A Learning Culture
Of course, we are big supporters of lifelong learning—we’re authors. You would expect nothing else from us. But we’re not the only proponents of learning. A quote from Albert Einstein that says it all: “Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you’ll ever have is your mind and what you put into it.”
As business leaders, we all need to be aware of how important it is for the people we manage to be always learning. Today’s employees want to be constantly upgrading their skills. If they don’t feel as if they are being giving development opportunities where they work today, they will happily move on to an organization where they are given a chance to learn and improve their skill set.
The recent “great resignation” activity and the “quiet quitting” some organizations are experiencing should be lessons for us all as to how much the world of work has changed. Leaders should be laser focused on providing development opportunities to the staff they worked so hard to recruit and retain.
One of the best ways to maximize your opportunity have an engaged workforce that stays with your organization is to give them as many opportunities as possible to learn and grow. Don’t overlook strategies like mentoring and task forces as ways to develop skills in your talented staff members. These no cost development opportunities can have a major impact on your employees.
Not only is it important for business leaders to encourage their employees to continue learning, lifelong learning is a powerful employee engagement and retention tool.
Start by modeling lifelong learning behaviors. Share with your team what you are learning. For example, if you listen to a great podcast that you think would be meaningful to your staff, talk about it and encourage them to listen to it and report back. Same with a good book you read or a Ted Talk that inspires you, let your team know.
When you model lifelong learning behavior, you are encouraging people to learn and grow. Consider asking everyone to watch a watch a Ted Talk and then discuss it at your next staff meeting. You can also take suggestions from your employees as to what they’ve been watching, reading, or listening to that they think would be helpful for their colleagues.
There are so many wonderful options available to us for learning experiences including:
Webcasts
Podcasts
YouTube
Microlearning opportunities
Classes at local colleges
Ted Talks
Books
MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses from major universities
Check out The Big Book of HR 10th Anniversary edition which was published earlier in 2022 and contains lots of lifelong learning ideas for you to use to engage and retain your employees.
Finally, consider this lifelong learning quote from that great philosopher, Dr. Suess: “The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”