Last week we focused on the importance of creating a learning culture. Today, we'll discuss three steps you can take to begin creating a learning culture for your organization.
A learning culture builds over time, step by step, intentionally leading to new opportunities for growth and greater impact.
Creating a Learning Culture
Having the motivation to build a learning culture is a great start, but what comes next? Knowing a few of the key steps to get going can help you move your organization forward.
Here are a few areas that are worth investing in to build a learning culture:
Leadership engagement - leaders who are willing to embrace and champion a learning culture are invaluable. This type of leadership engagement empowers others to learn and grow. Leaders who talk about learning, especially how they are learning and growing, create a sense of possibilities for the teams and employees in their organizations. This approach to leadership communicates that learning is an essential part of belonging to the organization and is an expectation for achieving excellence.
Communication is key - fostering a culture of learning takes dedication and intentionality. It also takes consistent communication. Without regular communication it will be easy for employees and teams to miss the importance of a learning culture. The goals, reasons, and methods for learning are all essential components to consider. Find ways to present the desired outcomes for learning. Is it to grow sales? Is it to reach more people through the services you offer? Is it to stay current with skills and grow in new skill areas? Whatever the goals are, make them known. Talk often about the ways in which learning goals have been established and how they align with the strategic direction for your organization. This helps motivate people to see learning as core to the success of the organization. Share widely on the various ways in which learning takes place - if people can't easily access learning it won't influence the overall organizational culture.
Modeling success & failure - a culture of learning encourages employees and leaders to try new things. This can be focused on learning a new skill, becoming more proficient with a piece of software, developing soft skills, or reorienting your work week to create more opportunities for learning. Whatever your process looks like, there is bound to be both successes and failures. With learning, that's to be expected! Adapting and growing is part of the journey. The essential insight here is not that success and failure is expected, but that it's important to show others that you're engaged in the learning process, that it's not always smooth or easy, but the rewards are worth it. Show others your learning process, not just the end results.
Creating a learning culture can provide real gains for any organization that is seeking to grow, develop leaders, and engage employees. Click the box below to learn how Lightbox can help your organization design a winning learning culture.
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