The Tribune

Learning is a life-long journey that requires persons to remain engaged. Employers are finding many ways to ensure employees acquire the skills needed to efficiently complete all the tasks and assignments entrusted to them.

Mentorship programmes, book clubs, lunch and learns, cross-training, immersion training, formal and informal training programmes, workshops and seminars, webinars, college tuition reimbursement programmes and many more allow employees to equip themselves while still gainfully employed.

The formula is simple. The more your employees know, the more they share and the more proficient they are in performing the tasks and assignments within their purview.

Critical to employee learning is worker attitudes.

The individual must see the need, and value, of pursuing growth and development through learning opportunities.

For most adults this process begins with determining how best we learn. Educational research has long taught us that we all have different means of processing information.

Visual, tactile, kinesthetic and auditory learners all converge in the workplace and are expected to produce.

They sit in the same boardroom, the same training room, the same line-up or staff meeting, and process the same information differently.

How, then, do employers encourage team members to stay mentally and intellectually alert, and not slip into the mundane cycle of performing ritualistic work tasks.

Here are just a few suggestions that might help your company.

1. Use various forms of communication for those employees who process information differently. Video demonstrations, pictures, models in the staff lobby, and print material allow you to reach more the wider employee population more efficiently. This increases the probability of retention.

2. Put your money where your mouth is and invest in talent development. Enough talk about the value of developing team members; create more action with funding dollars. Training and staff development should be enshrined in policy and budget of your company. It sends a clear message that you are concerned about employee advancement and development as professionals.

3. Allow employees to put to good use the skills they acquire in training and other learning environments. Too often we allow the talents of team members to be wasted or underused. Get some returns on your investment. Hold employees accountable for using and sharing what they have learnt, but never deny employees opportunities to grow and increase their knowledge.

When you create an environment where employees learn, and are allowed to think critically, it opens the doors for benefits such as problem solving, enhanced service delivery and sound judgment in decision making.

Renew your commitment today and invest in the development of your team members.

• NB: Ian R. Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.