National Learning at Work Day round-up

This year Brightwave worked in partnership with British Airways and The Co-operative to celebrate and stimulate effective learning in the workplace. Content Editor Peter Styles reveals how a successful day unfolded

May 19th is a significant date in the calendar for several reasons - in 1536 Anne Boleyn was beheaded; Elizabeth I ordered the arrest of Mary Queen of Scots 32 years later and Oscar Wilde was released from Reading Gaol in 1897. These - among others - are three things I learned during National Learning at Work Day held on that very date this year.

There were two Brightwave partnerships to celebrate this year's event - both involving emerging technologies within learning - user-generated video and live, online training - dovetailing nicely with this year's theme of 'Future Matters'.

A Brightwave / Nice Media team travelled up to British Airways (BA) Waterside Headquarters to film entries for 'Winning ways in the workplace', a competition for all BA staff to record a short video demonstrating their top tip for workplace success. The focus was soft skills - we wanted to capture a personal approach, attitude or short-cut to improve performance that once shared would have a positive impact on colleagues.

Meanwhile, the LiveTime Learning team were preparing for a very special session entitled 'Staying ahead of the ethical curve - lessons from the Co-operative', delivered by none other than Paul Monaghan, the group's Head of Social Goals and Sustainability.

'Staying ahead of the ethical curve' - watch the recording

Paul Monaghan - Working for change

Back at BA HQ, employees were lining up to impart knowledge to colleagues on a range of topics including the importance of learning from your mistakes, perseverance and how to maintain work / life balance (such as power naps to break up commuting time). The winner of the competition also would be the recipient of Amazon vouchers to the value of £100.

Paul Monaghan, live from Co-op headquarters in Manchester (aided by LiveTime supremo Matt Turner), gave us an excellent session - a recording of which can be viewed here.

He informed us about what it took not only to be the UK's most socially responsible business, but to retain that position against stiff competition from other big names on the high street, such as arguably lesser-known work by Tesco on climate change and Marks & Spencer's approach to sustainable sourcing. Paul also tackled a range of questions from participants, imparting his vast knowledge to an appreciative audience.

Screenshot from 'Staying Ahead of the Ethical Curve'

The Co-operative's main approach was to devise a rolling three-year ethical operating plan, comprised of 47 targets covering every sector with which the company is involved. This was combined with a parallel marketing campaign based around the concept of 'individuals who the Co-op has helped create their own revolutions,' such as those trying to set up their own community wind farms.

Elsewhere, the BA competition got off to a rapid start, with five employees recording video clips within the first half hour. Entries were a mix of articulate, energetic and touching displaying a wealth of enthusiasm and ideas. User-generated video is a relatively new way to encourage peer-to-peer learning in the workplace, and we were delighted by the number of participants stepping up to the lens.

Subsequent entrants came up with diverse top tips for ways to de-stress at work or at home, how to speak effectively to a large audience and how to improve on-the-job performance. The diner-side location paid off when things reached a crescendo around lunchtime with people queuing up to share their winning ways.

A few employees, initially camera shy and a little hesitant, nonetheless put in polished and valuable contributions after some encouragement and advice.

Competition entrants Sushmita Mukherjee and Darren Palmer

Back in the world of live, online training, Paul Monaghan was very honest when explaining the Co-op's approach: "Whilst many businesses talk about the 'win-win' of ethics and profitability, the reality is that in many ways, and in many areas, there is no 'win-win'. It's basically a cost to the business."

"But being a co-operative means we are member-owned - our six million customers are our bosses. Our board room is entirely made up of people elected from our customer base. We wanted to articulate and demonstrate this heritage and these values in relation to ethics."

He said the plan required extensive benchmarking every quarter and no little bravery. "We weren't going to get away with targets like being carbon neutral by the year 2050.

"Every one of these issues is big, and we thought we should go for it," said Paul as he gave examples from the ethical plan, such as to increase the amount the Co-operative Bank invested in green energy from £400million to £1billion by 2013.

To give the plan more credence, the Co-operative asked third-party stakeholders such as the Fair Trade Foundation, Amnesty International and Greenpeace to endorse the plan and agree it was the most robust in the UK retail sector.

Participants in the LiveTime session were encouraged to vote in polls and ask Paul some searching questions, to which he gave frank answers at the conclusion of the session.

'Winning ways in the workplace' winner Dana Talbot

At BA, the winning video was from Dana Talbot whose top tip was related to trying and perseverance: "The most important thing is to try. I've learned through experience, through throwing myself in at the deep end and having a willingness to do things, that anything is possible.

"I've been able to develop skills required for my job through training and research. Through trying and participation, taking things out of your comfort zone - that's how I find you really end up learning things.

"Also, learning through my team and sharing knowledge from others has also helped. So the most important lesson to take away is to just try."

Well Dana, 'just trying' on this occasion has won you £100 of Amazon vouchers. Congratulations!

And so, a highly successful National Learning at Work Day drew to a close. Many thanks go out to Paul Monaghan and the Co-operative, Tom Hickmore of Nice Media, Wendy Stubbs and Amanda Searle of BA Learning Innovations. We'd also like to thank the Campaign for L

earning team, especially Julia Wright and Chief Executive Tricia Hartley, who gave Brightwave a name check for our innovative projects at the NLAW launch party.

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