Issue Two — March ’07
Contents
Learning @ work day 2007
Free online learning with learndirect
New award for Learning @ work day businesses
Free marketing to promote your Learning @ work day event
Getting on famously at work thanks to learning
 Learning @ work day 2007
Now officially launched to businesses all over Wales
In an excellent example of two organisations working together for the benefit of Welsh businesses, NIACE Dysgu Cymru, the organisation behind Learning @ work day has teamed up with The Department for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills to launch this year's event in Wales.
The Welsh Assembly Government is responsible for setting up the popular People in Business Seminars — a series of highly informative seminars presented by globally renowned speakers. The latest seminars took place in North, West, South and Mid Wales to a combined audience of over 1,000 people representing local Welsh businesses and presented us with a great opportunity to introduce the benefits of Learning @ work day.
 What is Learning @ work day all about?
Learning @ work day is 24 May, during Adult Learners' Week — the national festival of learning that is taking place all over Wales and across the UK.
From 19 to 26 May, thousands of people will be able to take part in short, fun learning sessions all over Wales: in halls, shopping centres, pubs and clubs.
Last year, a staggering 17,000 people took part in Adult Learners' Week and Learning @ work day is the day when businesses large and small join in the fun and give their staff the opportunity to try their hand at something new. It can be anything, from music lessons to Tai Chi. From Welsh lessons to cooking classes.
 Why should my business get involved?
Learning @ work day is huge. In fact, it's the biggest event of its kind in Britain. And one of the main reasons that it's grown to be so popular all over the UK is that it brings so many benefits to the businesses taking part.
There is no denying that skilled businesses are more successful businesses.
By encouraging staff to improve their skills, you'll be showing them how they can aim higher and achieve more in their working lives.
With workplace learning you can:
- Improve quality and reduce errors
- Reduce staff turnover and absenteeism
- Improve internal communication and reporting
- Enhance staff recruitment and induction
- Increase internal promotion releasing the potential of existing staff
More workplaces than ever before are recognising the business benefits of learning. Learning @ work day is a great way to celebrate workplace learning and give all employees the chance to try their hand at something new.
It pays to get involved, yet it will cost so little!
Get staff motivated and inspired, and it is amazing how much more productive they become. This is your chance to enhance team spirit and motivation within your organisation by bringing everyone together to have fun learning.
Doing something different at work can be so invigorating. It can break the routine. It can encourage staff to interact better with each other. And it can bring your team together. Learning @ work day is a simple and easy way to treat your staff to some fun and lift spirits.
No fee, and so much for free.
With Learning @ work day there is no fee for participating organisations. Costs may be incurred if you commission outside resources to organise your event or deliver the learning sessions, but many businesses simply appoint a member of staff to become their Learning @ work day co-ordinator instead. After all, giving staff ownership and allowing them to manage their own event is another way to motivate your team.
We've made Learning @ work day so easy to set up!
It's our job to make sure that Learning @ work day is a huge success in Wales, so we are determined to do all that we can to help you have a great day. We can advise you on the learning sessions most appropriate for your organisation, and we can provide loads of online advice, tips and ideas for you to download.
 FREE planning and learning toolkits to download
These information 'toolkit' packs will really help you to stage your event. They cover all you need to know about organising your event, from suggestions on how to plan your schedule in the run up to Learning @ work day, to ideas on how to promote your event to staff in order to encourage participation. There are 12 toolkits available to download. So go on, get downloading and start planning your Learning @ work day event.
Organising your event
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Planning your event
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A step-by-step guide to everything you need to know and do in order to plan a really successful Learning @ work day session. This toolkit is invaluable for all Learning @ work organisers.
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Planning your PR and Advertising
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Make sure you promote your event effectively, both internally and externally, and get the most from the positive PR that Learning @ work can create for your business.
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Ideas for your event
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Getting creative
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Activities to develop creative thinking in business, including how to define problems and solve them through team-working and role-playing.
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Book swaps
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How to introduce a book swap club, plan shared reading events, experience the pleasure of reading with a new audience and help raise basic skill levels.
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Deaf awareness and sign language training
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Help staff improve their communication with deaf colleagues and customers, with finger spelling cards and video resources.
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Hobby sharing
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Encourage staff to learn new skills from colleagues. Use ‘hobby sharing’ as a theme for your event and strengthen team spirit.
