5 reasons why working with an employer who prioritizes your continuous learning, should be your priority!

August 29, 2019 admin continuous learning, Education, learn everyday, learning, Life @ Schneider Blog, Networking

Credit to Author: Employee Voices| Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2019 13:00:07 +0000

Natalja Kissina,Vice President HR for Gulf Countries at Schneider Electric is an advocate for continuous education in the workplace. Throughout her career, she has narrowed down the key reasons and tips one should consider when putting continuous learning and education as a priority at their job and in their career. These considerations will not only help you in your current job but will help your employer as well.

Prioritizing your continuous learning at your job

One of the biggest benefits of continuous education is that these efforts can make a material difference in your career. Being able to improve yourself, and expanding your skill set during your career deeply enriches your value to future potential employers, and can create opportunities for you within your current organization. This type of market positioning benefit, both cannot be understated, and is widely understood to be a driver for continuous education in the workplace.

However, today, we are going to go over 5 slightly different benefits, that deviate a little bit from the obvious reasons why continuous education in the workplace is a good thing.

These are the more overlooked reasons that contribute to learning being a deep priority at the corporate level, and they have helped define the importance of learning at Schneider Electric Gulf.

Leading tomorrow, requires learning today

Participating in education efforts can help you develop some of the most critical skills required to be a more successful leader. Learning how to incorporate feedback into a personal development plan, shoring up communication skills, making decisions and taking actions for the good of the organization, and even mastering new, critical skills, can be instrumental in pivoting to a leadership role within your organization. It can also help develop the mentality to lead from where you are.

Finding the right employer is a lot like dating

We’ve all heard the importance of chemistry during the interview process, both for the employer and employee, and “fit” is a huge part of finding the right company. So, a company that prioritizes your growth is a green flag from the get-go. A company that takes the time to invest in the development of their employees, is one that recognizes the critical role of their attention to you, will play in both of your successes. Organizations such as these, show higher levels of employee satisfaction, better relationships between managers and their direct reports, and generally more positive environments.

Photo by: www.skymedia.ae

Learning can be an important stress-test

Sometimes, learning efforts don’t just highlight what is new, they can reveal weaknesses and gaps in a skill set that can then be addressed. For more established employees, sometimes those who are a little removed from newer technologies or processes, it can be a little difficult to develop an understanding of where to begin on the path of self-improvement. Directed continuous learning efforts can shine a light on what you need to work on, and your employer is a huge part of this effort.

Education helps you broaden your network

Whether you’re participating in workshops, watching videos and taking trainings offered by your company, actively seeking out assistance from subject matter experts in your firm to develop your skill set, or just conducting the research required to develop a personal learning plan, education is not just a personal activity. A successful effort to learn, should be putting you in contact with people all over your organization. This type of networking can be distinguished from networking that lacks a defined purpose. It will go further and be more meaningful. Establishing connects made on a path for personal learning can provide a communal sense of purpose in the workplace, especially when meeting people across business functions.

Continuous education enhances marketability

This is one of those reasons that can be straight forward, and sort of falls in the category of those market positioning benefits I mentioned at the beginning of the blog. But the marketability I’m referring to here doesn’t just reflect your attractiveness to future employers, or a prettier resume, rather, workplaces that both allow for and prioritize the education efforts of their employees are assisting them in becoming more marketable within the organization. Lateral moves are much more common in organizations with a strong focus on education, and employees are more satisfied with long-term careers in such organizations. It’s no surprise that organizations that promote personal growth and continuous learning, are better equipped to take advantage of it, and when considering where you want to have a career, such organizations should be at the top of the list.

Life is On!

This is our mission and a description of our mentality. To be sustainable, efficient, and safe, and help our customers and partners do the same. We extend these priorities to our people, and as a people first organization, we strive to create a workplace that develops personal growth, via a set of concentrated learning activities. We just had our learning day, and you can see the video below.

Watch our recent Learning Day Story to #learneveryday

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6556132482490687488

About the Author

Natalja is Vice President HR for Gulf Countries in Schneider Electric. Originally from Estonia, she has been residing in the Middle East for the last 14 years as she enjoys the culturally diverse and dynamic lifestyle. Natalja is a passionate about learning new things continuously, she is zealous traveler with more than 50 countries under her belt and have many more on her bucket list. She is a certified yoga teacher, a regular at the gym a devoted Argentinian Tango Dancer. Natalja loves her job in Human Resources in Schneider as it not only allows her to touch people’s lives positively but also to contribute in achieving the mission of Schneider-Electric organization – providing basic right of access to energy.