The accessibility of information throughout the digital age no longer demands the study and mastery of just one area of knowledge and skill for the rest of an individual’s career. Instead, it demands that individuals be multifaceted and agile in obtaining knowledge and skills, staying abreast of advancement and changes.
There is no doubt that individuals are required to embark on a lifelong learning journey — a journey that requires them to explore and expand their knowledge and skills, obtain understanding of various knowledge areas, and be resourceful and motivated to gain additional understanding of information.
An individual’s lifelong learning journey will include a combination of several learning pathways. For this article, a learning pathway is defined as a guide that outlines a series of learning experiences that fosters greater depth of understanding and proficiency of relevant and related topics, leading to career advancement, certification or degree. A learning pathway provides a guided framework to which individuals can identify and track their learning progress. It provides greater transparency for individuals to understand what is required of them to succeed in their roles and achieve growth. The transparency and flexibility of learning pathways can make it easier for individuals to make learning selections.
Companies, universities and professional organizations have a responsibility to support lifelong learning journeys. They are responsible for providing accessibility to content, introducing information and concepts, expanding on existing understanding, creating opportunities for application and proficiency, transforming knowledge to performance, building learning communities, focusing on networking, establishing and leveraging partnerships, propelling skills to expert levels, aligning learning experiences to global expectations, and preparing individuals for ongoing opportunities. It is their responsibility to guide and equip their employees, students or organization members with transferable knowledge and skills for the future.
At present, corporations, universities and professional organizations all provide formal and informal learning opportunities on various topics and offer multiple learning experiences. Professional organizations and universities offer open resources and paid learning experiences, with many leading to certifications and degree programs. These organizations provide learners with a learning pathway that outlines the learning needed to reach success. Companies, on the other hand, offer unpaid learning opportunities to learners with some benefits for paid learning. However, unlike universities and professional associations, some companies do not provide learning pathways for their employees. Employees at those organizations often complete single training events needed for things like compliance, learning new software or equipment for a new or updated process, or even professional development in their role.
Companies have the responsibility to go beyond the “one and done” trainings being delivered today. They are responsible for building a culture that leverages learning to support the development of their employees. The capabilities and skills of the workforce are critical to the performance and digital transformation of the company. A 2018 Forbes article highlighted the correlation between employee development and company retention, and shared that employee development is an expected part of the employment process. Therefore, it is beneficial for companies to guide the development of their workforce toward growth, not only to meet the company’s goals but to meet individual employees’ goals as well. This means that companies must know the expected knowledge and performance for each position and have relevant learning opportunities mapped to those positions. It also means that companies must understand the individual goals and career aspirations of their employees to better align learning opportunities.
Although this work is no easy task, it must be done to ensure that job descriptions, job expectations, talent acquisition, job performance and learning opportunities are mapped accurately and aligned for success. This work allows for companies to meet employees where they are in their professional journey at the company and offer relevant knowledge and skills to support performance and foster advancement. LinkedIn’s 2021 Workplace Learning Report found 76 percent of Generation Z learners believe that learning is key to their career success. In addition to conducting the proper mapping exercises, companies must ensure accessibility to content, ongoing opportunities for learning, relevant communities for connection, ongoing engagement, appropriate workplace support and proper procedures for internal talent consideration.
Individuals are not expected to know everything, so whether it’s a company, university or organization, individuals must be given the opportunity to acquire knowledge on any topic that is necessary and relevant to their success. When given the tools, environment and learning pathway guidance, individuals can make intentional learning decisions to support their career goals.
