Bringing People Together, Reshaping the Future – The role of Mentoring in Developing Thriving Learning Organisations

How can organizations thrive in the incredibly challenging post-pandemic global landscape? The answer: become a learning organization.

We all know it. The way we are working is not working, at least not anymore in the wake of the global Covid pandemic. The same reality is valid for organizations. Those companies that are not fast enough to embrace flexible customer service and high employee engagement and retention, both powered by fast adoption of the latest technologies and increasing digitalization might not be on the market a few years down the road.

What is the solution therefore for people and organizations who want, not only to survive, but to thrive in the new post-pandemic landscape? The answer: becoming a learning organization.

This is why the topic of how to develop healthy, thriving learning organizations in order to bring people together and reshape the future is one of the key areas that will be addressed during the upcoming EMCC Global Mentoring Conference. The conference is takes place on Friday, October 28th, 2022, virtually and will bring together people and organizational development experts from all over the world to explore the role of mentoring in our thriving future.

WHAT IS, AFTER ALL, A LEARNING ORGANIZATION?

“For me, a learning organization is an organization where all the people are ready to learn – better said, are even eager to learn new things, try new ways of doing things, extend their horizon and be richer with new positive experiences every day,” said Lenka Mrazova , an executive mentor and coach, founder of LMentio Czech Republic, and one of the main speakers during the panel discussions on learning organizations that is part of the EMCC Global Mentoring Conference. ?

“Indeed,” agrees Ivan Yong , an organizational psychologist, angel investor, entrepreneur, author and founder of the Corporate Disruptors Forum, while taking the perspective one step further. “A learning organization is an organization that continues to evolve its corporate culture. Organizational culture at its core is really how the people in an organization are programmed to make collective decisions when interacting with their external environment, daily business challenges and such.?Hence, a learning organization would have the capability to evolve its culture in order to thrive in the vicissitude of today’s business environment,” Yong said.

Fisher Yu , the managing director of MentoringCo, China and another distinguished EMCC panel discussion guest, emphasizes the qualities of a learning organization. “In my view a learning organization is a kind of state that meets the following criteria: its leaders act as true role models for their people; there is a willingness to learn – the culture inside the organization encourages people to learn both internally and externally; the culture energizes people by motivating them to learn and rewards learning behaviors. The company is also providing adequate resources, a system to manage learning and facilities to support the learning process. More, people are learning to use the knowledge rather than learn to keep the knowledge without use,” Yu noted.

“The most important thing we should not forget is that the global pandemic emphasized the perception that our world is increasingly uncertain and unpredictable,” said Karine Mangion-Thornley , senior Lecturer in Organization Studies at the University of the West of England. “Considering the many global challenges that we are facing today, including climate change, inflation and war, people and organisations need to adapt quickly to an ever fast-changing environment,” she said. “In this context, a learning organization uses all its assets and resources, particularly its human capital to find new solutions to new problems. Learning is based on curiosity, experience, reflection, and action. When these principles are embedded in the organizational culture, leadership, and business processes, the organization can learn, adapt, and thrive,” Mangion-Thornley noted.

“Having open, honest global conversations about what it takes to become a learning organization is crucial for our future,” said Cristina Violeta Muntean , EMCC Senior Practitioner, founder of VORNICA?, a company on a mission to triple the number of women CEOs in Europe by 2030, and moderator of the EMCC panel discussion. “Learning as a strategy to grow and thrive is usually falling into our blind spot when we go into a crisis mode, which is undoubtedly the case with numerous organizations over the last three years. This is why I believe that leaders need to find the courage to make the counter-intuitive decision: to thrive long term we need to continue investing into our learning leaders, people, and processes, regardless of the market circumstances.”

Now that we know the vision of what learning organizations can be in order to thrive in the future, the question is: what is preventing more organizations from turning into learning organizations? What are the main challenges that prevent leaders from transforming their companies into vibrant, thriving hubs of positive economic and societal transformation?

Read the answer to these questions and more in our next article from the series: BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER, RESHAPING THE FUTURE – THE ROLE OF MENTORING IN DEVELOPING THRIVING LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS. Or better yet – join us at the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) Global Mentoring Conference on October 28th, 2022, for a day full of inspiration, insights, and mutual support, so we can hold each other and thrive together in the future.