Culture by Design: Shaping a Learning Ecosystem That Works for Everyone

The session helps L&D professionals move beyond the “more courses” trap and design the systems, signals, and everyday behaviors that create a real learning culture. Participants will leave with a practical diagnostic playbook and small experiments they can use right away.

Transcript

1. trainlikeamarketer.com Shaping a Learning Ecosystem trainlikeamarketer.com Bianca Baumann & Mike Taylor that works for everyone
2. trainlikeamarketer.com Bianca Baumann Mike Taylor
3. trainlikeamarketer.com More Courses ≠ Better Performance
4. trainlikeamarketer.com
5. trainlikeamarketer.com How many of you have been Sarah?
6. trainlikeamarketer.com Discussion How do you create meaningful learning culture that works for everyone?
7. Game Plan 02 03 01 The Foundation Nobody Laid What Good Looks Like Power to the Learners
8. The Foundation Nobody Laid 1 What happens by accident is usually the easiest-not the best.
9. trainlikeamarketer.com The Gap What Leadership Says • “We value learning" • "Growth is a priority" • "We invest in our people" • What Employees See • "I don't have time" • "No one notices" • "It's not in my goals" What Leadership Says What Employees Say That’s not a communication problem. It’s a design problem
10. trainlikeamarketer.com What is culture? “How we do things around here”
11. trainlikeamarketer.com Discussion What does culture mean for learning?
12. Repeatable behaviors The systems that reward them Learning Culture Repeatable behaviors The systems that reward them
13. “If the system doesn't reward learning, learning won't happen — no matter how many times you put it in a PowerPoint.” trainlikeamarketer.com
14. trainlikeamarketer.com What you reward... ...is what you get.
15. trainlikeamarketer.com Learning culture is directly tied to engagement and retention. 4.3x more likely to be engaged at work 62% less likely to experience burnout Employees who feel connected to org culture Gallup
16. Culture vs. Ecosystem trainlikeamarketer.com CULTURE What people repeatedly do ECOSYSTEM The environment where culture lives
17. trainlikeamarketer.com Learning Ecosystem Work Work Environment Worker
18. Which of these three does your organization invest in most — and which does it neglect? Work Work Environment Worker
19. Great Intentions, Broken Ecosystem Both have to work. trainlikeamarketer.com Great culture intentions Broken ecosystem
20. trainlikeamarketer.com Playbook Six dimension diagnostic Use this playbook as a tool for self-reflection and organizational design. • Assess maturity across six key cultural dimensions • Focus on systemic growth rather than individual scores • Identify areas where your ecosystem supports or hinders learning
21. Dimension 1: Access Can people get to learning when they actually need it? Access is the foundation of a learning culture. Right time. Right format. Right place. trainlikeamarketer.com Does your LMS help or hurt this dimension?
22. Dimension 2: Friction/Ease How hard does your org make it to learn something? Friction kills momentum. Every additional barrier reduces the likelihood of engagement. Every extra click is a reason to quit. trainlikeamarketer.com
23. Dimension 3: Rewarded vs. Punished What does the behavior of your managers actually tell you? Culture is defined by what is incentivized. If curiosity is penalized with more work, it will cease. What you permit, you promote. trainlikeamarketer.com
24. Dimension 4: Where Learning Happens Before work Preparation, setting intentions, and accessing foundational resources. During work On-the-job application, workflow learning, and peer collaboration. After work Reflection, formal training, and deep-dive skill development. trainlikeamarketer.com
25. trainlikeamarketer.com Dimension 5: Who Creates Knowledge Just L&D Knowledge is centralized and pushed top-down by specialists. “Chosen” few Selected subject matter experts or high performers contribute. Everyone A collaborative ecosystem where every worker is a contributor.
