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When We Say Learning We Mean Business

October 19, 2010 | by Diane Copeland

What if your organization was:

– 34% more likely to get to market before your competition?
– 46% more likely to be a strong innovator in your markets?
– 33% more likely to report higher customer satisfaction than other organizations?

These business outcomes are, of course, what any organization would want. And new research shows that organizations with “high-impact learning cultures” have these outcomes. The 2010 study by Bersin & Associates, a learning and development research and consulting company, was presented by Josh Bersin at the September 2010 meeting of the ASTD-TCC (American Society for Training and Development – Twin Cities Chapter). Study results found a direct positive correlation between the learning culture of an organization and its business outcomes.

So what is a “high-impact learning culture”? Bersin & Associates looked at more than 120 strategies and behaviors in 426 companies, and found a set of 40 high-impact practices that make up this culture. The top five practices – the ones with highest impact – are:

#1 Leaders are open to hearing the truth, including bad news.`
#2 Asking questions is encouraged of employees at all levels of the organization.
#3 Decision-making processes are clearly defined throughout the company.
#4 Employees are frequently given tasks or projects beyond their current knowledge or skill level in order to stretch them developmentally.
#5 Employees have influence over which job tasks are assigned to them.

These practices are surprising for a number of reasons:

• Most of these practices relate to operational practices and policies outside the traditional domain of HR and learning departments.
• Leaders play a critical role in influencing learning culture.
• Employee empowerment is key to a “high-impact learning culture.”

So responding to learning needs with training programs is destined to fall short without these cultural practices in place. But more important, organizations that effectively develop and maintain practices that create a “high-impact learning culture” have a greater ability to improve their business outcomes.

And that’s when learning really means business.