The Benefits of Promoting a Collaborative Learning Culture

During these times of remote work and a work environment restructuring, strengthening employee engagement is a major challenge that organizations face. In this sense, readapting internal culture refers to the new concerns and needs of people. Emphasis is placed on fluid internal communication as a great axis of motivation, but little is said about learning programs.

Fostering activities that help collaborators create, acquire and transfer knowledge is also a powerful way of maximizing their commitment. So, how is an environment with constant and back-and-forth training created?

The Challenge of Creating New Knowledge

Learning is key for human capital to develop and those employees who experience an everyday learning environment improve their knowledge by interacting with their peers. Not only do they become more involved in and satisfied with their work, but they also become more proactive, creative and resilient.

After a month, people just remember, on average, 10% of what they learned in formal training.
Source: The HOW Institute / Luxinnovation

In times of profound change, those characteristics become very valuable. That’s why organizations need to prioritize tools such as ongoing training and e-Learning courses. However, it’s not about resorting to traditional teaching methods in which one person imparts existing concepts to others. Instead, it’s about generating exchange spaces that turn collaborators into true creators of knowledge.

• 70% informal learning: employees learn based on experience, practice and problem solving.
• 20% learning with others: through collaborative interaction with colleagues, leaders and mentors.
• 10% formal learning: direct and structured. The company controls objectives and content.

In a world that is ever changing by leaps and bounds, researchers believe that, to motivate “lifelong learning,” the obsolete and passive concept of teaching has to give way to a new definition of learning that includes the creation of new knowledge. And it is employees are responsible to create it.

The Passion of the Explorer as a Motto

People have multiple interests and desires to learn, from a skill that contributes to their daily work to one that for example, provides better social tools. When company leaders take note of these desires and decide to offer new opportunities and spaces for learning, employees feel more motivated and develop a passion similar to the one experienced by explorers. Companies also benefit from the innovation, sensitivity and power that knowledge gives employees to adapt to changing circumstances.

Only 13.9% of U.S. employees showed a passion for facing challenges, pushing boundaries and connecting with others to develop new ideas.
Source: Deloitte

The “passion of the explorer” is defined as a willingness to seek complex challenges and connect with others in order to learn how to do things better, more effectively and with a greater impact. And that passion to explore is at risk in today’s organizational environment.

Why is it important for employees to recover it?

● They feel more self-confident and more able to cope with technological challenges and changes in the workplace.

● They know how to solve needs based on new skills or tools.

● They are viewed as more eager to learn continuously and improve their performance.

● They enjoy teamwork more and learn faster.

● They accept transformations, even if they need to undergo a readjustment period.

Thus, passion is much more than just interest in a particular field. It has become a central element when thinking about the evolution of companies and the workforce of the future.

How can companies promote this creation of knowledge?

Taking employees out of their comfort zone, helping them try new approaches and paths, and being more attentive: it doesn’t come down to learning about a new topic, but instead asking how, why, what else, what happens if… Vivid and collaborative learning. By connecting with others in real time, learning becomes a challenging and adaptive experience.

How to help collaborators in this process?

● Promote curiosity, imagination, creativity, empathy and courage.

● Support them in adopting new behaviors and taking risks.

● Promote a trial and error-based environment.

● Provide accurate information on challenges and enhance communication.

The most powerful motivation comes from within each individual. Nurturing that hidden passion on each employee turns out to be the best way to achieve long-term and sustainable organizational success. And along that path, it is important to understand that the permanent value of learning is as important as efficiency and productivity.