HR in March: How to Finalize a Learning Calendar That Sticks
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By March, the "New Year, New Me" energy has officially left the building. If your L&D calendar for the rest of the year looks like a static list of generic workshops, it will likely be ignored. To make learning a cultural pillar rather than a corporate chore, HR must finalize the calendar using a data-driven, agile approach.
Finalizing your calendar in March allows you to move from hypothetical training to learning that delivers in the moment. Here is how to lock in a schedule that drives ROI and engagement.
1. Audit Against the Skills Gap Reality
In January, we plan based on trends. In March, we plan based on performance data.
- The Strategy: Review the output from the first two months. Are managers struggling with the new KPI software? Is the sales team faltering at the closing stage of the new funnel?
- The HR Fix: Use March to trim the fat. If you scheduled a "General Communication" workshop but the data shows a specific need for "Conflict Resolution in Hybrid Teams," swap them now. A relevant calendar is a respected calendar.
2. The 70-20-10 Distribution Check
A common mistake in final L&D planning is over-indexing on formal classroom training (the 10%). If your calendar only features dates with trainers, you are missing 90% of how people actually grow.
- The Strategy: For every formal session on your calendar, ensure there is a corresponding social or experiential component.
- The 10 (Formal): A workshop on Project Management.
- The 20 (Social): A peer-led "lessons learned" session two weeks later.
- The 70 (Experiential): Assigning the learner to lead a small internal task force using the new skills.
3. Protect the Cognitive Bandwidth
The biggest enemy of L&D in Q2 and Q3 is time poverty. March is the month to ensure your calendar respects the ebb and flow of the business.
- The Strategy: Map your learning events against the company’s energy Peaks. Avoid heavy technical training during crunch months such as June or September.
- The HR Fix: Instead of three-hour marathons, finalize a calendar that prioritizes learning sprints—45-minute sessions with actionable takeaways. This increases attendance rates by up to 30% because it fits into a modern workday.
4. Build in the ROI Loop
An L&D calendar isn't finished until you’ve defined how you will measure its success. Number of attendees is a vanity metric, change in behavior is the gold standard.
The Strategy: Every entry in your finalized March calendar should have a success metric attached. For a leadership program, the metric might be a 10% increase in manager support scores in your Q3 pulse survey.
Functional
References:
- Johnson, J., & Cloke, G. (2021). The 70-20-10 Model: A Review of its Application and Effectiveness in Modern Organizations. Journal of Workplace Learning, 33(5). (An updated look at how the 70-20-10 model must be adapted for remote and hybrid learning environments.)
- LinkedIn Learning. (2024). 2024 Workplace Learning Report: The Rise of Agile L&D. (This report highlights that the most successful L&D programs are those that can pivot their calendars based on immediate business needs and employee feedback.)
- Noe, R. A. (2023). Employee Training and Development (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. (The definitive academic text on L&D, recently updated to emphasize the importance of "micro-learning" and measuring the transfer of training to the workplace.)
Marissa Lau is an organisational development practitioner with a background in psychological science. She is the Head of Budaya, a culture and engagement department that helps organisations listen better, build healthier workplaces, and turn employee insights into meaningful action. Working at the intersection of leadership, culture, and human behaviour, Marissa translates complex ideas into practical insights for individuals and organisations, while bringing experience in project coordination and cross-functional delivery. Her work focuses on employee engagement, workplace wellbeing, learning innovation, and the future of work, with a strong belief in building human-centred organisations where both people and performance can thrive.
