8 Learning Organization Examples and How to Create One

Organizational learning is more than just a program in your organization — it's an integral part of your company culture and your day-to-day operations. A recent Gartner survey of HR leaders found that learning and development (L&D) is the second-highest investment priority, after HR technology.

In this article, we'll explore some examples of successful learning organizations that have mastered L&D. We'll unpack the companies' strategies and identify what businesses like yours can learn from them, to develop your own approach based on the key principles of learning organizations.

What is a learning organization?

A learning organization is a company that inspires continuous learning and transformation in its employees to stay competitive. A learning culture is embedded in its DNA — adopted, driven, modeled by the CEO and senior management.

A successful learning organization implements organizational learning: the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within the organization. This enables all employees to continue to learn and expand their knowledge and skill sets to solve problems to benefit their company, their clients, and themselves.

The concept of a learning organization was popularized by Peter Senge, an MIT professor.

Examples of top learning organizations

Microsoft

Highlight: Range of training resources available Microsoft has seen tremendous growth over the last decade, since Satya Nadella was appointed CEO in 2014 (and also Executive Chairman in 2021). Microsoft's strength as a learning organization is in its talented employees from all walks of life and in a culture that fosters a growth mindset, encouraging everyone to continue learning and become a better version of themselves.

Microsoft sees all its employees as learners, not people who have nothing to learn. They empower people to seek new ideas, think outside the box, and believe that training is much more than formal education. The organization gives its employees with personalized access to learning events and Microsoft Learn, an online upskilling portal.

For more insights into Microsoft's L&D strategy, check out our case study on employee development and training at Microsoft.

Nintendo

Highlight: Creating a fun environment that breeds learning

Nintendo is a gaming giant founded in Japan over 100 years ago. The company has truly stood the test of time, and its products, like its company culture, are unique. They believe in working hard, but emphasize playing just as hard. There's an emphasis on community, fun, and relaxation, which foster an enjoyable environment where some of the best ideas and lessons happen. There are numerous community outreach events designed to make a difference in the community and to give employees a sense of belonging in a family that values each individual.

Nintendo believes in giving all employees a voice and taking the time to see things from each other's perspectives, which can open employees' thinking to see things in a new way and a new light. In 'CSR Information: Putting Smiles on the Faces of Everyone Nintendo Touches', the organization outlines its commitment to 'creating and maintaining an environment where all employees can take advantage of their strengths and realize their maximum potential.'

Tesla

Highlight: What's special: Innovative thinking is encouraged.

Tesla is a fast-growing multinational company, primarily known for its electric vehicles. It is revolutionizing the world's transition to sustainable energy. Led by Elon Musk, this is no ordinary company. Tesla doesn't like to operate within the confines of what is considered normal, and encourages employees to contribute new ideas, solutions, and innovations. Much of what they do and how they do it contradicts the norm.

Employees are free to leave or skip meetings if they believe they'll be more productive at their desks. Employees aren't restricted by strict rules and are encouraged to find different and better ways to complete their work as long, as their goals are met.

Tesla employees are given a great deal of autonomy, trust, and responsibility and are supported to make the right decisions. This lets employees think for themselves and outside of the box, rather than just being told what to do by management.

Tesla has six major corporate culture features:

• Move fast – moving and reacting quickly to changing environments and trends
• Do the impossible – thinking outside the box and never saying something is impossible
• Constantly innovate – continously learning and conducting ongoing research
• Reason from First Principles- identifying root problems to fix challenges
• Think like owners – taking responsibility and accountability.
• We are all in – working towards a common goal with teamwork and togetherness

Squarespace

Highlight: Building a great environment that allows people to flourish

Squarespace believes in empowering its employees within an inclusive and supportive environment, to help them learn and succeed from the very beginning of their employee journey. The majority of employees enjoy working at Squarespace and value the meaningful career advancement opportunities it provides. As a result, they feel invested in the organization and motivated to contribute and add value through their skills, perspectives, and ideas.

The Coca-Cola Company

Highlight: Embracing failures as a stepping stone for growth

The Coca-Cola Company has withstood the test of time and remains a market-dominating, thriving multinational. The organization needed to adapt, innovate, and stay relevant with their product offering, branding, and employee skills sets. They know that building their workers' competencies is the key to innovation and staying competitive.

The organization believes that failure should be embraced, rather than feared, as it demonstrates effort, progression, and a desire and willingness to move forward. This is exactly what a growth mindset is: accepting failures as lessons and opportunities to start again, start over, and do things better. Because of this culture, The Coca-Cola Company has stayed ahead of its competition and maintains a significant market share.

Google

Highlight: A business that values its employees

Tech giant, Google, is one of the leading learning organizations in the world. It's an innovative and forward-thinking company with a strong culture that prioritizes its employees. Google believes that new ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere. They don't consider that only high-level managers can contribute valuable ideas, thoughts, and solutions to the table.

Google fosters growth in all of its employees and their ability to solve problems in new and creative ways. Google believes that growth occurs when you create a healthy environment where people feel safe expressing themselves.

There are 4 core pillars which make up Google's learning philosophy:

1. Learning is a process
2. Learning happens in real life
3. Learning is personal
4. Learning is social

Hiring the right people is crucial, but allowing those people to grow and develop in their current roles is even more critical. Otherwise, they'll never fully realize their potential.

Google has a flexible policy regarding working hours and remote and hybrid work, prioritizing giving employees the freedom and space required to deliver optimal results. Google promotes curiosity and risk-taking because these are frequently the catalysts for generating new ideas and better ways of working and learning.

