Continuous Learning – The New Norm for your key asset – your people

“The most valuable assets of a 20th-century company were its production equipment. The most valuable asset of a 21st-century institution, whether business or non-business, will be its knowledge workers and their productivity.” — Peter F. Drucker

The recent months of COVID-19 continue to send shockwaves through world economies. Many people have lost their jobs; the way we live, the way we work and the way we go about our daily lives, all have changed. 

So, remember this. Knowledge is power. Knowledge empowers both the organisation and its most important asset- its people.

With the rapid pace of digital transformation, combined with the pandemic we’re now living through, it is even more important for businesses to embrace and cultivate a culture of continuous learning to remain head of the curve and to give their people the ability to gain and leverage knowledge so they can come out stronger in the ‘new normal’.

Companies that embrace a culture of continuous learning discover the following:

1. Increased employee engagement and performance

Continuous learning teaches employees that they are valued. It demonstrates they are worth the investment and that the organisation is genuine about employee career development. Increased engagement and productivity will result, especially when navigating together as an organisation through the crisis. 

2. Reduced turnover

According to Forbes, over 55% of employees consider career growth and opportunity more important than salary, while 47% are not satisfied with their existing learning and development program.

Continuous learning allows learners to be in the driver’s seat, empowering them to develop a growth mindset, taking on ownership and accountability of their own learning development. This ensures employees have the skill and expertise to meet the demands of now and future, leading to increased commitment and engagement, both of which reduce turnover. 

3. Increased employee resilience 

Continuous learning breeds ‘growth mindsets’. Employees become nimbler, their ability to acquire new knowledge and skills expand, and their critical thinking abilities are sharpened. All these attributes strengthen an employee’s resilience and challenge their flexibility to cope in a time of uncertainty.

4. Improved innovation

Companies that priorities learning are more successful. Deloitte reports that companies with a continuous learning culture are 92% more likely to innovate, and 46% more likely to be first to market. Innovation and learning are two sides to a coin- if you build a culture with a growth mindset focus, innovation becomes an instant by-product. 

5. Improved customer experience

Happy Employees, Happy Customers. A knowledge-empowered employee is able to offer better customer service than one who feels unequipped to respond to customer needs. Continuous learning is a key aspect for any customer-first organisation. 

SumTotal - Our vision is to help people and organisations achieve their fullest potential through learning and development- to experience and manage learning by a beautiful marriage of world-class technology and engaging content. 

 If you are interested to learn more, please reach out to me for a conversation. Stay healthy.

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