Leading organisations have made the shift from training to learning according to a four-year study from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The institute says that the change represents a progressive movement from the delivery of content to the development of learning capabilities. It argues that all employers will need to embrace the learning approach if they are to avoid facing skills shortages and compete successfully in the war for talent.
Martyn Sloman, CIPD learning, training and development adviser said: "Training is one method by which you can learn - characterised as an instructor-led, content-based intervention, leading to desired changes in behaviour. But learning places far more emphasis on the individual and is the process by which a person gains new skills and knowledge. It is a self-directed, work-based process, leading to increased adaptive capacity.”
He added that learning could only happen if individuals actually want to learn.
"Successful organisations are those that can persuade and encourage their people to learn to learn," Sloman said. "Combining business requirements with the learning strategy will ensure employees make use of their skills within the organisation and gain support from managers.”
"Employers must consider the organisational culture when managing learning to ensure line managers and those in the boardroom understand the business benefits of offering time and support to individual learning."
The CIPD said that organisations are now undertaking large-scale reorganisations at least once every three years with small changes occurring almost continually. In such a climate, it said that making sure a learning culture is in place that will build adaptive capacity and enable organisations to make change would be crucial.
The report, From Training to Learning, details 26 case studies which claim to demonstrate how ‘employers are supporting, accelerating and directing learning to deliver business benefits’. The full report is available from the CIPD website.
