Create a Learn-At-Lunch Program for Your Employees

Create a Learn-At-Lunch Program for Your EmployeesCreate a Learn-At-Lunch Program for Your EmployeesMany firms successfully employ a learn-at-lunch approach to supplementemployee training and development activities. Some call them brown bag sessions in honor of the bags in which we used to carry our lunches, and others reverse the phrase, calling them Lunch-and-Learn events. Regardless of the name, the use of an occasional lunch hour for education or training can stimulate employee engagement and extend the companys development program. This article offers ideas on how to start, sustain, and succeed in strengthening employee learning with a Learn-at-Lunch program. Time Is Always Key When youre running a geschftliches miteinander, there never seems to be enough timeto get everything done. The typical training dilemmasuggests you cantspare people to go to training because theresso much work to be done, but you also cant neglect their training and development if you want your busine ss to thrive. While individuals value their lunch periods as an opportunity to reset for the afternoon, an education program that occasionally taps into this period can be interesting and invigorating for everyone involved. What Learn-At-Lunch Is At its simplest, a Learn-at-Lunch program is a training or development event occasionally scheduled during the lunch hour or lunch period.Many firms offer incentives such asfree lunches to encourage attendance and involvement. After all, theyre asking employees to give up personal time. Learn-at-Lunch training is usually less formal and less structured than traditional training events. The topics must be interesting to make the time investment worthwhile for employees, and conducive to short, hour-long sprints delivered over a period of days or weeks. Typical Learn-at-Lunch training programs include Cross-Training A cross-training program can range from teaching customer service reps how to answer the phone correctly to providing leade rship training to first-line managers. Product Training A programcan help all employees better understand product differences and specifications if your company offers many products or services. It is also a good way to introduce new products or services to your employees. Employee-Led Professional Development Give people an opportunity to learn about the responsibilities ofemployeesin other departments.Do you have someone in IT who could teach a course in programming basics or someone in accounting who could explain howfinancial forecasting works? Maybe someone in HR could teach a session on how to interview better. Personal Development A learn-at-lunch program does not have to be strictly business. Some firms use unterstellung opportunities to offer non-work-related learning opportunities in topics ranging fromwood carving to painting or drawing. Diversity Activities Many firms sponsor diversity teams and councils, and the lunch period is a great time to invite guest speakers or s howcase cross-cultural education. Life Skills Other options for leveraging Learn-at-Lunch programs include focusing on important life skills such as retirement planning, budgeting, or physical fitness. What Learn-At-Lunch Is Not Learn-at-Lunch sessions should only be voluntary. This is not the time toperformtraining thats required either by law or by the company. Dont use Learn-at-Lunch programs for anything that requires you tokeep track of who attends. Itsnot a good time to train employees on serious subjects like ethics or harassment. 15 Ideas to Help Start a Learn-At-Lunch Program Learn-at-Lunch programs have many variations. Here are some suggestions to help you get started. Gain support from your boss, executive, and appropriate menschenfreundlich resources personnel, or training and development professionals.Choose interesting, relevant topics.Tailor topics for different audiences in the workplace.Establish learning objectives for each topic andlunchtime training sess ion.Consider offering light, healthy lunch foods, snacks, and beverages as part of the program.Communicate the schedule in advance.Provide light, advance reading or materials whenever appropriate.Invite employees to submit ideas for work or life-related topics. Encourage employees to consider leading these programs by offering their own skills.Measure participant satisfaction with each session and refine the program as needed based on the feedback you receive.Select a location that supports both training and eating.Consider the needs of remote employees who may wantto attend. Offer optional video or audio conferencing support, and if you include a free lunch for local employees, extend a voucher or offer limited reimbursement for those who work away from the office. Record and make the sessions available for those who areunable to attend.Be sensitive to the reality that many employees appreciate their lunch period as an opportunity to decompress. Strike a balance between your eagern ess to schedule these events and the needs of your employees for time away from their daily jobs.Make attendance optional and focus on content that helps individuals improve their professional skills or an ability to navigate lifes challenges.Be sure to promote the event. That means talking about it, posting up flyers around the office, scheduling it into calendars and sending emails. It wont work well if you dont market your event properly, even to your staff. Benefits of Learn-At-Lunch Programs A learn-at-lunch program provides employees with an interesting alternative to a typical lunch break. These events will grow in popularity ifthe topics are carefully selected. An assortment of programs offers an opportunity to improve employee engagement and involvement in the business in an informal manner. By alternating the types of get-togethers you have you will also appeal to a wider group of employees. For the most part, the trainers enjoy the chance to be in the spotlight. Peop le like to share their expertise and interests with others in the company. Also, employees get a chance to spend time with one another in a non-work environment, something they may not otherwise be able to do. Potential Risks and Pitfalls Mandating participation will reduce interest and enjoyment in these learning events.Your goal is to have some of your employees say to others, Oh, you should have been there Not offering a wide variety of subjects risks boring the participants and reducing involvement over time. Dont forget about the employees in the field. You may potentially alienate valuable professionals if you fail to offer a facility for remote employees. Finally, if you schedule too many of these events, yourisk annoying employees who value their lunch period as a time to get away from their desks and decompress, exercise, or run errands. The Bottom Line Successful organizations invest in supporting employee development. Althoughtraining can be expensive and the impa ct sometimes questionable, Learn-at-Lunch programs offer a non-threatening and fun method for extending learning and stimulating the energy and creativity in the workplace. Updated by Art Petty