In the quest, for growth a staggering 80% of employees are motivated by their desire to improve their job performance aiming to complete tasks efficiently and effectively. This inner drive stems from their aspiration to excel in the workplace. Unfortunately available data suggests that learning and development departments often struggle to understand how they can foster and strengthen this motivation among employees. Surprisingly one out of every five learning and organisational departments actively seeks to comprehend how their co-workers currently acquire the skills and knowledge for their roles.

Furthermore only one in five departments actively involve employees in designing the learning experiences and approaches. A concerning statistic reveals that one in three organisations invests resources to ensure access for employees to the knowledge they need. The crux of the matter lies in ensuring that resources are not accessible but also clearly indicated, readily available from remote locations, like ones home aligning seamlessly with the overarching goal of working more efficiently.

Interestingly what often emerges is that providing learning opportunities alone can motivate employees to overcome any obstacles they encounter. To enhance this process organisations should strive to minimise friction and barriers as possible.
A crucial question arises; How well does the learning and development department understand the knowledge and skills that employees consider vital, for enhancing job performance as compared to the organisations perspective on the matter? The initial step in any learning initiative should involve gaining an understanding of the learners themselves their motivations and their preferred learning styles. This understanding serves as the foundation upon which effective learning interventions are built.

Of dictating how employees should learn, human resources and learning and development units should focus on enabling them to find the ways and places to learn. By making learning easily accessible and aligning it with existing processes, practices, systems and structures within an organisation it becomes possible to tap into employees innate desire for self directed learning.

Creating a work environment not leads to personal fulfillment but also enhances productivity. Organisations that prioritise trust, freedom and allowing employees to use their strengths tend to excel. Engagement differs from happiness or fulfillment; it can flourish in settings. A content workplace empowers frontline employees to make decisions based on shared values, than constantly seeking managerial approval.

When fostering a culture of trust and freedom within your team it is essential that everyone is well informed about adhering to requirements.
Learning science has shown that achieving optimal learning requires some effort. However, much effort can discourage people from embracing learning especially if its optional. Therefore unless its organisations should use the principles, tools and resources to make the implementation of new skills and knowledge easier.

For individuals who’re eager to learn and organisations that want to support them it is crucial to have alignment, between managers and employees. Our data highlights the significance of having organisational support in order to enhance self directed learning.

When it comes to learning something for ones role, collaboration and individual commitment play a part. People learn how to collaborate in order to accomplish their tasks with assistance from their managers, mentors, coaches and internal networks. Balancing all these factors is the key to training.

Moreover individuals respond positively when they are asked about their needs for on the job support and how they can access support. Organisations that prioritise providing clarity on expectations and communicate the availability of learning resources tend to create a sense of value and belonging among employees. This leads to creating loyalty, within the organisation.