How we establish a true learning culture

In a world where change is the only constant, learning is key to success. At Henkel, we follow a special approach to upskilling and development, based on personalized experiences instead of a rigid “one size fits all” curriculum. We believe that learning should always be easily accessible, relevant, and fun.

When the world is constantly changing and transformation is a daily routine, we – as an organization and as individuals – must adapt. Establishing a culture in which learning, and “upskilling” are integral parts of everyday life has become critical to an organization’s success. It is the organization’s responsibility to keep employees up-to-date, to provide them with the necessary tools and content, and thus enable them to build up skills and successfully master the challenges of an increasingly complex environment.?

Because learning is not what it used to be. It isn’t about becoming an expert in a specific area anymore – technologies, environments and challenges change too quickly – it is about learning to be agile, flexible and willing to think different. It is about learning to learn. At Henkel, we have understood the importance of lifelong learning. And, true to our values of entrepreneurship and innovation, we like to try a somewhat different approach, which is based on individual experience more than rigid instructions.?

Here’s how we establish a true learning culture:

In 2020, we launched a new centralized learning platform, offering access to a whole world of knowledge to Henkel employees around the world. It captures a variety of formats (including self-paced learnings), enabling employees to fit their learning experience to their individual work schedule. We are convinced: It isn’t feasible to always condense learning to a yearly three-day-seminar anymore. Content must be anything from snack-sized in order to fit between two meetings, to a longer deep-dive that can fill an afternoon.?

Not everyone has the same learning needs or interests. The recipe for successful teams is diversity of thought: successful teams are made up of people who can combine their knowledge and offer different perspectives to achieve a solution. Therefore, we offer tailormade learning paths that are adapted to the specific needs in one area or job role. Learning content is developed in co-creation with the businesses und functions, as well as external experts, thus making sure it fits their needs – today and in the future.?

Learning should be many things – but never boring. ELearnings made up of static slides belong in the archive. Content should vary in format, be interactive, multimedia and entertaining. It can be virtual. It can be live. In the case of our new Sustainability Pioneer Training, learning formats can be inspired by successful formats like a Netflix series: As the training covers a comprehensive amount of information, we divided it into separate but consecutive episodes which can be paused and resumed at any time and added interactive as well as individualized parts, providing the learner with an immersive and engaging learning experience.?

Easily-accessible, relevant and fun – at Henkel, we don’t just see learning as a necessity: we see it as an opportunity to connect and grow together. There’s a reason we launched our annual “Learning Festival”: it is designed as an opportunity for colleagues to come together, connect, have fun and learn from each other; it is a celebration of learning at Henkel. And its success speaks for itself! At the end of October, employees from all around the world came together for two days of personal exchange, knowledge-sharing, and joint learning. We are convinced: as with everything, learning is better when we do it together!