As an employee, expanding your skills can lead to career merit. One way of doing this is through continuous learning and development. Ongoing learning can be done in both formal and informal ways that allow you to expand your skillset to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Jean Marie Habimana, the director of operations and partnership at Ready for Reading, a local non-governmental organisation in Eastern Province says there are several ways that learning and skill development can be achieved on both the employee and employer side. This can be achieved through taking a professional course, enrolling for a masters’ degree, or taking on trainings. First and foremost, professional learning can help one perform better at their job; moreover, this can give them a better understanding of their job responsibilities and get to understand well the tasks they need to perform. This, he says at the end will help boost one’s confidence and workplace performance. Learning skills can be transferable, meaning that one can take them to their next job and throughout the rest of their career. Such skills might range from skills in leadership, communication, and collaboration to more tangible skills like learning how to use a piece of software or a specific technique. Diana Nawatti, a counsellor and educator says when engaged in ongoing learning, it first of all, gives you greater satisfaction in your current job. This, she says is possible since one is able to master the technical details and skills needed for their role, which allows them to feel better about their performance in general. In addition to this, she notes that people also feel challenged when they get an opportunity to access learning in their specific jobs. “When you feel challenged and you start aiming at working hard to achieve your goals, this also motivates you to feel encouraged and aim at accomplishing your desires and dreams,” she says. Habimana explains that almost every employee will have one or two workplace skills that can use improvement, no matter how good they already are at their job. Ongoing learning hence allows an individual to deal with their weaknesses or challenges and take their skills to the next level. “This will help improve the entire team’s productivity, and this can be experienced where members are relying on one another to complete basic work tasks,” he says. Moving forward, Nawatti says from an employee’s perspective, effective learning in the workplace can make the team more productive and highly motivated. “In a nutshell, ongoing learning helps organisations adapt to changing and increasingly competitive environments,” she adds.