26. Dimension 6: Content Retirement Are you adding content without ever removing? A cluttered ecosystem is a broken one. trainlikeamarketer.com
27. trainlikeamarketer.com Cultural Conditions Safe Space Psychological safety allows team members to speak up without fear of retribution. Curiosity Encouraging questions and a desire to understand 'why' fuels continuous learning. Experimentation Testing new ideas and learning from failure is core to growth and innovation.
28. trainlikeamarketer.com Activity 1. Score your org on each dimension 2. Write one piece of evidence for each 3. Circle the biggest crack in the foundation 4. Compare notes with a partner
29. trainlikeamarketer.com trainlikeamarketer.com Where is the crack? LET’S DEBRIEF: What scored lowest in your assessment? What is being rewarded that actually hurts the learning process? What is the one condition you would commit to changing first?
30. trainlikeamarketer.com Most organizations don’t lack learning. They lack the conditions that help learning spread, stick, and matter.
31. What The Best Orgs Already Know 2
32. trainlikeamarketer.com trainlikeamarketer.com Culture Enablers Learning in the flow of work & 5 Moments of Need Culture aligned to business outcomes Rewards and Recognition
33. trainlikeamarketer.com Learning isn’t something that happens before or after work. It happens as part of work.
34. trainlikeamarketer.com How many of you have a formal strategy for learning in the flow of work?
35. 02 03 04 05 01 trainlikeamarketer.com 5 Moments of Need Learn something for the first time Learn more of something Apply & refine what you learned Adjust to change React to failure
36. trainlikeamarketer.com Learning as Integrated Practice “Through Microsoft Viva Learning, employees access relevant content without leaving the tools they already work in. The company describes this as the difference between being a "know-it-all" and becoming a "learn-it-all" culture — a deliberate shift in identity, not just tooling.”
37. trainlikeamarketer.com How are you integrating learning in the flow of work today?
38. trainlikeamarketer.com The metric that matters is behavior change and performance impact not completion rates.
39. trainlikeamarketer.com Culture signal: What does leadership celebrate?
40. Business Impact 1.5x Companies that integrate learning into their business strategy are 1.5 times more likely to achieve their organizational objectives. 57% Companies with strong learning cultures enjoy 57% higher retention compared to the baseline. trainlikeamarketer.com McKinsey, 2023
41. trainlikeamarketer.com Culture is defined by what gets rewarded and what gets ignored.
42. trainlikeamarketer.com If curiosity, knowledge- sharing, and experimentation aren't visibly recognized, they don't become repeatable behaviors
43. trainlikeamarketer.com trainlikeamarketer.com Rewards & Recognition The Southwest Standard Southwest Airlines has held the fewest customer complaints of any major airline for over 18 consecutive years and remained profitable for over 31 years. Built into the Daily Fabric • Managers coach to values • Leaders model behavior publicly • Curiosity is acknowledged, not just performance
44. trainlikeamarketer.com Activity Discuss which enabler is strongest in your organization, which is most absent, and name one your org is missing entirely — add it to your playbook.
45. trainlikeamarketer.com trainlikeamarketer.com What is your missing enabler? LET’S DEBRIEF:
46. Power to the Learners 3
47. trainlikeamarketer.com Is our job to create learning, or enable the conditions for learning to happen?
48. trainlikeamarketer.com Learning Conditions Framework Individual Crowdsourced Content Working Out Loud Relational Peer-to-Peer Learning Systemic Champions
49. Crowdsourced Content Your audience helps you create content. Also known as user- generated content. trainlikeamarketer.com
50. trainlikeamarketer.com "Your people already know things your courses don't."
51. We’re not the only source of knowledge. Bosch Tube · Employee Video Library Thousands of how-to videos created by workers, for workers. L&D curates and surfaces. They stopped building most of it themselves. trainlikeamarketer.com
52. trainlikeamarketer.com 1 2 3 4 How to Get Started Pick 1 high- friction process Where people already help each other informally Ask 2-3 experts to record A 2-3 minute video on their phone Post it where work happens Teams, Slack, Intranet (Not the LMS) Watch who engages Those people are your next contributors
53. trainlikeamarketer.com You're not just creating content. You're building a community that creates content for you.
