Available in over 150 markets and one of the most downloaded apps in more than 40 countries, TikTok has become the fastest-growing social media network, reaching 40% of 18 to 24-year-olds since it launched. 

Whilst many people may have dismissed it in the past as just a dance app, TikTok, which now receives more traffic than Google, is hard to ignore. And over the last few years, it has become one of the largest digital platforms in the world. 

In May 2020, the platform announced its initiative #LearnOnTikTok, recognizing a vast demand for educational content for young people. So much so, that the platform also announced a $50 million Creative Learning Fund for educational content for those who want to learn more.

It's clear that young people want to learn to benefit their careers. In fact, 3 in 5 (60%) of 16-24-year-olds admitted they have left a job due to limited growth opportunities. Gen Z is using TikTok for advice around careers to prepare them for the future - showing a further need for preparation to advance their studies or current role. To keep Gen Z employees engaged, this highlights the importance for employers to use different materials in a blended learning style to help them resonate with the workforce of the future. 

With this in mind, Go1 has uncovered what Gen Z and Millennials are consuming on TikTok and what they need help with when it comes to personal development. This will help employers understand which areas of skills they are consuming online, and help identify the gaps in their current learning and development programs. 

Soft skills have become increasingly important and are some of the most in-demand skills employers are looking for as they indicate the ability to work with others and grow within a company. In particular, employers are explicitly seeking employees with strong interpersonal skills, which are vital for business growth. 

This may explain why TikTok is ever-growing with video content focused on soft skills, building up millions of views. The hashtags #Teamwork, #Teamworkchallenge and #Team_Work have received over 2.9 billion views, whereas #CommunicationSkills, #CommunicationSkillTraining, and #communication_Skills have received 231 million views. 

The graph above shows the most popular TikTok hashtags for soft skills by the number of views. Results show teamwork with 2.9B views, communication with 231.5M views, time management with 217M views, problem-solving with 201.9M views, critical thinking with 181.7M views, work ethic with 131.5M views, decision making with 33.2M views, stress management with 31.8M views, leadership with 29.2M views and attention to detail with 28M views.

Quantifiable hard skills are also one of the fundamental things an employer needs when it comes to the right hire for a role. Some hard skills are more sought after than others in today's job market, but they are trending in the same direction - towards supporting an increasingly technical society. By looking at the number of TikTok views for hashtags relating to hard skills, we can get a better understanding of what these skills are. 

For example, hashtags on project management have received over 56 million views, with jobs in project management expected to grow 33% by 2027. Writing and language skills are the second and third most popular, with 29.2 million and 4.2 million views, respectively. 

The graph above shows the most popular TikTok hashtags for hard skills by the number of views. Results show project management with 59.6M views, writing with 29.2M views, language with 4.2M views, management with 2.4M views, finance with 2.3M views, marketing and sales both with 1.9M views, computer with 1.5M views, design with 330.5K views and IT with 191.1K views.

A number of creators have emerged on TikTok over the last couple of years to show the realities of the working world and their experience of workplace challenges, from combating negativity to insufficient training and development. 

During the pandemic, creators said these videos gave people content to bond over. But they’ve since evolved as a way to explain how the workplace has changed since the onset of remote work, offering a platform to discuss workplace topics like mental health, diversity, and wellbeing. 

The most viewed workplace challenges on TikTok relate to work-life balance, with more than 500 million views for #worklifebalance, #work_life_balance, and #worklifebalance? This is followed by communication, with more than 230 million views for #CommunicationSkills, #CommunicationSkillTraining, and #communication_skills. 

The graph above shows the most viewed workplace challenges on TikTok. Results show the most viewed challenge relates to work-life balance, with over 527 million views, followed by communication challenges, with 231 million views, problem-solving, with 201 million views, combating negativity with 88 million views, project management with 56 million views, recognition with 54 million views, bullying/conflict with 46 million views, professional development with 29 million views, building morale with 11 million views, difficult clients with 10 million views, bureaucracy with 8.7 million views, organization with 2.3 million views, positivity with 1 million views, schedule inflexibility with 110,924 views and motivation with 71,400 views. 

