16 Examples of Learning Culture

Has your company stagnated in the last three years? 

Let me guess: you've been doing business the same way you did when you first opened your doors ten years ago.

Businesses must adapt to today's ever-changing business environment now more than ever. And, if you want to stay in business, you must create a learning culture.

Companies with a learning culture thrive.

An IBM study showed that 84 percent of employees within the best-performing organizations receive training.

These organizations foster potential by providing learning opportunities and experiences. So, there is an increase in productivity, profit, employee satisfaction, and an improved employee mindset and ability to adapt to change.

A learning culture is not something that magically appears.

Unfortunately, many companies pay little attention to it, if not completely neglect it, as the numerous training and seminars take time away from getting the actual job finished.

And in most cases, the concept of "culture" sounds so vague that even experienced HR teams don't know where to start.

Here, we'll give you some concrete examples of learning culture, the best practices of companies with a great learning culture, along with some tips on ensuring that learning continuously happens on its own.

🌱 What is learning culture?

As we have mentioned in one of our previous blogs, a learning culture involves an environment that places importance on and encourages new information and skills as a means of self-improvement.

It is where employees continuously seek, share, and apply new knowledge and skills they need to perform at their best, better satisfy the customers, and help the organization grow.

📚 How learning culture affects learning

Culture directly affects learning as it influences a person's study patterns. Our culture shapes how we perceive and interpret information. Because of this, companies are encouraged to adopt values and beliefs that promote learning.

A well-established learning culture allows workers to quickly adopt new skills and identify and solve problems more effectively. These make them more capable employees.

Employees who work in a company with a good learning culture know the latest trends in their fields.

They not only receive the most up-to-date and accurate information, but they also broaden their knowledge not just in their fields but in other areas of expertise as well.

🔍 13 Examples of learning culture

"Culture" always sounds so theoretical.

The below examples will give you a more concrete idea of what a learning culture looks like in practice.

Top leaders set the example and model learning behaviors

Establishing a learning culture starts with your leaders. They must set the example and model learning behaviors because they are the ones who are reinforcing training initiatives.

Executives and key stakeholders must be critical thinkers, motivated learners, and effective collaborators to ensure that learning flows throughout the workplace.

Leaders are mentoring

Companies with a learning culture also have a human intervention to help direct the learning process.

Having someone speak to employees about their successes, failures, opportunities, and mistakes is inspiring.

Plus, it emphasizes the value of continuous learning. 

Leaders provide feedback

Companies with a learning culture keep their employees engaged in learning by providing feedback. 

This allows employees to know what they did correctly, where they can improve, and how learning can help them achieve their goals.

However, remember that communication is a two-way street!

To make this work, they also solicit feedback from employees! This way, the organization will find out if the training helped them. This will allow your company to fine-tune its courses to better meet the needs of the employees or develop better learning courses.

Learning and feedback go hand-in-hand. 
➡️ Also read our guide for creating a feedback culture.

Learning flows throughout the organization

A company with a learning culture embraces learning throughout its organization, from recruitment to hiring to onboarding.

The goal is to improve performance and achieve strategic goals constantly. Therefore, the company actively seeks workers who will fit a learning culture, and managers look for candidates who have a thirst for knowledge and solve problems independently.

The organization then determines what the employees currently know or are learning and their strengths and weaknesses to provide the appropriate materials to help them grow.

Successful companies also get the feedback of employees. Asking them what they want to learn creates a better environment and gives them something to look forward to.

Tip: A good starting point is our free training needs assessment survey template.

Learning is a top priority

Learning should be ingrained in the employees from the moment they set foot in the company. It means learning should be a clearly defined core value of the company. This allows employees, especially those newly hired, to be accustomed to learning.

But, in reality, learning is challenging to fit in when everyone's day is filled with responding to emails, meeting deadlines, and attending meetings. To address this, organizations set aside time for learning or incorporate learning into their daily lives.

You could incorporate learning into the workday by simply reminding employees that it is acceptable to focus on learning. Another approach is to talk to them about a process or an interesting article.

The more present the topic, the more people will be inclined to think of it.

Learning is incentivized

Companies with a learning culture reward and recognize employees when they apply their learning to solve problems and achieve goals. 

Organizations incorporate these incentives into performance reviews, placing as much emphasis on learning as on accomplishments.

 69% of employees would perform better if recognized for their contributions.

Employees must know that the time they spend learning is being recognized.

So, how do you make sure people feel recognized?

For example, those who have attended the most training or seminars in three months or one quarter will receive some reward. 

Little incentives make learning exciting and fun.

Learning is a collaborative experience

To keep the process of learning going, successful companies encourage their employees to share what they have learned with their peers, especially the information that was helpful to them in fulfilling their role in the company. This will help someone else in the organization and keep them engaged in learning. 

Your organization can also allow their employees to "coach" or "mentor" about a particular subject matter they are confident they can teach their peers.

Meanwhile, our employee development software helps create a cycle of continuous development as it turns people managers into coaches, put employees in the driver's seat, and boost company performance.

