Written by Dawn Johnson, Past-President
December 4th through the 8th is Employee Learning Week. Employee Learning Week is an annual celebration sponsored by the Association for Talent Development.
You might ask—why celebrate employee learning?
Employee Learning Week highlights the important role that learning plays in organizational success. Often we think that employee training and development comes in the form of a class. Others may believe that the full responsibility to train employees is the role of the “training department.” This belief couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes—it is true that an organization’s training department may be responsible for the most critical training or content that is needed by large numbers of employees (new employee orientation for example.) However, employee learning comes in many different forms and from a variety of sources. Corporate trainers, safety trainers, leaders, and even co-workers play a key role in the successful development of employees. Learning may take the form of a class—or it may simply be a co-worker sitting with a new peer and demonstrating a procedure.
Employee growth and development is also the responsibility of the individual employee. Employee Learning Week is a great time to inspire and encourage employees to continue to develop their own skills. We often forget that many employees work on professional development activities on their own time, but the organization benefits from the new knowledge and skills every day.
The Lake Superior Chapter of the Association for Talent Development would like to encourage you to take time this week to recognize the importance of employee learning.
Here are a few simple ideas:
- Send personal thank you notes to leaders and employees that take time to mentor others in your organization
- Promote opportunities for tuition reimbursement or other company sponsored learning programs
- Provide treats to your department to celebrate and highlight their commitment to their own learning
- Learn something new together during a staff meeting this week (work related or something just for fun!)
- Share our blog posts this week with others inside and outside of your organization
Have fun celebrating Employee Learning Week and join the Lake Superior Chapter in 2018 for more great opportunities to learn!