Most of the studies have demonstrated that a learning environment can positively affect any organization in different ways. There will be higher retention, satisfaction and even employee engagement will improve. The business process become streamlined and efficient, thus leads to higher ROI and success for long run. Organizations with e-learning cultures often experience higher financial returns and it helps them to achieve desired outcomes. So, encouraging and creating e-learning cultures within the organization can be supportive and it brings positive impact within the organization.
The concept of building e-learning culture within organization is not new indeed. Most of the organizations have realized the benefits of e-learning cultures and hence they are looking forward to develop a learning environment within the organization where the employees can work harder, to gain more knowledge, become better and stay competitive over time. Here are few tips on how to build a culture of e-learning within the organization.
The culture of e-learning should be started from the top
It is crucial to understand that the culture of e-learning should be the soul of the organization and it should comprise members of board, senior managers and founders. The robust and result-oriented e-learning cultures can only be developed if the initiative is taken from the senior levels, instead of middle levels, like HT Head and so on. According to medallionlearning.com, It has been found that the top-down approach is always effective in building cultures for e-learning. Moreover, the approach should efficiently create interest in learning and it should come packed, with essential tasks to all, be it top managers or the executives.
Time for Learning
For the employees in organization, work can be all consuming for some, especially given the set targets and their high expectations to achieve targets, productivity and huge workload. But the same often hinder the employees from honing their skills and knowledge. In other words, for an effective e-learning culture at the workplace, the employees need some space in order to ‘learn’. Organizations and the senior level executives must work on how to manage time for the employees to learn. It is the responsibility of the top level management and the manager, to assign tasks, create learning targets while ensuring that their team has the time, to learn.
Fear Factor
Since the organizations take up the responsibilities of e-learning initiatives, it is also equally necessary for the employees to share the responsibility with the organization. There will always be some reluctant learners who sometime lag despite the evident advantages of e-learning. So, it is the responsibility of the managers who work closely with them to change their attitude and encourage them to maintain good learning habits. Organizations must set certain penalties for the employees who will not complete certain learning targets.
Pressure for Education
Students are more likely to study in social environment. So, it is very essential for corporate e-learning cultures to offer the same opportunity to the employees to learn with their peers. There are some learners who always appreciate and value the passion of their peer learners and hence they make an additional effort so as to achieve the same respect from their peers. Moreover, the management of the organization must focus on placing some effective strategies that can create peer pressure on all the employees who often lag behind in keeping themselves knowledgeable and competitive. The most effective medium on create pressure is by rewarding the employees who exhibit greater degree of skill and knowledge and frankly, top the scale.
A sound and solid e-learning culture within the organization demonstrates how modern and advance the organization is, in terms of learning as it is the part of modern day work culture. Remember, the e-learning culture is not all about a single standalone program which employees need to undertake on yearly basis. Instead, it should be a learning program that comprises a wide spectrum of sustained processes, courses and system that motivate the employees to learn new skills, things, become innovative and asses problems, solve it, etc. So, building cultures of e-learning within the organization has several benefits for long run and it is the organization that stands to benefit, in the end.