Driving Participation in a Global Workplace Training
A communications campaign helped employees complete a required annual learning, reaching a 96% completion rate.
BACKGROUND
A global real estate services company required its workforce of approximately 116,000 employees to complete annual training on topics including harassment prevention, anti-discrimination and workplace ethics. Employees worked across the Americas, Asia and Europe, in different roles and time zones. Reaching them required a coordinated campaign that could make the training requirement clear and accessible across the organization.
THE CHALLENGE
The training competed with employees’ day-to-day responsibilities. A single announcement would not be enough to reach a global workforce or help employees understand what they needed to complete and when.
The campaign also needed to account for differences in how employees accessed company communications. Some worked primarily at a computer, while others relied on mobile or local team communications. Managers needed clear information so they could cascade and reinforce the requirement with their teams.
THE OBJECTIVE
Drive participation in required annual training within the designated timeframe through clear, consistent communications that reached employees across regions and roles. The campaign set a goal of 100% completion.
STRATEGIC APPROACH
A coordinated communications plan translated the training requirement into clear messages focused on what employees needed to do, why it mattered and when it was due. Learning plans helped employees see their path to completion.
The campaign used email, intranet announcements, newsletters, digital signage, internal social posts, and an employee mobile app to reach people through the channels available to them. Managers received toolkits to reinforce the training during team conversations.
Participation data was monitored during the rollout so communications could be adjusted as the deadline approached. The campaign paired organization-wide consistency with attention to the needs of a geographically dispersed workforce.
DELIVERABLES
-
Global communications plan for the annual training campaign
-
Clear, action-oriented campaign messaging
-
Learning plans to guide employees through required training
-
Email, newsletter, digital signage, and intranet content
-
Mobile app communications for employees away from desks
-
Manager toolkits
Led by MCA’s founder while serving in an in-house communications role.
RESULTING IMPROVEMENTS
Clearer next steps: Employees received consistent guidance on training requirements and deadlines.
Broader reach: Multiple channels helped the campaign reach employees in different roles and work settings.
Stronger manager support: Toolkits gave leaders a practical way to reinforce the requirement with their teams.
High completion: 96% of employees finished the training within the designated timeframe.
RESULTS & IMPACT
The campaign reached a 96% completion rate by the deadline. Coordinated messages, manager support and multiple channels helped keep required learning visible across a large, dispersed workforce. The work established a repeatable approach to communicating annual training requirements: explain the action clearly, reach employees where they work, equip managers and use participation data to guide follow-up.