Top management plays a vital role in the survival and success of an organization. The decisions and strategies formulated by the top management affect the whole company. Therefore, the burden of making a prudent call is high at the senior-most level. The business environment is dynamic and to achieve the objectives of the organization, adapting with time is significant. Earlier, businesses focused on the work culture rather than the holistic development of their workforce. However, with time, management has realised that the success of the organization is directly proportionate to the overall development of its employees. The employee's holistic development begins with the addition of value to his presence skill set.
Understanding the learning curve theory is one way to begin adding value. Learning curve theory states that when an employee does a task for a long period, they will get better at it, and this will in turn reduce the cost of doing business and increase output. Promoting a learning environment and motivating employees to improve their skill sets will prove to be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders.
Effective Strategies To Create A Learning Environment Within The Organization
1. Growth and the learning zeal of an employee are influenced by their environment. In this case, top management can play a vital role in encouraging the employees to incorporate constant learning and critical thinking into their daily lives. This will help employees open up to new methods of self-growth, like participating actively in learning new skills through programs offered or gaining more information about their industry through the news.
2. Enabling and enforcing policies that provide a forum for debates, discussions, and interactions within the organisation will give employees a way to put forth their respective ideas. This exercise will lead to building team spirit and a common intention to achieve a goal.
3. The most effective way to develop the learning curve in your organization is to reward and appreciate employees who get into habits of conscious learning. It will set an example for the rest of the organization to develop similar learning and thinking behaviours. Appreciating and rewarding your employees show that the management acknowledges the efforts made by them.
4. Empowering the employees with the right tools, programs, and training will help the employees to learn, grow and take initiative. It is important for developing and maintaining a learning environment. Creating a formal learning program based on individual employees’ skills can prove to be beneficial.
Corporates Around The World Are Changing Their Work Culture
Organizations around the globe are realizing that the success of a business is possible with the development of their employees. Keeping this in mind, big corporate houses are enhancing their work culture by improving their learning curve. Some of the examples are as follows:
a. Google: The world's biggest search engine company is known for promoting an intensive learning culture within the organization. Employees are given the freedom to work according to their schedules thereby increasing productivity. Further, the workforce consists of people from different tech domains so that everyone can learn something from each other.
b. Adobe: The software giant creates a learning environment by providing online learning, mentorship, and leadership programs accessible on demand. They have also created an award-winning program called kickbox where they encourage employees to be innovative, take risks without thinking of the result.
c. Pixar: The organization has its university which allows the employees to have required training based on their skills. The moto of the organization is to create a learning mindset and make it fun to learn together. The top management deals with the creation and development of such programs themselves.
d. Airbnb: The American vacation rental company organizes internal events from time to time where leaders from different fields and professions come forward to share their thoughts on a topic.
On similar lines to the above-mentioned organizations, the big corporates in India are also changing the way they conduct businesses. Companies like Reliance, TATA, and Mahindra are encouraging their employees to inculcate habits of learning and critical thinking. Here is how:
a. Reliance: Being one of the biggest private-sector employers the management understands its role in the development of its employees. Through its committed policies framework, the corporate house managed to maintain a learning environment within the organization. Reliance has taken an initiative by starting a Career Acceleration Programme (CAP) for its middle-level managers. The program allows the managers to participate in mentorship, learning, and development opportunities. In 2015, Reliance launched Step-Up Program to prepare employees with leadership skills to take on senior-level roles in the organization. Another unique program undertaken by the organization is Spectrum. It is a week-long learning program where employees can learn any business or non-business related skill.
b. TATA: Indian automobile employer values its hard work and dedicated employees. In order to unlock their true potential different platform are provided to push the workforce to their limits enhancing their skill set. The committed Human Resource department of the TATA group evaluates the learning capacity of each individual and aligns their learning and talent programs accordingly. Learning Advisory Council makes regular checks on the learnings offered and reviews the learning agendas of the employees. For their blue-collar workforce, National Employment Enhancement Mission (NEEM) is enforced to test their existing knowledge and skill. Learning Management System (LMS) is a platform that provides various leadership and techno-functional skill development programs.
Conclusion
Understanding the importance of creating a learning environment will allow the organizations to survive and gain success. Different strategies can be enforced to create such an environment depending on the nature and type of the organization. The overall development of the employees is intricate in the success of any business. It might not be an easy task to develop and create such an environment but it is in the best interest of all the stakeholders. The top management, efficient Human Resource personnel, and managers together can encourage the employees to participate in the learning environment.
Comments