How Qlik Enrolled a Global Workforce in DEIB Development
Qlik helps some of the world’s top businesses manage data and analytics with the help of technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). Serving more than 40,000 customers globally, Qlik aims to foster a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).
To further scale engagement with their DEIB training program, Qlik designed a solution tailored to the unique needs of their international workforce.
The Challenge
Provide busy leaders with the support and resources they need to complete DEIB training programs.
Qlik had already invested considerable time, effort, and funds into developing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) course material. Still, employees were having trouble carving out time from their busy schedules to engage with these learning resources.
‘’We had good content, but awareness of it was low,” said Karin Rossi, the senior director of global talent and organizational development at Qlik.”The general uptake of our existing learning resources was not where we wanted it to be, and our employees kept telling us that they just didn’t have enough time.”
To boost the adoption of their corporate DEI program, Qlik needed a new approach.
The Solution
ExecOnline helped Qlik devise custom solutions for an incentive-driven DEI training program.
Qlik’s leaders had allocated some budget to boosting employee enrollment in their DEIB training program. They had plenty of content, but needed to find a way to package and market it as more accessible and exciting for employees. “We already had all the building blocks — it was just a matter of weaving them together in a way that would garner attention, create buzz, and also instill a sense of urgency,” said Rossi.
Qlik set about designing a three-month Summer School program, which included a curated selection of 14 self-paced DEIB-related leadership development programs from ExecOnline. The company promoted this program to all global employees and included fun incentives to encourage participation and completion.
The company employed a three-pronged approach to encourage employees to complete the program:
1. Qlik implemented a system in which employees would earn a certain number of points for each of the courses they completed throughout the summer. The points could then be redeemed for a wide range of prizes, including merchandise to gift cards to experiences, all via Qlik’s company-wide recognition platform.
2. The company continued promoting their Time Off program, which launched in 2016. The program provides employees with one full day of PTO so they can pursue the learning or development project of their choice.
3. They marketed the program via internal communication channels like email, Slack, and the company’s intranet. They also leveraged an Employee Resource Group (ERG) community to spread the word.
Qlik selected ExecOnline’s self-paced DEIB programs because of the high-caliber content co-created with the world’s best business schools, and the fact that the programs were offered in multiple languages. This empowered Qlik to deploy the summer school program to their globally distributed workforce. “We purposely wanted to reach a broader audience and dispel the misconception that DEIB is only relevant within the U.S.,” said Rossi. “We wanted to engage people who might not have experienced this type of coursework before. The multilingual offerings helped us do that.”
The Impact
Qlik achieved a 640% increase in global enrollment for DEI training courses, starting a company-wide movement.
Qlik was able to track employees’ points and completion rates via ExecOnline’s reporting dashboard. Just two months into the three-month program, Qlik had already met their initial goal, increasing enrollment in DEI courses by an astounding 640%. “The results blew us away,” said Rossi. “The program took off and exceeded even our wildest expectations — to the point where it took on a life of its own and spread by word of mouth.”
While Qlik had budgeted for 250 courses to be completed in the three-month time frame, they ultimately doubled that number. What’s more, since the program ended, Qlik has seen a steady increase in engagement with online courses beyond just DEI content — demonstrating the ongoing positive influence of this initiative.
“Bundling multiple tools into a limited-time incentive program paid off on many levels,” said Rossi. “Needless to say, we’ve already received approval to repeat the program in 2024, and we’re so excited.”
The Takeaway
Lead with the carrot, not the stick.
Motivate employees to complete inclusive leadership training by providing them with incentives — and a curated selection of on-demand courses that offer real-world applications.Learn more about building leadership capabilities at scale with the ExecOnline Platform.