The learning community on TikTok is home to many industry professionals offering advice, whether it be dedicated career coaches or more industry-specific content creators, showcasing the huge skill-sharing aspect within the space. 

Key curators include J.T. O’Donnell, who has been helping people and their career paths for nearly 20 years and recently started providing professional advice on TikTok. Her videos cover everything from changing careers to answering job interview questions. Other creators leading the way include Shade Zahrai, an award-winning leadership strategist, and Lauren Selley, who provides helpful tips and advice when it comes to project management. 

The graph above shows the top TikTok curators for workplace learning and development. This includes the top curators for general skills, soft skills and hard skills. 

How can TikTok inspire your training strategy? 

Providing opportunities for professional development can have a significant impact on a workplace. With TikTok providing a new way of learning, managers can take away some key principles which could be implemented into their own training strategies, particularly when it comes to how Gen Z and Millennials like to learn.

As TikTok shows, bite-sized knowledge is the future, especially if your employees are on the younger side. Although it may be too short for employee training purposes, a short video can help with engagement, and be utilized in all kinds of training, even data compliance training.

TikTok has shown us that people, especially the younger generation, like watching videos when consuming content online. This shows that although employee training should include all types of formats, an emphasis on video content will help engage your employees. 

With blended learning, employees can personalize a learning module according to their preferences. Ultimately it offers more ways to learn, with various courses on different subjects, available online and in the training room, accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device with face-to-face or online support from a training. And it is these options that make blended learning the perfect type of training and why the future workforce prefers it to any other type of training. 

Mobile learning offers flexibility, as learners can complete training on the go. And with nearly 4 in 5 (78%) employees happy to learn new skills whenever they can during the working day, a further 59% are willing to learn outside of work hours to improve their job performance.  

Although people shouldn’t have to use their spare time to learn, it goes to show how important learning and training opportunities are to employees to aid progression. Mobile learning offers that flexibility.  

HR professionals and businesses can leverage information from TikTok for employee training and development to understand which areas of skills they are consuming online. 

After all, the success of TikTok is closely tied to the characteristics of Gen Z and Millennials. These generations will be the workforce of the future so providing blended learning is definitely worth implementing. 

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

We've looked at the total number of TikTok views for hashtags relating to soft skills, hard skill and workplace challenges to get a better understanding on the types of educational content that is being consumed online, as well as revealing some of the key curators on the platform. For the purpose of this campaign, any workplace challenge that wasn't directly linked to the working environment (e.g. trust issues) was emitted. Data collected August 2022 and can be viewed here www.bit.ly/3Q5y3DQ. 

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Go1 have analyzed TikTok hashtags to reveal which education content is being consumed online, and what we can learn from TikTok creators.

What can we learn from TikTok teachers | Go1

We've analyzed TikTok hashtags to reveal which education content is being consumed online, and what we can learn from TikTok creators.

Few things are more demoralising than feeling like you’re not being listened to at work. You go from the high of sharing a fantastic new idea — this one could be a game-changer! — to the crushing low of having your idea passed over with barely a word of acknowledgement. At a certain point, if your ideas are continuously ignored, you might start to wonder if anyone can even hear you or if you're just talking to a brick wall! 

Unfortunately, most people can probably relate to this feeling all too well. As we’ll explore below, listening to employees is an area where many organisations fail to meet expectations. 83% of people think they aren’t heard ‘fairly or equally’ at work, while a whopping 41% have left a job because they didn’t feel listened to. 

These findings should set off alarm bells in managers’ offices the world over, and they’re only the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface, we’ll discover a widespread lack of listening that, if left unchecked, can quickly spiral into an engagement epidemic. 

Something as ostensibly simple as listening to employees and taking their feedback seriously can be the difference between being a high-performing team that consistently attracts and retains top talent and a disengaged team that falls behind its competitors. 

So, where are companies going wrong? How can we ensure everyone feels heard fairly and equally at work? We’ll start by analysing why listening to learners is essential in the modern workforce, before sharing three critical business benefits of listening to employees, and outlining practical tips to ensure your team feels heard. Hopefully, that’ll be music to everyone’s ears. 

