Valuable connections at VodafoneZiggo
"If you have been on vacation for three weeks, you almost have to be reinstated with us," says e-learning specialist Robert Webbe. "Standing still is going backwards: at VodafoneZiggo you're never done learning. We are building the network of the future. And as a driver of digitalization, we also want to keep developing ourselves in an online learning environment that suits our organization."
From functional learning environment without interaction to a Learning Experience Platform (LXP) with social learning, gamification and xAPI: VodafoneZiggo has been working with the LXP for three years. "It was and is innovative and looks good and user-friendly. We also have a list of wishes and ambitions to make the online learning platform even more powerful, efficient and innovative."
How it was
"As a frontrunner in the telecommunications market, it is important to remain constantly innovative. Also when it comes to the development of your own employees. We wanted to move away from 'sending learning' a few years ago. Back then, as a VodafoneZiggo employee you were presented with a long e-learning. Not exactly inviting and challenging. And most LMSs at the time didn't look all that innovative.
Moreover, with us it can be the case that someone has a job interview on Friday and starts the following Monday. Onboarding is crucial here: ideally, we want our new colleagues to start training on sales or customer service right away. Previously, we sometimes had to "wait" on our own systems, which were not always well aligned. That had to change. And it did become different: we chose Next Learning Valley's LXP."
How things are going now
"We chopped up our learning paths and deployed them as SPOCS: Small Private Online Courses. Our employees learn socially: they respond to each other or to our content, gain points (XP), choose where and when they learn, in their own way and at their own pace. And they decide how they learn, via a PC or their smartphone.
In addition, the xAPI functionality allows us to quickly switch and make connections with other systems or applications, internal or external. We now have to manually add new participants or accounts to the platform, but that does give us more flexibility: our new employees can start learning right away.
We also securely collect learning data to see which trainings are popular, and what works or doesn't work: how many employees got which questions right, or wrong? And what content do we need to improve to make our trainings even better?"
What comes next
"The telecommunications market continues to develop at lightning speed for now. Eventually, we want to move towards a customized learning recommendation for our VodafoneZiggo employees: the Spotify experience within learning. And if all goes well, a parent-child functionality is planned for next year. That means that if we change something in one online learning track, that change will automatically be reflected in the learning tracks within our other systems as well. That's going to save a lot of time. Now we still have to work in each system individually; there are quite a few in an organization like ours.
Also, one day, when the Artifical Intelligence phase arrives, we hope to make even better connections between learning offerings, type of learner and the competencies such a learner gains or improves. The more data you have, the more precisely you can look for connections. Then you can more carefully answer questions such as: why is it that one salesperson or consultant performs better than another? Is it because of the training, the talents or qualities of the employee, or something else? Wonderful right?"
About Robert Webbe
"The innovations I deal with almost every day, making connections between people and ensuring that everyone can continue to develop. That makes my job the most fun in the Netherlands. When I was little, I was already shouting that I wanted to work for the PTT. When I sat on the train in 1987 with my versjouwable (a very large cell phone), I saw people thinking: what a show-off. Now everyone - from young to old - finds it the most normal thing in the world to look at a screen wherever they are.
I continue to enjoy putting into words the benefits of digital innovation and communication for people. Once they see those benefits, they move on and use that digital innovation to their own advantage. I have now been with VodafoneZiggo for 25 years. And I haven't been bored for a single day."
Want to learn more about VodafoneZiggo's Best Practice?
Then connect with Robert on LinkedIn, or contact François.