Setting a goal to learn new skills or achieve a certification can be easier said than done – especially when you’re working eight hours a day and have family or other life commitments outside those hours. So how can you achieve those goals?

At NextRoll, our Learning & Development team created the Office-Wide Learning (O.W.L.) Hours initiative, which allows Rollers to set aside time for learning opportunities during normal business hours. The Owl is one of our NextRoll Culture Creatures, which represents growth and our commitment to hiring great people and helping one another grow.

Through this program, we focus our intentions on recognizing Rollers who invest in their career and professional development. We celebrate Rollers who are champions of learning and who stay true to the Owl.

Our L&D team hosts O.W.L hours once a quarter and dedicates a month in that quarter to offering programs and professional development opportunities to tackle or access during that time. And we provide more than just time to accomplish career development goals. Rollers have free access to NextRoll’s LinkedIn Learning Hub, and our L&D team sets up live trainings and shares podcasts and articles to support growth. 

Coming up this month, the L&D team is hosting Ready, Set, Goal! – a month-long program designed to help Rollers set effective mid-year goals. 

“I had LinkedIn Learning at my previous job and really never used it because I was always too busy and there was very little effort by the organization to encourage it,” said Chad Zink, Manager I, Software Engineering. “At NextRoll,  it’s different. The O.W.L Hours took my interest and gave me a good reason to expand how often I use LinkedIn Learning. There’s much more applicable content than I expected. I found classes on Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, Productivity, Agile SCRUM, and Software Engineering. The content is easy to access and I use it to pick up new skills as well as refresh some skills I haven’t used in a while. I also found it nice to be able to link classes to my team and have a shared learning experience.”

Earlier this year, the L&D team hosted a Career Month earlier this year to encourage O.W.L hours. During Career Month, 175 Rollers logged into LinkedIn Learning, a 65% increase from the previous month, and the average person completed over an hour of coursework. Learn more about Career Month and hear from Rollers who participated! 

In other past O.W.L Hours events, we hosted several trainings that included workshops around the following topics: Coaching Skills for Managers, Embracing Change, and Goal Setting. The L&D team has also incorporated fun raffles where Rollers who submitted their learning hours for a chance to win a prize. 

Skill building and career development don’t stop when you land your dream job at NextRoll. We know that goals and dreams change, and our L&D team wants to support that growth whenever and wherever possible!

Haven’t landed at NextRoll yet? Check out our Job Board!