Learning doesn't stop

Because learning is a continuous process, it should not end after a few training sessions, seminars, or learning courses.

Great examples of learning cultures have in common that people keep it going. Remember to ask employees what they want to learn to keep them interested in what they are learning.

Different learning management systems or LMS allows organizations to run engaging training programs on autopilot. This helps organizations create and run their courses without worrying about manual assignments, constant reminders, outdated formats, or progress-tracking.

An LMS is beneficial because it gauges the effectiveness of educational strategies and allows employees to keep track of their career choices. It can also offer insight for career advancement.

Employees have fun learning

Some employees dislike learning because they believe it is boring. Some argue that this reduces the amount of time to complete a task. While this sentiment is correct in most cases, it is not impossible to make learning enjoyable. 

One way to make learning more enjoyable for employees is to create a point system and a program or tracker. These allow employees to keep track of the "experience points" that they can earn each time they attend a training or seminar, effectively turning learning into a video game.

Employees who reach a certain number of points by the end of the year will be rewarded. This application can include badges and achievements or levels as features. Meanwhile, earning enough "experience points" can make them "level up" and earn a particular badge.

A learning plan is in place 

It is vital to have a system or structure that would guide employees in using the learning resources they have obtained.

Having some sort of a checklist of the qualities an employee must possess for their current roles is one good way of keeping workers in check. This will also allow them to make themselves more competitive in the future.

The way to go here are meaningful career progression frameworks. They give meaning to competencies and learning.

And they are the basis for individual development plans to help guide people where they want to be.

Knowledge is easily accessible

Without proper resources, there is no formal learning.

Hence another concrete example of a learning culture lies in the available options. Employees are encouraged to learn because resources are readily available at all times.

These resources may include those provided by the organization and those offered by third-party providers.

Close to every company with a standout learning culture offers its people a selection of

• Books, magazines, journals
• PDFs
• Training
• Audio recordings
• Presentations
• Seminars and webinars
  

Workers can mark the ones they find helpful, and these can serve as a form of "recommendation" to their peers. This way, learning not only becomes accessible but also becomes a collaborative experience.

The same goes for jointly creating internal training resources.

However, resources do not only refer to the medium, such as books and journals, but they also mean budget. Hence, a company with enough money to get these resources is equally important.

Taking risks is encouraged

If an employee tries out solutions for the organization but fails, leaders recognize the effort and encourage them to try again. The company prioritizes learning over blaming. 

A company with a strong learning culture recognizes that failure is unavoidable but encourages employees to use it as a stepping stone to far better things.

Innovation is celebrated 

While businesses have established practices for getting the job done, companies committed to a learning culture allow employees to demonstrate a better way to get the job done if they see fit. They encourage innovation rather than discouraging it because "You've always done it that way." 

🏢 Real-life business examples of great learning cultures

Developing and maintaining a strong learning culture can seem daunting or overwhelming. However, creating a learning culture inside the organization has been shown to help businesses succeed. Here are some companies that have transformed themselves by fostering a learning culture.

With a market cap of $2.367 trillion as of March 2022, Microsoft is the second most valuable company in the world.

Satya Nadella, the company's CEO, has transformed the company by embracing a growth mindset and transforming it from a place where employees felt the need to be the single source of knowledge to a collaborative culture that leverages diverse knowledge.

He accomplished this by conducting anonymous, individual, or focus group interviews with employees at all levels of the organization to learn about 

• their experiences
• the culture they desired,
• what they are passionate about, 
• and aspects the company should leave behind.

Nadella was also surprised by how little time each manager spent coaching their employees, so he made it one of the company's priorities as part of their cultural revival.

Microsoft is dedicated to developing leaders by maximizing their potential and empowering them through a well-designed coaching program.

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Garry Ridge, the company's CEO, increased the company's market cap from $200 million to $2.91 billion.

When he became CEO in 1997, WD-40's product was in four out of every five households in the United States, and by 2016, the product had been sold worldwide, sales had skyrocketed, and they had expanded their offerings.

He accomplished this by prioritizing people and fostering a learning culture. As a result, ridge expects all employees to

• be committed to learning
• ask questions
• innovate
• take risks
• be fearless in the face of failure,
• and do their best to grow and learn.
  

When it comes to being a model for a corporate learning culture, Google stands out.

The company hires experts in various technology fields, so everyone can collaborate and learn from one another. Furthermore, informal and continuous learning is highly encouraged as part of employee development.

Google also values employee contributions and risk-taking.

Failing? Part of the deal.

🤖 Learn more about Google's training and development strategy in our in-depth case study,

These are three different companies, but all do the same thing: maximize human potential to benefit the individual and the entire organization.

⬇️ Create a culture of continuous learning

To really work, corporate learning needs to things:

• A culture of continuous learning
• A structure to guide and encourage it
  

Learning becomes a part of everyday work and a daily habit.

A development tool like Zavvy helps you establish that structure.

A framework to guide employees on their personal development - and managers to become better coaches.

Plus, our training software lets you create and automate engaging training programs on autopilot. 

All at the click of a button.

Click here to request a free consultation or a quote for our talent development software.