The best companies to work for help you grow on the job: Why you should make professional learning your top workplace perk.

• Author: Swanson, Kristen

On-the-job training is often seen as a mandatory nuisance, a long series of tasks that take people away from their work for little benefit. But what if we thought differently about employee training and development? What if learning at work was actually a perk?

When people learn on the job, they're happier, they stay longer, and they grow with the company. The problem with traditional training models--like webinars or lectures--is that they tend to focus on deluging people with information, rather than actually changing the way people work.

Here are a few ways to create learning experiences that contribute meaningfully to employees' individual growth, while also helping to meet larger organizational goals.

1 Tell stories. When people hear new information, they engage with it more if it follows a narrative arc. Storytelling is powerful because it allows people to place themselves in characters' shoes and imagine themselves taking those actions, which makes them recall those details much better, and for longer, than if they're given isolated facts.

Even if you're teaching a highly technical topic, tell stories. Share real-world examples and personal experiences, or even create a fictional story filled with villains, heroes, and conflicts that must be resolved.

2 Pull, not push. Different factors motivate people's need or desire to learn: curiosity, skills advancement, or an immediate business goal.

Instead of constantly bombarding people with information, create consistent, targeted learning opportunities. Gather department leaders every quarter to choose which topics, and what kinds of training experiences, will have the biggest impact on the team.

For ongoing employee education, you might want to try creating and distributing brief, modular lessons through a digital platform like Bridge, a learning management system based in Salt Lake City. Other lessons might be better served by in-person training. If you really want the team to be invested, ask them if there's someone--internal or external--they're especially keen to learn from.

It's also good to recognize that you can only provide so much in-house, so, if you're able, try offering additional stipends for people to pursue their learning outside of work.

3 Play and practice. An actor wouldn't go from a table read to a live performance without a few rehearsals. The same rule should apply to helping employees roll out new things at work.

Whether it's a freshly...