Empowering Public Institutions to Become Learning Organizations
Public institutions operate in a dynamic and ever-changing environment that presents a variety of challenges and opportunities. To succeed in this environment, public institutions must be proactive, innovative, and able to work collaboratively with other organizations and stakeholders. They also need to have a strong sense of purpose and be committed to continuous learning and improvement. In this context during recent training of trainers, we were happy to explore what it takes for a public institution to transform into a learning organization following the CEF’s methodology of becoming a learning organization.
The recent training consisted of various activities designed to deepen participants' understanding of the importance of systematic knowledge management and the respective enabling environment that needs to be nurtured for it to work. We encouraged participants to reflect on their own practices and propose concrete suggestions for embarking on a journey to become a learning organization.
As CEF Director Jana Repanšek pointed out: “Becoming a learning organization is a continuous process that requires a shift in organizational values. Continuous learning, experimentation, and innovation need to become embedded in the systems and processes of our work. In addition, we need to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their opinions and taking risks. If our organizations want to make meaningful change, our employees need to have the motivation to connect and continuously learn.”
As part of the training, we also visited the University of Ljubljana, School of Business and Economics where we discussed the benefits of managing learning and knowledge in public organizations, barriers to knowledge sharing, and strategies for effective knowledge management. In continuation, participants also exercised designing and facilitating dynamic and engaging learning and knowledge-sharing activity. This in turn equipped them with ideas and skills on how to implement certain aspects of the learning organization upon returning to their institutions.
This training of trainers was delivered on March 21-24, 2023 as part of the multi-beneficiary capacity development project “Structural Reforms Better Integrated Within Fiscal Frameworks” (FISR2) funded by the European Union.