When you’re younger, many people think that learning stops once you finish school and get a job, but that is far from the truth. Learning never really stops, and in fact, it’s essential to continue to learn throughout a person’s whole career.

Learning while in a job is something that employees should want to do for themselves, for example, Regis College says that Career-driven nurses owe it to themselves – and to their patients – to pursue continuing education opportunities as often as possible throughout their careers. This is true in any profession, so as an employer or HR professional, it’s vital to encourage this for the benefit of your workforce and the company too.

It Keeps Things Fresh

No one wants to be doing the same thing over and over again every day for years, it gets boring, it can make employees miserable, and it’s no good for their brains either. People need to keep learning new things to keep their jobs fresh and exciting.

Things Change All the Time 

The world is changing at a rapid pace, and it’s not going to slow down any time soon. Thanks to technology, systems are changing; there are new ways of doing things, there is new competition opening up, and industries are transforming.

Employees want to feel relevant; they want to know they can do their job and having the up to date skills and knowledge is the best job security tool they could have, it encourages them and motivates them to achieve higher levels and seek promotions. It is essential to create an environment in which learning is encouraged, and failure is safe as long as employees learn from it.

It’s Directly Related to The Company’s Success

All managers should make learning a core goal for their employees because while it may seem like a considerable investment of money and time, it is directly related to their team’s and their company’s success

Employees Will Have More Job Satisfaction

Achieving goals is incredibly rewarding and satisfying, and it will make your employees feel great about themselves as well as continue to motivate them to do better. Personal development is linked to feelings of self-worth, and studies show that the more ambitious goals that people set, the happier they tend to be. 

Employees Can Teach Each Other

One of the benefits of learning and gaining new skills is that they can be passed onto others. This is particularly important in the workforce as it means that people can use their skills to benefit the organization and create a stronger, more dynamic team.

Encouraging employees to teach others the skills they have is very useful as it is in a real-life setting rather than a classroom, and it is a really great way to make learning part of your workplace culture.

It Is How New Ideas Are Born

When people are sitting around doing the same thing every day, getting bored and feeling uninspired, they aren’t likely to think of new ideas. If you want to get people feeling inspired to in the workplace, then encourage employees to learn. Whether it’s training courses or just encouraging people to read certain books, listen to podcasts, or stay up to date with relevant industry news. 

It Keeps the Passion Alive

There is no doubt that everyone will go through a time when work can feel like a drag, a daily struggle to get out of bed to go and sit at the same desk again for another eight hours, and this can happen to people who love their job.

Learning is the answer to keeping the passion for the job alive. If it’s been lost, then it can be difficult to get it back, but learning is one way to reignite the passion and keep people stimulated. 

Learning Makes for Better Conversation

It’s not just about those water-cooler moments at work or the small talk, but how nice is it when people in the office get into a decent conversation about something topical?

Perhaps they get into a debate at their desks about something related to the industry?

This not only makes work more fun and exciting, but it helps to educate others as well. This is also handy for when your employees go out networking, they’ll meet far more people if they have more exciting things to say, and this can lead to them and your company having different opportunities and collaborations. Or it might lead to employee referrals and you getting someone else great on your team. 

It Banishes Boredom 

As mentioned previously, people who don’t spend their time learning, get bored quickly. Making sure there is continuous learning in the workplace keeps people on their toes; it keeps people engaged and gives people a greater sense of purpose and excitement in their careers.  

It Gives A Better Work-life Balance

When people are feeling fed up at work and going through tough times, learning is one of the best things they can do to feel right again. It might sound crazy as it just seems like there is more to do, but if you let your employees take a break from monotonous work to focus on expanding their minds, then it can be really good for them. They do say a change is as good as a rest, and this is exactly the same.

Actively learning something by going on a training course or dedicating time to working on something else other than their job can help them to break out of bad habits like sitting in front of their computers and not actually doing anything.

It’s Healthy

Did you know that continuous learning can help people live longer? The benefits of learning are endless, and they are far more diverse than you might think. For example, keeping the mind active is good for memory, so it’s not just about having more skilled and motivated employees, but encouraging a learning culture could result in much sharper and healthier employees, which will result in a far better company. 

© New To HR