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Creating a Learning-First Culture: Four Keys to Driving Exceptional Employee and Guest Experiences
5 minute read
Organizations that thrive are those that prioritize continuous learning and development. But what separates truly exceptional learning cultures from those that merely check the box? And how do these learning cultures translate into better experiences for both employees and guests?
The answer lies in creating a learning-first approach that exists at every level of your organization. When done effectively, this approach doesn't just enhance employee skills—it transforms your entire operation, improves retention, and elevates the guest experience.
The Four Pillars of a Learning-First Culture
Drawing from our experience working with hundreds of clients across various industries, and numerous conversations with leading L&D professionals, we've identified four key elements that create truly exceptional learning cultures:
1. Setting Clear Learning Expectations
Creating clarity is the foundation of any successful learning program. Your employees need to understand what's expected of them, when it's expected, and what they should take away from each learning experience.
Start Today:
- Schedule a 15-minute conversation with some frontline employees to understand their learning needs
Build for Tomorrow:
- Develop a comprehensive needs assessment through targeted surveys
- Create a business case with clear timelines, KPIs, and communication plans
As one industry expert notes: "If you aren't setting expectations and being very clear, you're really setting yourself up for failure."
2. Consistency is Key—Not Just Across Locations, But Within Them
Meeting learners where they are in their journey creates engagement and builds loyalty. This means providing both structured learning paths and non-structured approaches that support growth beyond what's specific to an employee’s current role.
Start Today: Create a simple digital badge or shoutout for a team member who demonstrated exceptional learning
Build for Tomorrow:
- Develop structured recognition programs that reward training achievements
- Create manager-in-training programs with clear progression steps
In a survey conducted with Talker Research, 70% of workers said they would remain with their employer if given the opportunity. Providing these employees with opportunities to grow with your company builds loyalty and creates a pipeline of internal talent.
3. Creating Tailored Learning Experiences
In a world saturated with impersonal communication, tailored learning experiences stand out and resonate deeply with employees. Personalization demonstrates that you value each employee as an individual, not just as a worker.
Start Today: Send a personalized note to one employee highlighting how their learning efforts impact the team
Build for Tomorrow:
- Deploy technology that creates personalized learning paths based on roles or interests
- Use feedback mechanisms to continuously improve and refine learning content
- Create weekly communications that help employees feel connected to the organization
- Build a repository of required training and optional growth opportunities
The most successful organizations create learning environments that employees both need and want to engage with regularly.
4. Supporting Learning with Technology
Technology isn't a standalone solution, but rather a powerful enabler that supports your learning initiatives. The right technology can help you personalize at scale, track meaningful metrics, and free up time to focus on building humanized learning experiences.
Start Today: Identify one key metric beyond completion rates that you want to track to help show ROI to leadership
Build for Tomorrow:
- Build a centralized hub that serves as a one-stop-shop for learning, resources, and communication
- Create feedback loops that allow employees to suggest improvements
- Track multiple metrics that demonstrate ROI, from compliance rates to guest satisfaction
Measuring Impact Beyond Completion Rates
Learning and development shows up in every metric across your organization. When designing your programs, look beyond basic completion rates to measure true impact:
- Employee engagement and retention - Are employees staying longer and showing higher engagement
- Guest satisfaction - Are training efforts translating to better guest experiences?
- Operational efficiency - Are you seeing reductions in waste or mistakes?
- Sales performance - How do training efforts impact LTOs and other sales initiatives?
- Time to value - How quickly can new employees perform independently?
Wisetail clients have been able to reduce their onboarding time from weeks to just days – a change that has massive impact on their bottom line.
Start Small, Think Big
You don't need to transform your entire learning approach overnight. Begin with these simple actions:
- Have one conversation today about learning needs with a frontline employee
- Create one digital recognition for a team member who demonstrated exceptional learning
- Send one personalized note highlighting how someone's learning efforts make a difference
- Identify one meaningful metric beyond completion rates to start tracking ROI
These small steps can lead to significant changes in your learning culture over time. Remember, exceptional experiences don't happen by accident—they're cultivated through intentional learning strategies that put people first.
Want to hear more insights on creating exceptional employee and guest experiences through learning? Listen to our Wise Tales podcast featuring industry experts discussing how to rethink engagement and learning to drive success.
