We’re social creatures, so is it any surprise that we learn better when we can be social? In fact, social technologies and social learning can improve the productivity of knowledge workers by 20-25% [14]. Huge.
In fact, companies with engaged employees achieve twice the annual net income of those without engaged employees[1]. And engaging sales employees to stay longer and perform better is a big reason why.
Unfortunately, many businesses aren’t succeeding. In 2021, the average tenure of a sales development rep was 1.8 years[6], down from 2.5 years in 2010. And when you consider a ramp-up time between three to 12 months[6],[8], this reduction is a worrying trend. The less time a sales employee stays with the organization, the greater the proportion of time spent onboarding and ramping instead of selling.
There are two strategies for mitigating this problem: Ramp sales employees faster or get them to stay longer. Of course, to really have an impact, you can do both. This will improve the percentage of time sellers spend generating revenue.
We know that engaged employees have a significantly longer tenure and are more loyal. But get this: After completing the typical onboarding process, only 29% of employees feel prepared to excel in their role[8]. Yikes.
By delivering exceptional learning, you can reduce ramp time and improve your sales team’s confidence.
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Time efficiency: With many learners on the same platform, they can learn from each other asynchronously, without needing to follow rigid instructor schedules.
Scalability: As your audience of learners increases, so does the number of experts, helpers, and content creators. If you empower learners to generate their own learning content (like articles, decks, and videos), you can save time and money on content creation.
Loyalty-building. Nothing builds loyalty like being part of a community. Social learning can naturally create a feeling of togetherness.
Of course, a social learning community should still be managed and curated. But the results are well worth it.
The benefits of social learning:
Innovation. An environment of social learning creates new opportunities for people of different skills, roles, and perspectives to interact. Those accidental serendipitous interactions can be like peanut butter and chocolate—unexpectedly wonderful. They can lead to novel idea, troubleshooting, problem-solving, design implementation, product ideas, and more. All in the absence of a formal coach or mentor.
Equitability and inclusivity.
Asynchronous social learning technologies help make everyone comfortable with learning, regardless of their extroversion, skill-level, tech-savviness, and cognitive abilities.
Make onboarding faster (and easier). New employees can kickstart their learning process by receiving informal, social onboarding from their peers.
Create a Community of Coaches: Everyone's an expert in something. So, encourage people to contribute to conversations that touch their area of expertise. Then, watch knowledge (and expertise!) spread.
Consider these opportunities
Show off your talent: Make note of contributions and celebrate them! Reward knowledge-sharing and learning engagement the same way you reward exceptional job performance. This can go a long way towards creating a culture of learning.
🎓 Ten second story: Harvard
There was a time when Harvard Business School’s online program faced low engagement and high drop-out rates. Unacceptable, especially for such a prestigious organization.
So they adopted social technology. The result? Course completions rose to 85%—from the low single digits. And learner engagement soared [15].
Finally, for an example of what exceptional social learning looks like (along with exceptional results), read about how Kiehl’s Since 1851 rolled out a global academy built around social learning.
Why you should embrace social learning and collaboration
