Agility in the workplace: How to improve agility at work

When it comes to employment in today's current climate, job seekers have different priorities than they did just a few years ago. From DEIB and work-life balance to opportunities for growth and upskilling, it's no longer just about pay and benefits. Measuring learning agility with a learning management system (LMS) is key to staying competitive within your industry.

Prioritizing agility in the workplace contributes to the overall success of your employees and, inevitably, your company. Your employees are your company's most significant resource, and staying competitive in this current landscape needs to be at the forefront of your talent acquisition strategy. Therefore, ensuring you empower employees by supporting learning agility in the workplace is vital to your organization’s success.

If you don’t offer opportunities for your team to grow, they’re likely to leave your company for one that’s more invested in them and their future. There are various reasons why agility is important in business, and today, we’re going to review:

• What is learning agility (the learning agility definition)
• The importance of measuring learning agility
• The types of learning agility in the workplace
• How your company can improve agility in the workplace

So, let’s kick off this learning agility deep dive with a simple learning agility definition!

What is learning agility?

In general, learning agility refers to understanding and implementing new concepts quickly and easily. Boosting your employee’s Skill Agility® gives your company a competitive edge in today’s market. Agility in the workplace also helps employees:

• Respond to change in a positive manner
• Become more resilient
• See failures as learning opportunities

Learning agility is the ability to harness an intricate set of skills, allowing individuals to learn and adapt to unfamiliar or challenging conditions. It’s about being prepared to handle a situation based on gathering patterns from a particular situation and then applying those patterns and knowledge in a completely different context.

How to improve agility at work: The five different types of learning agility

People who learn from positive and negative experiences are vital to your company’s success. Providing continual training and upskilling will help keep these employees loyal and ensure that they continue to perform at a high level.

The learning agility model isn’t new. For the last few decades, being uncomfortable with uncertainty and sudden change has been actively studied and defined. Research conducted by Korn Ferry International breaks down measuring learning agility into five sets of behaviors:

1. Self-Awareness: Being reflective and understanding oneself and the unique capabilities one possesses when facing certain situations and behaviors.
2. Mental Agility: Having the intellectual curiosity to seek knowledge, allowing someone to be better and do better. Mental agility is also about not being overwhelmed by complexity or ambiguity and deciphering the noise into simple themes and trends.
3. People Agility: People agility centers around taking people’s feelings and reactions into consideration and knowing how to handle different personality types. The ultimate goal is the ability to ease tensions and turn a situation from a negative one to a positive one.
4. Change Agility: Being curious, experimental, open, and effective in dealing with change, even if it's uncomfortable.
5. Results Agility: Using previous knowledge to deliver successful results in first-time situations. Results agility exhibits confidence that inspires other team members.

Benefits of learning agility in the workplace

According to a Gallup poll, showing appreciation for employees by providing opportunities for them to learn and grow increases productivity and loyalty. Learning agility in the workplace fosters the following:

• High-performing employees: A skilled, competent staff creates a productive and motivated workplace. Productive employees feel accomplished, capable, and better prepared to meet goals.
• Future company leaders: Exercising learning agility in leadership attracts higher-level candidates looking for growth and advancement opportunities. Your company becomes a sought-after place for long-term employment by investing in upskilling.
• Innovation: Employees are more likely to engage and innovate within your company if they know you’re supporting their professional development and career advancement.
• Employee retention and lower recruitment costs: According to the LinkedIn 2022 Workplace Learning Report, 94% of employees say they’ll stay at a company longer when offered learning and development opportunities. By keeping employees learning, you save your company the cost of recruiting and training new employees.

Create an upskilling experience where information, courses, coaching, and feedback can be assessed anywhere. Agile learning gives employees the autonomy to define their career objectives and self-direct themselves to meet their individual and company goals.

Fostering and measuring learning agility with Unboxed

If you’re not upskilling your employees and giving them opportunities to increase their learning agility, your company may lose valuable employees and fall behind. By prioritizing agility in the workplace, your organization will benefit from more motivated, resilient, and eager employees who are excited to take on challenges.

Unboxed Training & Technology’s Spoke® Learning Platform is the best tool for fostering and measuring learning agility, or Skill Agility®, among your employees.

Providing upskilling prepares your team for changes within your industry and company. Benefits of upskilling and learning agility include:

1. Strengthening your company’s reputation
2. Expanding your industry authority and expertise
3. Boosting employee morale
4. Enhancing organizational productivity
5. Improving your bottom line

At Unboxed, we offer off-the-shelf or custom training solutions to empower your team with new and valuable skills. To prepare your organization for marketplace changes and evolving industry trends, prioritize learning agility in leadership. Contact us today for a free demo of Spoke® to see how your company can improve learning agility and increase employee retention at work.