What Is Workplace Learning? Your 2026 Guide

Key takeaways

Workplace learning allows employees to gain new skills without removing them from their daily tasks for separate learning time.

• Several types of workplace learning include mentorships, apprenticeships, team training, email newsletters, and webinars.

• Benefits of workplace learning include increased employee satisfaction, reduced employee churn, knowledge sharing within a team, and improved employee performance.

• You can use workplace learning to reduce employee turnover.

Learn about workplace learning, how it benefits a workforce, and what strategies exist for creating a workplace learning platform tailored to your business. Then, discover how Coursera for Business can help your organization excel at change management, implement GenAI to drive innovation, and ensure employees are engaged in professional development.

Empower teams with access to world-class content from 350+ top companies and universities

Learn more

What is the meaning of workplace learning?

Workplace learning is the method of providing professional development and learning opportunities to either current employees during a typical workday. Unlike more traditional professional development methods, workplace learning allows employees to develop skills while completing their daily tasks, rather than stepping away from their role for a separate class or training session.

Many businesses find success in cultivating a culture of learning, which can facilitate workplace learning by creating a work environment that encourages taking the time to learn and develop skills. By creating a framework that provides multiple learning avenues, employees can feel more comfortable dedicating parts of their day to professional development since they won’t see learning as time taken away from more important tasks.

This strategy is essential for addressing skills gap issues in businesses where employees’ time is in high demand. For many professionals, the pull of emails, internal meetings, deadlines, and increasing responsibilities makes taking time away from their daily tasks to pursue professional development difficult. But when learning new skills continuously fall to the bottom of the priority list, these professionals may experience frustration when confronted with new technologies or industry changes that make it more challenging to complete their jobs successfully.

Benchmark your talent with global skill insights

See how millions of learners in 100 countries are strengthening critical skills.

Global Skills Report

What is workplace learning used for?

Workplace learning is mainly used for two types of professional development: upskilling and reskilling. Upskilling adds new skills to an employee’s repertoire to help them advance or take on new assignments as their industry advances. Alternatively, reskilling allows an employee to develop an entirely new set of skills, often to move them into a new role that extends beyond their current experience.

Typically, organizations offer employees formalized training during the onboarding process. leaving any further professional development to intermittent training, making it difficult to retain and develop new skills. Employees then feel overwhelmed and frustrated because they don’t have the skill sets necessary to meet their job’s expected duties. Over time, this issue contributes to poor employee retention, skill mismatches, and low job satisfaction.  

Offering workplace learning opportunities allows employees to address specific weaknesses, skills gaps, and upskilling or reskilling needs. Over time, businesses that provide consistent, integrated learning opportunities experience less turnover and increased employee satisfaction. Furthermore, according to a 2025 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, 84 percent of employees state that learning adds purpose to their work [1].

Read more: Understanding Flight Risk in the Workplace: Strategies for Employee Retention

Types of learning in the workplace

Workplace learning typically falls into two categories: formal or informal, also known as structured or unstructured learning. Formal workplace learning refers to learning with an established curriculum, such as e-learning courses presented through a learning management system. Informal workplace learning refers to training without a set curriculum, such as watching videos, listening to podcasts, or reading articles based on specific needs or interests. Many businesses offer a blend of formal and informal workplace learning opportunities to meet the varying needs of their employees.

Tips for setting up workplace learning

To create the most effective workplace learning culture for your business, first consider which skills you would like your team to master. Then, choose the strategies you think your team will engage with the most. Lastly, seek to gain manager buy-in and support. Make the courses or training easy to find and do, and consider offering incentives for those who complete their goals. Celebrating success, providing tangible outcomes, and promoting open communication with your team are all ways to help encourage workplace learning.

Leaders at 4,300+ companies develop their talent with Coursera

Learn more

Benefits of structured workplace learning

Workplace learning offers a variety of benefits, such as employee satisfaction and reduced turnover, to a business and its employees. Consistent learning opportunities allow employees to develop their skills without stepping away from their daily tasks for prolonged periods. This creates an overall learning culture that everyone benefits from. 

Some of the primary benefits of workplace learning include:

• Increased employee satisfaction: Employees who feel like their employers value them through investing in their professional development tend to stay longer and feel more satisfied with their jobs.

• Strengthening employee weaknesses and skills gaps: Workplace learning allows employees to address any job-related areas in which they’d like to grow and gain extra knowledge.

• Reduced turnover and employee churn: When employees feel they have ample chances to learn while on the job, they are more likely to stay longer in a role, reducing the amount of hiring and onboarding you need to conduct.

• Better knowledge sharing within a team: Workplace learning allows employees to learn from each other, sharing their insights and experiences to further everyone’s skill set and knowledge base.

• Improved employee performance: Employees who learn while working in their roles are more prepared for advancement, which helps the entire company grow.

Upskill your team with Coursera

With Coursera for Business, your employees will gain access to content from 350+ leading universities and industry partners, where they can build real-world experience with innovative skills, tools, and technologies while earning globally recognized credentials. Our customizable, scalable learning solutions balance workplace and technical skills training in diverse formats, from video clips to Guided Projects and Professional Certificates.

• Subscribe to The Learning Curve, our LinkedIn newsletter, to business-critical skills and the importance of AI literacy.

• Read our Global Skills Report to discover the critical skills people need in today’s jobs.

• Training a smaller team? Explore Coursera for Teams, designed to meet the needs of teams with five to 125 employees.

Train teams across your organization in the skills that matter most in today’s digital economy with Coursera.