Health company uses TED@Work and TEDxBusiness to support their strategic talent priorities and mission

One of the top health insurance companies in the US partnered with TED to inspire and motivate its staff, using the TED@Work learning program and TEDxBusiness event format.

Why they chose TED@Work 

The learning team wanted creative new ways to engage learners. They first learned about TED@Work through their partnership with Degreed. TED@Work for Degreed is built natively within the Degreed learning platform, allowing users to access TED content directly through their existing LXP. And with TED’s unique topics and digestible video formats, the TED@Work library is well-aligned to support the upskilling and engagement they wanted for their learner base.

Using a natively-built pathway within Degreed, the team knew they could deploy the new content easily as well as track TED@Work engagement. Which meant their team could focus fully on launching and optimizing, without having to manage a new content provider integration. 

TED@Work pre-launch: Internal buy-in and support

Among business leaders and other teams within the organization, the learning team was able to achieve buy-in for both the TED@Work program and a learning strategy that focused on employees as a whole person. “Motivation and learning comprehension have long been linked. TED@Work delivers inspiration and a bias for action that presents immediate applicability for our employees,” explained the organization's Chief Learning Officer (CLO). The new learning strategy aimed to support employees’ entire life cycles from onboarding, professional development and beyond, presenting opportunities for employees to learn and act. 

“Motivation and learning comprehension have long been linked. TED@Work delivers inspiration and a bias for action that presents immediate applicability for our employees.”

Before fully launching the new program, they used the Meeting-in-a-Box (MIAB) model to introduce TED@Work across very targeted audiences within the organization. The HR organization and business unit learning teams were introduced to the power of discussion-based learning and how TED Talks are suited for sparking new ideas. The MIAB sessions resulted in very high engagement, ensuring staff were well-primed to support the launch of TED@Work within their business units. 

Launching TED@Work to the full organization

After developing a plan to implement TED@Work, the next step was a global strategy to launch the program to their global learner population. First, they implemented opt-in information sessions to help employees learn how TED can be used for career development. 

Next, they launched audience-targeted TED Talk campaigns to employees, managers, leaders and other stakeholders across the organization. These campaigns included learning-focused email newsletters to encourage learners to participate, and the team awarded exciting prizes to participants. 

TED@Work also supported staff growth and learning around digital literacy, AI and more – including the launch of learning events and campaigns related to learning. In addition, TED@Work helped curate content for their internal learning blog, which showcases how employees use TED to drive their career development. 

Hosting a TEDxBusiness event for staff

To meet their new priorities around talent development and retention, the organization wanted to build an even more robust culture of learning. Excited by the idea of learning from staff ideas, supporting growth, shifting mindsets and inspiring each other to think differently, their CLO decided to host a TEDxBusiness event. The event was a hybrid event that included both in-person and virtual attendees across the organization. 

The event featured nine employee speakers, covering a range of topics including closing health inequity gaps, human-centered innovation, behavioral health as an integral component of healthcare, leadership strategies and more. 

Moving forward: An even greater culture of learning

Following their TEDxBusiness event, the organization’s learning team is inspired to continue facilitating collaborative events to further promote a culture of collaborative learning and idea sharing. With the support of TED@Work and TEDxBusiness, their CLO and the learning team will continue giving employees a platform for thought leadership to inspire each other and share their innovative ideas. "We learn best with and through others," said the CLO. "TED provides fundamental learning opportunities for our employees to explore new ideas with each other to foster a culture of innovation and collaboration."

“We learn best with and through others. TED provides fundamental learning opportunities for our employees to explore new ideas with each other to foster a culture of innovation and collaboration.”