The notion of culture is always an interesting one. How can we actively improve our culture in a positive way, whilst respecting everyone’s current priorities and challenges?
We work with numerous organisations daily to improve their learning culture. The enormity of this task isn’t lost on us – we grasp it wholeheartedly. Our mission? We are here to give you the tools and expert guidance to make meaningful and measurable changes to your learning culture!
Introducing the ‘learn-influencer’
Ever heard of the term “learn-influencer”? This might sound gimmicky and silly to some but there’s a lot of credibility in focusing on individual advocates and ambassadors within your business. Why? Because they can drive learning initiatives and ensure that learning takes centre stage in the minds of your employees.
Influencers aren’t just for TikTok – within your organisation, there are internal influencers who have the potential to skyrocket your learning culture, making sure that Learning and Development (L&D) occupies a prime spot on everyone’s priority list.
Think of brand ambassadors across social media – they help potential customers see the positive impact of a brand and they create that ‘that could be me’ hype. Internal influencers can help employees visualise the positive impact of engaging with learning resources. They cultivate an atmosphere of “I could benefit like that too” excitement.
People are influenced by individuals rather than big brand voices. In this context, your L&D management represents the “big brand,” while the influencers symbolise influential and reputable individuals within your organisation.
Just think about the rise of review culture in consumerism. When you purchase a product or service you read the individual reviews with a critical eye rather than the hyped-up blurb on the brand’s website. We listen to individuals and real people!
The Problem: “A lot of our audience see elearning as a chore, but we know it can be a tool for change and some people love it, if only we could amplify that view…”
The Solution: “Find out who your learning advocates are and amplify their experience and success – peer-to-peer recommendations and trust are important to building a culture of learning”
Why might this work?
People listen to individuals
At work, we often receive a lot of information and pressure from Management with a vast amount of internal communications and many different shared views from stakeholders. But, you know what? Sometimes, the conversations we have with our coworkers at the same level as us or those in similar teams are the ones that feel most relatable and interesting.
People want to be led by example
When introducing new concepts and new learning experiences to a workforce, it can often feel quite abstract or quite vague for many employees. By using learn-influencers that have been through these learning experiences and learning programmes and getting them to embrace the power of storytelling (with a focus on real examples), then you can create a more compelling argument to entice new learners. People need ‘evidence’ and storytelling to feel convinced and ‘part of something’.
People love a community culture
While the notion of “community” might sound big and ambitious, it’s actually a really good mentality to embrace. By identifying relevant and credible learn-influencers, you’ll be able to leverage their power to spread awareness across your organisation (community) about learning programmes, processes and technology. Or any new information that you think needs to be known!
By mixing up your communication journey and ‘narrator’ (i.e. not all info comes from Management) people remain curious and engaged, they are kept guessing and they don’t always know what to expect. You can also use your learn-influencers to illicit valuable feedback and really start to improve the culture of learning in your organisation.
So, how can you make this happen in reality?
It’s all about empowering, encouraging and energising your individual learners. Here are our top tips for recruiting the best learn-influencers:
- Look at your LMS/LXP data to see who regularly participates. Are there any clear leaders that could become your potential influencers?
- Are there individuals that are actively sharing content or actively encouraging others to learn? These are your people!
- Can you ask team members to nominate possible learn-influencers to lead the way? This could empower the right individuals at any level and boost their morale, motivation and performance.
- Go one step further and create a learning community, celebrate and highlight individual successes and contributions. Make learning a credible and exciting part of your organisation.
Let’s discuss how you could recruit learn-influencers! We’re excited by the potential here and we’d love to share ideas and chat about how this concept might help you. Get in touch with our friendly team today to discuss.