Learning To Grow

Original Article from Fokus Online (in Dutch): https://www.fokus-online.be/business/hr/leren-om-te-groeien/

‍

A few weeks ago Stella Collins, our Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer was featured in De Standaard, where she shared her thoughts on three questions about "learning to grow".

‍

Learning is the cornerstone of a good corporate culture. But organising it efficiently still seems to be a challenge.

‍

How do we ideally address corporate learning?

When we learn, we change our brains, our bodies, and how we think and do business. That's why I believe we need to better understand the neuroscience of learning. You can't just fire information at people and expect them to be able to apply it immediately. Learning is a journey, a process. And there is no magic solution to it. Learning must be about doing, especially when it comes to skills. Unfortunately, learning today is often far too focused on knowledge transfer. You are too often overloaded with information, but it seldom translates into changing your habits and behaviours.

‍

What pitfalls do you face for workplace learning?

There is a problem with time. It is often lacking when people want to learn, and at the same time, we waste a lot of time and money on ineffective training. The way knowledge is shared is usually not tailored to the learning process, which is incremental and iterative. Additionally, employees find little support when they are learning. After all, learning is quite difficult, but when you can share your experience with colleagues who are going through the same thing, it is motivating. Finally, there is not always a link to the needs of the company. The knowledge and skills you learn must be meaningful so that you can put them to good use. If that link is not there, then not only is there little motivation to learn, but you also quickly forget what you learned.

‍

What impact does digitisation have on the need to learn?

We are experiencing many changes due to digitalisation. People must learn and do many new things. For example, new jobs are constantly emerging that were not there a year ago. If we want to stay relevant in this world of global digitalisation, we will have to become very good at "faster and more effective learning". It used to be that you could do the same job your whole life, but that is no longer the case today. Employees must be able to adapt quickly to the ever faster-changing society.

‍

‍