What is Social Learning?

Humans crave human interaction, and because of that learning becomes more engaging when social features are included. As a result, we can enjoy increased motivation along with a whole host of other benefits which we can use to our advantage in a social learning setting.

Adding social learning into employee training or onboarding programs is pretty easy. It becomes even easier when you use the right social learning platform for your organization. This is why companies all over the globe are readjusting their online training programs to incorporate more social learning to increase the effectiveness of employee training and development. 

But what exactly is social learning and what are its benefits? Let’s explore. 

What is social learning?

The social learning theory was created by Albert Bandura to explain how important it is to observe, model and imitate the behaviors, attitudes and emotional reactions of others. This concept recognizes that as humans we automatically and instinctively implement this way of learning and socializing from childhood in order to find our place in the world and in society. 

Fundamental beliefs such as gender roles, religion, political views and self-worth are all initially shaped through social learning and this occurs through interacting and observing those around us and how they react to different opinions. 

Bandura’s social learning theory highlighted that learning becomes extremely effective when it occurs in environments where other people are present. We not only learn well through observing others, but also with others. This is because social learning typically encourages discussion and knowledge sharing. Studies show that sharing and collaboration in the workplace can help improve efficiency and productivity. 

Bandura states that a majority of human behaviour is learned through observational learning, i.e. from observing others. As an individual observes others, they then are able to form an idea of how new behaviors can be performed, and later on this information serves as a guide for action. 

So, humans best learn new things by watching how others do them, and then mimicking their behavior. Bandura also recognized that our mental state affects how much we learn. He said that if we are guided by intrinsic motivations then we will be more motivated to learn. For example, a sense of pride due to approval from our peers can be an intrinsic motivator. Therefore, social learning with others increases our levels of engagement due to our desire to feel valued and related to. 

Now that we have an understanding of what exactly makes up social learning, let’s move onto its benefits in the workplace.

Benefits of Social Learning

What benefits can employees, learning teams and managers expect from implementing social learning at their workplace? 

Encourages More Communication

Asking questions and testing different solutions are ways employees learn new skills most effectively. With social learning, there is no barrier to gaining new knowledge as you can ask a question any time, instead of needing to wait for training sessions in order to progress further. 

Learning at Different Paces

Not every employee will learn skills or complete tasks at the same pace. It’s more likely that they will all have different styles of learning as well. By having coworkers available to answer questions any time of the day as they come up, and by having access to online training, employees will be able to learn at their own comfortable pace without feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. 

Helps Maintain Connections While Working Remotely

Our modern workplaces have definitely gone through some major changes in the past year. Namely, remote work becoming the standard and face-to-face interactions becoming rare. However, in an employee survey conducted by Gartner, it revealed that around 41% of employees do not feel connected to their colleagues while working remotely.

Social learning can help relieve this issue. You can see it working more clearly when it comes to social media. For instance, a team member can upload a link or photo on a social feed where others can interact with it. These easy interactions can help build stronger relationships between team members and help keep everyone informed.

Cultivates a Culture of Knowledge Sharing

Any organization can benefit from creating a culture of knowledge sharing. In fact, it’s a pretty essential component of growth. Research shows that Fortune 500 companies lose an average of $31.5 billion each year due to loss of intellectual capital. 

Social learning encourages your employees to bounce ideas off of each other to gain different viewpoints, and allows for the collection of user-generated content.

Benefits of knowledge sharing include increased creativity, learning and performance. It can also help positively impact wellbeing and workplace satisfaction. Plus, 74% of companies estimate that creating a knowledge sharing culture at work contributes to a boost in productivity by up to 40%.

Increases Engagement

Arguably one of the important factors of running a successful organization is keeping engagement levels up. Thankfully, social learning increases engagement and makes learning more enjoyable while promoting increased levels of learner participation. 

Unengaged employees decrease levels of retention, productivity and even cost the company money. The research shows that an unproductive and unengaged workforce costs an average of $3400 for every $10,000 of their salary. 

Adding social learning features to your employee training and onboarding processes can help enhance engagement levels and avoid these issues altogether. 

Level Up Your Team With 1Huddle

Organizations these days need to keep up with the latest result-oriented training strategies to keep their employees engaged and increase their performance. By implementing more elements of social learning throughout the workplace you can reap all of these benefits and make the learning process for your employees more effective. 

1Huddle can help you and your team stay ahead of the learning curve. We offer cloud-based employee gamification software that can easily be updated using social learning strategies. You can customize your content for a seamless experience and all of your employees will be able to access their training anywhere, anytime and at the push of a button. You can use our game platform to measure their performance and make key decisions on where you should take your gamification strategy next. 

Do you want to learn more about how 1Huddle can help you level up your own workforce? Talk to us today.