In an age of tightening budgets and increasing needs for learning, training, and development, HR professionals are forced to get creative about the programming they provide. Especially because there’s never been more demand among employees for development. Or need among businesses for employees to learn new knowledge and skills.
Peer learning is the best kept secret when it comes to helping professionals keep up with their changing roles and industries. Basically, the idea is to gather a group of people, and set an intent for them to learn something. There are myriad forms in which this can be done, ranging from a book club style peer-led format to workshops run by a trainer who is skilled in the art of facilitation rather than teaching.
Depending on the topic, the audience, and the budget, many versions of peer learning can be imagined. Most or all of them will be more affordable – and many even more effective than a traditional ‘sage on the stage’ approach that puts an expert at the front of the room with ‘learners’ sitting in seats and listening.
Maureen Cawley, Chief People Officer at Saatva (a Great Place to Work), said that they’ve seen nearly 100% retention among employees who’ve participated in a cohort-based program facilitated by Assenter Coaching. “The combination of effectiveness, efficiency and impact that we see with this peer learning approach makes it a no-brainer investment for us, even in this challenging talent market.”
Of course, technology plays a huge role in learning these days, for students and professionals alike. This is a great asset too, but can be integrated more effectively if learners engage with peers as well as the learning technologies.
Training and development programs that integrate peer learning are more efficient, sustainable, and dynamic than a traditional approach. All features that are highly valuable in today’s budget-constrained, fast-changing context.
- More efficient
Peer learning reduces the cost and time required for learning programs. The way of learning is more efficient with higher engagement and interest with the benefit of lower costs. Training and programs can be peer created, particularly given the public availability of the best thinking in so many ways. Alternatively, there can be an “expert” in the form of a facilitator, guide book, or body of knowledge but shared among a group of peer learners.
- More sustainable
Integrated peer learning is more sustainable by establishing a mindset among the participants and in the workplace more generally that extends beyond the bounds of the program itself. Participants get used to asking and answering questions of themselves and each other, and using each other or external material to find the best answers. This dynamic is powerful for ongoing innovation and collaboration. This collaboration can be continued afterwards with the same people or by participants on their own, and ideally even by the participants with their other colleagues who didn’t go through the program directly, but still maintain the same benefit.
- Dynamic
By intentionally integrating peer perspectives into a learning program, participants benefit from real time, real life experience, not just established ‘best practice’ or official knowledge. By definition, these real time insights evolve faster than any ‘training’ program or published resource, much less academic content. In a business context that is changing as quickly as ours is, when it comes to hybrid work, supply chain factors, financial markets, and more, there’s no time to wait for a published case study on a given topic.
In today’s budget-constrained and fast-changing context, peer learning stands out as a cost-effective, sustainable, and dynamic solution that empowers professionals to adapt, collaborate, and innovate, ensuring they stay ahead – and engaged – in a constantly evolving culture.
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