Learning leads to greater social good: Learning Leaders

Home » Learning leads to greater social good: Learning Leaders

We know and appreciate that times are difficult for charities and non-profits. Many are having to reshape strategy, reshape the organisation, reduce costs and headcount. Understandably training budgets are being cut, and management programmes being scrapped or slimmed down. However, charities and non-profits exist to make the world better: to tackle some of the greatest problems our societies face. We are not going to be able to shift the dial on these problems by doing the same things. Making change for the better requires adaptability, flexibility, and new ideas. In this series we explore why learning is a good thing for the world and the people working to ensure a greater social good.

Learning organisations are good for the world (and learning leaders are the best)

During challenging times, one of the first budgets to get cut is the Learning & Development line. Despite this, the evidence for investing in learning is substantial. The research tells us that leaders who invest in learning can demonstrate gains in efficiency and effectiveness as a result of performance gains, a more adaptable workforce and organisational resilience. In charities and non-profits, seeking sustainable solutions to some of the hardest problems in society, these gains really matter.

According to CIPD research:

“organisations in which learning has a deep impact on key behaviours and is supported by learning interventions and programmes experience better growth, transformation, productivity and profitability”

(CIPD, Creating Learning Cultures, April 2020 – referencing work by Daly, J. and Ahmetaj, G 2020)

In commercial entities, the People Professionals (HR, talent, organisational development, wellbeing and the like) need to make the business case for their initiatives, by showing impact on the bottom line. In charities and non-profits, People Professionals need to similarly demonstrate impact: on the mission. Mission delivery may be framed differently, but the rationale is the same: when you invest in learning, the capacity of your people grows, and so you are better able to do what your organisation exists to do.

Mission first, learn things

Delivering impact means lots of things: solving a societal problem, curing a bad thing, tackling inequity, helping those in need, and challenging oppressive structures or ideas. Strategic alignment therefore is not about the bottom line or business case. Charities and non-profit leaders need to be mission obsessed. Every choice, decision and plan needs to firmly point to mission enabling: how does this thing, whatever the thing is, deliver on the mission? How does it make XYZ cause better? In doing so, charity leaders continue to enable greater social good.

Mission delivery involves many parts, all working together. The golden thread of the charity purpose runs through every activity. When those threads come together, the organisation is all the stronger: consider the many threads that make a rope. Learning and development is one strand in the golden thread that binds the people taking action to mission delivery. Missions cannot be delivered by the CEO and SLT alone – they need people. They need people to bring their best ideas, their best efforts and their energy to make the mission happen. And people need to be able to adapt and weather change if they are going to be mission enablers in a changing world. This doesn’t happen by accident: leaders need an intentional approach to ensure the organisational culture is one which embraces learning.

How can leaders inspire and enable an organisational culture of learning?

It starts with modelling. Effective leaders know they need to keep learning – so model that to others. You were not born with the knowledge you have now – so share how you learned to be an effective leader, or how you developed your expertise in your field. Talk about your learning journey: what you are learning, why, what has been wonderful, what has been really hard and how you dealt with that, what you expect to happen as a result of your learning. We deliver many modular programmes for future leaders (managers who want to and are ready to step into leadership), and these programmes are always fantastic when supported by senior leaders, especially when they hold speaker sessions. When senior leaders share their vulnerable points and inspiring stories, it helps others to value learning too. In a recent programme, a senior leader shared with the group a simple statement: “I am no magician, this is not magic. I am human, I get it wrong. But the most important thing is that I’ve learned along the way and I will keep on learning”.

Make it safe to try new things

Enabling learning also means embracing experimentation: taking a try-test-fail-learn-repeat approach to innovation. Leaders can create this culture. Expecting perfection lowers risk taking and blocks learning. Leaders who avoid blame and shame garner trust and respect, making it safe for people to try new things. Fixing the world is going to need people to do just this. Hold people to account for their learning: ask them questions about their successes and impact. When things don’t work out, take a deep dive into why – and what can be learned for next time.

Make room for learning

It is essential to provide space for learning. Leaders have the authority to enable a slower pace and ensure learning time is both protected and celebrated. Missions are of course urgent – it is not OK to say harmful situations can continue. But effective learning takes time. It needs time out and people need space to learn and think.  From simple actions like not emailing people on training courses, to more involved events like hosting sessions during work time for Learning at Work Week, to setting learning goals in the strategic plan, leaders can show that this time matters and is valuable.

If you would like to discuss more ideas about how to embed learning into your organisational culture, get in touch to speak to one of our senior consultants about how we can help you with that. If budgets are tight, we absolutely understand that. We can still have a chat, and we’re happy to offer advice, guidance and signposting to help you think through your strategy for learning.