Refresh Your Approach to Learning
January 19 • Written by Julie Dozier
Are you taking advantage of the new year to promote learning to your organization?
How can you refocus your organization on employee development in 2023? How do you want to position learning this year to make it a priority?
Consider these three angles to refresh the message around learning and prompt new behaviors this year.
Approach 1: Brand learning as a healthy habit.
This approach promotes making time for learning as part of a healthy and balanced life.
Try this if:
Your organization is on the traditional side.
Your culture encourages employees to be balanced and well-rounded.
Employees are able to take time for learning.
How this might sound:
“This year, we encourage you to set a goal to improve your intellectual health.”
What this might look like:
Encourage employees to set a personal goal to form a habit around learning – like X hours per month spent on learning activities. Visual trackers can encourage forming a habit like this.
Ask leaders to set an example for their teams of making time in their schedule for learning.
Approach 2: Brand learning as a performance driver.
This approach focuses on building knowledge and skills to improve performance and results this year.
Try this if:
Your organization is on the start-up side of the spectrum.
Your culture rewards individual actions and self-sufficiency.
Employees are often in survival mode.
How this might sound:
“Take charge of your performance by choosing a new skill to develop. How can we support?”
What this might look like:
Invite employees to choose a focus area for learning for the quarter based on their current work and performance goals – e.g., taking a negotiation skills course or attending a problem-solving workshop.
Create a learning campaign that focuses on common performance needs and corresponding learning opportunities that are available.
Approach 3: Brand learning as a team growth activity.
This approach invites teams to use learning to build camaraderie and develop and achieve shared goals.
Try this if:
Your organization focuses on team effectiveness.
Teams meet regularly and can make some time for learning activities.
Your culture rewards team performance over individual performance.
How this might sound:
“This year, grow together as a team by setting shared learning goals.”
What this might look like:
Develop guides that teams can use in team meetings to choose learning priorities, set goals, and share with each other.
Encourage team members to dedicate time during meetings for peer-to-peer presentations on what they’re learning.
Prompt managers to participate as team members rather than drivers.
Whichever approach you take, leading with a focus on learning is a great way to start the year. And we can support you! Tangram Learning helps teams create learning campaigns that cut through the noise and encourage the entire organization to develop new behaviors around learning.