Continuous Learning: Your 5 Top Questions Answered

[Evelyn_Ha]

Find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about continuous learning—a powerful force for growth in organizations and individuals.

Continuous learning is lifelong or constant learning—an ongoing effort to grow one’s skills, knowledge, and expertise. Taking pre-employment training (only) or an occasional class (only) is not continuous learning: continuous learning is an ongoing process.

1. Why is continuous learning important for my organization?

There are three main reasons. First, it helps firms remain competitive. In the ever-evolving world, continuous learning ensures that employees have the most up-to-date information and training about new topics and technologies. Continuous learning also provides employees with different perspectives on hot topics or industry-wide challenges, equipping them with new ideas that help improve business results, create new products and services, improve customer satisfaction, and thrive competitively. Organizations that prioritize a commitment to ongoing learning have a market and competitive advantage by attracting, retaining and developing the careers of employees who are highly skilled and equipped with knowledge to tackle emerging difficulties with innovative solutions.

Second, it makes employees happy. Providing your employees with opportunities for continuous learning shows that your organization cares about them, finds them valuable enough to invest in them, and wants them around for the long-term. This leads employees to have greater job satisfaction and mitigates feelings of boredom or stagnation in their roles.

Third, it helps retain talent and leads to cost savings. Vantage Circle reports in a recent blog that many employees leave companies because they are not satisfied with their career growth, and as many as 74% of employees feel they do not have the development opportunities to reach their full potential. Continuous learning is a potential remedy to this problem that would help retain employees, and—from a financial standpoint—save organizations the cost of scouting, hiring, and training new talent.

2. Why is continuous learning important for individuals?

Continuous learning helps individuals find their passions and career paths, as it exposes them to many different skills and areas of expertise. Additionally, it makes them more valuable to the organization (and the workforce in general), as they accumulate knowledge and skills that can be applied to their work. Finally, training is interesting, engaging, and fun—providing a break from monotonous, day-to-day tasks.

3. How do you make continuous learning and development a habit?

As an individual: block out time in your calendar to complete training courses and take advantage of any workshops offered by your company. It’s easy to forget to do this or move it lower and lower on your list of priorities (resulting in it never getting done), but continuous learning and development is vital to career growth at any stage in your journey. Invest in yourself!

As an organization: don’t underestimate the benefits of continuous learning and employee development. Not only does it have direct benefits on the skill level and expertise of your workforce, it also has indirect benefits in the form of greater employee commitment, satisfaction, and motivation. Show your employees that you care by seeking out high quality learning opportunities and investing in a robust staff development program!

4. What is a continuous learning culture? Why is it beneficial?

A continuous learning culture is one where growth and self-improvement are at the heart of the organization. It encourages employees to pursue training that broadens their knowledge and skillsets, and is beneficial because it helps individuals and organizations reap the benefits of continuous learning described above.

5. How can HPE help me achieve the benefits of continuous learning?

HPE offers multiple ways to learn that address your unique learning style. These can be blended to build a uniquely curated continuous learning program for yourself or your organization.

HPE Digital Learner is our anytime, anywhere learning-as-a-service solution. With a yearly subscription fee, you get unlimited access to our eLearning portal for 12 months—allowing you to take as many courses, in as many subjects, as you like. From Artificial Intelligence for Business Users to ITIL^® 4 Foundation to Leading in the Post-pandemic Workplace, HPE Digital Learner has the eLearning content you need. It even has books, videos, and practice tests to help you prepare for certification.

In addition, HPE offers instructor-led training (ILT) and virtual instructor-led training (VILT) courses. These are live courses led by experienced instructors on a variety of topics. Students can ask instructors challenging questions and gain practical experience through virtual, hands-on labs. ILT courses take place in traditional, in-person classrooms while VILT courses are held in online classrooms. Both options offer the same high quality materials, instructional expertise, and robust collaboration environments. See the HPE Global Schedule for more information about courses that are offered—including times and locations.

Finally, HPE individual eLearning courses are self-paced, on-demand courses that are available for a la carte purchase. They cover a broad array of HPE and industry technology subjects including servers, storage, deep learning, cloud, and VMware.

Not sure which of these learning options is best for you? Take our quiz to find out! You will also get a digital certificate with your results afterward.

Learn more about HPE Pointnext. 

Evelyn Ha
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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