Lifelong Learning - development at every stage of life is no longer a hobby but a necessity

"The skills gap is a serious problem in the labour market. In order to minimise its consequences, both employers and employees need to demonstrate an open-minded approach - an understanding that the process of learning and developing skills continues throughout life, at every stage of one's career." - highlights Alex Shteingardt, CEO of Hays Poland in the report 'Professional development - employee expectations and company opportunities' .

According to the report: for 93% of companies and their organisational cultures, continuous learning is at least important. 89% of employees are eager to acquire new skills and 69% declare that their current role requires them to acquire new knowledge practically all the time. We bet you are in these groups too!

But what is Lifelong Learning and why is it so important?

In the shortest terms, it can be defined as lifelong learning, i.e. a process of continuous acquisition of new skills, knowledge and competences that lasts a lifetime. In the face of the technological revolution, the demands of the labour market and the business needs of companies, employee education has become their inseparable 'companion'.

The resource of skilled and open to the 'new' workforce is now key for companies to maintain their market leadership and gain a competitive advantage. On the other hand, employees who constantly broaden their horizons are definitely more flexible, ready for challenges, more innovative in their approach to work and committed to the well-being of the organisation. Last but not least, for the employees themselves, Lifelong Learning is also an opportunity for personal development, including passions, building a stronger sense of self-esteem, openness to transformation, a chance for reskilling - if necessary for the organisation and thus often for promotion. This is why training and development programmes are one of the most sought-after non-wage benefits.

Development can have more than one face... first and foremost, we learn as we go along, so don't be afraid to take on new projects. Mentoring and peer-to-peer learning, i.e. sharing knowledge among a team or experts, are very popular. There are also traditional, tried-and-tested learning methods: classroom training, workshops, webinars, conferences, postgraduate or MBA programmes. The rapid development of technology in recent years has brought many flexible options, ideal for busy people - they can adapt learning to their needs, time, professional and life commitments. E-learning platforms have greatly democratised our access to valuable educational resources.

"For several years now, e-learning has enabled virtually unlimited access to knowledge in almost every area. Online Professional Development is a comprehensive range of online training courses that focus on areas that are sensitive to the business and the challenges it faces. Our experts have prepared short training courses, for employers and employees, allowing them to develop technical, business and managerial skills, in a convenient anytime anywhere format, at a very accessible price," - says Kamila Izdebska, Head of BPP Professional Education in Poland.

BPP Professional Education, part of the international education group BPP, has extensive experience in supporting the Learning & Development strategies of many companies, especially in the development of finance, accounting and management professionals.

Kamila Izdebska assures: "We are always ready to quickly and professionally prepare a training programme, tailored to the needs of the organisation. Online Professional Development offers as many as 180 topics. As we listen carefully to our corporate partners and analyse the market, the base of training modules will continue to grow."

The online training programmes developed by BPP specialists prepare not only for well-known international professional qualifications such as ACCA, CGMA or CFA. It is worth mentioning special packages to support financiers in adapting to the changing reality, such as Introduction to digital age, GDPR course pack, i.e. everything you need to know RODO and the very interesting Finance Partnering package. A financier today is first and foremost a business partner for their organisation, having a great impact on its development and the values it creates, so they must have relevant skills.

"Every new skill is an investment in our future, and the learning process itself can provide a lot of satisfaction and the feeling of taking an important step forward," Kamila Izdebska adds in conclusion.

Article also published on focusonbusiness.eu/en/.