Making the most of Learning at Work Week

How to organise a kickass Learning at Work Week event your people will want to attend

Learning at Work Week (LaWW) is designed to help businesses foster a learning culture by promoting the importance of learning and development (L&D) in the workplace. This is an excellent opportunity for organisations everywhere to link up their business and cultural agendas in one fell swoop, and Let’s Talk Talent loves taking part.

LaWW is an excellent way for HR teams to encourage employees to learn something new, expand their skill sets and make learning a regular part of their professional (and personal) lives. An operation like this requires careful thought and planning, as generating the kind of results you want won’t just happen by hanging up a few banners in the office or sending a couple of email reminders.

So how can you make it something your people will want to turn up to? We have a few tips to help you maximise your results. 

Our top Learning at Work Week tip: using a marketing approach 

If we had one piece of advice to give, it would be to treat LaWW just like a marketing campaign. Here are a few more details on each step so you can design and implement a plan of action that generates positive results.

• Set your main goal 
• Get to know your audience
• Craft key messages that will resonate 
• Pick your communications channels 
• Map out your tactics 
• Define your KPIs 

1. Setting goals for your Learning at Work Week event?

Start by asking yourself: what’s the big problem you’re trying to solve?

The answer to this question will give you a clear focus, allowing you to create the right experience for your people. For example, will this be part of a broader L&D strategy focused on supporting your employees’ career progression? Are staff struggling to switch off and could they benefit from some tools to look after their wellbeing? Do you want employees and managers to have better career conversations and if so, how could you link LaWW to your performance management process?

All of your HR efforts should be consolidated and directed towards your most pressing issue, so start the planning process by thinking through the changes you want to see in the employee experience, and work out the rest from there. 

2. Getting to know your audience: who will attend LaWW?

Your talent pool is made up of a diverse and eclectic bunch of people, so you’ll need to split them into smaller groups to understand them better and assess their learning styles. Use available data to categorise staff into key groups, such as leadership, management and staff. If you can, go a step further and create learning personas by identifying the various career stages your people are at. Are they experts or specialists? Managers? Technical staff?

Find out more about the learning resources each group currently utilises, how they integrate learning into their lives, and where they find their training material. 

This exercise aims to understand each group’s learning style better so you can tailor your event plan accordingly. This step is crucial, as it will lead to the creation of a programme that speaks to your people’s hearts and hands. 

3. Craft Learning at Work Week messages that will resonate 

Now that you know exactly what you are trying to achieve and who your primary audience is, it’s time to craft your message. Step one should be deciding whether you want to wrap your event around a particular theme. This year’s official theme has been unveiled as Create the Future. However, you should determine what works for you based on your main goal. Is this step necessary? We believe so. According to Jo, MD at Let’s Talk Talent, picking a theme aligned with your business strategy will help you come up with a much stronger call to action. 

Make sure you launch your campaign early to create buzz around LaWW. And don’t forget to involve your internal communications team. They will be your best ally in making sure you approach your project with a customer lens. They may also help you identify who else in the business needs to be involved, whether extra resources could be made available, and fit your campaign around the wider organisational calendar to ensure maximum impact. 

4. Pick your communications channels 

There is still debate about whether an in-person, virtual or hybrid format would work best. Here, every business is different, so go with your gut. Some LaWW participants will be fully office-based, others entirely remote, and some companies will offer up activities that cater to both options.

Then, find out which learning resources are already in place and what works well with your people. Could you use webinars? Online or micro courses tailored around your theme? Are virtual panels or live conferences a hit with your staff? Do you have internally created content, or could you unlock access to some external platforms? Knowing which channels are both popular and available to you will shape your tactical plan. 

5. Map out your Learning at Work Week activities programme  

We’re finally into the nitty-gritty of the operational tactics! This step is about finding the perfect mix between social and professional events, virtual and in-person, internal and external resources and speakers. By now, you should have enough information to determine: 

• Which are the right courses or resources to offer your people during LaWW
• How you’ll deliver them 

Don’t forget to look at this through your customer’s lens. Whichever resources you choose, they should motivate your audience to make learning a regular part of their daily routine. To do so, go through what’s available to you and what you need to unlock for your people so they can get the full benefits of Learning at Work Week.

Have a look at Campaign for Learning’s LaWW website for inspiration and some free resources with which to build your activities programme. Many partners also offer free resources, so check out webinars, online courses, checklists and ebooks you may have access to.

6. Setting the right KPIs for your Learning at Work Week event

As soon as you set your primary objective for LaWW, start thinking about how to measure success. There are two ways to do this: outputs (hard metrics) and outcomes (softer cultural elements). Both are equally important when evaluating the precise role your event played in generating change. 

Step one should be to review the event itself using KPIs such as sign-ups, attendance, and engagement. But assuming your efforts are part of a broader L&D strategy aimed at bringing about cultural change, how will you measure improvement? It’s important to think beyond the actual week by setting up feedback mechanisms, such as staff surveys, Pulse surveys, interviews, or focus groups, to gather high-quality qualitative feedback.  

Getting the most out of Learning at Work Week 

At Let’s Talk Talent, we don’t need to be convinced of the importance of learning in the workplace. We believe that events like LaWW 2023 are a great way to support both your business and your HR L&D goals. We hope we’ve inspired you to get on board and start planning your very own LaWW programme of events using a marketing-first approach. Doing so will not only ensure your activities are successful and impactful but also that the entire business supports them.

If you have any questions or need a bit of inspiration, don’t hesitate to book a meeting with us directly. You can also view our Learning and Development strategy page for more information and resources.

Download our brand new Learning and Development whitepaper here.