NVIDIA

Highlight: A problem-solving-focused company with an emphasis on agility

NVIDIA is a multinational tech organization with a commitment to solve the problems of the future, today. As a world-leader in AI Computing, NVIDIA aims to foster an environment where employees can find their specialism or niche through agile learning practices. For example, employees aren't confined to a single role, method, or department, and their overall well-being is considered essential for peak performance.

Problem-solving and optimal agility underpin the company's focus and culture. Employees are encouraged to think outside the box and proactively tackle anticipated challenges. Combined with NVIDIA cutting-edge technology, this creates an environment that supports learning, growth, and innovation.

Meta

Highlight: Prioritizing on-the-job learning and hands-on coaching

Meta (formerly Facebook) has grown into a social media behemoth since its inception in 2004. The conglomerate values on-the-job learning, coaching, and mentorship over formal, classroom-led education. They view feedback as a continuous process, and take a very hands-on approach to progression, learning, and development.

Meta has developed a coaching circle program which serves as a strong support mechanism for continuous feedback and underpins their L&D framework. Cross-company coaching circles place employees at the forefront of learning and coaching others. Meta's coaching circle participants are asked to maintain confidentiality, to encourage employees to freely express themselves without fear of repercussions, and to ask the questions which power continuous learning.

Hubspot

Highlight: Focuses on building a company they love

Hubspot devotes significant resources to building a great culture, which they view as vital to learning and development. Their goals are to hire the best talent, and to allow their existing employees to achieve their full potential within the organization.

Hubspot's culture code states that everyone has access to everyone, regardless of organizational level. This benefits L&D by introducing employees to a wider range of perspectives. The code also outlines that an employee's level of influence isn't determined by their seniority or title, which empowers everyone to lead in their capacity.

The organization maintains that power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it. As such, one person's breakthrough in solving a problem or creating something impactful can benefit others and expand employees' ways of thinking and operating. Hubspot also avoids penalizing employees for their errors, which fosters a working environment where workers feel able to risk making a mistake, rather than not trying at all.

What makes a learning organization?

Building a thriving learning organization takes more than enrolling your staff in training programs. It requires adopting a learning culture with support from leadership and significant investment in resources.

According to Peter Senge, learning organizations are skilled across five disciplines. You can become a learning organization by incorporating these into your strategy and day-to-day operations:

• Systemic thinking
• Personal mastery
• Mental models
• Shared vision
• Team learning

Systemic thinking

When companies focus on individual components rather than the whole picture, they may fail to see their organization as a dynamic process. Rather than making the changes required to address the underlying cause of an issue, they might seek a quick and inadequate or unsustainable fix.

By contrast, Senge states that learning organizations are skilled in systemic thinking, also known as systems thinking. This problem-solving framework for recognizing patterns and connections allows you to make strategic decisions based on both the immediate and potential longer-term implications.

Personal mastery

While individual learning doesn't guarantee organizational learning, no organizational learning can occur without it. As a result, learning organizations promote the value of continuous growth, and focus on applying practical knowledge and skills to real-life scenarios.

People with a high level of personal mastery are acutely aware of their own values, strengths, areas for development, and individual professional goals. They're able to consider how this aligns with your organization's mission and strategy, and the L&D opportunities it affords them.

With a platform like Deel Engage, you can support and monitor your employees' individual learning and continual professional development.

Mental models

According to Senge, mental models are deeply-ingrained assumptions or beliefs that influence how we understand and respond to the world. They can obstruct growth, change, and systemic thinking.

Employees in learning organizations evaluate and challenge their mental models to effect change for the greater good. To overcome the limitations of mental models, you can encourage your team members to test new approaches and theories to assess their validity and suggest improvements.

Shared vision

Many leaders have personal visions for the business which aren't translated into a strategic, shared vision for the organization. This can create a demotivating disconnect between the aspirations and expectations of its leaders and its employees.

A successful organization devises a shared vision from its leaders' personal visions, which empowers everyone in the organization to explain what the company wants to accomplish. This fosters commitment, motivates team members, and facilitates learning and excellence.

To frame your organization's shared vision, you should:

• Appoint a dedicated team leader who listens to the team and promotes open communication around core objectives. This can take place in formats such as webinars, regular meetings, corporate eLearning blogs, and online discussions, which empower team members to ask questions and address any concerns that are impeding their progress.
• Use a goal management software to document organizational, departmental, team, and individual goals. This helps you ensure alignment, accountability, and visibility for their contributions to the company's success.

Team learning

The first four disciplines are critical in a successful learning organization, and depend upon the final discipline—team learning. Team learning is using team members' abilities effectively to achieve the desired results.

Every employee in a successful learning organization can identify its shared learning objectives and desired outcomes, and works together to achieve them. They succeed by reflecting on where they need to improve and considering the perspectives of other team members, sharing knowledge, and learning from one another. Making mistakes is accepted as part of the process and constructive feedback is encouraged, which allows teams to collaborate to resolve problems.

Your organization can promote team learning by supporting a central knowledge management system where employees can share their expertise, skills, and access user-generated learning content, within a unified platform such as Deel.

Become a learning organization with Deel Engage

All of the companies we have analyzed are built on a foundation of continuous learning, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing, providing them with a competitive advantage.

Deel Engage, our all-in-one talent management solution, will help you create a learning organization:

• Define role-based expectations for all departments, roles, and departments in your organization—link them to competency models or company values
• Build and run engaging training programs with the training module
• Accelerate course creation with AI
• Identify your people’s strengths and areas of improvement with the feedback and performance module
• Define individual development plans aligned to organizational objectives

In additional, Deel HR, our truly global HRIS solution, is always included for free.

Book a demo to see how our solutions will help you build a learning organization and a high-performance workforce.