How Learning Week Can Boost Your Employer Brand

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 weeks can be a great start!

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. 

By curating a dedicated week for learning and development, organizations can solve these challenges. See how.

Positive Impacts of Learning Week

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 organizations can make it a big and collective event! This can further help drive participation, champion confidence in learning opportunities, and amplify 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 learning week. 

Improved Employee Morale, Lower Attrition Rates:

Such initiatives foster 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:

A dedicated week for learning encourages employees from different departments and levels to come together, share knowledge, and learn from one another, all while forming better connections. This creates a space where collaboration and positive association with co-workers is held in high esteem. 

THE END RESULT: A vibrant workplace culture, 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-intensive opportunities for their new hires during the onboarding process, it’s important to note that all employees need the support of their organization. This enables them 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. 

Learning Week Best Practices

When organizing a learning week, it is important to keep four things in mind: 

1. Define a clear objective: This can mean identifying a theme, focusing on any massive market or industry changes that are underway, or spotlighting a refreshed learning and development team and strategy. 
2. Align with the organization: It is crucial that the events and activities during this time are aligned with business priorities, address company transformations, and amplify the organization’s values and culture. 
3. Minimize work tasks and dedicate time to learning: Learning week should be taken seriously and distractions must be kept to a minimum. Work-related tasks, meetings, and time-sensitive projects must be kept to a minimum to ensure a dedicated time and space for learning. 
4. Evaluate the impact: The L&D team should view learning week as a good opportunity to gather ideas and feedback to inform future strategies. Also, at the end of the initiative, pre-decided metrics such as workshop footfalls, employee participation, usage of e-learning resources and tools, and a full-scale review of the goals met during the learning week must be evaluated 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.