Continuous Learning Simplified – What, Why, & How?

Is there a way we can constantly get better at what we do or what we are passionate about? Yes, there is, and it’s referred to as continuous learning. Whether it’s a passion or a profession, there’s always room to learn something new. In that case, the best course of action is to make learning a primary part of your life.

Continuous learning can help you do that.

This is continuous learning simplified for you. We’ll get to know what it is, why it’s important, and how one can implement it.

What is Continuous Learning?

Continuous learning is simply constant learning.

Continuous learning is when learning becomes a primary aspect of your work and life. If you think about it, you’ll notice that’s how you learn something new each day. This happens both consciously and unconsciously.

Now, let’s dive deeper into the idea of continuous learning.

An Ongoing Structured Process

In the broad and professional context, continuous learning is an ongoing, structured process of upskilling or reskilling your employees.

This happens in a structured and dynamic manner, with several learning modes and training and development programs involved, usually using a digital learning platform like GroupApp. It’s an all-in-one learning community platform.

In this case, your workplace will provide a well-defined framework for continuous learning. It will help employees in career development as they adapt to the growing need for new skills in the organization and field.

A Lifelong Learning Process

In the individual-level context, it’s a lifelong process of learning new things and skills in a personal capacity and involves self-initiative. That happens anyway, both consciously and unconsciously. For example, you are passionate about something, such as music.

Now, you will be naturally compelled to learn about music. You can also find online courses or music coaches to gain expertise or skills in music.

4 Categories of Continuous Learning

Let’s break continuous learning down. How continuous learning happens can be divided into four categories.

• Formal Learning or Structured Learning
• Social Learning
• Self-directed Learning
• Hybrid Learning

Each category includes a way learners interact with continuous learning.

These categories help to facilitate learning in many ways depending on different learning styles, roles, and departments. Each offers different modes of learning. That way, it also takes multi-modal learning into consideration as well.

It’s highly recommended to consider all 4 categories to create a complete continuous learning experience. Creating the right mix of these 4 can result in an efficient continuous learning program.

Formal Learning/Structured Learning

This mode of learning is made up of pre-organized and well-structured learning initiatives. These initiatives have set goals and defined periods.

Here are some examples:

• Online Courses
• Training programs
• University Courses
• Workshops
• Certifications

Social Learning

Social learning is all about learning new skills after interacting with others. It can happen both formally and informally.

Some examples of social learning modes are:

• Online communities
• Group discussions
• Co-working and collaborative problem solving
• Group coaching
• On-job training
• Informal sessions

Self-Directed Learning

This mode focuses on self-paced learning, unlike formal learning. Learners can learn according to their schedules and needs.

Some examples are:

• Self-Paced Online Courses
• Podcasts and Educational Videos
• Experimentation
• Practice tests

Hybrid Learning

It’s also known as Blended learning. It includes both face-to-face online training and remote learning.

Why is Continuous Learning Important?

The world is moving pretty fast, and the digital landscape is constantly on the go with new advancements and updates. Every day, we are having research breakthroughs in all areas of human life and business. Pretty exciting, right?

Consider the massive AI buzz that has taken the world by storm, thanks to GPT-4. Now, how people and businesses can keep up with such advancements? Let’s not forget such advancements and inventions bring the need for advanced skills.

So, what’s the way out? It’s continuous learning!

Continuous learning enables us to keep up with the fast-moving world. It helps businesses to upskill or reskill employees accordingly and teach new skills too. Plus, it can make businesses more adaptive and innovative. After all, adaptation is vital for survival in the global marketplace.

Next, let’s round off the benefits of continuous learning.

Benefits of Continuous Learning

Continuous learning offers several benefits:

Helps to Adapt Efficiently

Adaptation is a quality that can take a business or person a long way. It helps to transition effortlessly during challenging times. If employees get the opportunity to learn new skills constantly, they will be better equipped to manage unexpected projects and new technologies. This leads to fewer roadblocks and more productivity. According to Deloitte’s 2021 Global Human Capital Trends Report, 72% of executives agree that employees’ ability to adapt and learn new skills is vital for navigating future disruptions.

Moreover, 54% of employees agree that ongoing training and learning new skills throughout their work life is essential as it helps them cope with changes in the workplace.

Helps in Professional Development

At an individual level, continuous learning helps one progress in one’s career. You can add new skills related to your area of expertise. That can keep you updated on advancements and new trends.

You can learn about new technologies and digital solutions related to your field. Learning continuously enables you to become an authority in your niche. That means better opportunities and earning potential.

Boosts Employee Retention

Employee retention has a direct impact on business success. That’s why it becomes important to implement strategies to retain talent. Continuous learning can help in this regard.

