Recent reports suggest that only 49% of the Indian youth population is employable, with around 75% of companies facing skill-gap. In addition, with emerging technologies, 40% of fundamental skill sets are going to change, necessitating the need for a revised upskilling and reskilling strategy.
Moreover, during The Great Resignation 71% of the global workforce considered making a significant career move in 2022 and the ‘Big Quit’ ended up impacting over 10 major industries across the globe.
All this hints at high people costs and attrition rates for organizations.
There is a dire need for employers to show commitment and reciprocate loyalty to the talent that has made success possible during and post-pandemic.
But how?
We believe learning week can be a great start!
Positive Impacts
During learning week, companies organize events, workshops, talks, activities, and a range of sessions for their employees with the sole purpose of highlighting L&D opportunities, introducing new learning strategies and resources, and reviving the spirit and culture of learning and growth that lasts well into the year.
Organizations that host learning week can look at gaining the following benefits:
- High ROI, High Impact
Contrary to popular belief, one dedicated week boasting of a myriad of special events showcasing the organization’s commitment to employee development has greater ROI, cost-effectiveness, and impact than small-scale, sustained L&D initiatives throughout the year.
- Increased Employee Engagement:
Learning week creates an environment that boosts employees’ interaction with the Employer Brand. With lots of branding, organization-specific activations, and industry-centric discussions, employees get a chance to engage on a personal level with their organization. Resulting in a more meaningful employer-employee relationship.
- Improved Employee Participation in Learning Opportunities:
L&D is usually not seen as a high engagement aspect of Employee Experience. But with a week dedicated to learning, it becomes a big and collective event. Thereby driving participation, championing confidence in learning opportunities, and amplifying the employer’s commitment to its people.
- Increased Motivation, Reduced Skill Gap:
With greater awareness of training opportunities and increased participation, employee motivation and productivity also see improvement. Moreover, this allows employees and the organization to address and work on skill and knowledge gaps during and after the week.
- Improved Employee Morale, Lower Attrition Rates:
Learning week fosters an environment that allows employees to have a positive outlook and improved attitude toward reskilling, upskilling, and growth within the organization. This nurtures loyalty and commitment to the organization, therefore lowering attrition rates.
- Enriched Collaboration and Working Relationships:
Learning week encourages employees from different departments and levels to come together, share knowledge, and learn from one another, all while forming better connections. This enables a workplace environment where collaboration and positive association with co-workers is held in high esteem.
THE END RESULT: A vibrant workplace culture and a more engaged and skilled workforce. And a strong employer brand that existing employees love and potential employees want to be a part of.
Organization-Wide Learning Week
While many organizations introduce learning week for their new hires during the onboarding process, it’s important to note that all employees need the support of their organization to make full use of learning opportunities and continuously stay on top to perform well in the dynamic work setting. Plus, the benefits listed above promote the need for it to be an organization-wide event.
Best Practices
When organizing a learning week, it is important to keep four things in mind:
- Define a clear objective: This can mean identifying a theme and focusing on any massive market or industry changes. Or spotlighting a refreshed L&D team and strategy.
- Align learning week with the organization: It is crucial that the events and activities are aligned with business priorities. And make a point to address company transformations and amplify the organization’s values and culture.
- Minimize work tasks and dedicate time to learning: It is important to keep distractions to a minimum. Work-related tasks, meetings, and time-sensitive projects must be kept to a minimum. Especially to ensure a dedicated time and space for learning.
- Evaluate the impact: The L&D team should view learning week as a good opportunity to gather ideas and feedback to inform future strategies. It is important to evaluate pre-decided metrics such as workshop footfalls, employee participation, usage of e-learning resources and tools, etc. and conduct a full-scale review of the goals met to understand the true impact.
L&D initiatives are core to showing commitment to your talent. And learning week is a great example of that.
If you wish to boost your employer brand by implementing transformative initiatives, get in touch with us at talktous@dfrens.com.
