How to integrate learning and development into company culture

In today’s competitive market, it’s essential for companies to invest in the right learning and development strategies to ensure employees have the skills they need to stay ahead of the curve. However, if L&D efforts are not integrated into a company’s culture, they can quickly become stagnant and ineffective.

Below, we’ve outlined 10 strategies organizations can use to integrate learning and development into their company’s culture. By leveraging these strategies, L&D professionals can create an engaged and productive workforce driven by a collective mindset of continuous learning.

If you want ideas for how to apply these strategies in your company, make sure to listen to our free podcast by Josh Bersin on How to Revive Your Organization’s Learning Culture.

Make learning a strategic priority

To create a culture of learning and development, it’s important to make learning a priority at all levels of the organization. This may involve allocating budget and resources to learning and development initiatives and making sure that learning opportunities are integrated into the daily workflows of employees.

Create an environment that encourages learning

To successfully integrate learning and development into a company’s culture it’s also important to create an environment that encourages and facilitates learning. Studies have shown that employees who feel supported by their managers and colleagues are more likely to engage in training and development activities.

Companies should ensure that employees have easy access to learning opportunities, they should let employees take ownership of their own learning and development and encourage them to spend time during work hours learning and developing new skills.

Foster a growth mindset

A growth mindset is a way of thinking that encourages people to embrace challenges and see them as opportunities for learning and growth. Help your employees to develop a growth mindset by promoting company values of curiosity, experimentation, and resilience.

Leverage experiential learning

Experiential learning is a powerful tool for integrating learning and development into a company’s culture. This type of learning allows employees to gain hands-on experience and develop a deeper understanding of the skills they need to succeed.

One of the best ways to leverage experiential learning is to create short-term projects and assignments that require employees to apply what they have learned. By providing employees with the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice, they will be more likely to retain information and use it effectively in their day-to-day work.

Leverage learning technology

Technology is an invaluable tool for integrating learning and development into a company’s culture. By leveraging technology, L&D professionals can create more engaging and accessible learning experiences for their employees.

For example, companies can leverage virtual reality (VR) technology to provide immersive learning experiences. Studies have shown that VR can help employees gain a better understanding of challenging topics and develop skills more quickly. Additionally, companies can use cloud-based learning management systems (LMSs) to deliver training materials and monitor employee progress.

Make learning social

Learning through interaction with others is a powerful way to facilitate knowledge-sharing and collaboration within an organization. Encourage employees to share their knowledge and experiences with one another and consider implementing social learning platforms or other collaborative learning tools.

Recognize and reward learning

Providing incentives for employees to engage in training and development activities can be a great way to encourage learning. Companies can offer a variety of incentives, such as gift cards, extra vacation days, or even promotions.

Additionally, companies should recognize employee achievement and success. Acknowledging employees for their progress can help create a sense of pride and accomplishment, which can lead to increased learning engagement and motivation.

Embrace change

To integrate learning and development into the company’s culture, companies should embrace change and continuous improvement. Companies should be open to new ideas and approaches and be willing to experiment with different strategies and tactics. Furthermore, employees should be encouraged to strive for continuous improvement and development.

Leverage data and analytics

By leveraging data and analytics, companies can identify areas where improvement is needed and develop targeted plans to address these issues. Data and analytics can help companies measure the effectiveness of their learning and development programs and track how engaged employees are in learning. Data can also be used to optimize learning content, so it matches the development needs of employees.

Make learning engaging

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, companies should strive to make learning engaging for their employees. Companies should be willing to invest in new technologies and tools, such as audio learning, virtual classrooms, and gamification, that offer a more engaging learning experience for employees.

Integrating learning and development into a company’s culture is important for creating a more agile, engaged, and productive workforce. However, many companies struggle to manifest learning at a deep level.

Top 3 reasons why companies fail to embed learning into their organizational culture

Below are the three most common reasons that companies fail in their efforts to create a culture of organizational learning. For more insight, check out our free eBook by Nick van Dam where he offers his advice for companies about how to create a company mindset of continuous learning.

Do not invest enough time or resources

The most common challenge companies face when trying to create a culture of learning is that they are unable to dedicate the time and resources it actually takes to provoke cultural change. According to a survey by the American Society for Training and Development, 46% of companies reported that they struggle to allocate sufficient budget and resources to learning and development. Embedding learning into the company’s culture requires flagging it as a strategic priority with top-level buy-in.

Not enough focus on engaging employees

At the same time, a company can invest millions in a learning and development infrastructure, but unless it engages employees in learning it is worthless. According to a survey by LinkedIn Learning, only 27% of employees feel that their company’s training programs are effective. This low level of engagement can be due to a variety of factors, including a lack of relevance or perceived value of the training, lack of simplicity or usability of the learning solutions offered, lack of access to learning content, lack of time available to employees to dedicate to learning, and a lack of support or encouragement from management.

It’s difficult to measure

The difficulty of measuring the business impact of learning and development initiatives is another challenge that causes many companies to prematurely abort their efforts to develop an organizational learning culture. According to a survey by the Association for Talent Development, only 33% of companies feel that they are effectively measuring the return on investment of their learning and development programs. This makes it difficult for companies to demonstrate the value of learning to senior leadership and secure sufficient funding over time.

Creating a company culture where employees are actively engaged in continuous learning and development is a time consuming and complex endeavor. However, the potential payoff is enormous. According to a study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity, companies with a strong learning culture are 21% more profitable than those without. Furthermore, a survey by Deloitte found that companies with a culture of continuous learning have a median total shareholder return that is nearly twice as high as that of companies without. Finally, the Association for Talent Development found that companies with a strong learning culture are more agile and innovative, with 69% of respondents stating that their organization’s learning initiatives have resulted in increased innovation.