A future-proof labour market

It is time for an upgrade of our regional labour market. With the launch of Upgrade jezelf (‘upgrade yourself’), part of the Human Capital Agenda, and the accompanying development fund, the Zwolle region is giving the labour market a powerful boost. This is made possible by investing in people together and making the most of everyone's talent. To grow, we need all the talent there is, regardless of education level, age, career and relationship to the labour market. Only then does a strong and vital labour market emerge that can take a knock.

But Upgrade jezelf can't mean anything for Zwolle without input from the employees themselves! So we were asked to make Upgrade jezelf widely visible in the region, in order to activate employers to submit 100 training applications to the development fund.

We started by giving Upgrade jezelf a strong, recognisable visual identity of its own. Refreshing, contemporary, with an activating tone of voice, human, approachable and above all far removed from that ‘government feeling’. Because Upgrade jezelf is not from the government, but precisely for employers and employees. The campaign slogan is based on this too: Van alleen stappen zetten naar samen sprongen maken! (From taking steps alone to making leaps together!)

On top of that, the Zwolle region is full of inspiring stories from employers who seized opportunities for growth. A great opportunity, then, to use these stories to inspire others to keep developing themselves too. Through various content sessions with stakeholders from different sectors, we decided which content, formats and media channels would activate the right audience. The content platform www.upgradejezelfregiozwolle.nl is the beating heart of the campaign. It brings together information, tips, tools and initiatives around work and development in the region. In active collaboration with the region and the sector tables, we are working together on expanding and optimising the platform.

To make the initiative widely visible in the region, we developed a cross-media activation campaign. From social campaigns to online advertising, offline communications and a launch event. Entrepreneurs in the region are challenged to become ambassadors for Upgrade jezelf, and to nominate other entrepreneurs or apply to the development fund. After six weeks, almost 400 training applications had already come in! Thanks to the Upgrade jezelf campaign, Zwolle itself has retrained from an ambition region into a growth region!

The icing on the cake: Upgrade jezelf now also has its own podcast. Each episode features a regional entrepreneur as a guest, with whom we talk about HR policy, the tight labour market and continuing to grow as a company with new choices and solutions. So do you want to get inspired and take a fresh look at your HR policy? Then listen to the Upgrade jezelf Podcast.