5 Motivation Tactics That Can Spur Your Employees’ Yearn to Learn

Learning and development (L&D) programs can build critical skills, inspire innovation, and open doors to advancement. But when employees have calendars full of meetings, inboxes packed with emails, and to-do lists punctuated by pressing deadlines, how can their companies help them find the time and energy they need to make the most of their learning opportunities?

Some employers are getting creative, by offering incentives and appealing to people’s motivations. They’re among the many ways workplaces are rethinking how they structure and support continuous learning to make it more accessible to their teams who really do want career development. In fact, according to the 2023 Workplace Learning Report, more than a third of L&D professionals are looking for ways to increase learner engagement. 

Here are five strategies organizations are using to motivate active learning and push educational opportunities higher up the to-do list:

1. Offer incentives for participation

Rewards and recognition can be the positive reinforcement people need to commit time to an L&D program. At QiCard, the national credit card in Iraq, the L&D team wanted to boost employee use of LinkedIn Learning as a way to sharpen the English abilities of staffers. Anyone who completed 10 or more courses received a letter of appreciation and acknowledgement from the QiCard leadership team. Soon, employees were spending twice as much time learning as the industry average.

Other companies have found that using badges to mark training milestones can increase engagement. Offering a token of recognition each time employees complete a program or gain a skill gives them a sense of forward progress. For example, when Samsung Electronics UK introduced badging, course completions increased by 181%.

2. Use competition to build enthusiasm

Competition fuels productivity, says Rachel Richal, vice president of training for Buffalo Wild Wings. That’s why the company turns learning into a battle royale. 

Over the course of a nine-month contest, 1,200 sports bars try to win points for activities like completing training programs and cultural initiatives, then face off in a series of challenges to determine a champion. Rachel says the system has led to stronger business metrics and lower turnover rates. Plus, the competition boosts camaraderie, as teams come together and bond over a common goal. 

Meanwhile, Rock Content uses a ranking board to motivate engagement. Employees earn points for participating in educational offerings and gaining new skills. At the end of each month, the rankings close and the top five learners are honored at an awards ceremony. Organizers say they have found that the top learners often end up being the company’s top performers. 

3. Have top executives lead by example 

When companies build a culture of learning, they’re 92% more likely to innovate and they’re 52% more productive. But for L&D efforts to succeed, company leaders can’t just say they are important — they need to show that they are a core part of the organization’s ethos and ecosystem. 

At Pixar, for example, everyone gets involved in Pixar University, a series of in-house training courses. Employees can take classes that are relevant to the animation industry (such as screenwriting and sculpting) or just for fun (such as Pilates and yoga.) Even top executives join in: “[It] helps reinforce the mindset that we’re all learning and it’s fun to learn together,” says Pixar cofounder Ed Catmull. 

When the top brass demonstrates its commitment to learning, employees listen. For example, Econet Wireless COO Fayaz King made a video message personally explaining the company’s upskilling goals and the value of its LinkedIn Learning strategy. Two months later, 94% of employees were using the platform — most of them for at least four hours per month.

4. Find learning formats that fit people’s schedules and interests 

People learn in different ways and have a variety of scheduling challenges. By offering learning opportunities that are varied enough to match personal preferences and flexible enough to accommodate individual schedules, companies make it possible for employees to utilize them. 

 Microlearning — or breaking educational material into short, on-demand snippets for easy access and at any pace — can help. At Cisco, employees preparing for certification exams found information packed in the dense training materials difficult to retain. So the company created a microlearning video series to give quick overviews of key concepts in just a few minutes. The bite-size collection made it easier for everyone to digest the details they needed.

Adding some creativity can make learning more palatable too. For example, to help healthcare professionals learn how to better treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), The Game Agency developed Dr. Neb, a comic-book style interactive game featuring virtual conversations between doctors and patients. 

5. Connect professional learning to personal goals

“Progress toward career goals” is the No. 1 motivation for employees to learn, according to LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report.

Amy Williams, head of performance development for Austin International, says people tend to be more motivated by training when they understand why they are doing it. The company offers monthly coaching to connect educational programs to personal goals and broader company objectives. Amy says connecting individual development plans to things like company recognition and pay raises has motivated people to take steps forward in learning new skills.

With a push toward upskilling, companies are encouraging employees to pursue training in skills beyond their current roles and for new positions they may want to try. When employees know how the company is evolving, they can focus on developing the skills that allow them to contribute to that transformation. 

Final thoughts

It can be difficult for people to prioritize learning and development when they already feel like their schedules are stretched to the limit. But the skills and knowledge gained can be transformational for both employee and employer. 

To motivate their teams to make time for L&D opportunities, companies can offer rewards and recognition or foster engagement through competition. Embedding the value of learning into company culture can encourage people to participate, while offering flexible formats and connecting personal development to professional goals can keep them on track. These steps can help push L&D efforts higher on employee to-do lists, driving innovation and productivity along the way.