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How to make a budget plan
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This activity introduces budgeting to staff who may not have been involved before and uses personal and home finance examples to help staff understand business budgeting better.
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Managing your e-mail
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It’s the scourge of modern business. The e-mail deluge! Learn how to control the use of electronic communication and implement practical strategies, so that your business becomes e-mail efficient.
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Job swaps
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Job swaps or shadowing a colleague raises awareness of what other people do each day, encourages better communication between departments and improves team working.
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How to write a business plan
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Learn how to think strategically and identify clear business objectives. Then find out how to set out your strategies into a clear, concise plan that is practical, effective and easily understood.
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Organising your work’s summer party
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This activity helps employees think about different aspects of organising an event. They will learn how to deal with budgets and enhance their literacy and numeracy skills.
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Tai Chi stress relief
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Combat stress-related problems common in the workplace with a Tai Chi session and leave employees feeling more energised and raring to go when they return to their desks.
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Reading Activities
More online resources to download for Learning @ work day
If you'd like to include reading and writing activities as part of your L@W event, the following sites have a host of resources, activity ideas and inspirational stories:
Planning your event
How to make everything go smoothly
We want you to have a memorable day with no last-minute hitches or hurdles. So to help you plan your event, we have put together this simple checklist to follow in the run-up to the day. You can find this checklist along with other useful information in our Learning @ work day brochure. To order your copy or download a PDF, go to our website.
 The Learning @ work day checklist
Get planning
- Book your venue or your room
Is it large enough? Safe enough? Liaise with your Safety Officer. Carry out a risk assessment. - Plan what equipment you will need
PowerPoint presentation? Pens and paper? Books? - Publish a programme of activities
What's happening? Where? And when? - Establish a schedule
Build in time for getting everything ready. - Decide if refreshments are needed
How long is the session? Are toilets nearby? - Plan for the unexpected
What happens if the room becomes unavailable or the activity leader doesn't turn up? Get a Plan B in place.
Get it promoted
- Use our posters
Order our free posters and promotional materials from the Learning @ work merchandising page, or download PDFs of the Welsh L@W poster and English L@W poster - Create your own marketing
It's fun and it will be unique to your event. - Who? What? Why? Where?
Don't forget to include the place, the date, the time and your contact details. - Make the most of the PR
Maximize the good news story. Download our PR Toolkit for advice, or contact your internal PR or communications team.
Get it right on the day
- Meet and greet
Think about how to welcome participants and anyone providing activities. - Signage and directions
Have people on hand to direct. Make sure all activities are clearly marked. - Interaction
Help people to feel comfortable. Provide name badges and use ice-breaking exercises. - Getting underway
Set up before everyone arrives. Have someone available to deal with any technical difficulties. - Smile for the camera
Have a camera handy and capture learners enjoying your activities. Get permission first.
After the event
- Do it even better next time!
Make a note of how things went, including where you think it could have been improved. - Help your audience carry on learning
Provide information on other learning opportunities in the organisation or locally. - Congratulate your colleagues
Award a certificate of the day. You can download certificates from our website.
Give us vital feedback!
Send us your evaluation
As a charity we rely on funding. We have to prove that events like Learning @ work day are encouraging people to learn. That means we depend on you to tell us what you did, and how many of your colleagues got involved. Please go online and download our feedback form and get your evaluation back to us as soon as possible. Thank you.
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 Free online learning with learndirect
Celebrate Learning @ work day with free online taster courses
As part of Learning @ work day, we have teamed up with learndirect to offer you more than 500 online and CD-based courses in a wide range of subjects from basic literacy and numeracy to business and management.
Get your staff learning online!
The beauty of these learndirect courses is that they can fit around the working day. Even better, as part of Learning @ work day, learndirect will be offering a number of free taster courses online on 24 May, giving you the chance to preview some of the courses available for your business.
To learn more about these flexible training packages, go to www.learndirect.co.uk/lawdcymru
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New award for Learning @ work day businesses
To celebrate this year's Learning @ work day we are introducing a new award in our Inspire Adult Learner Awards, to be held at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay on May 24. The Inspiring Learning @ Work Award will reward inspiration and innovation shown by businesses on Learning @ work day in encouraging staff to expand and improve their skills in the workplace.
This year's Inspiring Learning @ Work Award will go to a company which took part in Learning @ work day in 2006. But if you get involved this year, it may be your company scooping the prize at next year's awards.
