Learning Waves wins Best Graduate Development Initiative at Learning and Development Awards 2023.
Learning Waves won Best Graduate Development Initiative for its Journalism Graduate Programme at the Learning & Development Institute’s Excellence in Learning Awards. The Awards is recognised as the premier Learning & Development event for the industry. The purpose of the Awards is to promote excellence, best practice and innovation in training and learning & development, and to highlight the importance of this area in today’s business climate.
Celebrating the 25th year of the L&DI Excellence in Learning Awards, the winners were announced on Friday 22nd September 2023 at a live evening event for the first time since 2019. The Awards in 2020 and 2021 were held virtually, while 2022 was an afternoon lunch. The event was held at Killashee Hotel, Nass, last Friday. RTÉ’s Marty Whelan was the compere on the night, and he announced the 2023 winners in a room of 500 learning & development professionals from a wide range of industries.
Sinéad Heneghan, CEO of L&DI, who host the Awards, said: “This year’s Excellence in Learning Awards entries displayed strong hallmarks of a profession at a point of evolution. There were many strong submissions, some evidencing a more profound focus on inducting and onboarding through digital formats, apparently due to the way in which traditional work has developed. There are more employees working remotely and as direct result training is now being delivered in a more cohesive, structured way through digital mediums.”
The Learning Waves Journalism Graduate Programme is a unique and innovative programme designed and supported by the Independent Commercial Radio Sector along with Coimisiún na Meán and Skillnet Ireland. 10 journalism graduates are placed in 10 different radio stations for a period of 5 months. The programme aims to empower the graduates to tell stories that are truthful, of interest to the audience and are meaningful to society. It creates a fundamental understanding and awareness among graduates of Media Literacy so that they can be equipped with the skills and knowledge to understand traditional and new media and communication sources, including radio, online and mobile platforms. 8 out of the 10 graduates who took part in the 2022 Journalism Graduate Programme are now working full-time in the sector. The Journalism Graduate Programme is funded and supported by Skillnet Ireland and Coimisiún na Meán.
The award was presented to Learning Waves Project Manager, Teresa Hanratty and Martin Howard, Programme Director, Shannonside/Northern Sound. In accepting the award, Teresa said that, "she was shocked and delighted to win the award. The graduate programme is a key programme for the recruitment and retention of new journalists into the Independent Radio Sector in Ireland. The support of Skillnet Ireland and Coimisiún na Meán has been crucial to the success of the programme. To have the programme recognised as 'best in class' by the Learning and Development Institute in Ireland is a huge accolade Hanratty said. The recognition is testament to the dedication of the stations and graduates who take part in the programme and we look forward to the continued development of the programme in 2024. Congratulations to all the winners on the night."
Learning and Development is also a key tool for staff retention and attraction. Core skills being targeted in the next 12 months will be developed through organisation wide L&D initiatives and projects across senior, middle and front-line roles. Beyond the typical personal development and health and safety and compliance provision, areas of development focus on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), re-engagement with organisation culture and values, and employee well-being, in particular, stress and resilience. The development of skills and capabilities to work in virtual teams and the leadership of virtual teams is a priority along with a strong focus on the preparedness of future leaders.
For the full list of 2023 winners, click here.