Why listening to employees is always essential, but especially now 

It should be no surprise that listening to employees has always been essential. After all, no one likes being ignored! Still, in the last few years, with the challenges of staying connected while working remotely and the growing risk of disengagement, the importance of listening to employees has grown exponentially. Ideally, your team is already two steps ahead of us, practising well-honed active listening skills. However, the statistics tell a less flattering story. 

According to research by The Workforce Institute in their The Heard and the Heard-Nots report, 83% of employees think they aren’t listened to ‘fairly or equally’ at work. Already, this statistic should be alarming. But it gets worse, as 47% say that underrepresented voices aren’t being heard, while 60% believe their views and opinions are ignored in the workplace. Finally, 35% agree with the statement: “my manager doesn’t care about me as a person.”

These issues are exacerbated among younger workers. Just 16% of Gen Z workers feel they can freely express their views and opinions with their manager, compared to 67% of their older colleagues. To help address this issue, check out our recent article on becoming an employer of choice for Gen Z.

Further along the age spectrum, 69% of parents feel ignored by their managers. So, while everyone is affected by this lack of listening, as usual, underprivileged groups are being silenced the most. Parents, younger workers, and underrepresented voices, such as people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ and gender diverse workers, and people from traditionally marginalised racial groups, are disproportionately impacted.

These findings should come as a jolt to action, as workplaces that claim to value diversity and inclusion must work to redress these issues, empowering traditionally marginalised groups to feel heard in the workplace. 

Despite most employees not feeling heard, many teams fail to acknowledge that they have an issue listening to employees. 

Research by Nudge reveals that 39% of employees don’t feel heard by their organisation, yet, 78% of leaders believe they’re fostering a feedback culture. Here, a significant disconnect emerges — there is a 39% gulf between what leaders believe and what employees are experiencing day-to-day! 

While it may be difficult and require honest self-reflection, the first step to overcoming the issue of employees not feeling heard is for leaders to openly acknowledge it exists. 

To be clear: this issue isn’t merely a case of employees being ignored and occasionally getting their feelings hurt. While that would be bad enough, in truth, it is a pervasive and impactful issue that can seriously sabotage your team’s culture and your talent attraction and retention efforts. 

For example, All Voices’ State of Employee Feedback 2021 Report reveals that 41% of employees have left a job because they didn’t feel listened to. Additionally, 18% have considered leaving but decided not to, thereby harming engagement. 

Similarly, The Workforce Institute shows that 34% of employees would prefer to look for a position in a different team or company than share their views and concerns with management, rising to 40% among Gen Z employees.

For practical tips on reducing this retention risk, see our article on 5 tips for long-term employee retention. 

Another reason why listening to employees is essential is that it boosts everyone’s sense of belonging. 

In fact, The Workforce Institute finds that employees with a very high level of belonging are 4x more likely to feel heard than those with a low level of belonging. Yet, still, 39% of employees don’t feel appreciated at work. 

To demonstrate this point, LinkedIn’s Inside the Mind of Today’s Candidate report asked workers: “What would make you feel like you belong at the company where you work?”

Unsurprisingly, the three most common responses related to being heard at work. 59% of respondents answered “being recognised for my accomplishments”, 51% said “having opportunities to express my opinions freely”, and 50% said they feel a greater sense of belonging at work when their contributions in meetings are valued. 

Notably, 55% of women indicated that their "contributions in meetings aren’t valued" compared to 48% of men. Sideways6 corroborates these findings, showing that 39% of women feel their ideas are not listened to, compared to 30% of men.

Unfortunately, this makes sense, given the prevalence of workplace trends such as ‘hepeating’ — a phenomenon so common it has its own portmanteau. As Yahoo explains, “hepeating is the process by which a man repeats something a woman has said, which may have fallen flat the first time around, and then receives credit for it.” 

Thus, while it’s important to listen to everyone, it can be especially vital to ensure female employees feel heard, especially in male-dominated workplaces. 

Ultimately, these statistics underscore that many employees yearn to be heard. Showing employees that you hear them and value their contributions can create a greater sense of connectivity, purpose, and belonging.

