Why Continuous Learning Is Important: Skills Development for Work
Written by: Phillip Carmichael
Table of Contents
In today’s rapidly evolving world, organizations need a plan to keep up with the pace of technological and societal change, while also ensuring their workers have access to the support and resources needed to maintain and acquire new skills for the future. With an increasingly remote and hybrid workforce, these challenges may seem overwhelmingly complicated at first glance. However, there exists an efficient and effective solution to this seemingly complex problem: eLearning training videos for continuous learning.
Continuous Learning and Development: What Employees Want
Employees today want to learn and develop their skills, with many proactively seeking out opportunities for learning and development. According to the 2021 American Upskilling Study from Gallup, 57% of U.S. workers want to update their skills, and 48% would consider switching jobs to do it. In addition, 71% of workers say job training and development increase their job satisfaction and that 61% say upskilling opportunities are an important reason to stay at their job.
A 2022 study also found that 76% of employees are more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training, and 32% believe training should be both more social and updated more frequently. A structured and comprehensive learning and development program for employee training, upskilling, and reskilling can help organizations tremendously in attracting, engaging, and retaining talent.
Millennial and Gen Z workers find these opportunities for learning and development especially valuable. Deloitte’s 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that what keeps these younger workers more likely to stay with an employer are opportunities provided for personal and professional growth, with 29% of respondents from each generation citing learning and development opportunities as the top reason why they chose to work for their current organization.
What Is Continuous Learning, and Why Is It Important?
Continuous learning is the process of regularly gaining new skills or knowledge, whether it's through classes, seminars, reading articles or simple observation. Any method of learning, whether it is watching videos or earning a degree, can be considered part of continuous learning — as long as the person or people involved are doing so regularly.
The practice of continuous learning is essential for everyone, and you should find it even more important as an employer. When your staff is learning, they're becoming better employees and more prepared to handle anything the workplace throws at them.
The Skills Gap: Cause for Concern
In addition to employees themselves wanting learning and development opportunities for their own personal and professional growth, employers will also need to implement training to upskill and reskill employees as a result of current and anticipated skills gaps.
87% of companies know they have a skills gap or anticipate one within a few years. Additionally, a study of American workers found that 85% of respondents cited digital skills as either “extremely important” or “very important” for success in today’s workplace, yet three in four workers today don’t have the digital skills needed by organizations. On top of that, only 28% of businesses proactively provide training programs to address these skills gaps.
The World Economic Forum has stated that 40 percent of employees will need to be reskilled by 2025, and according to some estimates, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has “fast-forwarded digital adoption by five years.” Because of this, more than 58% of workforces state that their skill needs have changed since the beginning of the pandemic. Further data exemplifies why organizations will need to reskill and upskill their team members now in order to prepare for the future of work:
According to research and advisory firm Gartner, the number of skills required for a single job increases 10 percent annually.
A 2018 study by Dell Technologies predicted that 85 percent of jobs in 2030 don’t yet exist.
Training Videos for Continuous Learning Mindset
In order to both provide employees with the learning and development opportunities they want and also ensure they have the skills needed to succeed in their roles, organizations should consider utilizing eLearning training videos as part of a structured learning and development plan. Through the use of comprehensive, interactive, and expertly designed training videos, organizations can provide employees with a valuable, accessible, and thorough method of eLearning that can be accessed from anywhere, at any time. This approach is exceptionally valuable for businesses and organizations with geographically dispersed workforces and shows tremendous promise for those who want to strategically and effectively address the need for upskilling and reskilling, both now and into the future.
Training videos can focus on both hard and soft skills, providing employees with both the technical skills they need for their roles and the communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills that will lead to personal, professional, and organizational success. These eLearning training videos can be combined with tailored assessments to ensure workers are retaining necessary knowledge and allow companies to provide assistance and further instruction to workers as needed. This combination is part of the larger learning and development trends we’re seeing in the industry.
Why Continuous Learning Is Crucial for Career Growth
The importance of continuous learning is well documented. Offering your staff more opportunities for growth instills confidence in their job performance, and it can also contribute to personal development and increased satisfaction. By proceeding with learning opportunities in the workplace, you help your employees:
Stay up to date in the industry: As modern technologies go into hyperdrive, even the most stable industries are finding their processes growing and evolving. These changes can take time to adjust to, so the sooner your employees learn about them, the sooner they can start preparing to use them. Encouraging your staff to stay up to date in the industry can improve their workflow and help them anticipate any changes you may introduce with ease and excitement rather than suspicion and anxiety.
Continue refining skills: Your staff got their jobs based on the skills they already had, but without continuous learning, it's likely their skills will stagnate. A learning program can help them improve their mastery of subjects they're already familiar with and build new skills as well.
Network and collaborate on projects: An often unexpected side effect of continuous learning is the opportunities it opens up for communication. As people try to learn new skills, it's natural for them to want to discuss what they're learning with other people, especially those who already have learned or are learning the same things. This opens the door for them to connect with new people and collaborate on other projects that may require an expanded skill set.
Move past career plateaus: After some time in the same position, many employees go through something of a plateau, which may lead to feelings of burnout or other symptoms of mental unwellness. Learning new skills can open up new opportunities, both in your workplace and outside of it.
Feel more valued: On a more personal note, all of these benefits combined with the accomplishment of developing new skills give many people new confidence in themselves and their abilities. This may result in a happier, more productive employee who recognizes their value and the value of the work they do.
Custom Corporate Training Content
Furthermore, custom training video content can be created to cover an organization’s unique skills needs. Organizations can have personalized training videos developed and implemented to guarantee that employees are getting the exact information and training they need based on their specific jobs and day-to-day processes and procedures.