A common trait among successful companies is their view of learning as an organizational tool rather than merely as support. Successful companies utilize continuous learning as a means to support rapid growth and adapt to market trends, including shorter product life cycles, evolving customer expectations, and disruptive technologies that change current processes and business models.
For corporate learning professionals, the critical question is how to continue promoting continuous learning in an organization so that results are measurable.
1. Align Learning With Strategic Business Priorities
Rather than adopting a separate competency framework to assess learning agendas, high-growth enterprises use business objectives to establish their learning plans. According to the World Economic Forum, the emergence of new technologies is leading to the redefinition of jobs, requiring workers to increasingly develop additional skills or even acquire entirely new skill sets.
Employers that successfully adapt to these changes view their workforce capabilities as part of a long-term investment in their businesses; they align the enterprise’s anticipated growth with the investment in developing employee capabilities. Included in this approach are items such as:
- Mapping critical capabilities required within the company to initiatives that produce revenue
- Periodic analysis of the capability gaps of each employee compared to the capabilities required for the future strategy
- Prioritizing the creation of capabilities based on anticipated future needs (e.g., digital fluency, data literacy, flexible leadership, or the ability to work across functional areas)
High-growth organizations do not focus simply on training their employees for the work they do today but instead develop an employee-learning roadmap to prepare them for future restructuring of the market. Accordingly, high-growth organizations invest in developing workforce capabilities so that, when employees need to be prepared for market changes, they do not reactively develop them after they have already been disrupted by those changes.
2. Embed Learning Into the Flow of Work
Regularly scheduled training helps create a habitual and longer-lasting value when employees can continue to learn as they go about their day, thereby creating an opportunity to enhance their skill sets after they have been hired by an organization. The more aligned learning is with performance measurement within the organization, the more opportunities there will be to achieve greater business returns and higher employee retention and engagement.
To support successful implementation, organizations should follow best practices, including:
- Including microlearning immune systems into collaboration tools and leading enterprise systems
- Using scenario-based simulations based on actual project timelines
- Building habits of knowledge-sharing routines into team rhythm of operations
Many organizations use learning management systems (LMS) to offer training opportunities, but most organizations with high growth rates leverage additional online tools as part of their overall digital ecosystem to develop expertise on demand (also referred to as developing at the “point of need”). Consequently, using this approach reduces the time from skill to competence, increases knowledge retention, and improves the ability to apply that knowledge.
3. Leverage Data for Adaptive Skill Development
Using data to make decisions has become a defining trait of modern businesses that wish to grow. Additionally, this idea encompasses how capabilities are developed for their employees. McKinsey and Company found that if businesses collect granular data on the people they employ, they can anticipate capability deficits and allocate resources more effectively to develop that capability.
The following best practices align with the principles above:
- Analyzing your workforce analytics data to identify what emerging skill sets you are seeing
- Tracking formal learning (i.e., taking courses) and performance metrics
- Measuring business outcome (productivity increases, quality increases, and innovation metrics)
Connecting learners with operational performance and reports will enable businesses to better analyze true physical metrics (e.g., completing X number of classes) rather than relying on an overall metric (e.g., completing classes). In other words, businesses will assess how learning strategies can accelerate time to market, enhance the customer experience, and improve operational outcomes.
4. Redefine Leadership Accountability for Learning
In high-growth organizations, accountability for learning is shifting from centralized L&D departments to a decentralized leadership structure. In this model, continuous development is expected to be an ongoing responsibility of management.
Effective models for this include:
- Embedding coaching and mentoring requirements into the performance criteria of leadership
- Tying team development goals to business KPIs
- Acknowledgment and rewarding of leaders who create internal mobility pipelines
Research from Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Impact highlights that organizations foster innovation by creating psychologically safe environments, encouraging experimentation, and embedding continuous learning and reflection into their culture.
“When individuals can envision their career path based on skill acquisition, potential for ongoing professional growth increases.”
5. Create Internal Talent Mobility Pathways
When individuals can envision their career path based on skill acquisition, the potential for ongoing professional growth increases. Rapidly growing organizations are creating internal mobility systems to foster movement across different areas of the business.
Organizations can utilize effective strategies, such as:
- Developing a comprehensive skills taxonomy that captures the required sets of skills/competencies necessary for progression into different positions and levels within the organization’s various roles
- Providing employees with opportunities for experiential learning through rotational assignments and project-based activities
- Providing digital credentials to employees to demonstrate skill development through the acquisition of the necessary skills/competencies to occupy a new position within the organization
LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report highlights that providing employees with opportunities to learn and grow plays a critical role in improving retention and fostering a culture of continuous learning.
Building a Learning-Centric Enterprise Model
To firmly include continuous learning within a company’s strategy, you must integrate structures across governance, leadership, technology, and workforce analytics. Continuous capability development is no longer a supportive function but a key differentiator, a core competency between high- and low-growth organizations.
By Shamli Jacob