3 business benefits of listening to employees 

In an ideal world, we should listen to everyone’s voices fairly and equally at work because it’s the right thing to do. However, as we all know, the bottom line often trumps all else in the world of business. 

Thankfully, listening to employees isn’t just the right thing to do from a diversity and equality point of view — it also has meaningful business benefits. Here are three business benefits of listening to employees:

1. Listening to employees boosts engagement

Highly engaged employees are three times more likely to feel heard at work (92%) than highly disengaged employees (just 30%). 

Further, 74% feel more engaged at work when they think their voice is heard. 

2. When employees feel heard, they are more productive

According to The Workforce Institute, 74% of employees are more effective at their job when they feel heard. Plus, 71% feel more confident to share ideas and feedback in the future. 

3. Listening to employees can increase profits 

88% of employees whose companies financially outperform competitors feel heard vs only 62% of employees at financially underperforming companies, according to The Workforce Institute. 

Practical tips to ensure your team feels heard 

Sometimes the simplest answers are also the best. So, let's start with the basics: the easiest way to ensure your team feels heard is by actively listening to everyone and fostering a feedback culture.

To ensure your team feels heard, you first need to understand where you’re currently going wrong. 

According to Nudge, employees want to provide more feedback on the following topics, but either don’t feel comfortable or aren’t prompted to do so: 

Efficiency, workplace processes, and protocol (47%)

AMAs/Questions for senior leadership (17%, compared to just 9% of leaders)

To ensure employees feel heard, start by addressing these specific topics. 

The 2021 State of Employee Feedback Survey finds that the number one thing (68.4%) employees need to feel heard is for their company to take feedback seriously and implement meaningful change. It really is that simple! 

Yet, currently, 40% of employees don’t feel their feedback leads to actionable change. What’s more, over a third of employees (34%) think their company doesn’t listen to their ideas for improving the business. 

As a result, many companies aren’t collecting honest, accurate feedback (if they’re collecting any feedback at all — more on that below).  Rather, 43% of employees are more likely to tell leaders what they think they want to hear rather than how they actually feel.

This finding should be highly concerning for many senior leaders. Ask yourself: are you fostering a psychologically safe workplace where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas openly and without judgement? Or are you merely creating a closed feedback bubble?

To clarify, taking employee feedback seriously doesn’t mean actioning every piece of feedback you receive. Everyone’s different, meaning that could quickly become contradictory, not to mention a logistical nightmare. However, you should strive to create a workplace where everyone feels comfortable sharing their feedback, knowing it will be heard and taken seriously — not ignored or treated as an afterthought.

How can we ensure everyone feels heard fairly and equally at work? We’ll analyse why listening to learners is essential in the modern workforce.

Why listening to employees is essential in the modern workforce

If your business takes learning and development seriously, then there’s a good chance you utilize, or are considering the utilization of eLearning.

But when it comes to LMS vs CMS, which is best for your business based on your eLearning needs?

In this post, we’ll answer the key questions surrounding LMSs and CMSs, including the benefits of each, the major differences between them, and which is best for you based on your requirements.

Both LMS and CMS relate to the organization and publishing of content, but with certain key differences:

LMS is short for learning management system - this is a platform that has been specifically developed for the management of eLearning materials

CMS is short for content management system - this is a more generic style of platform used for managing and publishing a variety of content

A learning management system is a piece of software used by a business or educational body to organize, manage, track, distribute, and in some cases produce, eLearning materials.

With an LMS, administrators can oversee the learning process for all employees within your business. This includes providing training materials and tracking progress to ensure training has been completed or identifying when employees may need additional support. 

There are a number of benefits of using an LMS as part of your business’ training and development strategy, which include:

Save employees time throughout the learning process

Save your business money by streamlining its learning

Increase engagement with learning materials to improve retention

Provide consistent training to all employees

Use data to evaluate the effectiveness of training and ROI

For more information, check out our blog post on the benefits of a learning management system.

By using an LMS, eLearning can be easily managed and accessed both from an administrative and a student point of view.

