Features

Published November 2008

A Culture of Learning: Turning Values Into Actions

Marsha Ershaghi

Creating a culture of learning begins with emphasizing the value of workforce development. Sustaining it entails collaboration among learners, as well as alignment of programs to key organizational goals.

Learning cultures thrive in organizations that consistently reinforce the value of learning. These organizations encourage information-seekers, facilitate educational experiences and consistently demonstrate a commitment to learning by defining the culture in actions, not words.

Learning is not a one-time event. Effective and meaningful corporate cultures understand learning is an essential part of the fabric of the company, woven into all roles, functions, divisions and regions of the organization. Placing value on learning and creating an open environment creates an enduring organization and provides the ultimate source of sustainability.

Too often, education on corporate values and principles is addressed in silos. Corporate attitudes and behaviors are heavily influenced by an organization’s culture, and the culture is shaped by the organization mission, core values and traditions. In a healthy learning culture, education is visible in all aspects of the business — so learning penetrates the entire organization to foster a culture of interactivity and engagement. In the case of a company’s ethics and compliance education, a company’s values come to life in actions that provide competitive advantage to the organization.

This holistic approach to learning — including the company’s values, ethical decision making and business risks — is necessary in creating a learning culture. Yet, too often, education is applied to meet compliance standards or the minimums of the law and not necessarily designed to foster a values-based culture.

Evolving Into a Values-Based Learning Culture
Global businesses are faced with a number of new and more complex challenges than ever before regarding how people connect, collaborate and work cohesively and productively. Trend data from LRN’s “2008 Ethics and Compliance Risk Management Practices Report,” which surveyed more than 420 global companies, shows that one-quarter of organizations have a desire to engage employees in learning, but are challenged to put their corporate values and integrity into action.

When an organization seeks to transform its corporate culture through values-based learning, it is best to initiate the tone from the top and ask executives to define the overall culture to determine whether they consider it to be a learning culture. This assessment should touch a representative sample of organizational stakeholders, in addition to the leadership team — which may include customers, shareholders, suppliers, as well as employees.

Next, a thorough assessment of current programs assists in evaluating the attitudes and perceptions of the organization’s learning culture. This assessment should reach employees across roles, functions and geographies to gather a balanced perspective of their educational experiences. The results should be compared to highlight any key commonalities that are important to maintain. However, it also is important to identify any discrepancies in perceptions of the overall culture, as well as the educational programs, to create an action plan that moves the company toward a truly aligned learning culture.

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Executive Search

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