Our learning potential is waiting to be unleashed

As Learning and Development practitioners, a question we constantly ask ourselves is “What can I learn from this?” Whether we’re delivering a workshop, coaching a client or reading an article, we are in a fortunate position to be always learning … it’s our field. So as a manager or business owner, what does it mean, what’s in it for you and how can you make this work for you and your company too?

Lifelong learning is an ongoing and self-motivated activity, with a focus on developing yourself for personal or professional reasons.  The list of potential activities for lifelong learning is endless.  Some examples are developing a new skill, self-taught study, learning new technology or acquiring new knowledge. When we learn new skills or gain new knowledge, we get a great sense of personal achievement and satisfaction. We have a natural drive to explore, learn and grow and this is one quality that makes us human.

The benefits from lifelong learning both personally and professionally are wide ranging and often not so obvious:

• It motivates Sometimes we get stuck in autopilot and lifelong learning puts us back in the driving seat and makes us realise that we can take control of our lives and do the things we want to do.
• It re-ignites our interests and goals in life. Our lives become more interesting and may lead to different opportunities. For example, my interest in food and satisfaction in cooking for others led me to set up my own catering business.
• It can improve our self-confidence. Becoming more skilled and knowledgeable can bring confidence at work and also give us a huge sense of accomplishment.
• It can promote our health and wellbeing. The mental health charity MIND have shown that ‘if we keep learning throughout adulthood and into later life, this can have a positive impact on maintaining and improving our mental health and wellbeing’.

These benefits have a significant impact on the happiness and engagement levels of your teams and of course, yourself. Having the opportunity at work to grow and develop your skills often ranks as one of the highest factors in the employee engagement surveys, we carry out, here at Pro-Development. So, it really makes good business sense to create the right environment for learning, provide the time needed and support your team to be able to continuously learn.

Having a robust performance review process and regular one-to-ones are an ideal way of finding out what learning and development needs your team have. Apart from encouraging continuous learning on a personal level, it opens up communication, supports your team in becoming more autonomous and helps drive your company objectives and targets.

Here are some takeaways to support lifelong learning in your workplace:

• Carry out a staff survey or engagement questionnaire to see what your teams are interested in
• Review your performance review/one-to-ones to see if they explore personal goals and ambitions
• A bit of research will provide you with many free resources for your team to take advantage of
• Create a book club or have a monthly “lunch and learn”, where you invite staff members to present on a certain topic
• Use your social/company platform for learning from each other. This type of peer learning can be very powerful
• Be a role model and walk the talk – show your team what it’s done for you!

Come and talk to us about your team’s needs, employee engagement surveys or performance management – we will ask tons of questions and really get an understanding of what you need.

If you are an SME in York, North Yorkshire or the East Riding, you might also be eligible for 40% funding towards the investment!

Contact us on  01904 628838 or info@pro-development.co.uk to find out more.