Because you can track how employees engage with the materials, you can ensure mandatory training, such as fire safety or first aid modules, has been completed thoroughly. This allows you to provide additional support to employees who may need it.

An LMS allows you to create bespoke training for individuals, meaning they can be assigned specific training that will help them along their chosen career path. Because LMSs and eLearning use a variety of teaching methods, including quizzes and assessments, this can help employees retain information and put what they’ve learned into practice.

This helps build a culture of learning within your organization, which helps with employee growth and retention.

Now that you know what an LMS is and how it’s used, what is a CMS and how does it differ?

A CMS, or content management system, is a piece of software that allows you to create, store, manage and publish content online.

A CMS can be used in a variety of ways and isn’t just limited to the publication and distribution of eLearning content. For example, many different types of websites - from blogs through to eCommerce, use CMSs to manage their content.

A CMS will generally have two components: a CMA (content management application) that allows users to create content, and a CDA (content delivery application) that supports the management of the content once it’s been produced.

Content can be quickly produced and distributed

Users of all experience levels can create and access content

A content management system is useful if you intend on creating and publishing a large amount of bespoke content as part of your eLearning strategy. This may be useful if you need to produce long-form content such as guides or detailed user notes.

This training should also not require employees to take any kind of quiz or assessment, and due to certain limitations with a CMS, the business won’t be required to monitor how employees engage with the training, unlike with an LMS.

The main similarity between LMS and CMS systems is that both are used to create and manage content. To do this, LMSs and CMSs allow users to have different levels of accessibility and permissions.

However, that is where the similarities end. There are several key differences between an LMS and CMS which means one may be more suited to your business than the other.

What are the differences between LMSs and CMSs?

While both are used to create and manage content, the differences between LMS and CMS systems mean you’re more likely to prefer the features of one, depending on what your business requires.

The major difference between the two is that an LMS is specifically designed to be used as an eLearning platform. Meanwhile, because a CMS has a wide range of features related to the creation of content they do overlap.

As a result, an LMS is more capable of utilizing a variety of learning tools and methods, including quizzes, webinars, forums, and even gamification. These all contribute to a more engaging learning experience.

An LMS also enables administrators to produce more accurate and detailed reports, enabling you to analyze the effectiveness of training and the ROI.

While an LMS and a CMS can be used by your business, you won’t necessarily want to use both to deliver your eLearning. If eLearning is a big part of your learning and development strategy, you will find that an LMS provides more of the features you will need.

A CMS is a great tool for organizing and publishing content. This makes it an ideal tool for businesses that produce a large volume of content that needs to be accessed by multiple people throughout the business.

However, due to certain limitations and having not been specifically designed as an eLearning platform, it may not provide you with all the functionality you need. If accessibility, engagement, and reporting are required, then an LMS is likely the better option for your business.

The effectiveness of your business’ eLearning strategy can depend on whether you choose the right system for your needs. 

Check out our blog posts on the pros and cons of an LMS, and whether you are ready for an LMS at your organization for more insight. You can also see our blog on LMS vs LXP for more insights on the right learning system for you. 

For more information on how Go1 can help your business with its learning and development strategy, with our wide range of eLearning courses, book a demo with a member of our team today.

Learning and content management systems do very different jobs, but both may be a great addition to your employee training. Find out more with Go1.

LMS vs CMS: what’s the difference? | Go1

Over the past year, the Emerging Stronger team have developed a series of tools to make it simple for L&D professionals to embrace evidence-informed tactics that improve business impact. In the Fourth of this series of “Making it Simple to Do the Right Thing”, Laura Overton dives into the benefits and steps to the Communication Plan Launch Tool.

Building awareness and setting expectations

According to LinkedIn’s latest Workplace Learning Report 2022, 7 in 10 learning leaders agree that over the last year they have become more strategic, are breaking down silos by working cross functionally and have their primary focus on skills.

This is great news! The challenge is that not everyone in their organisation is aligned with the L&D leader's focus! During the same time, 35% of L&D lamented that leaders still have traditional expectations about L&D that are difficult to change, and 42% of manager’s just aren’t making time for learning. What’s more, during covid, when individuals were hungry for online learning opportunities, 10% of remote workers  couldn’t find the learning that they needed.

