Why Creating a Culture of Learning & Development is Important

I started my writing career in the world of academia. I’d spend hours analysing texts, looking for unique angles and applying my critical thinking skills to create an interesting, engaging article.

These skills served me well when I transitioned from academia to digital marketing and then again to agency owner.

So, it’s not surprising that this love of learning continues to be a core value at Copy House and something that’s actively encouraged amongst my team.

People Are Your Biggest Asset

In the book Agencynomics, Spencer Gallagher devotes an entire chapter to this subject and explains the value of investing in your team. As any service-based business owner knows, it’s your people that underpin everything you do and make you unique.

I never worry about competition as even if someone tried to replicate Copy House, they could never be us.

It’s our team that allows us to attract big clients, build strong relationships with our existing ones, and deliver great work. Yet, delivering great work relies on keeping our knowledge fresh, not only on SEO and content marketing best practices but also on emerging technologies.

Learning and development are essential for staying at the top of our game.

Investing in Your People

I often hear from our employees that one of the things they love about their jobs is the opportunity to constantly learn and improve their current skill sets with new projects or challenges.

I’ve found this endless curiosity in all of our team members and it’s one of the things that makes us different.

Taking on new challenges is impossible without the right support. World-class athletes don’t just wake up and run a marathon. Getting to that level of performance takes years of training, preparations and improvements.

The same applies to content writing. Copywriters need to practice and get the support to improve their skill set. This support can come from on-the-job learning but often requires outside additional training from the likes of Udemy, client webinars and senior leaders.

Ensuring your employees have access to this constant learning and development is essential for building a strong company culture and propelling your company forward.

The Business Value of Investing in Your People

While it all sounds good, I think one of the biggest holdups business owners face when thinking about training their employees is the initial outlay. Spending hundreds on external training can often put the brakes on an otherwise well-laid plan.

I’ve seen first-hand the value of investing in your employees, but plenty of research supports this claim:

• 76% of employees want career development opportunities (ClearCompany)
• 74% of employees feel they’re not reaching their full potential (The Learning Wave)
• 40% of employees who receive poor job training will leave their jobs within the first year (go2HR)

With so many employees wanting career development opportunities, not providing these opportunities risks making employees feel undervalued, unhappy and unsatisfied. So much so, that only 13% of employees worldwide feel engaged at work.

If people are your company’s biggest asset, then you need to create an environment where they can bring their best selves to work, and providing learning and development opportunities is the first step towards achieving this.

How to Create a Culture of Learning & Development

There are some great ways that you can encourage a culture of learning and development without spending a fortune. 

1. Host Internal Training Events. If you’ve hired correctly, you should have a wealth of experience and knowledge within your team already. It’s essential for employees to have a chance to learn from each other and share this knowledge with their teammates. We often host short 30-minute training sessions where an employee will present and share their knowledge. These sessions are a great way to encourage cross-collaboration and our team finds them really helpful.
2. Leverage External Training. External training doesn’t have to cost the Earth. One of the positive things to come out of the last few months is the extensive range of online training courses. You can take training courses on almost everything, led by world-class trainers. The online training marketplace Udemy is a great place to look -- our team has taken courses on Udemy on building AI machines, cap table management, proofreading and marketing analytics.
3. Encourage Endless Curiosity. I’ve always been a fan of questions and encourage everyone to ask questions, regardless of seniority level. Employees should feel comfortable bringing new ideas and ways of thinking to the table, and challenging the status quos as this, in turn, pushes everyone to think differently and find new, potentially better, ways of working.