A 2024 Gallup study shows that organizations that invest in employee development “report 11% greater profitability and are twice as likely to retain their employees.” What does it take to actually cultivate a learning culture? Validation, engagement, security, and ultimately — trust. 

Learning comes from a place of vulnerability. It’s a willingness to openly fail, to be curious, and to recognize your mistakes as the keystone of your learning structure. Creating a workplace culture that allows for vulnerability, then, is crucial. 

Cultivating a learning culture requires fostering an environment that rewards curiosity and creates opportunity for development. It means encouraging people to fail forward, using their mistakes as lessons that improve their future work, according to the Center for Creative Leadership.

“When you use the term ‘cultivate,’ you think about what that means in terms of trying to grow something,” said Kim Love, director of programs for Weber State University’s Division of Online &Continuing Education and adjunct sociology professor for the university’s College of Social Sciences & Education. 

Harvard Medical School’s corporate learning team has outlined three foundational pillars to cultivating a learning environment: 

1. Validation 
2. Engagement
3. Security

Validation
To incentivize learning, it needs to be recognized. Companies with a formal recognition program have 31% less voluntary turnover than organizations with no program at all, according to Quantum Workplace. When employees feel validated, they feel appreciated and more connected to their work and individual workplace role. 

Engagement
It’s critical to sustain learning momentum by providing opportunities for growth, even after formal training is complete. Access to learning encourages employees to connect the material with their specific role, turning the ideas into something tangible.

Daniel Jensen, data training and communication manager for Weber State’s Office of Student Success Analytics, has that top of mind when teaching a topic that can seem intimidating.

 “I center my efforts on making data approachable, relevant, and usable so that ongoing learning feels expected, supported, and directly connected to improving student success,” he said.

Security
Creating an “psychological safe space” where individuals can pursue growth without fear of retribution is crucial to fostering a learning environment. Ryan Leak, author of Chasing Failure: How Falling Short Sets You Up for Success, emphasizes in a 2021 Forbes article that failure is an event, not something to bear for a long time. 

In order for people to embrace learning on the job, you have to encourage them to see themselves as part of the big picture, Love explains.

“It's more than just listening,” she said. It's enabling everybody, regardless of where they live on the hierarchical tree of an organization, to participate in collaborative work to move the needle toward whatever change process you want to create in your organization.”

Building the psychological safety that comes with trust is not only a single interaction, but also must consist of multiple interactions that create something sustainable. Love is in it for the long haul.

“It is an ongoing process that involves you as an individual, demonstrating that you care about them as a human, you care about them in a space beyond work.”