With the world of business being rapidly reshaped by technological advancements, economic shifts and environmental concerns, the ability to adapt and learn is a key determinant of organisational success. Companies that foster a culture of continuous learning not only stay ahead of industry trends but also empower their teams to thrive in the face of change.
That’s why we interviewed Florence Bernet, an ESCP alumna (1999) who has extensive experience within the learning and development functions of multinational corporations including Credit Suisse and Cargill. She delves into the strategies and practices essential for creating a robust culture of learning within your company. From aligning learning initiatives with strategic goals to cultivating an environment that values curiosity and innovation, it can be a transformative force in unlocking the full potential of your workforce.
Define a learning culture
Kicking things off, Bernet — now at Engie University, the French utility company’s internal learning organisation where she heads up the leadership and management practice — offers a clear definition of a learning culture: “a common mindset of assessing yourself and your activity, capturing new insights and implementing new knowledge and behaviours to improve performance” in all domains and at all workforce levels.
“Whilst your company may have found its balance and stability through its profit formula and brand positioning, in a learning culture, your teams and individuals will periodically evaluate their effectiveness against their goals and standards,” she explains. “If there are gaps, then they will acquire new knowledge and practice through research, sharing with peers and experts, and experimenting with new ideas.”
Therefore, she says that a culture of learning is first and foremost a question of humility. “We acknowledge that there are things we don’t know, we take the time to learn and the risk to try new things — and to see failures as learning opportunities.” It’s also about emulation, she adds: “We support each other in reaching higher goals and standards. What makes a real difference is when this culture is shared at a collective level.”
Sustaining a learning culture in your organisation is simply a matter of success on the market. And with the rapid pace at which technologies are developing, it’s a matter of survival.
Link learning with organisational success
Furthermore, Bernet underlines the significance of creating a culture of learning within a company, linking it with employee engagement and overall organisational success: “Sustaining a learning culture in your organisation is simply a matter of success on the market. And with the rapid pace at which technologies are developing, it’s a matter of survival,” says Bernet.
But it’s not easy. There are some common challenges organisations face when trying to establish or enhance a culture of learning, which will need to be overcome before the benefits can be reaped. First and foremost, people usually base their legitimacy on their knowledge and expertise, discouraging them from acknowledging gaps in their skillsets or sharing their valuable knowledge with others. “If saying ‘I don’t know’ is damaging your reputation in your organisation, then this is a mindset and identity challenge that you need to address,” Bernet says.
Reinforcing that challenge is the fact that organisations and people have set ways of doing things, and to adapt, they have to rethink how effective those ways are. Sometimes, it’s hard to let go of old habits.
Structure training for a meaningful impact
Also, learning is not always a straightforward activity; it can be spread out over time, happen in various ways, and may not follow a formal educational structure. To make it more structured and meaningful, Bernet says it’s important to first understand and agree on the goal of learning — whether it’s about getting closer to customers, improving operations, or becoming an expert in a certain field. “Creating regular learning routines, like feedback sessions, lunch and learn sessions, or team blogs and podcasts, can help capture and share valuable insights,” she says.
This underlines the critical role that leadership and management play in promoting a culture of continuous learning. “You, as leaders and managers, are the stewards of the collective culture of your teams, and you are role models,” Bernet explains. “If you are not a learner yourself, you should at least promote curiosity and ensure learning is seen as valuable, and provide psychological safety.”
You, as leaders and managers, are the stewards of the collective culture of your teams, and you are role models.
Empower employees with self-directed learning
However, it’s also true that continuous learning often involves self-directed learning. So it’s vital to empower employees to take ownership of their own learning journeys. On the HR side, Bernet says it is key to ensure that development objectives are included in the yearly performance review. “I also like to keep close to the news of the organisation and provide learning offers at the point of need. For example, when yearly results are communicated, push a learning course on reading financial statements,” she suggests.
Beyond that, it’s vital to build and maintain a digital learning platform, well stocked with relevant content. “With the internet, podcasts and videos, e-learning is available within a few clicks. The learning offer has grown so much that it is a real challenge to identify and select the right content,” says Bernet, stressing careful curation.
Indeed, it’s ultimately going to be important to ensure that learning initiatives are aligned with the organisation’s strategic goals and priorities. “The key to effective learning and development is to be able to translate strategic goals into tasks and outcomes that teams and individuals are responsible for achieving,” she concludes.
License and Republishing
The Choice - Republishing rules
We publish under a Creative Commons license with the following characteristics Attribution/Sharealike.
- You may not make any changes to the articles published on our site, except for dates, locations (according to the news, if necessary), and your editorial policy. The content must be reproduced and represented by the licensee as published by The Choice, without any cuts, additions, insertions, reductions, alterations or any other modifications.If changes are planned in the text, they must be made in agreement with the author before publication.
- Please make sure to cite the authors of the articles, ideally at the beginning of your republication.
- It is mandatory to cite The Choice and include a link to its homepage or the URL of thearticle. Insertion of The Choice’s logo is highly recommended.
- The sale of our articles in a separate way, in their entirety or in extracts, is not allowed , but you can publish them on pages including advertisements.
- Please request permission before republishing any of the images or pictures contained in our articles. Some of them are not available for republishing without authorization and payment. Please check the terms available in the image caption. However, it is possible to remove images or pictures used by The Choice or replace them with your own.
- Systematic and/or complete republication of the articles and content available on The Choice is prohibited.
- Republishing The Choice articles on a site whose access is entirely available by payment or by subscription is prohibited.
- For websites where access to digital content is restricted by a paywall, republication of The Choice articles, in their entirety, must be on the open access portion of those sites.
- The Choice reserves the right to enter into separate written agreements for the republication of its articles, under the non-exclusive Creative Commons licenses and with the permission of the authors. Please contact The Choice if you are interested at contact@the-choice.org.
Individual cases
Extracts: It is recommended that after republishing the first few lines or a paragraph of an article, you indicate "The entire article is available on ESCP’s media, The Choice" with a link to the article.
Citations: Citations of articles written by authors from The Choice should include a link to the URL of the authors’ article.
Translations: Translations may be considered modifications under The Choice's Creative Commons license, therefore these are not permitted without the approval of the article's author.
Modifications: Modifications are not permitted under the Creative Commons license of The Choice. However, authors may be contacted for authorization, prior to any publication, where a modification is planned. Without express consent, The Choice is not bound by any changes made to its content when republished.
Authorized connections / copyright assignment forms: Their use is not necessary as long as the republishing rules of this article are respected.
Print: The Choice articles can be republished according to the rules mentioned above, without the need to include the view counter and links in a printed version.
If you choose this option, please send an image of the republished article to The Choice team so that the author can review it.
Podcasts and videos: Videos and podcasts whose copyrights belong to The Choice are also under a Creative Commons license. Therefore, the same republishing rules apply to them.
