Three Characteristics of a Workplace that Values Learning
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009Characteristics of a Workplace that Values Learning
Begin the work of championing workplace with a clear understanding of the fundamentals. Workplaces that value learning demonstrate the following characteristics:
All levels and categories of employees have access to training opportunities.
Both formal and informal on-the-job learning are evident in the workplace.
Training that is offered is directly related to improving job knowledge and skills.
All Employees Have Access to Training Opportunities
It is common for companies to fall into a trap of providing training opportunities only to certain groups or in certain content areas. A common problem, for example, might be that mid-level managers and supervisors get the most training hours devoted to them, or that product quality, product knowledge, and customer service get the least. The inertia of doing what’s familiar can unwittingly construct walls of obstruction in the provision of training opportunities. When you look for elements of access, pay attention to the content areas as well as the to levels of employees who have been served. A workplace that values learning will have a record of providing training and learning opportunities across a broad spectrum of content and levels of employees. Remember that your job as a champion of workplace learning is to be everyone’s—the workplace’s—champion.
Both Formal and Informal On-the-Job Learning Are Evident
In gathering information about the nature of training and learning in your company, focus on the term learning so that you think in broad terms, not only in terms of classroom data. A workplace that values learning shows signs of learning occurring in all sorts of places—at work stations where two or three people are gathered solving a specific problem, in a customer’s training room where one of your R&D professionals is explaining the new system they just bought from your company, in the executive office where a consultant from outside the company is coaching one of your vice-presidents in a one-to-one learning situation, at an administrative assistant’s desk where a graphics specialist is showing her how to enhance Power Point™ presentations, at a team meeting where the team leader is using a flipchart to explain a new procedure for team accountability. Investigate which conferences which employees have attended recently and what they brought back from those conferences to improve their jobs. Focus on learning that makes a difference—learning that is effective and efficient. Think about the outcomes and the methods of teaching and learning that you discover on your search for evidence of a workplace that values learning.
Training Is Directly Related to Improving Job Knowledge and Skills
A workplace that values learning pares down training and informal learning opportunities to the essentials of what an employee needs to know in order to do the job well. Many companies have rushed into e-learning systems and off-the-shelf courses that are loaded with all sorts of interesting but unnecessary content. Many courses in current use at companies big and small are in need of streamlining, updating, and even eliminating. “Nice to know” is a guideline that doesn’t work in today’s workplace that values working smarter and faster. “Need to know” is the value statement. A champion of workplace learning offers training that is directly related to improving job knowledge and skills.
