In most careers and many aspects of life, there are opportunities to develop yourself continuously as a professional and individual. By learning new skills and knowledge and improving your capabilities, you can show your peers and supervisors your dedication and commitment to self-improvement.
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Understanding how to showcase your desire and ability to learn in the workplace can help you advance your career and foster strong relationships with colleagues and managers. In this article, we discuss what willingness to learn is, outline its importance and provide a guide on how to show your motivation to learn in the workplace.
What is a willingness to learn?
Your willingness to learn refers to your desire and motivation to improve your skills, gain new knowledge and become an expert in your field. Motivation and commitment to learning suggest many character attributes and qualities, such as self-discipline, determination, self-awareness and ambition. You might frequently seek opportunities to enhance your expertise if you’re passionate about learning new skills and topics. This might be through additional work responsibilities, training and development programs or experience with unfamiliar subjects and procedures. This motivation to self-improve is often an excellent quality to possess that can gain the attention of executives and supervisors.
The importance of eagerness to learn
The desire to develop yourself can have many benefits for both your personal and professional life. It’s often an important characteristic that defines the fundamental attitude of an effective leader and ambitious individual. Below, you can explore some reasons your willingness to develop yourself can be important:
Enhances your value as an employee
If you’re willing to learn and develop yourself as a professional, managers and executives often identify you as a valuable asset to the organisation. The more you learn, the more value you can contribute to your employers and the organisation. Showcasing your desire to learn can be a great method for securing your employment, as managers may consider you a valuable team member.
Improves your versatility in the workplace
If you continuously gain new skills and develop knowledge of different processes, you can improve your versatility in the workplace. For example, if you’re a professional in a marketing department and gain an abundance of skills in different marketing functions, you can increase your responsibilities and value in the department. If you’re a versatile professional in your field, you might experience more opportunities for career advancement or even a career change.
Allows you to adapt to new situations
If you have a strong desire to learn, it often means you can learn quickly and effectively. This can be an excellent trait when adapting to new environments, technology, processes and responsibilities. For example, you’re a software developer who uses a specific application for developing and testing software. After several development projects, the organisation implements a new type of application for the team to use when developing software products. Your ability and desire to learn can help you adapt to this new application, allowing you to learn the application’s features and use the product to its maximum potential.
Improves your employability
If you’re considering finding a new job or changing careers to a different industry, your desire to learn can be an excellent attribute to enhance your employability. If you can show hiring managers your commitment and motivation to learn, they might favour you as a candidate. Some hiring managers might favour candidates who express a desire to learn over candidates who have experience and skills but have little motivation to learn. If you don’t have experience and skills in the job but have the desire to learn, it can suggest your potential to become a valuable employee.
Showcases your suitability for promotions
Depending on your current employment, the organisation might fill leadership positions through internal recruitment strategies. This means it might have succession plans and mentorship programs. If the organisation selects candidates for succession and mentoring programs, it usually evaluates candidates to identify those who’re suitable for additional responsibilities and leadership duties. The criteria for suitability might vary between organisations, but most executives and senior managers may value you as a candidate if you possess a desire and dedication to self-improvement. It’s usually a favourable trait, as self-improvement is a foundational attribute in most leaders.
Fosters positive mental health
Depending on your personality and attributes, challenging yourself continuously can lead to a sense of satisfaction, achievement and purpose. These aspects typically foster a positive mental attitude that can encourage motivation and dedication, allowing you to further develop yourself and seek new challenges. If you’re willing to learn and develop yourself, you can improve many mental and behavioural aspects that lead to an improvement in your overall well-being, such as your confidence, compassion, patience, satisfaction and joy.
How to show your desire to learn in the workplace
Some benefits of being willing to learn include benefits to your professional career, such as gaining promotions, impressing supervisors and showing suitability for leadership positions. It’s often important, though, to understand how to showcase your desire to learn in the workplace, allowing your supervisors and colleagues to identify your strength. Below, you can find a helpful guide on how to show your desire to learn in the workplace:
1. Ask questions
If you regularly ask questions, it can show your natural curiosity and desire to understand concepts. For example, a supervisor might instruct you on a new task that you’re unfamiliar with conducting. If you ask the supervisor questions about the task, such as its purpose or reason, you can show your genuine interest and desire to understand the task comprehensively. While it’s often important to ask questions, it can be equally important to retain the information discussed. If you repeat the same questions, it might suggest you’re not listening or have difficulties learning new ideas and processes.
2. Express your desire to learn
One method for showing you’re willing to learn is to inform your supervisors and managers directly. There’s usually nothing wrong with discussing your desire to improve as an employee. In many situations, it can impress your manager and immediately show your motivation and enthusiasm in your role. By expressing your desire to learn, your manager might actively seek opportunities for you to develop your skills and knowledge. This might be through additional responsibilities or training and development programs.
3. Monitor and improve your performance
An effective method of showing you’re willing to learn is to prove it through your performance. Depending on the organisation, your supervisor may conduct performance evaluations on you and your colleagues. If your performance improves continuously, your manager is likely to notice. Improving yourself continuously suggests you have the desire to learn new processes and develop your existing skills. It can be an excellent idea to review your performance evaluations carefully and onboard the manager’s suggestions on how you can improve.
4. Request feedback
Similar to asking questions, requesting feedback can show managers your desire to understand topics and processes comprehensively. By requesting feedback from your manager, you’re essentially asking them to discuss how you can improve yourself in the workplace. It can also be equally important to act on that feedback. For example, you request feedback on your performance at work. Your manager outlines some steps you can follow to improve your performance. You follow these steps and immediately the manager notices an improvement in your work, highlighting your ability and willingness to improve your skills and processes.
5. Show your enthusiasm
An indirect method of showing your passion for learning is to be enthusiastic when conducting your duties and interacting with colleagues and supervisors. Many managers might associate your enthusiasm for your job with enthusiasm for learning. If you’re passionate about your job and your responsibilities, it often suggests you’re passionate about developing your professional expertise, leading to a desire to learn. You can express your enthusiasm in discussions with colleagues and supervisors.
*This article first appeared on Indeed