What is a Learning Culture and Why it’s Important?

Organizations that prioritize the ongoing learning and development of employees are more likely to be successful than those that don’t.

A learning culture can be defined as the collection of values, practices and processes of an organization. This culture encourages employees as well as the organizations to constantly develop knowledge and competence.

Since the constant learning uplifts a person as an effective employee, it opens opportunities for the establishment to transform continuously for the better.

Here are a few reasons why a great learning culture is important:

Boosts employee morale

When the employees know that their organization is investing in them, their motivation and morale sky rocket. They’re better engaged and respond well to all the challenges thrown at them.

Saves new employee onboarding cost

There’s no doubt about the fact that hiring a new employee costs well over three times than retaining and training an existing one. So whenever an organization requires people with new skills to get things done, they should ideally train, promote, and deploy from within.

Challenges rigid behaviors

A learning culture not only makes employees more valuable for an organization but also challenges rigid opinions and behaviors of employees. This helps improve team performance and eliminate close-mindedness and silo mentality.

Instills a growth mindset

People who enjoy taking on new challenges usually strive to learn and uncover ways to develop new skills. Moreover, such people work and perform harder and adapt to changes far better than those with a fixed mindset. All this is only possible when their organization promotes a learning culture.

Prepares the organization for a change

An organization with a learning culture encourages asking questions, observing and continually acquiring new skills. When a critical mass can make this happen, the organization would adapt to change, anticipate disruption and innovate. The companies that never adapt to change and innovate are left out; Yahoo and Kodak are among many such examples.

Helps keeping pace with technology

The key purpose of a learning culture is to help an organization keep pace with the technology. This means making its employees acquainted with the new devices, desktop & mobile applications, digital media and new features of existing technologies. With the implementation of on-demand learning, employees can keep up with the latest trends and save their organization’s time and money.

Sustainability and long-term ROI

An organization with a true learning culture adapts to changes more easily, innovates more and reduces the employee turnover. This not only ensures long-term ROI for the organization but also ensures its long-term sustainability.