Are Organizations Approaching Learning All Wrong?

I am sure we have all attended work place training that is either Stage One or Two - maybe Stage Three...

Stages One through Three all seem to be the typical things you think of when you hear that you are going to 'Training' at work. Lucky for me, I get to go to some stage one training tonight (not)!

Tonight I am looking forward to two hours of someone talking to me about Christmas products to make sure we are all prepared for the holiday season. After the meeting, some flyers will go up in our back room as a reinforcement of what is talked about tonight. Besides the flyers, the material tonight will rarely be revisited and employees will be expected to retain the knowledge and pass it on to customers. The problem with our training tonight is that we are shoving 20+ people into a small space who want to catch up with those they haven't seen in awhile and have to work tomorrow. Most of our training meetings usually go the same way - people visiting while the trainer is presenting, people shhhh-ing each other, people trying to leave early because they are thinking about work tomorrow. All of this results in the same thing - people thinking about other things and not focusing on the material. We do not have culture/environment that inspires/promotes learning. Much of the material at work that I have learned and retained has not been taught at these monthly meetings - but rather from chatting with co-workers, asking questions when I had them, and experience with the product.

While I recognize that a more traditional training (Stages One - Three), can be effective in the workplace - I think it's really important to consider a company's culture when building training programs. 'Stage 5' might not always be the most effective approach to teaching materials - and that's OK, but this needs to be considered when you are dealing with learning in the workplace. If you do have more traditional training sessions - How can you reinforce that training so people don't lose it? How can you make it interesting? How can you make it relate-able?

I love the above diagram because it incorporates the value of learning! I am not excited about the training that I have to go to shortly because I know there is going to be little information that I will take-away from it due to the challenges listed above. Even though I am not excited - I am still expected to know the information as part of my job - it will be up to me to ask questions, reference flyers, etc. to get any information that I don't take away tonight. Since I am seeking out that information myself, I will place a higher value on it - I am taking the time and energy to learn something myself after all! I have been sharing tidbits from my St. Thomas classes with the lady who doing the training tonight so it will be interesting to see if tonight is any different from past meetings - but she can't change the culture of our shop alone.

For me, the takeaway is that training and learning in the workplace are a necessary thing - some people might love it and be excited for it and others will hate it - but there are things that can be done to make learning fun and feel less like traditional training that we all dread. Are organizations approaching training all wrong? Clearly, some of them are since I am going to a training session tonight that I will (most likely) take away little information from. The bright side is that 'training' is evolving - maybe faster in some places and slower in others. Either way, some progress is better than none!

Is learning in the workplace important?

Why is learning important in the workplace? This answer is probably a little different for everyone - some people may love it, some people may even feel it is more of a 'chore' - but either way learning is something that happens everywhere no matter where you work. We are in an age of technology where things are changing faster than ever - the need to adapt with those changes are more important than ever. Your favorite app could change over night and the fact that you have to learn something new things is scary for people.

All these changes in technology affect people both in their personal life and in the workplace. Learning in the workplace could mean learning a new work flow or learning a new computer program - there are tons of ways that learning comes into play at work - even if it is just learning how your new boss likes their coffee ;). I feel that the more you are willing to learn, the more adaptable you are - and being adaptable in this day and age is a major advantage!

My Top Five Reasons Why Learning in the Workplace is Important:


1. Improving Performance/Building Self-Esteem: When people learn in the workplace, it not only improves or creates a new skill set, it makes people feel more secure in their own knowledge base. The feeling of the unknown or being unable to to complete daily task is a very bad feeling and creates uncertainty. If learning can be incorporated to help reduce uncertainty and build self-esteem it's a win-win!

2. Keeping-up:  Today it is important to keep up with the latest and greatest - whether that's computer programs, laws, regulations, trends, etc. If you aren't meeting your current customer's needs, there is someone who is looking to. Even individually, the fast paced change we live with now has given people more agility with their personal careers. With all the job websites, there is always places to look for new opportunities - of course this can be a double-edge sword if you aren't keeping up with things - it's just as easy to find someone new to do the job.

3.  Employee Satisfaction: Happy workers are the best workers - people who like their job, feel confident, and want to come to work makes for a better product. Especially for those who are providing customer service as a job - employee satisfaction is so important. Employees who are representing a company with customers become the 'face' of the company - making sure those employees are happy is vital - if people feel unsure or uneasy, that will show in the interactions with customers!

4. Building/Retaining Talent: If you are taking the time to train/mentor employees - you want to have retention for all the time that time/effort you put into shaping them. What is the point in spending resources (time, money, etc.) into building someone's career only for them to take their talents and the lessons you taught to another company? It is important to offer incentives - but also to remember that incentives can be intangibles like happiness or employee satisfaction.

5. Improving Those Around You:  Co-workers can offer a wealth of knowledge that can be shared and used to improve those around you. It's important to share knowledge to help your peers - if you co-worker knows how to complete a task 20 minutes faster than you, if you learn their process, you are gaining time and knowledge. It is also important to share ideas with those around you to prevent duplicate work - if you have already done something, there is no reason for someone else to re-create the wheel.