54. Working Out Loud Narrating your work as it happens is a win for everyone! trainlikeamarketer.com
55. Working Out Loud Relationships Purposeful Discover Generosity Visible Work Growth Mindset John Stepper
56. Starts With Two Habits Visible Work Generosity
57. Super Simple 4-5 people 1 hour /week 12 weeks Peer led
58. Low Cost & Proven at Scale Basically, Free to Start Used at Scale workingoutloud.com
59. trainlikeamarketer.com 1 2 3 4 How to Get Started Post an Update • Post one work- in-progress update today. • A decision you made. • A problem .you're solving. Tag Colleagues • Tag the people whose work connects to yours. • Not to ask for help - just to make it .visible Recruit a WOL Circle • Recruit 4 colleagues WOL Circle. • Use Stepper’s free guide workingoutloud.com Measure Differently • Count contributions, connections made, and problems solved. • Not course completions
60. trainlikeamarketer.com Learning that no one can see can’t spread.
61. trainlikeamarketer.com Why Crowdsource Content? High employee motivation and engagement Reduces time to delivery Reduces content development costs
62. trainlikeamarketer.com “Great things are never done by one person. They’re done by a team.” - Steve Jobs
63. trainlikeamarketer.com Crowdsourcing in Action Results: Ownership Shift Learning ownership shifted directly to employees. 90%+ Growth Increase in peer-to-peer learning content access. Agile Culture Reinforced the “unbossed” mindset and agile culture. Novartis empowered employees to create and contribute to internal knowledge channels, from clinical research updates to people leadership tips.
64. trainlikeamarketer.com Crowdsourcing in Action Novartis empowered employees to create and contribute to internal knowledge channels, from clinical research updates to people leadership tips. Results: • Learning ownership shifted to employees • 90%+ increase in peer-to- peer learning content access • Reinforced the “unbossed” mindset and agile culture
65. trainlikeamarketer.com Peer-to-peer learning fails when it's informal by accident rather than informal by design
66. trainlikeamarketer.com Structure without scripting Make the invisible visble Re- cognition closes the loop 02 03 01 Three Easy Steps
67. Peer-to-Peer Learning in Action The G2G Community Nearly 80% of internal training at Google is delivered through the G2G Community. Started in 2007 • 25,000+ learners • 2,000+ active volunteer coaches 80% of internal training is Peer-to-Peer Origin Story Google's small L&D team couldn't handle a massive surge in sales hires. They asked top sales performers to step in and lead the way. trainlikeamarketer.com
68. trainlikeamarketer.com Champion & Ambassadors Modelling the desired behavior Active Advocacy Clearly articulate Intent Being informed, enabled, committed, and capable trainlikeamarketer.com
69. trainlikeamarketer.com Core Elements Enthusiastic champions who can commit time and effort Material ready to support their work on the ground Regular rhythm for discussion with them Method to recognize their efforts Providing privileged access to relevant touchpoints Regular communications
70. trainlikeamarketer.com Recruiting Champions Champions help build, grow, and sustain learning Already engaged & share the same mindset about culture Already share internally about learning Identify early adopters of new experiences Have the authority to remove barriers Nominated or volunteered
71. trainlikeamarketer.com Activity Pick a program you own, choose one tactic from this section, and sketch how you'd redesign part of it to give more power to your learners.
72. trainlikeamarketer.com trainlikeamarketer.com What would you redesign and why? LET’S DEBRIEF:
73. trainlikeamarketer.com The gap between the learning culture you have and the one your organization needs is not a training problem. It’s a design problem.
74. trainlikeamarketer.com Three Commitments What will you STOP owning? What will you START designing? What will you PROTECT, no matter what?
75. trainlikeamarketer.com Simple strategies. Real impact. A practical playbook for L&D that boosts engagement and business results. trainlikeamarketer.com