Lichtman Lab/Harvard University/Connectomics Team/Google

Why is learning important for organisations?

Organisations need to learn more than ever due to the rapid changes in business and society. Climate change, technology change, the introduction of AI and changing user experience expectations are a few examples of fundamental change. Organisations who want to succeed over the long term must anticipate and adapt to change.

Per Forbes 2022, How To Build A Culture Of Learning.

According to a Gartner survey, only 20% of workers are confident they have the necessary skills for the future. And the PWC 22nd Annual Global CEO Survey reported that CEOs say skills shortages threaten their companies’ growth. These shortages are stunting innovation, hurting quality and limiting the pursuit of market opportunities.

Attracting and retaining talent continues to be a challenge. A learning culture can improve performance and employee satisfaction, reduce turnover and help to attract new staff.

What needs to be done at the individual, team and organisation level?

Individual

Own learning. Every individual should really own their defined and tailored development program. Individuals must invest in shaping and managing their own future. There should be a regular review of the learning program (what’s been done/learnt, what’s next). It should be integrated into everyday feedback sessions and individuals’ work schedules — not simply reviewed once per year to see check what has /has not been done
Everyone should have a mentor (coach) — to provide individual advice and guidance; to act as a sounding board and to enable reflection on what has gone well and what could be done to make things even better in future
Time and space is allocated for learning

Team

Post-implementation reviews, retrospectives are performed systematically. Time needs to be allocated for reflection. Treat reviews as vital learning opportunities (and not for identifying “who is to blame”). The team operating model should continuously adapt and improves
Creating a psychologically safe environment is paramount for a learning organisation. Encourage open dialogue where employees feel safe to express their ideas and take risks without fear of blame. An environment is created so that the whole team share their different perspectives.Different perspectives on a challenge are extremely valuable
Timeliness is key. Tips / lessons / know how shared straightaway post incidents, events, and successes whilst they are fresh in the team’s consciousness.
Team / project / system performance data is systematically reviewed to provide feedback and enable lessons to be learnt. Objective data helps to reduce any subjective opinions and enables performance measurement over time

Organisation

Managers “walk-the-walk”. Managers actively enable and support learning. Managers create a culture and environment where it’s safe to discuss mistakes and failures as learning opportunities (not finger-pointing sessions)
Resistance is futile. Organisations may face resistance when implementing new learning initiatives. To overcome this, start with small pilot programs, communicate the benefits clearly, and consider identifying ‘learning champions’ to lead by example and encourage participation
Promote openness. Policies, standards and behaviours that encourage openness to new ideas, respect for diverse views or contrary opinions, and free debate.
Experiments are encouraged. Pilots, trials, experiments are a common practice to enable rapid learning in controlled environments. Evaluate, learn and expand.
Embrace mistakes. Mistakes are not repeated (again and again). Understand why mistakes happen, not identify who is to blame. Reframe mistakes as learning opportunities
Speed of learning. Establish metrics such as skill acquisition rates, employee satisfaction scores, and impact on business outcomes. Regularly assess these metrics using surveys, skills tests, and performance data to continuously refine your learning strategies.
Not a tick box exercise. Learning should not designed to demonstrate compliance to a particular standard and considered an administrative task or “chore”. It’s all about embedding learning in the DNA of the organisation
Can AI help? Establish a central place that provides easy access to resources, tools, and training programs to facilitate learning for all. Explore AI-powered personalised learning paths, and consider virtual reality for immersive training scenarios. Ensure these tools integrate with existing workflows to encourage regular use.
Space and time: Balance learning activities with day-to-day operations. For example, a ‘70–20–10’ model: 70% on-the-job learning, 20% coaching and mentoring, and 10% formal training. Encourage managers to view learning as an investment rather than a cost.

Learning throughout an individual’s journey

Consider the different stages of a person’s journey at an organisation.

Start

This is probably the most important phase for getting up to speed with the new organisation’s mission and culture. A “buddy” or mentor should be assigned from the very first day, so the new joiner has someone to help them navigate the new environment.

A comprehensive induction program should be defined and followed, with focus on the organisation’s mission and values and spending time with as many people as possible in different teams and levels of the hierarchy — this will help to build networks and supportive relationships.

Middle

As per the Harvard Business Review article, Why Organisations Don’t Learn:

There are four biases that stand in the way: We focus too heavily on success, are too quick to act, try too hard to fit in, and rely too much on experts. Each of these biases raises challenges, but each can be curbed with particular strategies.
Managers therefore need to treat mistakes as learning opportunities, recognize and foster workers’ capacity for growth, and conduct data-based project reviews. Leaders can schedule more work breaks and make time for reflection, encouraging workers to cultivate their individual strengths and to speak up when they have ideas for improvements

The important step is to establish a routine, system or mechanism so that learning becomes second nature to each individual — a conscious part of everyday activity.

End

When a person leaves the organisation, depending upon the circumstances, there is an opportunity to capture valuable information, in exit surveys or interviews, which can be used for continuous improvement.

Embed in the DNA

A successful learning organisation exists when learning is embedded in the DNA of the organisation. This is where learning conversations, activities and events are happening through out the organisation and are part of the day-to-day.

Appendix 1: Which skills and values are important?

According to the World Economic Forum report (2020), The top 10 job skills of tomorrow, Critical thinking and problem-solving top the list of skills that employers believe will grow in prominence in the next five years. These have been consistent since the first report in 2016.

Analytical thinking and innovation
Active learning and learning strategies
Complex problem-solving
Critical thinking and analysis
Creativity, originality and initiative
Leadership and social influence
Technology use, monitoring and control
Technology design and programming
Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
Reasoning, problem solving and ideation

For the RSA (Royal Society Arts & Commerce), to build an economy that regenerates profit, people and planet in harmony, the following individual qualities need to be developed:

Mindsets, values and worldviews
Care to provide due concern, sympathy, empathy and compassion
Composure to develop a sense of personal equilibrium
Courage to control fear and face difficult situations with mental and moral strength and vulnerability
Engage constructively in the world to support and sustain life

In the age of AI, learning the rules of engagement with AI will become critical. Understanding where the underlying data comes from (data provenance), how the models work (non-technical), data analysis and how to frame questions to interact with AI)

As per Gianni Giacomelli, in this new world, we need “augmented thinking” – a blend of critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership, and digital literacy.