How a Commitment to Lifelong Learning Impacts Performance

If you log onto Facebook around the country in the coming days, you’ll see picture after picture of elementary to high school students heading off for their first day of school. It’s a fun and exciting time as they prepare to embrace another year of growth and learning ahead. But as a business professional, why aren’t we encouraging ourselves and our employees to do the same? Especially since creating a culture of lifelong learning can have a measurable impact on employee retention and business growth.

Here’s why businesses today need a renewed focus on lifelong learning programs:

Lifelong Learning Benefits for Business

The business world we know is constantly changing and evolving to meet the needs of today’s consumers. So, for a company that wants to thrive and grow, it must constantly find new ways to adapt to the changing landscape.

“The day you stop learning is the day you stop living. We should all pick up new skills, ideas, viewpoints, and ways of working every day.” – Richard Branson

Basically, if your company isn’t learning, growing, and applying new methods, it will likely fall into a place of status quo. Leading companies who are making education a priority are becoming some of the most forward-thinking, with the best products and services to offer their customers. If you place a high value on lifelong learning at your organization, you showcase a commitment to new methods of solving business challenges and concerns.

Here are some of the additional benefits of ongoing learning programs when implemented in business:

• Encourages creativity and innovative thought processes
• Inspires new ideas for existing business problems
• Establishes a commitment to staying knowledgeable on industry trends
• Provides information to become a more valuable service provider
• Helps sustain business success in transitional environments

In fact, a study of Lifelong Education and Labor Market Needs revealed that employers now believe ongoing education processes are a critical component for success for today’s businesses. So much so that 70% of employers today believe their workforce needs continuous education in order to keep up with their current job demands. And beyond just keeping up, the education also provides tools for employee growth, helping to reduce other costs associated with outside hiring.

With today’s ever-changing business landscape, adding knowledge and growth tools helps establish a more flexible and adaptive culture. Your employees will gain new insight into how to respond to situations which will then create a more productive and proactive workforce.