Lifelong learning

Building leaders of the future

Lifelong learning is a key principle for future businesses

In an ever-changing world with new technology, new techniques and more fluid working practices, you need flexibility and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge to reach the top.

We’re part of a constantly evolving workforce. Our professional lives extend, while new blood continuously enters the mix. Technology advances and roles adapt. And the skillsets we need to meet new industry demands change.

If your business is to be successful in the future, it needs to plan and respond appropriately to these challenges. You must utilise the expertise of your senior members of staff and nurture the influx of young talent.

National Apprenticeship Week is an annual week-long event of learning and is a good time to consider how you’re sharing knowledge throughout your entire workforce, and inspiring the desire to learn.

What is lifelong learning?

One of the key traits you need to inspire and develop in your workforce is the concept of lifelong learning – but what is it?

Lifelong learning is about finding enthusiasm in what you do in your professional life and how you approach it while remaining curious to constantly refresh and evolve your skills and understanding.

But it isn’t just about gaining qualifications, it’s an openness to engaging with the new in whatever form that takes.

Why is it so important?

By 2021, it’s expected that 35% of skills considered important in today’s workforce will have changed. This means a lot of jobs will be drastically different, while some will disappear completely.

And while the main driver for change is technology, the combination of an ageing workforce and new generations just starting their careers means that workplaces are now a melting pot of ideas, ethics and theories.

It is your role as a future leader to cultivate and nurture that medley of creativity, passion and knowledge into a sustainable environment that empowers people to explore.

How do I apply lifelong learning to my own ways of working?

Future leaders are thought leaders.

Gone are the days of linear progression, where senior experts manage junior executives in their own siloed work environments.

Your own development is dependent on your ability to diversify and to encourage diversity in others. You need to develop the same curiosity and desire to learn as you hope to instil in your teams.

Unsure of how to proceed?

Understandable! There’s a lot of information to digest and a lot of options to choose from

Never fear! There’s a solution out there. We recommend you begin by completing a skills analysis of your organisation. This will help identify where talent development should have the most incisive effect.

When you know where you can most increase productivity, engage better with your staff and enhance the services you’re offering, you can make a much more informed decision.