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A culture of lifelong learning at AstraZeneca

Sparking curiosity and stimulating conversation by meeting people where they want to be met.
Industry Sector
Pharmaceutical
Solution
Content Library

The Challenge

AstraZeneca is a global leader in biopharmaceuticals. Its medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.

The pharma giant realized its greatest resource is its people. But to get the best from them – and keep innovating – it needed to shift from traditional ‘push’ to ‘pull’ learning. So, getting the right messages to learners at the very moment they’re looking.

To make this shift in the way people learn, AstraZeneca needed:

  • Just-in-time information for learners
  • A wide range of high-quality resources for a specialist audience
  • Free and easy access to the right topics
  • An approach that resonated with individuals.

The Solution

With the Mind Tools Toolkit, employees at AstraZeneca can access a wide range of online resources – when and where they want to.

Gone are hours wasted searching for relevant, credible information. Now, employees can learn about topics such as emotional intelligence, crisis handling and contingency planning in their day-to-day.

Our digital tool is available across devices, online and via an app, so people can develop themselves at their desk or on the go. And collaborate and share content with colleagues around the world.

Having the right tools is important. But there’s more to engaging learners. That’s why we use ‘nudging’ to showcase resources and spark curiosity. We nudge resources via email, through Facebook’s Workplace platform and through group discussions led by senior leaders. ‘Nudging calendars’ also suggest good times to communicate, and help deliver learning when it has the most impact.

At AstraZeneca, we believe that growth comes from innovation. This requires us to 'un-learn' some things, and learn new things. Mind Tools is a great opportunity to help us give people the access to bite-sized information.
Spencer Holt
Global Director of Leader and Enterprise Development, AstraZeneca

Why it works

The Mind Tools Toolkit:

  • Increased internal engagement with learning
  • Grew recognition of L&D as a strategic tool
  • Provided CEO level impacts
  • Offered detailed measurements for analysis
Spencer Holt says: "Having a tool that you can access at any time – and, more importantly, meets your development needs – starts to help us build our culture of lifelong learning, and that means something to every individual."

Learn more about our work with AstraZeneca

The Results

Since launch, results show that lifelong learning at AstraZeneca is working now.
  • 10,000 employees now use Mind Tools regularly
  • Users grew 507% in a 12-month period
  • Page views grew by 811%
  • 51% of regular users have viewed five or more resources.

With just-in-time resources, we delivered a culture shift in learning. Now, people can better themselves and provide a more positive contribution to the organization.

Spencer Holt says:

Mind Tools helps learners access this information any time, anywhere, on any device, but most importantly, according to where they’re trying to grow and develop.