Whatever size the company, however many staff you may have, it's the ideas we're after, the creative ways that you can get your personnel to get involved on Learning @ work day.
So get your thinking caps on… and get Learning @ Work.
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 Free marketing to promote your Learning @ work day event
All the help you need to make your day a success
Since our last Learning @ work day eZine was published we have been busy preparing marketing materials to help you promote your Learning @ work day event to your colleagues. As well as a useful event pack containing a brochure and a promotional poster, we have produced a 'goodie-bag' full of Learning @ work day merchandise for you to use, either as an incentive for colleagues to attend your session or to hand out as momentos of the day. You can order your marketing materials online and you can download PDFs of the brochure, poster and any of the 12 planning tool kits we have prepared from our website.
Interested? Then register now!
To register your interest and receive a FREE event organiser's pack contact us on 029 2037 0900, e-mail learnatwork@niacedc.org.uk, or fill in the event organiser's pack request form.
If you have already registered, then thank you for your support. Your organiser's pack is on its way!
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Getting on famously at work thanks to learning
Learning transforms lives. It can help people achieve things in all walks of life that they previously thought were impossible. In work, people also perform far better if they have the skills to perform. We have hundreds of examples of people getting on 'famously' in work thanks to learning, so we thought it would be fun to talk to learners with famous names about their experiences, as part of the advertising campaign set up to promote Learning @ work.
Don't forget that if staff get the learning bug and start achieving more for themselves, they will also be getting on famously for your organisation!
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Lee Evans
“Adult learning was a way for me to change direction in my life. After redundancy I trained as a plumber and it gave me the skills and the confidence to get right back into the jobs market.”
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Lucy Cohen
“Learning has changed my life completely. I gained accountancy qualifications and now run my own business. I don't think you have to go to University if you want to work and gain practical experience first, while you're deciding what you want to do. Learning when you really want to learn is far more important — and it's worked for me.”
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Learning @ work day: Proven to work for employers
Learning @ work day is not new. It’s a tried and trusted formula that many businesses are convinced helps them to improve the way they work and enhances the quality of the service they offer their customers. Here are three companies in Wales who took part in Learning @ work day last year. We think their rave reviews say more than we ever could about why you should come on board! So read on and if you want to find out more about how these companies took part, you can download the full press releases.
 Faber Maunsell: Healthy Eating Taster sessions
Staff at Consultant Engineers and Planners Faber Maunsell in Cardiff were able to learn more about healthy eating in the workplace with a series of ‘taster sessions’ and they also found out more about Ty Hafan, a local children’s hospice charity for which staff have been fundraising for some time.
“We always try to give staff opportunities to learn broader life skills whenever we can, and Learning @ work day is the ideal occasion to showcase this.” Chris Lynn, Director
Read the full Faber Maunsell press release
 Legal and General: From head to heart
Staff at Legal & General participated in a range of activities to stimulate mind and body. They ran sessions such as ‘Learning How to Learn’ for those studying for exams; ‘Tai Chi’ for improved concentration and relaxation; ‘Heartstart’ to teach people what to do in a life-threatening emergency; ‘Neuro Linguistic Programming’ to help improve communication; and ‘Indian Head Massage’ for pure relaxation.
“Learning @ work day has been a great success. It is fantastic to see so many of our staff taking part in different activities and being so enthusiastic about learning new skills. It proves that learning can be fun!” Adrian Clark, Location Director
Read the full Legal and General press release
 HSBC: Learning… and all that Jazz
HSBC staff took part in a musical workshop which demonstrated the value of teamwork and good communication, and showed how learning can boost morale. The day concluded with an ensemble piece performed by the HSBC musicians!
“Learning @ work day was a great opportunity for staff to expand their horizons and foster a great team spirit. We would certainly encourage businesses to get involved in Learning @ work day to enhance the skills of their workforce – and have a lot of fun in the process.” Sue Farthing, Community Manager
Read the full HSBC press release
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Learning @ work day, Adult Learners’ Week, Sign Up Season and Taking Control are funded by The European Social Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government, and co-ordinated by NIACE Dysgu Cymru.
NIACE Dysgu Cymru is a membership organisation, run by an elected management group, representing all sectors bonded by a common focus on adult learners. A wide range of work is undertaken; advocacy, research and development, influencing policy, conferences, publications and staff development. For further information, visit our website.
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