Lifelong Learning: a multi-faceted concept

Do those who graduated ten years ago have the skills to deal with the current world of work? It depends. The world is moving at unprecedented speed, with discoveries and inventions revolutionising our daily lives from one year to the next, and those who stop for a moment are lost. In their own sphere, everyone needs a culture in which lifelong learning is the foundation for a good professional career: whether you work in catering or finance, developing new skills and updating existing ones is now more important than ever.

Lifelong learning consists of any activity undertaken by persons in a formal or informal manner during the various stages of life in order to improve their knowledge, skills and abilities, from a personal, civic, social and employment perspective” (Italian Law 92 of 28.06.2012, article 4, para. 51).

We never stop learning – this is the premise we must start out from in order to describe what is defined as lifelong learning: a concept which should not be limited to the world of work but should rather, considering its important ties both at a social and economic level, find room in any environment to the point where it should be considered a right and duty of every citizen. Lifelong learning indeed presupposes that an individual's education and training does not end with secondary school or a university degree, but continues throughout their life, with changing form and dynamics, letting the individual decide the timeframes, topics and methods of training. Lifelong learning pathways allow people to develop the cross-cutting skills required to adapt to new and constantly changing situations, and represent the only way to become competent and competitive professionals in the world of work. For these reasons, despite often being considered an individual choice, lifelong learning should be of interest to companies and all stakeholders.

Whether we are talking about an independent pathway or one created within the context of the company, lifelong learning substantially takes on two forms:

• Upskilling. Training aimed at improving skills in order to keep up to date and grow within a specific work environment: this type of learning allows professionals to remain relevant in the labour market, adapting to new technologies and sector changes, and allows companies to increase their productivity and the innovative spirit of their employees.
• Reskilling. A training path with the goal of changing work role or area by acquiring expertise, including within the same company. It allows professionals and the organisation itself to keep pace with sudden changes by redistributing and updating competences.

A culture based on lifelong learning is the ideal response to new needs and requirements from workers, who are ever-increasingly focused on finding a workplace which promotes their personal and professional growth. Investing in training never leads to negative effects – on the contrary, it allows the construction of a competitive company which is able to keep pace with continuous innovations and train a motivated, engaged team which is able to innovate. Leaders should take on the role of promoters of a culture focused on lifelong learning by constructing a safe workplace where employees feel comfortable experimenting with new things, providing constructive feedback and not letting themselves be limited by traditional learning and training methods. This approach can help to:

• Attract: offering solid lifelong learning opportunities increases the prospects of attracting the best talent.
• Build loyalty: lifelong learning is an investment both for the company, in terms of time and money, and for employees, in terms of commitment and time. This recognition of reciprocal value increases loyalty to the organisation, reducing the probability of employees deciding to leave. 
• Savings: continuously taking on new employees in order to keep pace with rapid innovation is not a strategy which is sustainable in the long term. Reducing turnover rates by investing in existing employees allows companies to make savings in terms of recruiting and onboarding costs.

A company's employees are not the only ones who experience the culture of learning first-hand – a good leader is humble in terms of judging their own abilities and continuously tries to improve them, keep informed and receive training in order to stand as an example. Constructing your own training pathway when you are the head of an organisation has three main advantages, in addition to personal benefits:

• Respect: participating in courses, workshops and conferences is a good way to show your team your commitment and desire to improve and learn new things, all characteristics which increase the probability of earning people's respect.
• Inspiration: sharing the information learned during a workshop or course with your team could incentivise other people to take part and implement their own competences.
• Flexibility: participating first-hand in learning opportunities is a demonstration of flexibility and open-mindedness which could incentivise employees to propose new tools and ideas, stimulating innovation.

Courses, workshops and conferences represent excellent opportunities for improving your own competences and comparing notes with people in your own sector, all contexts which facilitate sharing ideas and which are able not only to provide training, but also to create open minds and encourage innovation. Regardless of the sector, role and professional level, adopting a lifelong learning-based approach provides benefits to the person, to the company, and more broadly, even to society, the economy and culture as a whole.