As Kumon‘s assistant VP of franchise development, Angelo Chavez leads market research, expansion, recruitment, franchisee support & resale.
Commitment to lifelong learning can drive personal and professional success. It also allows a company to remain agile and meet the needs of its workforce and customers.
Without this balance, a company and its culture often fail to thrive. Talent leaves.
To stay competitive, I suggest companies embrace a culture of continuing education at all levels. Brands need to consider their ongoing strategies due to technological advancements, market trends and consumer demands.
This is how my company has maintained high-level success globally for nearly seven decades. Our culture is education. Our passion is education. So why not foster that mindset?
The Case For Lifelong Learning
Education is the foundation of our business, and we’ve found that the same principles our instructors use to guide students to develop strong academic habits are the ones we can apply to create a culture of growth within our organization.
LinkedIn’s “Workplace Learning Report 2025” suggests continuous learning is critical—but also that learning by itself isn’t enough: “Learning combined with career development—leadership training, coaching, internal mobility, and more—accelerates the flow of critical skills to keep pace with business needs.”
It notes that businesses that prioritize learning often enjoy increased employee engagement and higher retention.
Growth Through Education
Remaining stagnant in a global economy isn’t an option. You’ll likely need to change your attitudes and mindsets over the years as you expand your footprint.
I’ve learned that when employees are encouraged to expand their knowledge, they become more adaptable and better equipped to take on new challenges. For example, we start our instructors with extensive training and support to make sure they are able to understand and convey the strategies behind our method, as well as teach them the foundations of how to run their own business. We provide workshops, webinars, training sessions and annual instructor conferences.
Continuous learning has also led us to develop new programs. Where we exclusively focused solely on a tried-and-true method of educating students using paper and pencil, we recently created a digital program to meet the educational needs of today’s students. And our instructors are finding new ways to use that new technology and adapt it to their specific regions.
Strategies To Build A Learning Culture
Creating a strategy to foster a continuing education mentality can help make it part of your company culture. That puts you into the mindset of focusing on what you want to accomplish long term.
Encouraging employees to expand their skill sets through professional development is essential for nourishing growth within a company. Even the best employees can become stagnant in their work.
Budgeting for online courses, conferences and in-house learning sessions is a good start. Allowing for those learning opportunities to occur during the normal business day can make professional development feel less like an added chore. Lunch-and-learn sessions from colleagues or hired speakers, department collaborations and knowledge-sharing activities help fuel a continuing education culture.
Recognizing employees who achieve professional development goals reinforces a company’s culture and highlights the importance of growth. Promotions and bonuses can also help incentivize staff members to pursue those goals.
Leading by example and modeling the behavior you want to see in your organization also plays a crucial role in cultivating a culture of continuous learning. When executives and managers show they are committed to their own development, they set the tone for the rest of the company.
At my company, we encourage students, instructors and employees to embrace lifelong learning as a pathway to success. Through this, I’ve found that when businesses prioritize education, they can cultivate a workforce that is agile, forward-thinking and ready to tackle the challenges of the future.
Commitment to continuous learning is a necessity in today’s economy. Companies that champion education could thrive in their respective markets and shape future leaders.
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