3. Unleash the power of experts.
Since you know these experts are there, let them share information and make them available to others. Do you have an internal directory of experts which enables them to promote their own skills and experience? Easy to build and something every company should have.
And remember that experts are everywhere, so let people share what they’ve learned easily.
A great example of such knowledge sharing is the Cheesecake Factory’s video learning portal. The head of corporate training for this fast-growing food chain put in place a YouTube-like learning portal which lets any employee upload a video of themselves doing their job well. Employees can share “how to make a hamburger” or “how to best clean the floor” and share it in any way they wish. Within only a few weeks of building this system people rapidly started using their cell phones to create instructional videos and share hilarious stories about how they solve problems on the job. The system went viral in a few weeks.
4. Demonstrate the value of formal training.
Formal training has not gone away, and it still plays a huge role in career development and professional networking. If you have lots of formal training available, managers should be incented to promote such opportunities and help people make time to learn. Yes, it might take them away from their jobs for a few days, but ultimately the return is much greater productivity and satisfaction.
As one high-performing healthcare executive put it: “We are paying our managers to develop people for the entire organization. If I find them hoarding talent or preventing people from improving their own skills, they won’t be in management any longer.”
5. Allow people to make mistakes.
The best organizational learning (and individual learning) occurs right after you make a huge mistake. These are the most important learning opportunities your company has.