Do we leverage our role as Learning leaders to celebrate and amplify the expertise, passion and dedication of ALL our co-workers...or do we focus on a few recognized SMEs?
It might be time to readjust our lenses. This Walmart campaign gets it right, I think.
(To watch the video please visit https://one.walmart.com/content/usone/en_us/company/news/walmart-world/hearts-of-magic.html)
"Walmart has been spotlighting its employees in its marketing since the pandemic hit the U.S. in March, an approach that has also been adopted by several other brands. The ads come as recent research shows consumers are placing a higher value on brands that treat their employees well while unrest over workplace safety appears to be growing during the health crisis. "
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/walmart-flips-associates-inspiring-poem-into-new-video-ad/578496/
Could we reach out to our learners, especially during this time of massive transition, and invite them to apply their talents and hobbies to help either deliver or promote the training content we are creating?
Why do we keep talking about 'creating a culture of learning,' and yet not follow-through with highlighting how people are growing?
With all the Zoom sessions...why not sponsor a poetry slam about the challenges employees are facing? Sponsor a virtual art show of your employees and, maybe, their children's art? An online pet show?
What if you could get employees working together on a virtual concert for those who play instruments on global teams? We see lots of those from the entertainment industry...why not from your organization? Gosh, wouldn't that beat some of the expensive team-building forced activities we do?
What if we appealed to a great singer in our company to sing a track or catchy mnemonic for a training course, that can also be used in our spaced repetition? What if we requested drawings by members of the company that were incorporated into our eLearning courses?
Create those spaces where people's natural interests can flourish, be appreciated and shared. Encourage people to connect around outside interests, which then also creates opportunities to build professional networks and fosters innovation.
Encourage creative testimonials of successful training programs, beyond smiley faces. Maybe create trackable links for "forward to a friend" to recommend courses to peers along with their personal, video recorded messages with tools like Vidyard..
From who counts as an essential employee to the equal sizes and random arrangements of the video squares during online meetings, we are seeing a transition of hierarchy. Maybe we in the Learning community can fan the flame that someone might be the SME in rapping and someone else in wrapping. Someone might be great at taking pictures and others for being the subject of those pictures.
The arts connect with our emotions and our passions. If we invite others to share their talents and give them opportunities to apply them in support of your company and their co-workers, it could significantly impact the sense of teamwork, pride and engagement.
What do you think?