The Answers Are Right Here: Upskill From Within and Get Up to Speed With Your Next Big New Idea

Since joining 360Learning two years ago, my role has evolved from:

• an individual contributor managing a blog and SEO,
• to a coach of a four-person content team feeding organic pipeline,
• to a coach of a Brand & Content team of 17 that now includes brand design, social, website, video, running marketing campaigns & PR.

50% of those things I had no clue how to do just a few months ago. (and the other 50% I'm still figuring out as I go.)

My dad always asks me "But where did you learn to do all these things? You never went to school for it!" But the truth is, no school or formal training would prepare me for the job I need to do every day.

From day one, my peer and Head of Video taught me how to create docuseries and produce great videos. Our CMO helped me learn how to measure performance and never compromise on hiring. ("If there's a doubt, there's no doubt.") My coach showed me how to lead a team with empathy while maintaining boundaries and standards. My CEO taught me to make bold bets, take risks, and how to think about building a memorable, unique brand.

The list goes on and on...

Every day, I've got a new challenge and something new to learn. And every time, I've found an expert next to me who's ready and eager to show me the ropes and help me get better.

At 360Learning, we’ve always been big believers in turning to your neighbors for advice, guidance, and answers. Every single step of our platform is built with this in mind: we want to make it as easy and fun as possible to share, learn, and grow together.

Now, we’re here to celebrate everything great about peer-driven learning and show how you can get up to speed on your next big idea with a little help from your neighbors. And stick around, because we want to hear your stories of upskilling from within too! 

Today’s winning companies are driving growth with in-house experts

Elon Musk of Tesla said it best: “Learning should travel via the shortest path necessary. Otherwise, we cannot compete with the big car companies.” 

Put another way, peer learning isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a question of survival, especially for companies punching above their weight.

Elsewhere, Google is also getting in on the peer learning game by encouraging experts to share knowledge directly within people inside and outside the company. Note the operative word: ‘directly’. That means no waiting for external learning content, and no waiting for leadership or management signoff. Experts simply share what they know and help everyone level up.

Now, even McDonald’s is using peer learning to make good things happen, with employees celebrating the value of learning from others and teaching them at the same time.

These trends have huge implications for the way organizations learn everywhere. We’re moving past the days of seeing generic, bland external learning content as the go-to L&D strategy. Instead, more and more organizations are developing bespoke learning content using internal expertise. Even better, they’re turning this content into an opportunity for social interaction.

But what does it really take to adopt the ‘upskill from within’ mindset?

Upskilling from within takes a shift in mindset

Right now, you have the answers to a lot of questions waiting to be discovered within your organization. All you need is the right approach to L&D to unlock these solutions. 

This takes a shift in mindset away from annual top-down training based on external courses and towards continuous reskilling based on peer-driven learning content. Instead of L&D teams reacting to business requests by scheduling annual courses, you can proactively offer learning opportunities at the moment of need, based on social interactions with subject-matter experts.

This way, you turn your experts from secret geniuses into recognized mentors helping everyone to grow. You can turn learning from a compulsory activity everyone needs to tick off their list to something people do daily–and something people actually love.

This shift to upskilling from within isn’t just relevant for certain stages of the employee journey, either. A focus on peer learning can drive every step of this journey, from joining and onboarding through to role pivots and promotions. At every step, you can create opportunities for people to capture their experiences, share these with others, and grow together. 

That’s how you turn your experts into champions for employee, customer, and partner growth.

Everyone has an Upskill From Within story–what’s yours?

This whole idea of upskilling from within might sound a little nebulous and impersonal without concrete examples–that’s why we want to hear from you! 

We’ve been sharing our own stories of what peer learning and development really looks like inside 360Learning, from better writing tips to web design and coding. Now, we’re here to pass the mic.

Do you have a story of a colleague, peer, or neighbor helping you to solve a tough problem? Let us know by submitting it via this form, and you’ll be able to give your experts the shout-out they deserve!

And if you’d like to find more resources on what it takes to make upskilling from within a reality, be sure to sign up to become a member of the L&D Collective. We’ve got all the L&D tips and advice you need to turn your experts into growth drivers and get up to speed with your next big idea.