Blog contributor: Mindy Ong, Deputy Director, Ministry of Social & Family Development, Singapore
Nonprofits are stretched at best of times, but never more so than today. Even before the pandemic, a 2018 LinkedIn Learning survey of over 4,000 professionals found that the number one challenge in talent development was finding time for learning. Learning can become the first thing to give, if we aren’t deliberate about making it happen. But given the time, manpower and budgetary constraints nonprofits face, how can we make it easier to learn at work?
Josh Bersin, an analyst in corporate talent, learning and HR technology, coined the term “learning in the flow of work” to describe how learning should fit around and align itself to working lives. Here are 5 tips (not exhaustive or mutually exclusive) to make learning a part of your organization’s “everyday”.
#1: Make it bite-sized
The appeal of bite-sized learning is clear for busy people who just can’t afford to carve out large chunks of time to sit down and attend a course. As an added benefit, research shows that training delivered in small packets improves focus and long-term retention over traditional longer forms of training. Attention spans are also getting shorter, what with social media and other distractions around us, and this is changing the way that people learn and what they expect from training.
Though having the necessary software can certainly be helpful to deliver bite-sized learning, nonprofits lacking such resources can still design their own bite-sized learning experiences for their staff. 10-minute slots, on a regular basis, may be all you need to play a video, invite someone to share an experience during lunch, or disseminate an article for reading. The key is to bear in mind that the learning objective should be focused, preferably on a single outcome.
#2: Make it social
Social learning is not a new concept. At its core, social learning is when people learn with and from others through imitation and collaboration. The well-known 70:20:10 model suggests that 20% of learning arises from person-to-person experiences and interactions. Social learning has been applied in schools and corporate environments, and we are now spoilt for choice with the proliferation of social learning tools and platforms available.
In addition to the commonly-cited benefits of better retention and increased engagement, social learning is well suited for our time. In our current high-stress environment where people are juggling work, home-based learning, social isolation and other issues, having peer support and affirmation can also be a huge comfort and motivation to carry on learning. The sense of accomplishment that comes with learning something new can also be a boost for mental health. Just be careful not to let social learning turn into a source of peer pressure.
#3: Facilitate informal learning
Informal knowledge sharing, also known as “watercooler learning”, is a process that arises from impromptu conversations and sharing of experiences at the "backstage" of the formal work space, in areas such as staff lounges or liminal areas such as corridors. In the healthcare sector, research has found that these conversations help colleagues come up with ideas to fix complex problems and deal with challenging cases.
Nonprofits can build an environment that supports informal learning, even if opportunities for interaction among staff are diminished by the pandemic. One important enabler is a less hierarchical, more horizontal culture, so that conversations and ideas are more likely to flow freely. For organizations working remotely, consider how you might create virtual "watercoolers" - such as scheduling coffee chats into the work day - to give opportunities for spontaneous conversation to happen.
#4: Integrate learning into core work
There are many benefits to integrating learning into job tasks. Absorption of knowledge is better. Hands-on practice and real-life situations help staff apply learning points immediately. Feedback is immediate, and it's cost and time-effective.
If you're working in a hybrid environment, it's also useful to tie the learning into in-person experiences, such as client meetings, case worker discussions, or community outreach sessions. That way you maximise the value of the limited face-time available.
I also find that it's useful to be deliberate about who to select as the "trainer", and ensuring they benefit from this too. Whether it's a new supervisor, a long-time employee transitioning into a mentoring position, or someone fairly new who can benefit from some "revision", having on-the-job learning as part of your culture gives others an opportunity to teach and to learn through that experience.
#5: Make it relevant
If you've ever sat through a course thinking "why am I listening to this?", you're not alone. With the limited time and resources organizations have for training, don’t waste employees’ time or let them feel that they’re wasting their time. There are 3 aspects to watch out for: content, flow and timeliness.
Content is key: it needs to be up-to-date, and curated to the specific job scope of the individual rather than being overly generic. Personalized training plans which incorporate the learner's objectives are great if your organization has the resources to implement them. They can be most effective in developing senior executives and future leaders of the organization.
Flow is about how you structure and order your training. Focus on how the learner will typically use the content at work. What is the logical next step they will need to learn based on their job scope or the organization’s processes?
Timeliness means that the training will be most relevant to learners if they know that they will need to apply it very soon. So if you’re lucky enough to have the flexibility to, take a look at your key milestones (e.g. a fundraiser gala, filing of your 990 form) and consider what training can be delivered slightly before application at that milestone. Otherwise, be conscious about creating opportunities for learners to apply their newfound skills.
Complementary efforts needed
There are limitations to learning in the flow of work. It is less suited to major skills transformation efforts. Or it may feel scattered and diffused for some individuals. The tips above should be considered as part of a broader learning strategy for your organization, after assessing the learning needs now and for the future, and not as ends in themselves.
Prioritizing learning also shouldn’t have to mean burning the candle at both ends. Sometimes we need to have sufficient buffer space to be able to grow. In 2021, the cognitive burden, or bandwidth tax, has become increasingly weighty for the average person even in many developed societies. As organization leaders, we can challenge ourselves to cut out that one thing which is not a must-do, to create bandwidth for our staff so that they have the space to breathe, to develop, and to serve others better in the longer run.
Need some inspiration to take back to your non-profit team? Collect tips and tricks, and starters for meaningful watercooler conversations about fundraising and workplace wellness after you attend Greater Summit 2021: Sustaining Transformation.
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