Carpetright has succeeded in engaging over 80 per cent of its employees in online learning within a month of the launch of its new system.
Around 2,500 of the 3,000-plus staff downloaded training material in the first four weeks using Learning Heroes’ content, with 30% of log-ins being made on tablets and mobile devices. Records of usage reveal that many employees read training material in the early hours of the morning and remarkably, there were over 4,000 log-ins on Christmas Day!
Carpetright operates more than 500 stores, depots and offices in the UK, Ireland and the Benelux countries. In 2016 the company decided to upgrade its in-house learning system and replace a number of existing platforms, which were outdated and hard to access.
The company’s head of talent and development Sarah Menday explains:
“Colleagues weren’t inspired to learn or improve their understanding of our products and there was a lack of behavioural training to help them be the best they could be in their careers,”
They wanted employees to enjoy learning and be able to fit it into their work schedules. LearningHeroes’ courses, which are delivered through a series of short, sharp videos that can be accessed on mobile devices as well as workstations, fitted the bill.
“We believe that staff have to enjoy their training. We’ve found that humour helps with knowledge retention so when we hear people laugh, we know it’s working. Learning Heroes’ content has lots of funny elements and complemented our own style and approach.”
The content was then integrated into Carpetright’s internal system, which not only helped to encourage uptake, but also enabled the company to log usage. It showed that 16,000 videos were viewed by 2,500 unique users in the first month alone. With notifications ringing out at all times of day and night, training staff soon decided to switch off the sound alerts!
People management, SMART objectives, giving feedback and performance management have been amongst the most viewed courses.
While the team had initially promoted the new system by emphasising the ability for employees to take control of their career and learn at any time or any place, they found thatviewers were soon promoting it themselves.
“Because it’s fun they come back again and again to see a video, like it and share it,” says Sarah. “Comments go on a leader board, and recommendations are quickly picked up by others. It has generated an atmosphere of friendly competition. In fact people enjoy it so much we are always being asked what new courses are on the way.
“The Learning Heroes courses are helping us all to become great communicators, learn new ways of thinking and team working, and become mindful and inspirational leaders.”
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
