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Why learning time must be part of your work schedule
SME practitioners would be wise to incorporate a “culture of learning” into their days so as to breed more innovative thinking, argues Sabri Suby.
Jerome Doraisamy
When working professionals are able to learn at their peak focus times, Sabri Suby told Lawyers Weekly, the opportunities for innovative thinking “increase exponentially”.
“A culture of learning doesn’t just mean formal training or lessons; books are an absolutely phenomenal resource, and in audiobook form, they can slot into your schedule when you’re driving, at the gym, or going for a walk,” he posited.
“Remember, everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. It’s how you use them that matters.
“A strong company culture that encourages and rewards learning is a huge perk in any firm and will be a huge help in retaining key team members. A lot of industry knowledge walks out the door when someone leaves, so the more that you can prolong that from happening, the better.
“By integrating a culture of learning into your firm, you’ll be investing in engaged and inspired team members, resulting in better work, gaining your firm a better reputation, and better clients. It’s a win-win for everyone, staff and leaders alike.”
Incorporation of such ongoing learning is also essential for firms to stay ahead of the field in an increasingly competitive marketplace, Mr Suby pointed out.
“The very best way to do that is to work smarter, which is where a culture of learning comes in,” he submitted.
“Say you’re already working 12 or 14 hours a day. In order to get more leverage for those hours, you need to ensure that you’re getting out more than you’re putting in, and becoming ruthlessly effective at what you’re doing. The only way to do that is to learn newer, faster, and more efficient processes and concepts that will help you work smarter, not harder. A law firm’s job is to help their staff become these massively efficient learning machines.”
Practically, learning and training should be designed in ways that suit staff who are “time-poor”, Mr Suby suggested.
“When we redesigned our training at King Kong, we had tried training through traditional methods, but we knew we needed something more for our digital-savvy and time-poor staff. We didn’t want highly-structured, rigid, in-person training sessions where staff weren’t engaged because they had other things on their minds,” he recalled.
“We designed King Kong Academy, a virtual, ever-growing library of courses that can be accessed by staff from wherever they are, including exclusive lessons from myself. We’ve gamified the process with a leader board that everyone can see. Managers are able to design customised learning pathways for individual team members.
“I truly believe this is the best way for any business to learn, especially those with incredibly time-poor staff – the legal industry is the perfect example. Staff are able to learn at a time that suits them, whenever they feel the need.”
Moreover, Mr Suby added, boutiques should find “unexpected” ways to learn.
“Instead of listening to the radio on your way to work, turn on an audiobook. Do you really need to book an hour’s meeting to discuss a single point? Send an email instead, and spend the freed-up time learning something new,” he advised.
“If you still don’t have enough hours in the day, it’s time to quit Netflix and the social media drug.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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