It seems that the harder we work to become a better business enabler, the harder it is to be seen and heard!  

We may be on the way to becoming more market savvy, aligned to business and addressing mission critical requirements, but now is the time to become more marketing savvy. 

We need to be smarter and bolder at getting our message out! But at a time when we need them the most, fewer L&D teams possess the marketing skills we need (down to just under 2 in 5 in 2022) and only 1 in 3 organise resources so that they are easy to find!

The best time to hone and develop those marketing skills is at the start of something new! Your latest L&D project deserves to be seen and needs engagement if it is to deliver impact, But in the battle for attention, you are going to need a battle plan!

This is where the Communication Launch Plan Tool comes in. Who needs to hear your message, what do they need to do, why should they care and who do they listen to the most? These are all questions at the heart of this tool. Work on those and you’ll soon be capturing the hearts, minds and engagement of your toughest audiences.

Here we will guide you through the benefits of using the Communication Plan Launch Tool – with some handy hints on how to best incorporate this tool into your and your manager’s toolkits.

Communication Plan Launch Tool: Emerging Stronger

This tool uses proven marketing techniques to help you raise participant awareness and adoption of your new L&D initiatives. It helps you plan launch communication that:

·       Increase motivation by clarifying the ‘What’s in it for me’

·       Improve adoption by simplifying the getting started process

·       Increase credibility by harnessing the influence of stakeholders

·       Create energy and excitement by bringing the right message, in the right place, to the right people at the right time

You have implemented a state of the art  learning offering, curated the most helpful content resources and designed the best learning experiences to support learning transfer. But this detailed effort will not deliver results if  your workforce doesn’t know what’s available, why it’s important or how to get started. 

That’s why implementing a robust communication plan is an essential element of success. That’s where this tool can help.

The tool has templates to take you through 3 parts:

Part 1 – Target your audience and objectives

Target audience - capture who you need to talk to for this plan to be successful and the goals each audience has 

Use your audience’s goals to develop the right objectives for your communication messages

Message outline -  explore the value and relevance of your program for each of your audience (note what is important to you probably isn’t important to them!)

Plan the resources you need to connect to each audience

Establish the call to action – specifically what you need each audience to do!

Delivery method: - outline the communication routes that will  resonate the most with each audience

The communication frequency – what’s needed for message to stick?

Download the tool for guidance notes and templates for each part of Communication Plan Launch Tool. 

The Communication Plan Launch Tool isn’t just for launching a great program, it’s a framework of thinking to ensure that you work with the right message and the right teams to achieve the results that you need.

The Communication Plan Launch Tool keeps us focused on the messages that will grab attention and build engagement. A great communications plan can also remove the friction of engaging busy individuals with the right learning opportunities at the right time.

With this tool, it’s best to think like a marketer. This means not being afraid to experiment with the way that you connect and communicate but to use data to adapt and refine. Watch the engagement data on your dashboard and tweak your communications plans as the data dictates. Remember that repeating the communication successes of one initiative does not guarantee success of your next one. 

In this series we have seen that most of the tools we’ve discussed work at their best when combined with other complementary tools. Remember the fertilizer analogy from our defining needs tool? But they all work just fine on their own as well. 

The Communication Plan Launch is one tool in your toolkit that we do not recommend being used in isolation. The best communication plans are guaranteed to fail when the offering is poorly conceived or just isn’t relevant to the audience concerned. 

Successful marketing strategy involves balancing all the P’s: People, product, place , price, proof points and process. These have to work together if promotion is to deliver its magic.

We absolutely recommend that you use the other tools in this series to create the foundations that make your communication plans fly!  

Use the Communication Plan Launch with other tools in this series:

Needs Analysis Tool: Use this to clarify the pains and gains that you need your learning offering to support – vital insight for tapping into the what’s in it for me of your audience.

Curation Decision Tool: Your one stop shop library may seem attractive on paper but can be overwhelming to busy workers. Use the curation decision tool to target your solution to meet the needs and hone your communication messaging.

