Growth depends on two key factors — a willingness to learn, plus the research and actions to expand and share that knowledge. And when it comes to business growth, a contemporary approach to organizational learning should be a guiding force within all aspects of your company. When everyone in the organization is bought in on learning (and they’re given the time and resources to do it), growth and innovation flourish.

While it’s likely that your organization already has some sort of learning strategy in place, it may be time to revisit it and determine if it’s due for an overhaul to meet the workplace challenges, for today and in the future.

Broadly, organizational learning is the action that a company takes to drive company-wide growth and improvement through the acquisition and transfer of new information. 

There are a number of ways organizational learning can be implemented within a company, both at a general as well as individual level. In practice, organizational learning can look like:

Workplace learning has proven to deliver value — it’s the very basis for the existence of dedicated a learning and development (L&D) function that most modern businesses have adopted. Investment in learning supports workforce agility and long-term stability that can provide a significant competitive advantage. But what are some of the practical benefits that actually make these outcomes possible? 

Positive effects gained by modern organizational learning practices include:

Your company may already be engaging in a number of tactics that support organizational learning. But if you’re not seeing these benefits or if the results are lackluster, it may be time to revisit the foundational components of your workplace learning strategy.

And it’s worth it. According to InStride data, the money spent on workplace learning programs return as much as 3X the investment, and the attrition rate of employees enrolled in these programs is 3-4x lower than the global attrition rate of each company. 

The simplest organizational learning strategy consists of three broad steps to be taken continuously and in succession to one another. These can be leveraged at all levels within a company to drive learning-based improvements for individuals, teams, departments and the company as a whole. 

Learning at the organizational level is easier to achieve when your company culture is aligned with the concept of continuous learning for teams and individual employees. Here are a few best practices to implement to promote a learning culture in your workplace:

Company culture stems from the top. This means organizational learning should also start with the C-suite, with executives prioritizing their own learning and development alongside everyone else. Continuous learning on the part of the employee requires ongoing support, including active guidance as well as access to the resources that make learning possible. Company leadership and managers have to be on board with and well-versed in this concept to make it happen. 

Your workforce should feel motivated to learn and improve beyond the bare minimum of what’s required for their current role — but providing these opportunities for continuous learning is just the beginning. It’s important to be mindful of how accessible your learning initiatives actually are. If there are too many barriers, it’s going to be an uphill battle to get employees to actually take advantage.

Let’s take tuition reimbursement for example. Historically, tuition reimbursement programs result in very low participation rates, despite an overwhelming desire among employees to enroll in them. This is because traditional tuition reimbursement programs require upfront payment by the employee — a financial commitment that not all can afford. However, when employers pay for tuition upfront, the financial burden of continued learning is lifted, effectively removing a major barrier to accessing life-changing education.

Managers should be active participants in the learning journeys of their direct reports. This means asking for feedback and working with employees to identify what training, upskilling or education options are the best fit for them. Far too often, managers are left without the tools needed to talk to their team members about learning and simply rely on recommending generic career paths that aren’t unique to the individual or supportive of their career aspirations or skills needs. 

Give your employees room to explore the subjects that they’re passionate about and allow them to see the potential within their own careers. Open up learning opportunities beyond what is strictly relevant to their current roles and watch them flourish with the possibility.

Complement workforce education and training with more out-of-the-box learning opportunities, such as group workshops, company-wide innovation challenges or creative side projects for individuals.

There’s a world of possibilities when it comes to methods for And your employee base may not respond to all of them. Keep in mind that there are different learning styles and goals. For instance, those in an executive position will require different methods of learning than say, frontline employees. Even within teams, everyone can be unique in how they prefer to learn and what style best suits them.

The flexibility your business gains by engaging your people with a continuous, company-wide learning strategy allows you to easily adapt to future innovations and the ever-changing demands of the labor market. If you haven’t already, the time to modernize your approach to learning is now. 

Ready to up-level your organizational learning strategy Download this guide for actionable advice on how to fast-track skill-building within your organization.