Article: Building a culture of innovation and continuous learning

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Building a culture of innovation and continuous learning

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Organizations thrive with the right competencies and mindset, here’s how to build a workplace culture that fosters the right environment
Building a culture of innovation and continuous learning

We all know predicting the future is nearly impossible. And with the recent turn of disruptive events, it has become even harder to envision what the future holds in store. How can organizations prepare for the potential scenarios that might arise in the years to come? Well, it turns out there are ways organizations can adapt and continue to thrive in times of uncertainty and rapid change. Organizations with the right competencies and mindsets can devise new business models, expand product lines, and venture out into other growth opportunities. 

What sets apart some of the most successful enterprises from their counterparts is their distinct ability to provide its people with a learning culture and a platform for innovation. For an organization to successfully manage change, boost business performance, and operate with agility it must transform into a continuous learning organization. 

So, what is a culture of innovation and continuous learning? And what exactly needs to be done to become one? Let us take a closer look.  

Continuous learning organizations are the ones whose employees are engaged, motivated, and who regularly seek knowledge and improvement. Most will agree that people are the most vital resource of any enterprise. It’s a powerful combination when you have a group of them equipped with the right blend of technology, competency, and the motivation to achieve your business goals. This culture of learning ultimately enables your organization to become more agile and innovate ahead of the curve. 

With learning now possible from bite-sized formats and available anytime, anyplace, organizations can empower their teams with learning content for every role in the organization.  Whether in an entry-level position or at the C-suite level, when organizations promote learning at every stage, they are likely to have a highly-skilled talent pool that is ready to move up and take on new challenges. Organizations need to provide a variety of learning content to upskill their talent pool while offering support for their overall learning. Your workforce will benefit immensely from a continual and ever-evolving learning program personalized for their development needs. Creating such a conducive learning environment will not only lead to a more engaged workforce but will also help attract new talent.

Irrespective of their size and domain, for any organization to stay ahead of the pace, they need to explore different opportunities simultaneously. It means you need to encourage team members to go places they have never been and to adopt an innovation mindset. It requires employees from diverse groups to come together on initiatives and try out new approaches, apply their knowledge and put learning into real action. Organizations need to break down the silos, give their workforce clear direction, provide a playbook, and the tools needed to build upon their ideas to further innovate. A good place to start is by providing continuous learning opportunities to the entire workforce, enabling knowledge sharing, testing out new ideas, and promoting innovation at every level. Innovation hinges on interdisciplinary cooperation and often lead to the creation of new markets and transforming existing ones.

As the saying goes, “learning and education should not end at graduation.” This idea of learning as a lifelong process will not only keep organizations and their workforce relevant but also better informed and equipped to achieve goals. With the fourth industrial revolution upon us in the form of the digital age, an agile and innovative mindset matters now more than ever. For organizations, it is about creating the right conditions to learn and grow. And for employees, it is about how to be an innovative problem solver. In the end, it all comes down to building a continuous learning organization — one that cares for the learning development of its workforce while it supports overall growth. 

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Topics: Learning & Development, Talent Management, #GetSetLearn

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