How the Centrick Academy made L&D a key driver of employee engagement.

When a pulse survey revealed their employees wanted a more structured and formal way of learning, it set Centrick on a path to finding a centralised place for all knowledge and resources. A solution that would also help them become less dependent on uploading face-to-face training content to SharePoint after courses.

They needed a learning platform that could help them gain back some of that time invested in out-of-office development and help people grow as fast as the business.

Their challenge

With no formal learning solution in place, Centrick encountered a number of challenges. They lacked one place for all of their resources, something centralised that everyone could tap into and use to search for knowledge. Each time an individual asked a question, they needed somewhere to store that answer, prevent repeat questions and create easy access to that information.

Given how rapidly Centrick is growing, they also needed a learning solution that could keep up! One that frequently updated content to prevent it from becoming quickly outdated. They also recognised they had a skill gap, and any solution would have to help them map or measure it while offering similarly strong reporting capabilities on learning.

Finally, given the swift move to homeworking becoming the norm, it was crucial that any platform could connect remote employees and help them find the right resources from their home offices and out on the road.

Our solution

With their wishlist growing, they realised they needed something that could do a bit of everything they wanted while fitting their culture and budget. That’s where HowNow caught the eye! Fun, interesting, and giving Centrick the feel of a social media platform, they saw us as a good fit for their audience and demographics.

In creating the Centrick Academy through HowNow, they now have that one source for all scattered learning. The Studio and Nugget feature empower people to easily create and share content, reducing the burden on their People Team. And the high-quality content HowNow curates tackles that fear of finding waves of outdated resources in the platform.

They’ve also created a culture where people can learn anywhere, anytime, in the flow of work. Our mobile app empowers employees heading on the road for viewings to maximise their time and learn when it suits them. For the rest of the team, they can find resources where they already work through integrations with Microsoft Teams and other apps. Plus, the Browser Extension helps them find knowledge as they search online. With many of their people working remotely, it cuts back on questions, repeat questions, and time spent waiting for responses.

For most organisations, the least glamourous part of learning is compliance, but HowNow enables Centrick to report in real-time, right down to who’s completed what training, the scores, time spent, and plenty more.

The outcome

After launching HowNow, there was a noticeable improvement in the pulse survey results. L&D rose from being in the bottom three engagement drivers to sitting second in the list of 10 (with a score of 4.1 out of 5). The platform and Centrick Academy are also tangible benefits that demonstrate the company’s commitment to addressing staff concerns about development.

From a people perspective, it’s also given the team the opportunity to create initiatives that support their employees. Customer service and sales conversion resources have been bolstered, while a mentoring program has been launched through the platform. Whereas they would have captured interest manually via email in the past, it all lives in HowNow – from assessments to pairing them with the right mentor or mentee and monitoring progress.

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