In the past, the path towards career advancement was clear cut: Get an education, spend a certain amount of time in a job, and climb the corporate ladder. In today’s modern workplace, and at companies like Miro, careers look very different. Gone are the days where people spent their whole career within the same company.
Today’s professionals are coming up against more unstable working environments, competing with advanced AI tools, and working in roles that didn’t exist 10 years ago.
With all this change, how can you make sure you’re taking charge of your own career?
One strategy is to focus your energy on learning and development. By committing to life long learning, you allow yourself to stay competitive, adapt to changes around you, and evolve into new versions of yourself. Today, many companies offer formal training programs that help their employees reskills and encourage their learning.
In this article, we’ll share what it means to participate in company-provided learning and development, and how you can actively seek out opportunities for growth.
What is learning and development?
Learning and development is the formal corporate structure put into place by a company to help their people grow professionally, develop new skills, and build subject matter expertise within their teams.
Learning and development is often referred to as training, talent development, or organizational learning. Learning and development typically sits within the People Team, but serves its own unique purpose; to bring opportunities for learning and growth to the employee.
Learning and development programs address soft skill development (for example, delivering feedback), technical skill building (for example, sales training), or compliance training (for example, anti-bias in hiring). Learning and development can be in the form of a course, self-driven exercises, or can be packaged together in a program that spans over weeks or months.
Training can be led by a facilitator, taken at your own pace, or a combination of both.
At Miro, we are all about learner’s mindset and aim for blended learning to make sure we offer a combination of life, on the job and self paced learning.
Find out what’s available to you
If you’re starting at a new company, the best thing you can do to manage your development is to look into what opportunities are available to you. This is where asking your team and your manager for advice is helpful. During team meetings or 1-on-1s, ask about what kind of opportunities for formal training exist and how you can access them. For example, if your company offers stipends or budgets to support you in taking an external course, ask your manager how you can qualify for this benefit.
If your company doesn’t have an active learning and development team that are promoting opportunities, take it upon yourself to find them. This is all part of what it means to own your development.
Own your own development
Once you’ve taken the time to understand what your company has to offer in terms of formal training, you can begin to chart your own path within your role and team.
Figure out what skills you need
If you’re an individual contributor, and becoming a manager is your goal, then creating a learning path centered around leadership development is something you should consider. If you’re hoping to land a role that’s highly technical, you’ll need to do an assessment on your own skill set and see what’s missing. Then, you can start to target specific training sessions. If you’re unsure of what kind of skills are required for your dream career, reach out to people in similar roles, and have a conversation with them.
Show your value
If your company offers the training you need to advance, you can speak to your manager about how to get involved and participate. If your company doesn’t offer the training you need, you’ll need to seek it out yourself.
Then, you can start building a case for why your manager should spend their budget on sending you to training. For example, if you want to build a specific marketing skill, you could calculate what kind of financial returns your company would experience by having this skillset on their team. Bringing new skills onto your team means an opportunity to execute diverse projects, and allows you to share your new knowledge with others. If you can show the financial return on investment of attending a training, you’ll be more likely to get what you want.
While your company and manager should be there to support you on your learning journey, it’s your job to take initiative and own your career.
Create your own opportunities for learning
If you’re unable to get your company to pay for any formal training, don’t worry! Here are some free learning opportunities we at Miro recommend you try out:
- Check out Miro’s career resources: If you’re looking to grow your career, look inside our Miroverse and take advantage of all our career resources.
- Free online learning: Coursera, Code Academy, and Grow with Google are just a few examples of free online training resources you can take at your own pace.
- Find a mentor: You can also own your career development by seeking out a mentor within or outside of your company. Mentors offer a sounding board to your learning and offer advice from their own experience.
- Start a peer-to-peer coaching/learning club: If your company doesn’t offer formal training, you can leverage your team members who all have unique skills and experiences. Peer-to-peer coaching is a great way to share your own knowledge while learning from others. You can also start a book club and choose books that are relevant to your company’s business.
- Take on a stretch project: While formal learning is great, on the job training can help you build relevant skills and supercharge your confidence. Ask your manager if they are open to you working on a project outside of your regular role – a stretch project is a great way to actively build new skills. If a stretch project isn’t available, then a side hustle or project outside of work can be a good alternative.
- Conduct informational interviews: Curious to learn more about what other people are doing? Reach out to colleagues across your company to learn more about their job. This will help you build your network, get exposure to new tools, and even give you an opportunity to get involved with different teams.
How to make your learning stick
Once you’ve attended training, your job isn’t done once you leave the classroom. It’s just as important to apply what you’ve learned in training to your daily activities. Otherwise, all your great learning will be lost. So how can you make sure that you’re actually applying what you’ve learned? Here are a few suggestions:
- List out all your take-aways: Using a Miro Mind Map, jot down all your key takeaways and lessons learned. You can refer back to this map in times of need to refresh your memory.
- Share back with your team: Sharing with others helps you create long-term memory, while helping others learn and grow as well. Being able to successfully teach others can also help you build confidence in what you’re doing.
- Write a blog post: To share your knowledge with your online community, you can write a blog post and share it to LinkedIn recapping your learning and insights. This can help you build your personal brand while motivating and inspiring others.
- Create a self-reflection practice: Following a training, think about one or two things you’ve learned that you’d like to apply. Early in the week, write out how you’d like to apply the new skill or idea. At the end of the week, reflect on how practicing the new skill or idea went. Write out the impact it had, how it felt to flex a new muscle, and any take-aways. This will help you solidify your knowledge and recognize your gains.
Learning and development opportunities at Miro
Here at Miro, we are always thinking about the learner’s mindset. Learning is embedded in our values and we believe it’s crucial to one’s overall development. We encourage Mironeers to be in the driver seat of their development and proactively seek for opportunities they can learn from.
Every company will have their own approach and values to learning. Lean on your team and manager for support when it comes to your own learning and development, but always remember that you are the main driver of your career. Whenever possible, take the time you need to prioritize your own development, stay curious, and give yourself permission to learn. Your career will thank you for it!
