Learning at Work Week 2023

Learning at Work Week runs from 15 to 21 May 2023 on the theme ‘Create the future’.

It is an annual event that highlights the importance and benefits of continual learning and development, providing a platform to inspire us to be lifelong learners.

This year, the three strands for learning are ‘Think future’, ‘Future fit’ and ‘Future skills’; all designed to explore how lifelong learning at work can help us individually and collectively create our best futures.

We have put together a number of free resources below to support your learning objectives and we hope you enjoy dipping in and out of them in your own time. We’ve also developed five daily tasks that can be completed in as little as 4 - 44 minutes. You can also explore these topics or anything else that interests you on OpenLearn for free, at any time.

So, whether you’re interested in achieving life or work goals, driving innovation, or shaping the community around you, lifelong learning is for everyone.

Enjoy!

If you'd like to take part in our daily learning task challenge, look out for the five daily tasks listed below. Each task can be completed within 4 - 44 minutes.

Daily tasks

Being a lifelong learner can help you to become more confident, curious, purposeful and skilled. Learning enriches us, bringing joy, connection and a deeper understanding of the world.

Learning can help you to achieve your personal aspirations, goals and potential.

Uncover your learning potential by completing the learning activities below.

Daily task one

The lowdown on green jobs and how to get one

BBC Sounds podcast: The Big Green Money show hosted by Deborah Meaden: How to get a green job.

The episode features top tips and industry insights on how to achieve a career in the green economy.

Daily task two

The benefits of flexible thinking

How can we be inspired to imagine our futures and learn new things to help make these imagined futures a reality?

Watch this BBC Ideas video on the benefits of flexible thinking. How can you apply this to your work or personal lives?

Daily task three

Discover how OpenLearn digital badged courses can help your career

How can we refresh our skills so we can achieve our goals? Why not try a badged course from OpenLearn?

Discover how digital badges can be a benefit to you and your organisation by watching this webinar recording.

picture depicting a 'inspirational book'

Daily task four

What book has inspired you and helped you on your learning journey?

Non-fiction or fiction, business or self-help, we want to hear from you!

Share your recommendations on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Daily task five

What makes you feel inspired while working?

Do you have a four-legged friend who keeps you company while you work? Does your desk have personal items that keep you motivated?

Share a photo of your workspace or learning buddy on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Think future

How can we create spaces that help and inspire us to explore and imagine our future, where we can try out and learn new things that can help make these a reality?

jigsaw puzzle with pieces showing the areas pf project management

Project management: the start of the project journey

Have you thought about what skills or knowledge you would need to be a successful project manager?

After getting an overview with this free course you may wish to progress into project management and complete a qualification. Have a look at more options here.

Entrepreneurship – from ideas to reality

Are you a budding entrepreneur? Have you thought about starting up your own business? Perhaps a side hussle?

Well this could be the course for you! Learn how to take your ideas and make them a reality with this free OpenLearn course.

circle images representing forms of innovation

First steps in innovation and entrepreneurship

This useful free course will help you to check whether your idea will make a successful business by checking your existing market competitors, assumptions and whether your idea is a truly innovative and novel.

Future fit

What do we need to be future fit? How can we use lifelong learning to help us and our communities be healthier, financially resilient, and more sustainable?

What do we need to think about to ensure we have a good foundation for a future in which we will be living and working longer?

image of paper - L&D's role in employee wellbeing

New report: L&D’s role in employee wellbeing

In this short introductory webpage article, find out about how Learning and Organisational Development can help improve the wellbeing within your employee workforce.

Please note that you will need to provide brief details of your name, workplace and email address to access and download the full report.

Hybrid working: wellbeing and inclusion

Explore hybrid working, whether working from the home or in the office, this free OpenLearn course will support you in making the most of both work settings.

In this free OpenLearn course you can learn about the benefits of maintaining good levels of wellbeing and inclusion within the hybrid work context.

Wellbeing and mental health collection

Do you have mental health first aiders? If not, do you know how to spot the signs that a colleague is struggling?

Choose from a range of helpful resources to help develop your understanding around how you can identify and support people struggling with their mental health.

Future skills

What are the tools, techniques, knowledge and skills that can help us and our organisation achieve our short-term and longer-term goals and aspirations and help us create the futures we'd like?

How can we acquire the learning building blocks and constantly refresh our skills so we can adapt and flourish?

Gain a badge and further your career

Badged open courses allow you to learn the skills in your own time and pace. By completing a few quizzes for assessment to check your understanding, you will gain a badge which can be saved to your LinkedIn profile or added to your CV.

This is a great way to start learning informally which will help your confidence in moving towards formal learning by studying from a range of courses.

image of a man in a suit and a globe with digital icons

Marketing communications in the digital age

This course will help you in the art of persuasion to build your knowledge of how to use marketing techniques in offering a range of products to the customer.

Enhance your skills with this free OpenLearn course.

MBA Business Case Builder

MBA Sponsorship - could you make it a posssiblity?

Did you know that 40% of our MBA students gained sponsorship from their employer. This useful interactive tool will help you to build a strong compelling business case when applying for an OU MBA.

Learning at Work Week Webinar archive

We have been a supporter of Learning at Work Week for a number of years and have a playlist of webinars freely available on our YouTube channel, which also contains a host of other video resources from the Business School.

Visit the archive

Formal learning

If any of this has inspired you to explore studying with us, please visit our Study pages and find out more about all our courses. You can also find out more about all the courses The Open University offers on the website.

Campaign for Learning

Learning at Work Week takes place in May every year. It is coordinated by the Campaign for Learning and activities are led by companies and organisations in their workplaces.