Weekly tip - how to create a learning culture

In these tough economic times, organisations who invest in the development of their people will be the ones which survive.

Adult learning is more about connecting with people who can help put new information into context and suggest new ways of understanding it than it is about new learning. Many adults in the workplace learn more by actual experience than they do by a structured classrom learning.

The first step is to 'engage' the workforce - encourage them to ask each other questions and share stories of successes and failures of what they have learned. This 'engagement' of learning can be extended into meetings whereby questions are asked, "What did you learn from this?"

If you consistently and frequently refer to the value of learning, it serves as the reactor core of an organization in which people learn. With that energy source - your commitment to learning and to creating a learning culture - the people will come to know that this is "the way we do things around here." Already learning will become part of your culture.

Please see the next weekly tip for the next stage of how to create a learning culture.

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In interesting and fairly recent staff development activity is Career Academies UK which is a national not-for-profit organisation that works with young people, aged 16-19, to broaden their career horizons. They receive a mentor, the chance to take part in workshops, visit supporting organisations and gain a 6 week paid internship. It also breaks down the barriers between work and school - it opens up new ideas for the mentees.

The (host) mentors become involved so they can give back to the community and do something different in their daily routine. Also, it's a great staff development opportunity - graduate trainees become involved to demonstrate their future management potential.

When the economy eventually recovers, it's likely that organisations who don't invest in the learning  & development of their staff may loose them to rival competitors. A practical solution is for companies to develop a learning culture across the organisation, with it being monitored internally with certain key players taking an active role in its implementation.

Please see my next weekly tip on how to achieve this.

Coaching in the workplace

Evidence suggests that many employees are unhappy with their lives - this can impact on their performance at work. Coaching at work can positively uncover unhappiness and guide employees to a different and more enthusiastic approach to their jobs.

David 's Blog goes live with its first Blog.

Learning and Development for Managers and Business Professionals - Individuals Groups Teams

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david@davidopperman.co.uk