Becoming a learnfluencer: tips not only for leaders

Becoming a Learnfluencer: Tips Not Just for Leaders

November 1, 2024 – A new term is currently establishing itself in the debate on continuing education and leadership: Learnfluencer. It is increasingly becoming a leadership task to motivate employees to learn and to support them in doing so.

The need for change and thus learning in most companies is rising – across departments. Therefore, it can often no longer be satisfied in a timely manner with centrally organized measures; also because the learning needs of the departments and their employees are becoming more specialized and individualized.

Learning Will Become an Integral Part of Everyday Work

For this reason, responsibility for ensuring that the necessary learning and development processes occur is increasingly shifting to leaders or is left to the personal responsibility of their employees. They must increasingly ensure that they are attractive employees and remain so. And their employers, the companies? They face the challenge of creating the necessary learning landscapes and cultures within their organizations.

Many companies are already doing this, mostly with the help of digital technology, as they have recognized that presence seminars and workshops alone will not achieve the desired change. This is because they no longer meet the necessary conditions in the modern working world, where learning should be a continuous process; among other reasons, because they are not flexible enough to handle.

Digital Learning Formats and Concepts Are Gaining Importance

For this reason, many companies are increasingly relying on digital learning formats in their personnel development, as they often allow for learning processes to be more interactive, individualized, and effective; especially when they are linked with traditional teaching and learning methods to so-called blended learning concepts.

However, providing employees with the necessary learning infrastructure and tools is usually not enough in practice to motivate them to engage in systematic learning. The past has shown this. Rather, the majority of them must be encouraged to learn. Moreover, employees should receive supportive guidance in their learning and development processes.

Continuing Educators and Leaders Become "Learnfluencers"

For this reason, the term "Learnfluencer" is currently establishing itself in the continuing education and HR landscape – drawing from the term "influencer" known from the social media sector. In the corporate context, those individuals are called "Learnfluencers" who work towards

• strengthening the intrinsic motivation of employees to learn,

• linking individual and collective learning in the respective area or company, and

• establishing a learning culture in them that increasingly emphasizes personal responsibility.

This can include not only leaders but also internal continuing educators or external consultants, trainers, coaches – all individuals who are often referred to as "facilitators" in corporate continuing education. However, unlike this term, the term "Learnfluencer" emphasizes more strongly the function of promoting independent and responsible learning and the necessary changes in mindset and behavior for this.

Leaders Have a Role Model Function Even in Learning

A key role in establishing a new learning culture in companies is always played by leaders, as they are the central points of contact for employees in their area. Therefore, here are some impulses or tips for leaders who want to profile themselves as Learnfluencers in their environment.

Learnfluencer Tip 1: Always remember that as a leader, you are a role model for your employees – also in terms of learning; furthermore, that you show them through your behavior what is truly important to you.

Learnfluencer Tip 2: Make it a habit to regularly share interesting articles, your own insights, (learning) experiences, etc., with your employees on internal communication platforms or social media. Ask them for feedback on your posts and provide positive feedback when you receive such. Only then will interaction get going.

Learnfluencer Tip 3: Use self-created or publicly accessible videos to explain complex processes or present best practice examples for an approach. Short, concise tutorials and how-to guides that explain important projects and procedures in a few minutes are often more effective and have a more lasting impact than long lectures. The same applies to video updates.

Learnfluencer Tip 4: Regularly provide small learning impulses to your employees with so-called "learning nuggets" that you send, for example, via email. These might have titles like "Tip ..." or "Knowledge Nugget of the Week" – and refer to additional information "for interested parties" on learning platforms.

Learnfluencer Tip 5: Encourage your employees to share their knowledge and learning experiences in team meetings and online forums. For example, conduct regular "Learn & Lunch" sessions, where they consciously do not discuss daily work, but rather have a participant give an impulse lecture on an interesting topic.

Learnfluencer Tip 6: Offer your employees – especially those you mostly lead from a distance – regular (online) coaching conversations on the topics of learning and personal development. Discuss with them, among other things, the extent to which their learning goals are realistic, how they can best achieve them, and how you can support them.

E-Academy of IFIDZ Supports You in "Learnfluencing"

I have already written about the functional change of leaders in the wake of the increasing digitization of learning processes in companies in my book "The Leader as Influencer: How to Win Employees as Followers".

Furthermore, IFIDZ established its E-Academy two years ago in anticipation of this foreseeable development. This supports you as a leader in developing the competencies you need to fulfill your (leadership) function in your organization in the digital age and the age of AI.

Note: A few days ago, an article on the topic "Becoming a Learnfluencer" was published on the portal it-daily.net, in which I am quoted as an expert.

Author: Barbara Liebermeister