Building a learning culture from scratch takes more than launching a learning platform. It requires understanding what employees actually need, giving them room to direct their own development, and creating the support systems that help learning become part of everyday work.
Rida Fatima built an engaged learning culture from the ground up by combining learner autonomy, relevant resources, and consistent support. Starting with no formal learning and development function, no learning management system, and no standardized resources, she created a Center of Learning designed around the employees who would use it.
In this Q&A, Rida shares how she approached the challenge, built trust before launch, encouraged voluntary participation, and used OpenSesame to support the work of a one-person L&D team.
Q: You’ve said that “learning should never be gated.” What does that belief look like in practice?
Rida: I am not one to hide any learning courses unless they are company information that can't be leaked, and we don't put that on LMS anyway.
For example, if I was creating training for someone in operations, someone from IT does not need that training at all, so I don't assign them that training. But, I leave it in the organizational library.
If they want to go and learn about a process within the operations function, they should be able to. There's nothing wrong with that. This is something they want to learn. That's perfectly fine, that's not hurting anyone.
I don't gate anything. I don't gate between salary and hourly. If you're salary, that doesn't mean you should have access to Lean Six Sigma, and if you're hourly, you shouldn't. That doesn't make any sense to me because how are we going to elevate this hourly employee to salary if we're not giving them the resources to level themselves up?
Q: How do learner autonomy, access to the right resources, and genuine support work together in your approach?
Rida: The type of learnings I used with OpenSesame were strategically placed within the learning management system in three different libraries: technical skills, professional skills, and organizational skills. People got to learn whatever and however they wanted. OpenSesame gives me the option to choose if I just want somebody to be able to read or watch or interact. They have multiple training options. However you want to learn, click learn. That's learner autonomy.
Learner autonomy also comes from leadership as a whole. Leaders need to actually listen. Learn about their experience. You don't know what they did before this job. Learn about their experience. Learn what they've learned. Learn the certifications they have. Give them a chance if it makes sense.
That's genuine support.
Q: How did you discover what employees actually wanted or needed to learn?
Rida: When I was first brought on, one of the biggest challenges was we don't know what we don't know. Think about starting from zero. So how do I engage a workforce that's never seen a learning management system?
I like to speak at every level. That's the only way to keep an employee-centric approach in mind. I didn't just speak to the leaders or ask what they thought their employees or departments needed. I also reached out to employees at every level, from specialists all the way up to managers, team leads and senior managers.
Sometimes leaders know what's great for the organization, but they're not always attuned to what the everyday worker needs to succeed. So I tried to bridge that gap.
For example: Yes, my leader wants me to grow and become a team lead, but I don't know how to use PowerPoint. I don't know how to create these pivot tables that he wants me to make reports on, and that's why I keep failing.
It's basic things like that. I'm not just putting leadership development in one category and everybody takes it. I was also including how to use Microsoft Word beginner, intermediate and advanced. So any learner at any level can grow. That was really the approach.
Q: What role did the Center of Learning newsletter play in your broader engagement strategy?
Rida: Once we knew we were going to sign with OpenSesame and 360Learning, and I started understanding what that integration and platform would look like, I started creating our first learning newsletter. I called it the Center of Learning.
Initially it was just, “Hey, we have the Center of Learning coming up on November 4.” I was sending this out in May, ramping up for November 4.
“We're going to launch this platform. It's going to have these training sessions. If you have training that you would like to request, click here.”
I was getting them in the habit of reading the newsletter, but also clicking that button and understanding, “When I click this link, it takes me somewhere, and it's going to help me.” It was building that muscle.
I kept doing that on a monthly basis. As we got closer to launch, I started sending resources in the newsletter: what they could expect, how to access the platform, and what was already available.
I was already adding Excel, Microsoft Office, and different learning pathways, and I was taking screenshots and sending them in the newsletter. People already knew what that platform was going to look like before they ever got in. It was already familiar.
Q: How did recognizing learners influence participation or the learning culture?
Rida: I wanted to really leverage that newsletter. The newsletter was a hit; people were reading it. I didn't want the momentum to go away because we had launched.
The first month, I started a learner spotlight section and a learning of the month section. The top portion was recognizing them instantly. Initially, we started off with about five people who had completed a training aside from the one I assigned them.
Right under that, there was a button to ask for a learning need. I never want to take autonomy away. This platform is for you. I wanted to create a platform that was a benefit.
I always wanted to give the option to add a learning need that would go directly to me, and I had to make sure I kept that promise.
I built credibility, I built that trust, and that's what kept the engagement going. The second month, we had about 12 people complete self-enroll training. It just kept growing after that. We got up to about 24 individuals at one time. And again, I only count self-enroll. I don't count compliance training.
There was a time when I was late on the newsletter, and I started getting messages like, “Hey, I completed my training. I didn't see my picture come through.”
It's two minutes out of my day to say congratulations. You're recognizing somebody putting in that extra effort. Do it. It's not that hard.
Q: How did OpenSesame’s catalog, integrations, and curation capabilities fit into your strategy?
Rida: Perfectly. The selling point for me was the integration with 360Learning. That was very important to me.
360Learning worked really well with the way I was trying to curate content and provide an LMS for the company. It was easy to use. I could add whatever resources I wanted to and make it as complicated or as easy as I needed, while encouraging collaboration.
Being able to seamlessly integrate with that was a chef's kiss because I didn't want to overwhelm our people with 40,000 courses.
We could have gotten OpenSesame and just given them the link and said, “Go learn whatever you want.” That would get zero engagement because that's overwhelming for me.
Being able to use OpenSesame's curation team helped me. I've used it multiple times. I could say, “I'm busy. I just really need somebody to help me start a list of leadership development,” and I would get a starting point list where I could demo and say, “I like this one, I don't like this one,” and adjust from there.
Being able to click deliver courses and have it there the next day was beautiful. It helped so much being a one-person team.
I was also able to get reports. Every step of the way, OpenSesame has definitely helped me out.
Q: For a one-person L&D team, what is one practical step they could take this month to improve learner engagement?
Rida: One practical step would be to know your learner. Figure out your learner.
Don't just have conversations with leadership. You're going to get engagement from the learner, so have that conversation with the learner.
Figure out exactly what is relevant to them and what they want. Make a reasonable promise, and then actually fulfill that promise.
Build that trust and credibility. You'll see engagement because now you're not telling them what you want them to learn; you're giving them what they ask for.
Rida’s experience shows that building an engaged learning culture starts with listening. By giving learners access to relevant resources, the autonomy to choose what supports their growth, and consistent support along the way, L&D can become something employees actively use rather than something they simply complete.
For small L&D teams especially, the takeaway is simple: know your learners, follow through on what they need, and build trust one useful learning experience at a time.
Ready to build a learning culture employees choose to be part of? OpenSesame gives L&D teams the curated courses, expert support, and flexible integrations to deliver relevant learning at scale. Explore how OpenSesame can help make learning a lasting part of everyday work.
