Solver Studio Episode 1 Recap: Prioritizing Learning and Development

Aston Carter

Mary Rafter joins President Stuart Ferguson and Aston Carter’s Director of Learning and Development, Kathleen Valenti, in the inaugural episode of Aston Carter’s podcast, Solver Studio. The conversation is largely about how professionals can prioritize their own learning and development in an ever-evolving workplace. The group also discusses how they integrate learning into their lives, what learning methodologies they leverage and reasons why lifelong learning is important for development.

Key Takeaways From This Episode

It’s Easy to Deprioritize Your Learning and Development

The group explores how to create learning resources that will resonate with an entire workforce. It’s not a simple task, because everyone has different learning styles, as Stuart points out. It’s easy, and perhaps common for members of a workforce to fulfill their responsibilities at work in the day-to-day and let their own learning and development fall to the wayside. If something isn’t prioritized, it can begin to feel optional, and that is certainly the case with learning and development in the workforce. However, as the group astutely points out, the workplace evolves every single day, from cultural changes to technological advances, and it’s vital for workers to remain aware of how and why things are changing.

Find a Form of Learning That Works for You

The process of finding “the vehicle” or learning style that works for you is important because there’s no one way to develop yourself. Shared learning and “peer-to-peer learning” are two examples the group discusses.

Whether it’s 30 minutes a week, reading a blog post, or listening to a podcast, it is vital for employees to expand their expertise with a learning form and environment that works for them.

Learning and Development Teams Should Evolve Their Resources

The partnership between learning and development teams and their workforce is essential to the success of their program. These teams should stay connected with subject matter experts throughout their organization who work in the different roles and departments to best understand how employees prefer to engage. This allows them to build out specialized training programs and content that continue to evolve and grow.

Kathleen also states that one of the keys to owning your development is making connections. If you can find mentors in your organization, you can benefit from their wisdom and leverage them for support as needed.

Learning and Development is Your Responsibility

If you’re passionate about career development, work with your manager develop a plan that identifies your skill gaps and create a plan to improve them.

Learning and development is optional, in many ways. But what these leaders emphasize is that companies should strive to inspire a workforce that is empowered, proactive and committed to their professional development, much how Aston Carter approaches organizational learning and development.

Listen to the full podcast to hear more from Aston Carter’s learning and development experts.

*Original article on Aston Carter's website.

*Written by Katherine Burns.