The Era of Flexible Learning

The era of flexible work is upon us – and there is no denying that as a result, our workplaces have changed too! Organisations now more than ever need to focus on nurturing their talent, helping them get the most out of their career, and inspiring them to reach higher levels of performance. At Hero Gaming, we focus on creating an employee experience, moving away from simply offering ‘engagement initiatives’ like free snacks or beer Fridays, and instead setting a more holistic, long-term HR strategy for our organisation. An important aspect of employee experience is carefully listening to employees’ needs and expectations; making sure that all initiatives and work spaces are aligned to their needs, the company’s values and goals. By creating an experiential organisation, we aspire to support our people to be the best versions of themselves and motivate them to dare to step into the unknown.

At Hero, we enhanced employee experience by not only re-designing our office space to cater for a Hybrid Workspace, but also by creating a learning experience which is tailored for our employees’ needs. The Hero 360 Learning Model is a flexible L&D model which was launched at the beginning of 2021 to fit our flexible working era. By introducing this model, we moved away from a one-size-fits-all approach and employees relying fully on their managers for their personal development. We empowered our employees to be in full control of their own learning goals; and our leaders act as coaches and mentors in the process, teaching valuable skills and supporting them in their growth and learning path. Introducing initiatives to enhance our people’s skills and increase their ability to achieve their own personal goals in turn builds a strong employee experience, strengthens our learning culture, and spreads loyalty and trust.

As Steve Jobs said, “Learn continually – there’s always ‘one more thing’ to learn!” and this is the exact mindset we aim to instill in all our employees. So how do we encourage learning at Hero Gaming? And how does the Hero 360 Learning Model work? We’re very strong believers in the 70-20-10 Rule whereby 10% of learning comes from training courses, 20% from mentoring and coaching, and 70% from on-the-job experiences and challenges. Our learning model incorporates 4 main types of learning:

1. Mentorship 🤝

Mentorship is key to individual development. We encourage employees to spend time during their working day with someone with expertise in an area they want to learn more about. We also invest in business coaching for our leaders and key employees, which can help in creating a clearer vision for personal development, get external actionable feedback, and help emphasize your strengths.

2. Internal Knowledge Sharing 🤓

Employees can connect with different areas of the business (Finance, Marketing, Operations, Tech, Design, etc.) and focus on gaining more knowledge in areas of the business which they work closely with and have an interest in learning more about. HEROTalks (internal keynote speeches) facilitate internal knowledge sharing. But for some more in-depth knowledge, they can get in touch with their peers who specialize in skill areas they want to build. This way, they have the opportunity to gain more hands-on knowledge and advance their skill set.We also have structured onboarding plans, buddy system and orientation day to help our new heroes increase their knowledge of our business and industry.

3. Individual Growth 💪

Career development and learning are almost two times more important than compensation and benefits, so we encourage our employees to take control of their own individual growth. Hero Gaming is committed to investing in the development of our people, and we encourage our managers and employees to establish and discuss learning goals on the job and during 1:1s – for immediate feedback and to keep track of progress.

4. Online Learning & Classroom Based Training 📚

Training can play an important part in attaining personal growth and expanding one’s knowledge. Whether it is a classroom-based course, online training programme or microlearning, we encourage our employees to choose a learning path which best suits their personal learning style.

At Hero Gaming, we truly believe in investing in personal development and active learning, and encourage our employees to blend this with our work. We support our employees every step of the way, and our flexible learning model really works as a guide to take ownership of this development. Our approach starts from self-reflection, which helps our employees gain a deeper understanding of the way they view work, their contributions to their team and areas they want to develop in. Here are some self-reflective questions which you can ask yourself and may help you choose the right learning path for the next step in your career. 

• What motivates you the most at work?
• How have you contributed to reaching your team’s objectives?
• What is one skill that is harder for you that you could work on?
• How would you like to use your strengths in the future?
• Where do you want to be in 1-2 years?

Learning something new is intrinsically already something hard to do. One needs to be truly motivated and engaged in the type of learning, course or programme they choose, and above all, enjoy the learning experience and understand its impact on their personal development.

The Hero 360 Learning Model has allowed us to embrace flexibility and drive innovative approaches to learning. Flexible learning has had a positive effect on our employee experience and talent development.  Following the launch of our learning model, we’ve not only seen an increase in learning requests, but also a strong diversity in adoption of learning methods. We’ve also seen enhanced knowledge sharing across the organisation, which has helped us adapt well to the new flexible way of working. Employee experience and talent development in 2021 and beyond requires a tailored, personalised approach. It’s now clear that the hybrid and flexible working model is here to stay, so we really need to continue building improved talent strategy for our company and employees to thrive in the future.

Has Hero Gaming’s approach to learning encouraged you to start learning something new? ☺️