Wendy Tan
Author, Keynote Speaker & Managing Partner of Flame Centre | Human Skills Institute
Great question!
Imagine if we can recruit agile learners who take ownership of their learning, learn fast and effectively, and pick up cross-disciplinary skills easily, what happens? The competitive advantage to your team and organization gains will be enormous.
An organization or even a nation is as competitive as the collective skills it has!
The most important workplace learning predictor to gaining skills is having a learning-rich job that challenges you, puts you out of your comfort zone, and compels you to learn to be successful.
I was initially surprised, I had thought the manager would play a key role, and was disappointed it didn’t feature more strongly. Then it made sense. If you don't have a job with variety, or a job that compels you to learn new skills or get out of your comfort zone, then having a great manager, coach, or organization could still mean you’re cruising along.
So a learning-rich job is a primary factor. This has implications for how we foster learning in organizations. Before sending people for training, teaching managers to coach, or building team effectiveness, ask your people,
“Does your job give you variety and challenge to learn?”
“What would more variety and challenge look like?”
“What are you afraid to try?”
“What is your weakness?”
“What is something new that you want to learn to be successful?”
Then set them up with more challenges - a new project, research work, teach someone something, or expand the role. Google “future of (your field of work)”, e.g., future of HR, future of software development etc. Find out about the future roles in your field and pick a relevant and interesting project.
A learning-rich opportunity does not need to be from the workplace, it may also be a voluntary activity, a competition, a hackathon, activities in an association, or a learning community. The key is getting out of one's comfort zone.
With a learning-rich playground, a manager supports learning by asking reflective questions, giving feedback, or connecting learning to strategic objectives. A learning team enriches learning by sharing resources or giving and receiving feedback proactively. Finally, an organization can support cross-learning, avail time and resources for learning, or empower employees to direct their learning.
Of course, not everyone wants variety and challenges. One of my colleagues is perfectly happy doing the same tasks repeatedly, because it gives him a sense of predictability and control. But we would not be helping this person grow. In today’s world, if we are not learning, we will be regressing!
Wendy Tan takes a holistic approach in helping teams and organizations understand the practical ways of building a conducive environment to encourage continuous learning. Wendy’s work is particularly important and relevant in the current climate with a heightened level of uncertainties. Wendy has an energetic speaking style and she offers practical advice that provide the audience with useful takeaways.
Vivien Li, Director, Human Resources I Global Equality & Inclusion, Quest Software