In fact, 70% of employees agree that job training and development opportunities at a company can influence their decision to stay. Plus, according to LinkedIn Learning, a whopping 94% of employees agreed to stay longer with a company that invested in training and development.

Not just that. Retention rates are 30-50% high for companies with a solid continuous learning culture.

That’s why it has become increasingly important for companies to offer continuous learning opportunities such as community-based learning, online courses, and group projects. This significantly helps in reducing employee turnover.

Helps to Attract Quality Talent

For any company or business, getting qualified and progressive talent is a challenge. Now, having a continuous learning environment can help overcome that challenge.

If a workplace offers a dynamic learning culture, it will attract talent that values growth and can play a good role in achieving the organization’s goals.

According to a study, 76% of employees agree that quality training and learning opportunities make a company or job offer more attractive.

That’s why the talent is looking for opportunities that can help them to keep up with the world.

Gives a Competitive Edge

The best way to gain a competitive edge is to constantly learn new skills and keep up with technological trends. This applies to both businesses and individuals.

Continuous learning can make employees more competent and help them stay on top of industry trends. This will ultimately enable your company to stay ahead in the game.

If your employees have relevant and new skills, they will also become more adaptable to market trends and advancements.

Boosts Productivity

Continuous learning is not just about learning new skills or technologies. In fact, it can be very dynamic and broad. It can also involve personal development.

Employees can learn new and better ways to do things. It can introduce them to innovative ways to approach projects from different perspectives for problem-solving.

Essentially, it can help them explore their untapped potential. In fact, 74% of employees feel they aren’t reaching their full potential due to the lack of training and learning opportunities at work.

Boosts Engagement

Healthy employee engagement is vital for job satisfaction and motivation. What’s a better way to engage employees than investing constantly in their development? That in turn can also help to reach business goals.

For that, having a continuous learning culture based on a community is a must-have. That can keep employees motivated and engaged.

According to the Udemy Workplace Boredom Study, 80% of employees agreed that learning new skills that keep them engaged in a healthy manner.

Plus, an analysis based on 3 million employee surveys found that development and training programs are the second most significant factor in determining engagement.

Improves Customer Experience

Customer experience is a pivotal factor when it comes to determining business success. When you have engaged, satisfied, and skilled employees, they will provide a better customer experience.

Such employees will become your biggest business advocates and have a customer-first approach.

How to Implement Continuous Learning?

Finally, let’s learn how we can implement continuous learning. Diving right in.

Assess where you Stand

First things first, you need to assess your current learning practices. You need to find out about every bit of learning that’s happening, be it formal or informal.

Talk to your Team

It’s very important to keep your team members in the loop. Tell them your plans for creating a continuous learning program. You can also discuss expectations, loopholes, and learning gaps.

Make sure you communicate the value of continuous learning and how it will benefit them. Encourage employees to share ideas and feedback.

Pick a Learning Platform

This is where it will all begin. That’s why it’s a crucial step. You’ll need to pick a learning platform. Now, you can’t just pick any learning platform out there. There are several options but not all of them are right for you.

Here are some qualities of the right learning platform.

• Provides all tools and features in one place
• Budget-friendly
• Comes with a Community Building Feature
• Offers a Mobile App
• Membership Feature
• Comes with an In-built Course Builder

Most importantly, the learning platform has to support all 4 categories of continuous learning that I explained above. But for that to happen to need a learning platform is community-focused.

Cutting to the chase, it is recommended to pick a learning community platform. It’s the perfect choice to support all four categories of continuous learning.

Take GroupApp for example. It’s an all-in-one learning community platform. It enables you to host your courses and community in one place.

The best thing: It supports all 4 categories of Continuous Learning

You will need an online community builder to support social learning. Plus, an in-built course builder by GroupApp will help you create online courses for both formal and self-paced learning.

There’s more. You can store learning resources in a Content Library. Moreover, your employees can manage to learn anytime, anywhere using the GroupApp mobile app.

Not to forget, it offers an in-built event feature. Sounds like a complete deal for continuous learning. Check out GroupApp now!

Create a Customized Learning Experience

Using the 4 categories discussed above, create a customized learning experience. Make sure it complements different learning styles and learning goals. Create a dynamic mix of different modes of learning.

For that, you need to consider the learning needs of your teams. Plus, how they can interact with each other. You can also gamify the learning experience with rewards to boost engagement and motivation.

Make sure to provide learning materials. You also need to set deadlines and schedules for continuous learning. Plus, you need to make sure all employees follow the schedule and deadlines.

All Set

That was Continuous Learning Simplified. Creating a continuous learning experience is simple. The hard part is to keep it going effectively. For that, you need consistency and a platform like GroupApp by your side.

GroupApp offers all tools and features that you need for continuous learning. Plus, you can automate the processes for effortless execution. With GroupApp by your side, continuous learning possibilities are endless.

Claim your free group account now!