As technology continues to advance in leaps and bounds and business evolves along with it, many organizations and employees alike are feeling a renewed urgency around the need to upskill. According to the Kahoot! 2024 Workplace Culture Report, 46% of employees fear their skills will be obsolete within five years. Clearly, workers recognize the importance of learning and growing their skills to stay ahead, so why do so many organizations struggle to keep employees motivated to learn?
The Challenge: Learning Isn’t Prioritized
Simply put, learning is not being prioritized on a cultural level. When asked about their top barriers to upskilling, workers rank time constraints at No. 1, highlighting the challenge of balancing longer-term learning goals with one’s immediate to-do list. There will always be urgent tasks and, as a result, most employees will only prioritize learning when the organization does. This is what it means to create a learning culture, where learning is valued and supported throughout the organization. One powerful way to start building this learning culture is by upping your employee recognition game.
Why Recognition Matters
As per the Workplace Culture Report, an overwhelming 90% of employees say they would feel more motivated to invest time in upskilling if their company acknowledged their efforts. Despite this, nearly half of workers (46%) say their learning achievements aren’t recognized or rewarded by their organization.
Recognition can foster a culture of learning by showing workers that the time they spend on upskilling is worthwhile, encouraging them to continue seeking out opportunities to learn and grow.
This article will explore how to foster a learning culture at your organization.
4 Tips for Fostering a Culture That Values Learning and Learners
1. Make learning a lifestyle, not a novelty.
In a thriving learning culture, learning is part of daily life, not a once-per-year event. This has become essential with the breakneck speed of change in technology and business, demanding adaptability and ever-evolving skill sets and knowledge. To foster continuous learning without overloading employees with more work, experiment with embedding learning throughout the typical workday — meetings, presentations, events and team-building activities. Microlearning, utilizing bite-sized learning experiences that employees can complete at their own pace, can also help keep continuous learning sustainable, even in busier seasons. By transitioning from one big training day to many small learning moments, you also create more opportunities for workers’ achievements to stand out and be recognized.
2. Harness the social instinct.
Fundamentally, humans are social creatures, and we all crave validation from those around us, especially when we’re giving it our all. This can make peer-to-peer recognition just as important as recognition by leaders. Tap into this by creating social learning opportunities that get everyone involved and tuned in to what’s happening. When people know their peers can see their performance or contributions, they’re likely to feel more motivated to put their best foot forward, rather than seeing training as another box to check on their to-do list. Peer-to-peer learning is also a powerful tool for recognition. Give employees the space and resources to share their knowledge and skills with their coworkers, which not only benefits the team, but also gives the learning session leader time to shine.
3. Take it to the next level with technology.
Gone are the days when workplace learning had to mean a tedious presentation in the conference room, and when employee recognition meant only having your photo displayed on a wall. Today, digital learning solutions can enable workers to be active participants in the learning experience, sharing their ideas, knowledge, insights and opinions through interactivity. As employees see their contributions acknowledged and valued, they will feel encouraged to continue learning and adding their voice. Digital learning tools can also connect workers across an organization, offering the spotlight to any employee, no matter where they’re located or if they work in the office or remotely. This can make both learning and recognition more inclusive and equitable across the organization’s workforce.
4. Use game-based learning to make every learner a winner.
Gamifying learning can amplify engagement and motivation through the challenge of friendly competition, offering the chance for recognition from both fellow competitors and leaders. However, technology today allows us to go beyond badges and leaderboards and create more immersive, enjoyable learning experiences. For example, knowledge tournaments and gamified brainstorms can keep participants engaged in the competitive or collaborative atmosphere, while also giving employees a platform to showcase their skills and creativity to their peers and leaders.
Final Thoughts
To foster a company culture that celebrates learning, we must celebrate the learners. Employees need to know that their efforts to grow and develop their skills are seen, valued and supported. In this kind of working environment, employees can feel inspired and empowered to take on any new learning challenge.
