Learning at Unilever is a measurable success

How many of us can really hold our hands up and say that we’ve learnt something completely new in the past week?

But our brains are wired to learn... And we know that learning actually anti-ages the brain, it keeps our brains younger, it makes them more plastic. It makes us more child-like, more curious. And that's why learning should never be an occasional chore. As leaders, we really need to change the thinking on this. We need to make it a habit, we need to learn – little and often – for the whole of our lives.

I posted that on LinkedIn recently and it got a great response. 

It’s a nice soundbite, isn’t it? It sounds wonderful. But some people quite rightly asked me, what are we actually doing at Unilever to embed and support a culture of learning? How are we encouraging and nurturing curiosity? 

(Others asked me what I had learned recently, which I'll be talking about in an upcoming piece!)

So, today, I wanted to talk a little about just some of the things we do here at Unilever to encourage and enable learning.

MY LEARNING – SNACKABLE LEARNING

People have limited time, we know that. Setting aside an entire day, or even half a day, for regular learning often isn’t practical. And so we put together a “snackable” learning tool. Unilever’s My Learning provides bitesized learning that’s easily digestible on the go.

This learning is hyper-personalised to the individual at any given moment in their career. Bringing together all our ‘people’ videos, virtual events and social media campaigns, supports our people to learn what they need, when they need it. They can even learn things that aren’t directly related to what they do, following their own personal passions and interests. 

Unilever’s My Learning provides bitesized learning that’s easily digestible on the go.

The great thing about this kind of technology is that it can allow us to be more personal, more tailored, more human - not less. It is all part of our goal to be #MoreHuman in everything we do here at Unilever.

So, what about the results?

I’m glad to say, here in HR, we’ve learned a lot from introducing our learning tools! 

• We’ve discovered that active learners get promoted 10% faster.
• We know they are 25% more likely to be in identified as part of the talent pool we wish to retain. 
• Crucially, active learners are less likely to be among those who are unwell. That’s right - those who engage in learning and self-development have better wellbeing. 

Those who engage in learning and self-development have better wellbeing. 

And if that isn’t enough, the fact that they feel capable to do their job has a strong correlation to top line growth.

We’ve learned that providing this kind of access to learning is no longer a nicety – it’s a necessity. The learning curve here at Unilever truly is the earning curve.

Meanwhile, we're hoping to go even further. We've been trialling other learning opportunities and tools which we are watching carefully. I hope to bring you further updates in the future!

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Further reading

• How we are innovating in order to create a more diverse Unilever
• Why Diversity is personal for me
• There's a crisis in leadership. So what are we going to do about it?