Power Hour Tool: Managers are our biggest influencers! Use this tool to bring them into the process, sustain momentum and maintain communication.

Workplace Communities Tool: These are the spaces where conversations continue and movements are born – Use this tool to build them into your launch plan and reshare the stories shared here to keep your communications plan alive.

You may also be interested in the other blogs in this series:
Making it simple to conduct a needs analysis conversation, where Shannon Tipton covers delivering valuable content with the Needs Analysis Tool.
Making it simple to curate with impact, which dives into moving beyond learning aggregation with the Curation Decision Tool.
Making it simple to engage with managers, Laura Overton talks through improving engagement with managers with The Power Hour Tool.
Making it simple to improve impact, Laura Overton walks through a powerful and adaptive resource, the Improving Impact Tool.
Making it simple to cultivate learning in workplace communities, where Shannon Tipton presents ways to empower the communities at play with the Cultivating Learning Tool. 

Ready to elevate the marketing reach and engagement of your learning? L&D expert, Laura Overton explores the Communication Plan Launch Tool.

Making it simple to market learning and increase engagement

Making it simple to market learning and increase engagement

Creating a healthy school environment. Managing data and processes. Cultivating high expectations, quality teacher instruction and leadership in staff. Sound familiar? These are just some of the facets that educational leaders focus on to maintain the success of a school. 

Our wonderful content partners have brought the goods this month, with quality and engaging learning for teachers and leaders to learn valuable processes, understand new mindsets and implement frameworks and successful methodologies in schools with key takeaways and effective pedagogy.

Which awesome content partners have we added to the platform? 

Tracey Ezard is a keynote speaker, author and educator, who is dedicated to inspiring educators to collaborate and thrive in the workplace. Her course, Ferocious Warmth: School Leaders Who Inspire and Transform is based on her latest book and uncovers strategies for becoming a balanced leader who can positively influence schools, and teachers, to change and improve their practice.

HundrED is a global education non profit that advocates for a child-centric approach to teaching and personalised, passion-based learning. They believe that visionary leadership at every level of the education system is essential. HundrED have released a series of videos from influential educational figures including Sir Ken Robinson, Andy Hargreaves and Sugata Mitra covering topics from assessment to the learning environment.

Adam Voigt, the founder of Real Schools has developed a series of videos for leaders to insight a positive culture within their school setting. Adam’s stories and genuine nature will surely inspire you to transform and enhance your school culture through a focus on what really counts. 

MEG Languages focusses on the practical steps schools can take to become Globally Competent, to develop Global Citizens and to offer engaging Global Education. MEG has released two engaging courses on global competency and leaders can utilise the MEG whole school framework within the course to develop Globally Competent staff and students.

Which great content partners are coming soon to EC Premium?

Nicole Dyson at Future Anything has built a ‘future ready’ framework which supports youth in schools to turn their passions into innovative ideas. She is currently creating a course for teachers to lead authentic learning experiences that are Australian Curriculum aligned and connects students to the real world.

Sisters Bianca and Kritz at The Big Sister Experience offer school workshops and professional development for teachers with the goal of becoming the lead providers of life-education and wellbeing support pre-teen and teen girls. In their course, you can expect to uncover ethical and moral issues as well as tools and strategies for ensuring girls  live a happy and healthy life.

Story Factory is a not-for-profit creative writing centre for young people in under-resourced communities across NSW. In their two upcoming professional development courses, they will uncover practical and versatile techniques for implementing effective creativity in the classroom and strategies to engage disengaged learners.

Located just above the Central Coast in NSW, Tuggerah Lakes Berkeley Vale Campus is a 7-10 school which has partnered with EC for four years. EC supports several teams within the school, focussing on classroom collaboration, differentiation of student learning, school attendance and supporting Aboriginal education through cultural awareness and data insights. 

The co-creation of ‘The Drop’ has been one of the major successes of the partnership. The Drop is a bus that is used to take students to and from school, and it has been designed to be an engaging, exciting and supportive journey for students with the aim of improving attendance across the school.

With 100 staff online and an outstanding engagement rate of 83% so far into their first month of launch on EC Premium, we are ecstatic to have this amazing and forward-thinking school on our platform!

