How Learning Agility Can Boost Employability
If you’re looking for fresh and effective ways to boost employability skills for your students, building learning agility is a great place to start. In this article, we’ll go through what learning agility is and the range of ways the skill can help students kickstart their careers.
What is learning agility?
Learning agility is a phrase describing an individual’s ability to learn and adapt to new challenges in the workplace. It’s about more than a person’s core knowledge and cognitive skills. Rather, it’s about individuals using clear strategies to tackle the complex problems and opportunities they may face in the working world.
We can divide the concept of learning agility into five key areas:
- Change agility
- People agility
- Mental agility
- Results agility
- Self-reflection and awareness
These areas cover how skilled an individual is at managing complex situations, communicating with diverse groups, experimenting, recognising their unique weaknesses and strengths, and delivering desired results.
The ‘agility’ part of learning agility describes the leaner’s flexibility and adaptability. A candidate with high learning agility can rapidly adapt their plans and actions to new situations while also anticipating future changes.
An individual who exhibits great learning agility is also likely to exhibit other characteristics that will attract the attention of potential employers. We’ll discuss a few of these characteristics and skills in the sections below.
Building leadership skills
The five key areas of learning agility go hand-in-hand with the leadership skills expected of fresh graduates entering the workplace.
To lead effectively, an individual should be able to reflect upon their own behaviours, making changes as necessary to best suit their team’s needs. An agile learner is fantastic at recognising and acknowledging their strengths and weaknesses, using these reflections to direct and support their team in the best way they can.
Agile learners can also effectively change course and rearrange their plans as needed while proactively predicting and preparing for future changes based on industry trends. These unique insights allow individuals to lead and guide their teams more effectively through unfamiliar situations.
Seeking out challenging opportunities
An agile student is also more likely to seek out challenging opportunities, leading them into exciting new roles. Employers also look for applications with drive, passion, and a desire to learn and grow—something learning agility is all about.
Agile learners are also creative. They can present innovative ideas confidently and aren’t afraid of exploring uncharted perspectives—a talent any employer or organisation would value.
Taking feedback on-board
Employers also value applicants who demonstrate a keen ability to take feedback on board and react positively to criticism.
A individual able to self-reflect and build upon their own strengths can also take advice and critique from others, using the feedback to tackle their work in more effective ways.
Education is key
Learning agility is all about a person’s ability to adapt to workplace changes and learn new skills. Today’s educators and educational institutions will instantly see the benefits of implementing learning agility education in their programs.
