Learning doesn't just happen in a PD session, it happens everywhere.

Recognising where learning actually happens.

What is a learning ecosystem?

When we think about workplace learning, it is easy to first think about professional development, the workshop on the calendar, the online module to complete (mandatory or optional) or the speaker brought in. These experiences can be valuable, but they are only one part of how people learn at work.

Much of our learning happens in the spaces in between. The experiences that occur through everyday conversations in the staffroom, office, hallway (even the toilet), observations of others at all levels, rolling out new systems, feedback, problem-solving, questioning, making mistakes and the way people see others respond to that mistake.

Every day, people are learning something about their work, their colleagues, their organisation and themselves and making meaning through that learning.

Meaning making is a key contribution for an individual, team and workplace in shaping the culture, the learning and the positive or negative conditions of the working environment.

This is where the idea of a learning ecosystem becomes important.

If you understand that every interaction is an opportunity to connect or disconnect and learning isn't something that sits separately from work; but is influenced by the environment in which work takes place, then you have the beginnings of a learning ecosystem.

The questions leaders ask, the conversations people have, the relationships they experience, the systems they work within and the opportunities they have to reflect and apply their knowledge, all contribute to learning.

A workday cannot only be a set of task outputs that become draining and monotonous at best (at worst they become burnout) without the risk and reality of disengaging your staff.

Learning teaches us about ourselves and in a workplace, it allows us to relate, to ourselves, others and the workplace values and vision.  If we want people to keep learning, we need to look beyond the PD calendar as a form of recognition and ask whether the workplace itself creates opportunities for people to notice, question, reflect, experiment, fail, try again and grow. We can only learn sustainably in safe spaces and learning is not an event, it is the integration of our knowledge into action and how our work actually happens.

🌿 Learning and wellbeing

Looking beyond formal learning also means paying attention to what people are learning from the conditions, in which they work.

Everyday conversations and observations can reveal psychosocial hazards such as excessive demands, poor organisational justice, role ambiguity, poor workplace relationships or inadequate resources.

A workplace that creates opportunities to notice and learn from ALL experiences and levels, is better positioned to identify risks early and consider what needs to change. Learning about work therefore includes learning about the language and conversations, relationships & power dynamics and tools and environments, in which people are expected to work, all of which impact and co-create practice, outcomes and workplace culture.

A healthy learning ecosystem is owned by everyone, not HR, not the managers or the external consultants, EVERYONE.

A learning ecosystem tells the staff they matter in ways far richer than pizza day, awards and photos on the wall, because an ecosystem must be sustained through ongoing effort. All heads, hands and hearts must be able to contribute and gain, from the ecosystem.  In this environment psychological safety is real, talked AND walked, conditions are negotiated, learning is supported and real innovation and psychological safety flourishes. A learning ecosystem is what true recognition and reward looks like.

🍃 Takeaways

• What YOU are ‘doing’, ‘saying’ and’ relating’ to, contributes to the workplace culture and psychological safety levels and can make or break a learning ecosystem.

• Learning happens formally, informally, individually, socially, privately, together….everywhere.

• Everyday interactions can teach people as much as formal training.

• Professional development is one part of workplace learning, not the whole ecosystem.

• The workplace itself (including you) can enable or inhibit learning.

• Leaders influence learning through what they model, encourage and respond to.

• Paying attention to everyday experiences can also contribute to psychosocial hazard prevention.

⭕ Reflective questions

• Do people in your workplace recognise what they are learning outside of participating in formal professional development?

• What does your workplace currently make easy, or difficult for people to question, discuss, reflect and learn?

• If you looked beyond your workplace PD calendar, what would you discover about the learning ecosystem that already exists?