Passion for Learning at Work

With all the changes in industries especially in financial planning how do you encourage staff to have a passion for learning, especially when work demands are high and life stressors have increased.  

Passion for learning may include learning more about the self and being curious when life does not go well, relationships are a struggle or fail and when feeling  emotionally unwell.  Passion for learning also includes professionally developing when staff are satisfied with their career and feel settled, meaning if they don't professionally develop anymore who would notice? 

Developing professionally and creating a passion for learning can be challenging especially when there is no time, when people don't need to, when finances are low and when there are many life constraints in the way.  However at a systems level, professionally developing staff can create a dynamic workplace, a culture for learning and enhance performance.  Performance management is a strategy which includes non-monetary and monetary rewards.  Self-determination theory suggests that intrinsic motivation is more effective than external motivation however you still need both.  Intrinsic motivation may include the benefits learning has on the staff member such as they may be able to apply it in their personal and work life and can use the information to build relationships such as being up to date in their field would help with developing intelligent, meaningful conversations with their peers.  

Learning can be conducted online, or through round tables.  It can also be conducted when out for coffee or drip fed through emails.  Following up on the learning by finding out how staff applied it can help develop intrinsic motivation and management receive feedback on the learning material. 

The process may include finding out the constraints of learning, doing a gap analysis to identify what topics to teach and identifying which platforms to use. 

Ensuring staff have a passion for learning will improve your branding and maintain high performance employees.  It would also ensure staff would not feel redundant if they seek employment elsewhere or talk with their peers.