Growing Together In The Workplace: Our Mission To Never Stop Learning
Recently, eLearning Industry was named one of the best workplaces in Greece for 2022. This honor gave us the opportunity to reflect on our culture and take a closer look at the values that have made it as unique as it is. And what we realized was that getting here wasn't fast or easy. It took a lot of hard work and determination from everyone in our organization. But, in our opinion, it all came down to our dedication to never stop learning and keep bettering ourselves. Even now, as we're celebrating this milestone, we're already preparing our next steps for the future.
Continuing our cultural core values series of articles, this time we talk about eLI's long-standing relationship with lifelong learning and why it's such an important part of our culture. Then we share 4 reasons why all organizations must forge and consistently follow their own path of continuous improvement.
How Does eLI Bring To Life Its Love For Continuous Improvement And Growth?
Striving for continuous learning and improvement is what eLearning Industry does best. Through all of our efforts and individual goals, our overarching objective is to create a learning culture that promotes growth on a personal and professional level. Where other companies search for employees who already know everything, eLI searches for people who never want to stop learning. In consequence, our company provides all the necessary tools and processes one needs to access a better version of themselves. All we ask from employees is the desire to grow and the ability to excel.
During the launch of our Culture Shaping Project in 2019, we introduced Performance and Development Plans (PDPs), which monitor talent development and its alignment with business goals. By creating SMART goals, employees are able to identify the behaviors they want to develop and set short-term and long-term development goals for their careers. In addition, they build a customized personal development path that facilitates the accomplishment of their goals. Why do we do all that, you ask? Because it helps us prioritize our KPIs and goals, promote our company's growth, and create learning opportunities for everyone.
A Story From An eLI Member
Working in eLearning Industry, it's really hard to miss how important learning is for everyone. From the beginning, I was assured that the company would do everything to support my personal development, whether that meant a Master's degree, learning a new language, or taking up a new hobby, because they love working with people who are keen on constantly evolving. On a professional level, learning opportunities are always within reach. Apart from company-wide webinars and training programs that tackle skills that are useful to all, our managers are always there to propose an online course that would cover a knowledge gap or make a particular task that much easier. To top it off, I feel supported to invest time in learning, as the workload is accommodated accordingly. eLI always provides me with the necessary resources to evolve and take my career one step further.
4 Reasons Why Employees Should Never Stop Learning
Now, let's delve into why it's essential for all businesses to invest in the development and growth of their employees.
1. Employee Productivity
Productivity is one of the first areas where the benefits of Learning and Development can be observed. Employees who take part in corporate learning programs target specific skills that are necessary for their day-to-day tasks. Once they have completed their training, they can utilize these new skills to become more efficient, which also leads to a newfound sense of confidence as well as an appreciation for the culture of continuous learning. Finally, structured learning paths give employees clear expectations for the future, thus helping them boost their performance by setting attainable goals.
2. Employee Engagement
A challenge that many businesses face nowadays is high employee turnover. Especially when employees are part of a stagnant working environment with little to no opportunities for growth and development, they are very quick to leave and search for employment elsewhere. Therefore, to keep your employees engaged, you will have to motivate them with a realistic prospect of career development. Urging them to never stop learning and keep bettering themselves will deepen the loyalty they have in your company. This way, they won't feel the need to leave to further their professional development.
3. Adapting To Challenges And Changes
Continuous education and improvement helps businesses stay on top of changes in their industry. And in a rapidly changing corporate world, change management is one of the skills that can make or break a company. Employees that are used to constantly learning new things and acquiring skills are always more prepared to adapt to unexpected situations than "complacent" employees. For example, faced with a significant technological shift in their department, an employee with the mindset of a lifelong learner will not get overwhelmed, but rather seek a learning path that will help them adapt as easily as possible.
4. Remain Relevant
How can you expect to stay on top of the competition if you're not keeping up with the latest trends in the industry? There is always something new to look out for in terms of technology, customer needs and interests, compliance issues, etc. Therefore, fostering a learning culture within your company helps employees function effectively and offer clients answers to their current needs. When you're always looking for something new to improve upon, it's easier to foresee the changes in the market and always be one step ahead of the competition.
Conclusion
For eLearning Industry, growing together is about supporting continuous development and always investing in the growth of our employees. We believe that businesses composed of people who never stop learning have better chances of being successful, standing out from the crowd, and making a real difference.
If you're interested in learning more about eLearning Industry's origins and core cultural values, check out The Best Things Begin On Balconies: A Celebration Of Our 10th Year.
Also, don't forget to download our eLI Audience Survey 2022: Leveraging eLearning Buyer Insights To Fuel Marketing Strategies to delve into the survey data analysis and discover the real impact of working from home and social distancing on eLearning professionals, HR pros, and corporations worldwide.
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