Reasons Why Continuous Learning Is Vital For Future Survival In The Market
Times are changing at a pace never seen before. Every decade brings with a complete set of new technologies along with the skills required to master those technologies. New technologies and skills replace the old ones, making them obsolete. These transitions are happening more rapidly as we move further into the future, and the next one is close by. Experts suggest that an estimated 600-700 million currently existing jobs will cease to be by 2030 due to tasks being automated and the consequent elimination of the need to hire humans to do those jobs. This can be a worrying prospect for many. However, certain skills which are unique to human beings and cannot possibly be replicated by a machine or Artificial Intelligence (AI) are creativity, collaboration, empathy, and several other skills which make us human. It is these skills we need to focus on, in addition to making sure that every organization operates with a ‘continuous learning’ mindset. Organizations need to upgrade their Human Resource frequently and continuously, teaching them skills that are relevant to the changing times and those that machines or AI will not be able to accomplish.
eLearning is the most likely tool to facilitate such a continuous learning culture. This article suggests certain steps every organization must take to create a culture of continuous learning in the workplace. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Leaders Play The Most Important Role
The organization’s decision-makers or higher-ups can contribute a lot to creating a continuous learning culture in the organization. Employees naturally listen when an authority figure speaks to them, and feel like they have a voice when these authority figures initiate conversations with them. Leaders can convince their employees to have a positive outlook towards corporate eLearning, and that this learning will help them grow and remain relevant in coming times. Thus, it is the responsibility of the leaders of the organization to be active participants in the continuous learning culture of the organization.
2. eLearning Should Be Easy, Convenient And Accessible
Employees shouldn’t view eLearning as a convention, a thing that is done under the obligation or out of compulsion. The reason why a number of employees do consider eLearning as “something that needs to be done” is because it doesn’t allow them the freedom of choice. Corporate employees are already burdened with the workload and have deadlines to meet. Taking eLearning courses at such times can be frustrating, and learning goes out of the window. eLearning becomes a tick mark activity that they need to get over with as soon as possible. This mindset can be changed by giving employees the ease of access to eLearning. Create eLearning courses that can be accessed anytime, anyplace (even on their smartphones), and you’ll see a change in employee attitude over eLearning courses. Continuous learning means that learning should never stop, and by giving employees access to your courses on their smartphones 24X7, this is exactly what you propagate.
3. Engage Employees With Your eLearning
If the eLearning courses are boring, it is natural for employees to shy away from them and treat them like a tiring convention. Thus, in addition to the previous point, the content of your courses should use a lot of vibrant images, appealing infographics, helpful videos, exciting interactivities as well as achievements/badges on completion to better engage the employees. Gamification is something that works like a charm when it comes to increasing employee engagement and should be looked into.
4. Use Social Learning To Spread The Culture
In order to ensure a continuous learning culture, every employee in your organization must actively participate in it. This can be done by encouraging them to ask questions, discuss issues, share ideas and learn collectively. The best way to facilitate that is to create a group or a forum on any of the popular social networking sites. The group must circulate regular engaging and fun posts regarding your eLearning courses, so that engagement is sustained. Online events that offer valuable resources should be a part of the social learning culture as well. Another step to encourage social learning would be to build eLearning courses that require teamwork to be completed, as this promotes communication and team spirit.
There are a number of other ways you can help build a continuous learning culture in your organization. Get creative with it! The final goal should be to ensure that employees are learning skills in line with the requirements of the modern present day market. This way, the organization as well as the employees both benefit.