Gabbi brings years of education campaign and communications experience to the EC team. She has served as the campaign manager of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Junior, she has managed a range of future-focussed education initiatives and now works to support schools to succeed with the EC Premium platform. Gabbi holds multiple degrees with distinction across International Studies, Communications and Media from the University of New South Wales and Madrid’s Universidad Carlos III. When she’s not supporting schools and social campaigns, Gabbi loves all things sport, reading and cooking! 

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In September we are taking a deep dive into the fundamentals of educational leadership, and uplifting educators to become the inspiring leaders we need in our schools.

The EC Premium Content Insider – September 2022 edition

Whether you admire their ability to cope with change during the chaos of a global pandemic or are confused by how on earth they determine what’s ‘funny’ online, Gen Z are undoubtedly becoming more influential in all aspects of culture, including the workplace. 

You may find yourself thinking, “aren’t Gen Z mostly just young kids?” And sure, the youngest members of Gen Z are only 10 years old. However, the oldest members are turning 25 in 2022 and are already well acquainted with the workforce. In fact, according to recent data by McCrindle, Gen Z will make up a huge 27% of the workforce by 2025. 

So, why would you want members of Gen Z as part of your workplace? What do they have to offer that previous generations can learn from?

Everybody knows how much Gen Z loves sharing their thoughts online, whether it be a daily activity log or in-depth movie reviews. Typically, previous generations are reluctant to leave a formal review unless something is either particularly good or particularly bad. However, members of Gen Z famously share almost every aspect of their life online, including their thoughts on products and experiences, whether good, bad, or simply mediocre. This attitude extends to their experiences in the workplace too. 

Businesses can use this ‘review everything’ mindset to their advantage. In other words, Gen Z leaving reviews or talking about a business online can be free publicity. It’s just about impossible to ensure every bit of publicity is good. However, by embracing the ideas and workplace desires of Gen Z, rather than condemning or ignoring them, the public relations pendulum is much more likely to swing in your favour. 

Gen Z also have the potential to bring an incredible work ethic and dedication to employers. When they feel valued in the workplace, Gen Z then values the business in return; not just because they get paid to, but because they believe and trust in that organisation’s goals. When this happens, business-changing ideas and exciting new projects are born. 

Before you bring out the brand-new pool table for the lunchroom and organise elaborate flower deliveries to their desks, remember: the most effective ways to become an employer for choice for Gen Z do not revolve around trivial things. The keys to the hearts of Gen Z workers are right in front of workplace leaders and have the potential to positively affect all members of your team, no matter their generation. 

With this in mind, let’s take a look at some practical steps workplace leaders can take to become an employer of choice for Gen Z. 

At first glance, it may seem logical to assume that the more a job pays, the more appealing it is for potential employees. While fair pay is certainly important, there’s something that Gen Z crave much more: company values. In fact, data from Aurecon revealed that 49% of Gen Z respondents said “serving a purpose and leaving a positive legacy for future generations” was in their top 3 characteristics they look for in a workplace. 

One of the easiest ways to make your values known to current and potential employees is to feature them on your website and social media. Displaying your company’s values in a location where everyone who comes across your content is likely to see them, creates an impression that you have nothing to hide and are dedicated to living those values. 

Of course, there’s more to workplace values than just saying what they are. Workplaces must follow through with them if they want to become an employer of choice for Gen Z. Does your company value work-life balance? Show your employees by providing opportunities for them to take reasonable time off. You can also lead by example and take that time off yourself as a workplace leader. 

Furthermore, Gen Z also appreciate flexibility, authenticity, and agency in the workplace. In fact, they thrive at work when they are trusted to do their jobs well without being micro-managed by workplace leaders. 

Does your company have close ties to a particular social cause or charity? Provide statistics about exactly what your company has contributed or discuss the ways in which you’ve actively brought attention to these causes in the workplace.  

Gen Z are undoubtedly becoming more influential in all aspects of culture, including the workplace. But what have they got to offer and what do they value? Here, we dive into some practical steps workplace leaders can take to become an employer of choice for Gen Z. 