A common trait among successful companies is their view of learning as an organizational tool rather than merely as support. Successful companies utilize continuous learning as a vehicle to support rapid growth and adaptability to market trends such as shorter product life cycles, evolving customer expectations and disruptive technologies that change current processes and business models.

For corporate learning professionals, the critical question is how to continue to promote continuous learning in an organization so that the results are measurable.

1. Align Learning With Strategic Business Priorities

Rather than adopting a separate competency framework to assess learning agendas, high-growth enterprises use business objectives to establish their learning plans. According to the World Economic Forum, the emergence of new technologies is leading to the redefinition of jobs, which requires workers to increasingly develop additional skills — or even acquire entirely new skillsets.

Employers that successfully adapt to these changes see their workforce capabilities as being part of a long-term investment in their businesses; they align the anticipated growth of the enterprise with the investment made in developing employee capabilities. Included in this approach are items such as:

• Mapping critical capabilities required within the company to initiatives that produce revenue
• Periodic analysis of the capability gaps of each employee compared to the capabilities required for the future strategy
• Prioritizing the creation of capabilities based on anticipated future needs (e.g. digital fluency, data literacy, flexible leadership or the ability to work across functional areas)

High-growth organizations do not focus simply on training their employees for the work they do today but instead develop an employee-learning roadmap to prepare them for future restructuring of the market. Accordingly, high-growth organizations invest in developing workforce capabilities so that when employees need to be prepared for changes in the market, they do not reactively develop workforce capabilities after they have already been disrupted by changes in the external marketplace.

2. Embed Learning Into the Flow of Work

Regularly scheduled training helps create a habitual and a longer-lasting value when employees can continue to learn as they go about their day; thereby creating an opportunity to enhance their skill sets after they have been hired by an organization. The more aligned learning is with performance measurement within the organization, the more opportunity they will have to see greater returns from a business perspective and a higher level of employee retention and engagement.

To support successful implementation, organizations should follow best practices, including:

• Including microlearning immune systems into collaboration tools and leading enterprise systems
• Using scenario-based simulations based on actual project timelines
• Building habits of knowledge-sharing routines into team rhythm of operations

Many organizations use learning management systems (LMS) to offer opportunities for training, but most organizations with high growth rates leverage additional online tools as part their overall digital ecosystem to develop expertise at the time they need it (also referred to as developing at the “point of need”). Consequently, by using this approach, time from skill to competence is reduced, knowledge retention is increased and the ability to apply such knowledge improves.

3. Leverage Data for Adaptive Skill Development

Using data to make decisions has become a defining trait of the modern businesses that wish to grow. Additionally, this idea encompasses how capabilities are developed for their employees. McKinsey and Company found that if businesses collect granular data about the people they employ, businesses can anticipate deficits in capability and maximize their resource allocations toward developing that capability.

The following best practices align with the principles above:

• Analyzing your workforce analytics data to see what emerging skill sets you are seeing
• Tracking formal learning (i.e., taking courses) and performance metrics
• Measuring business outcome (so productivity increases, quality increases, and innovation metrics)

Connecting learners with operational performance/reports, businesses will be better able to analyze true physical metrics (i.e., completing an X number of classes) rather than just utilizing an overall metric (completing classes). In other words, businesses will assess how learning strategies can help accelerate time to market, enhance customer experience and increase operational outcomes.

4. Redefine Leadership Accountability for Learning

In high-growth organizations, accountability for learning is shifting from centralized L&D departments to a decentralized leadership structure. In this model, continuous development is expected to be an ongoing responsibility of management.

Effective models for this include:

• Embedding coaching and mentoring requirements into the performance criteria of leadership
• Tying team development goals to business KPIs
• Acknowledgement and rewarding of leaders who create internal mobility pipelines

Research from Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Impact highlights that organizations foster innovation by creating psychologically safe environments, encouraging experimentation and embedding continuous learning and reflection into their culture.

5. Create Internal Talent Mobility Pathways

When individuals can envision their career path based on skill acquisition, potential for ongoing professional growth increases. Rapidly growing organizations are creating internal mobility systems to foster movement across different areas of the business.

Organizations can utilize effective strategies, such as:

• Developing a comprehensive skills taxonomy that captures the required sets of skills/competencies necessary for progression into different positions and levels within the organization’s various roles
• Providing employees with opportunities for experiential learning through rotational assignments and project-based activities
• Providing digital credentials to employees to demonstrate skill development through acquisition of the necessary skills/competencies to occupy a new position within the organization

LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report highlights that providing employees with opportunities to learn and grow plays a critical role in improving retention and fostering a culture of continuous learning.

Building a Learning-Centric Enterprise Model

To firmly include continuous learning within a company’s strategy, it must integrate structures through governance, leadership, technology and analytics of the workforce. Continuous capability development is no longer a supportive function but a key differentiator as a core competency between high and low growth organizations.