Just yesterday, I came across a clunky yellow pages book (for non-Singaporeans, this was our go-to directory) and I chuckled. Who would still use this? Today, information about anything is retrieved within a second of hitting “search” on the webpage. If you post a comment anywhere on social media or email someone, you’re almost assured of getting a response within the day.
So how can organisations be future-ready with their skills and knowledge? How do you prepare yourself to learn a skill set that has yet-to-be discovered in present time? A practical way forward seems to be helping individuals to “learn how to learn” so that these habits will serve them well for future skills.
Habits are slow to form and difficult to break. As we get older, we become more set in our ways and are less willing to learn. In an organisation, leaders have the imperative and responsibility of facilitating learning agility, as soon as possible. Here are 5 ways to do this!
#1: Help your employee to Develop Self-Awareness
Why is it important?
Most of us are familiar with the concept of self-awareness. We see the need to solicit feedback and improve ourselves. However, we tend to live in echo chambers. We surround ourselves with people who are like us and become defensive when people give us feedback on how we can improve. Developing self-awareness is important because we will only see the need to learn when we recognise our shortcomings.
How can you do it?
Provide resources and suggestions rather than problems. For employees, it can feel discouraging when they are told that their work is subpar and they don’t know how to improve. As a defense mechanism, some may even undermine the feedback that was received. Provide your employees with resources that they can digest at their own pace, be it a quick article online or a page of relevant information from a book. Learning doesn’t only occur when an entire book is finished in one sitting.
#2: Encourage Vulnerability in the team
Why is it important?
After mastering the skills needed for certain tasks, we rarely want to be viewed as a rookie again. However, allowing ourselves to accept that we’re at the beginner stage again is vital if we want to improve. Having a “reset to default” mindset raises our sense of urgency to buck up and learn what we have to, to progress to the next stage.
How can you do it?
Alter the perspectives in your employees’ self-talk. Instead of a perspective where they will never get it right, tell your employees that it may be difficult at first but they can learn to do it over time. What’s even more powerful is a personal sharing from you, their leader, on a “memory lane” story where you also started from beginner stage and worked your way to competence.
To reinforce the culture of vulnerability, resist the urge to sternly rebuke employees when you realise there are mistakes. Allow them to make mistakes at the start and provide them with accessible resources and feedback to improve themselves.
#3: Don’t simply talk the talk, walk the talk!
Why is it important?
When we were children, we did what adults did. From learning how to walk to developing the right values, we learnt it from the role models that were in our lives. Why do we think that adulthood is any different? Providing role models for our employees is important to spur them to learn. As they see that learning is valued by the organisation’s leaders, they will often catch the heartbeat of learning as well.
How can you do it?
Appoint learning champions and lead by example yourself. The people who are most well-placed to be champions are those that believe in the importance of learning in small and big ways. The person who shares helpful articles regularly can be a champion; so is the one who uses their weekends to pick up courses on self-improvement. These developmental efforts need to be applauded as well.
You can only convince others when you are convinced yourself. Walking the talk has never been more necessary than when it comes to lifelong learning. If you’re not onboard yet, here’s a helpful article to start you off.
#4: Grow Curiosity
Why is it important?
Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” Curiosity makes us want to try things until we can do it and to think about things until we understand it. In any organisation, curiosity and critical thinking are two vital skills in creating a learning culture.
How can you do it?
Challenge employees to question why. To encourage creativity and innovation, it is more important to ask questions than to find answers. Ask your employees what they are interested in. You could simply say, "What is one question you’ve never gotten an answer for?” or “What's one thing you don’t know about this organisation?"
As they share their answers, let the rest of the team know not to comment or make discouraging remarks. No question is too small or unimportant. You may find that more questions get raised eventually, when there’s a healthy culture that encourages curiosity.
#5 Realise Tangible Outcomes
Why is it important?
Following the psychology of reinforcement, it’s of little surprise that employees would not take time to learn if they don’t see tangible outcomes from their learning. Changing this mindset is key as learning is an enriching process in itself and not always a means to an end.
How can you do it?
Demonstrate that learning is worth the time. You can do this is by investing in bite-sized learning. In 15 minutes or less, show your employees that new content can be learnt and come up with real workplace scenarios where application can be shown. The next time that particular scenario occurs, trigger the application of learning and complete the learning loop with a debrief as well.
Lifelong learning must be the new normal. It’s no longer a choice. In addition, the difference from one employee to another is then the way they acquire knowledge and skills. Learning the smart way is surely a time-saver and value-add to the self, team and organisation!
If you'd like to encourage smart learning in your team, find out more by clicking on the image below!
