More than 5,800 faculty and staff completed at least one training course or professional development module in Workday Learning in its first year.
The "Learning" app in Workday went live last Jan. 23, replacing the 12-year-old Learn@ISU as the university's repository for training and development content.
When all users are factored in -- including graduate assistants and hourly student employees -- the course completion number tallied more than 53,000 in the first year. That includes everything from lab safety training to purchasing card orientation to guidance for interpersonal communication. Some trainings are required for compliance; many focus on individual development.
What's in Workday Learning?
About two dozen Iowa State units have added some 750 courses to the platform, according to Steve Couchman, learning and development specialist in university human resources. High-volume units include environmental health and safety, Ames National Laboratory and ISU Dining.
In July, university human resources moved all its new employee orientation series into Learning. Since then, 445 employees and graduate assistants have completed their onboarding there. They also get an early introduction to Workday, where so many of their human resources-related tasks will occur during their ISU careers.
Take a look
Open the "Learning" app in Workday, select the gold "browse learning" button, then set your desired filters in the left column.
In addition to university-created courses, more than 11,000 LinkedIn Learning offerings are available to the ISU community in Learning. Couchman said the university purchases licenses annually for employees and students to LinkedIn Learning, a library of instructional videos covering business, technology and creative skills for both professional and personal development.
"It's one of those great, free benefits to ISU employees that they sometimes forget about," Couchman said. "There are so many development opportunities available there."
Iowa Staters have completed 850 LinkedIn courses since last January, a 4% increase over the previous year. Examples include training for Microsoft (such as 365 Fundamentals, Excel or PowerPoint) and Adobe (XD, Spark Post, Captivate) products. Some are part of a learning series; others provide certification upon completion. The user pays the exam fee for certification, but nothing for all the coursework.
"Many of these provide training that employees can apply immediately to their job -- usually at no expense. It's a win for the employee and the department," Couchman said.
Top 5
These options in Learning recorded the most completions in 2023:
- State Board of Regents: Free Speech
- Fire Safety and Fire Extinguisher
- Building Supportive Communities: Title IX and Clery Act
- Understanding FERPA
- Emergency Response Guide Video
He said several factors contributed to a strong inaugural year for Workday Learning:
- Available 24/7.
- Easy to use. Technology issues (lags, drops) for users are rare.
- Completed trainings become part of your professional record in Workday. Managers can see what their employees are completing.
- User can apply filters in the course catalog to hone their search.
- The regular software updates Workday provides to ISU include enhancements to Learning.
Opportunities to grow
Couchman anticipates a big addition to Learning this year will be training associated with the university's implementation of Workday Student. He said he also hopes to collaborate with several small but heavily used service units to provide some of their training in Learning.
"I'm really proud of our first year and the job our implementation team did," he said.
Though perhaps not at the same rate as year one, Couchman expects Learning's content to evolve every year.
"Because all these learning opportunities are in Workday, we can adapt and grow this network as Workday grows with the university," he noted.
