valuable workforce that is engaged, loyal and performs at high levels while maintaining a competitive edge.
