New employee learning model is securing Ragn-Sells future

– As employers, we need to create conditions for continuous learning and development that ensure everyone at Ragn-Sells has relevant skills at an ever-faster pace of development. Increasing digitalisation and the need to learn in proximity to the tasks performed prompted us to fit learning opportunities into the work, explains Kristina Eklund Nielsen, Head of Ragn-Sells Academy.

Establishing a culture of learning

In order to lay the foundation of competencies and expertise necessary for future success, Ragn-Sells needs to enable its employees to develop their skills and grow professionally within the company. And to do that, Ragn-Sells must become a learning organisation, a company that facilitates a culture of learning to be a more competitive business. Ragn-Sells Academy is the engine of that ongoing transformation, which took a major step forward in 2021 by adapting to a new learning model.

Traditional education models are not always effective in workplace learning. The participants often find it difficult to actually apply the new knowledge gained, struggling to create new behaviours and habits afterwards. Research shows that only 1 in 6 participants succeed in transforming their new knowledge into practice from learning opportunities based on traditional education models.

We need to create conditions for continuous learning and development that ensure everyone at Ragn-Sells has relevant skills

Kristina Eklund Nielsen, Head of Ragn-Sells Academy

A learning journey model that inspires commitment

Ragn-Sells Academy adopted a learning journey model to overcome the shortcomings of more traditional education models, and all its learning opportunities and initiatives are now based on the concept. In a learning journey-based initiative, whether upskilling or reskilling, a series of interactions and content are arranged to ingrain the new knowledge and skills into employees’ actions.

– A major advantage of a learning journey model is that it has been designed to achieve sustainable behaviours and improved performance in the most effective way, says Linda Haavisto, Project Manager at Ragn-Sells Academy.

This means strategies now include tools and interactions before, during, and after a skill development initiative or learning opportunity to guarantee the new ability is adopted. It also means individual employees play a role in further development by acting as a representative and sharing their knowledge and experiences.

In the model, participants follow a clear path of committing to the learning journey, building a knowledge base, developing and practising skills, and strengthening results. Through this framework, as many as 5 out of every 6 participants successfully apply the new knowledge they gain through Ragn-Sells Academy.

The “Sustainable Learning at Ragn-Sells" illustration below depicts the process of Ragn-Sells Academy. In order to follow a clear learning journey, Ragn-Sells Academy develops templates for interactions and methods of support that help participants review results and effects, understand the business case, appreciate tasks critical to the operation, and retain the objectives of the coursework.

– Our approach to becoming a learning organisation is ongoing. But the increased pace of development in recent years has intensified our work in that direction, says Nielsen.