3 Ways Community-Based Learning Gets Your Employees Engaged

With all the benefits that hybrid workplaces offer employees, challenges remain. Our recent Employee Well-Being Report shows that burnout rose by nearly 9% between April and July 2021, and nearly 12% from a year ago.

This is an opportunity to harness what we know — people need to feel connected to each other and their work. Learning & Development leaders play a unique role in re-engaging your people with highly personalized learning experiences that harness the power of community. Indeed, data shows that employees who feel a sense of belonging are five times more likely to be engaged. 

That’s why L&D teams are turning to community-based learning. Of the 1,260 L&D pros we surveyed globally, 86% believe that learning is more engaging when people learn together, and 91% believe that employees who learn together are more successful. They’re on to something. 

Here are three ways community-based learning gets people engaged and excited about building new skills. 

1. Foster connection and belonging

Feeling like you belong and are connected to something bigger is a basic human need, especially now when our remote and hybrid workplaces are still in flux. 

“As humans, when we have a lot of uncertainty, we crave connection,” says Naphtali Bryant, Director of Learning and Organization Development at Netflix. To meet this need, he works to “connect teams and leaders with each other in meaningful ways during ‘moments of truth.’ ” He’s hit on the true spirit of community-based learning: creating a space for people to connect, ask questions of each other, and interact in the moment of learning. 

While social learning typically focuses on increasing engagement internally, among colleagues (like learning groups or gamification), community-based learning uses social features to expand a learner’s connections to people outside of the organization and industry. From 2020 to 2021, we saw a 1,100% increase in people joining learning groups, a 225% increase in sharing courses with a learner’s professional network, and a 121% increase in activity in course Q&As from both learners and instructors.

2. Make learning a habit 

According to a Brandon Hall Group survey, 73% of organizations expect to increase their focus on social learning, and more than 60% want their employees to interact with learning resources on a daily basis. In order to make good on this promise of more frequent learning, learning needs to be a natural part of people’s days, delivered in the flow of work through spaces like lunch-and-learns and dedicated learning weeks. 

By allowing people to ask questions of each other and their instructors in real time, community learning helps to deepen the discussion and reinforce the material in new ways, improving retention. It also creates a continuous learning loop that encourages people to keep interacting and learning, reinforcing the habit of learning.

This all feeds into a culture of learning across the organization. Community-based learning enables L&D to structure programs that exceed specific learning modules and ripple out to other 

Initiatives like mentorship, apprenticeship, and sponsorship programs; lunch-and-learns; and contests. It can even support bigger business priorities, whether it’s internal mobility and upskilling-reskilling efforts, or equity and inclusion.

3. Ignite people’s passion to learn 

Many people excel at learning on their own, finding their flow as they dive deep into learning a new programming language, absorbing new sales strategies, or contemplating how to be an ally at work. But for others, learning in a group environment humanizes the learning experience and gets people fired up in a way they may not be able to access on their own. 

For example, if you’re trying to upskill your HR and People teams on data analytics or build understanding around DEI for your entire workforce, there’s great value in having people on that journey together, not only to address challenges, but also to tap into the collective excitement for growth.

Pamay Bassey, the Chief Learning and Diversity Officer at Kraft Heinz, says it best: “There is joy as others join you, making their own commitments and sharing what they are learning—and powering the creation of an exciting learning culture—a culture of creativity, generosity, and curiosity.”

Community gives employees what they’re looking for

Now more than ever, employees are asking for growth and development opportunities. Our Employee Well-Being Report from earlier this year showed that “opportunities to learn and grow” is the top driver of a great work culture, followed by “belonging.” 

Community-based learning is a powerful solution that delivers on both, giving learners what they want, keeping them engaged in the process, and inspiring everyone to move forward together to help your organization upskill for the future.