Our Sound Advice podcast series has hit 10,000 listens. Providing an alternative medium to our usual video format has appealed to our learners and broadened the scope of content that we deliver.
Our guiding principle in delivering podcasts is ‘to provide easy listening tips for improving your life at work’. New ten-minute podcasts are published regularly to respond quickly to customer need and provide resources to tie-in with corporate learning initiatives, national and international campaigns. Launching our Menopause podcast in October to coincide with ‘World Menopause Day’ gave customers access to a resource that they could use alongside their own corporate messaging and awareness raising campaigns.
With significant attention being paid to mental health in the workplace, we commissioned titles such as ‘Practical Positive Thinking’, ‘Revealing the Confident You’, ‘Roots of Resilience’ and ‘Mental Health Awareness at Work’. These podcasts have been popular with our learners and continuously appeared in the top ten since their launch.
Podcasts that promote open dialogue and discussion in the workplace has led to positive learner feedback, “A good, simple introduction to neurodiversity. I particularly liked the ‘takeaway’ - easy to implement and effective.”. Our ‘Neurodiversity and Appreciating our Differences’ sits alongside, ‘When a Colleague has Cancer’, and ‘Coaching for Inclusion’, titles which provide conversation openers and examples of how to structure successful discussions on topics that can be difficult to approach.
There is an emphasis on practicality and using anecdotes and real examples in the podcast discussion. The ‘takeaway tip’ at the end of each podcast offers a key learning point and an immediate action that can have real impact within the workplace. One recent example from Naomi Lockwood in her ‘Trust in Teams’ podcast was a reminder about the ‘green light’ principle - grabbing the opportunity to connect with a colleague when you see they are available in Teams (or equivalent) to bolster and build team communications.
The informal interview format provides a friendly conversational tone, but also enables us to explore concepts in more detail. Our MD Catherine de Salvo comments “The podcasts provide listeners with inspiration, wisdom and practical know-how in short, friendly recorded conversations”. And, promoting them as ‘learning with your eyes closed’ has been successful in supporting screen-break time and the ability to tune in whilst on a walk or a coffee break. Supporting wellbeing in the workplace, not only through the series content but also the medium!
For 2023 we’ve commissioned experts to discuss kindness in the workplace, the impact that the lack of sleep can have on your ability to function, promoting a mentoring mindset and being curious in the workplace. So, we’re continuing to deliver on topics that provide personal support to our listeners. We’re looking forward to continuing to commission high quality podcasts that support topical needs within the workplace.