In the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical industry, learning and development play a pivotal role in empowering employees to stay ahead of emerging trends and best practices. Takeda, a global pharmaceutical leader with over 50,000 employees, has partnered with Cornerstone to create a companywide culture of learning.
A unified learning experience
Before adopting Cornerstone Learning Experience (LXP), Takeda faced significant challenges in streamlining its learning infrastructure. “We had three Learning Management Systems (LMS) and no LXP,” recalled David Barone, Takeda’s learning leader. “Our learners were confused on where to go for training. Even as a learning professional, I had to rely on sticky notes to remember where specific trainings were located.”
To resolve this, Takeda implemented Cornerstone Learning Experience, branded internally as “Bloom,” to become the “front door” for all learning and training needs. “Now, whether you need mandatory, functional or developmental learning, everything is centralized and accessible through one user-friendly platform,” Barone explained.
Driving engagement through personalization and integration
The impact of the transformation has been profound. Takeda’s decentralized learning organization, where business units traditionally manage their own content, has embraced Bloom as a way to align learning efforts. “We’ve aggregated content from different business units and are moving towards centralized content development tools, ensuring all employees have access to diverse learning materials,” Barone shared.
Adoption rates have soared. According to Barone, one key factor is Takeda’s integration of its LMS with Bloom, making it a seamless “one-stop shop” for learners. One centralized learning platform has allowed us to leverage a single data source to create global dashboards to help evaluate value and time our employees invest in learning.
Collaboration and continuous Improvement
Takeda’s partnership with Cornerstone has been characterized by collaboration and mutual growth. “Cornerstone is open to trying new approaches to assist their customers,” Barone noted. One example was Cornerstone’s support in streamlining Takeda’s translation process. “We partnered to leverage a backend file format that can be shared with translations vendors to create multiple languages then automatically uploading the files to create content in multiple languages which has made translations significantly easier,” he explained.
Furthermore, Takeda’s use of data analytics has been transformative. “Data helps us understand engagement and identify areas for improvement,” Barone said. “It’s allowed us to enforce standards and ensure a consistent learner experience across our organization.”
Fostering a culture of learning
The ultimate goal for Takeda is to create a companywide culture of learning. With Bloom as the central hub, the company has seen a sixfold increase in non-mandatory learning hours. In the first year of deployment, the organization logged 1.67 hours of learning per employee. The following year it increased to 9.9 hours per employee. “Step one was getting people onto the platform,” Barone explained. “Step two was allowing learners to easily track the amount of time they were dedicating to non-mandatory learning.”
Takeda’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. The company’s innovative use of dashboards and learning strategies has sparked interest from other Cornerstone customers. “We’ve presented our dashboards at a customer session, and now other organizations are reaching out to learn from us,” Barone shared proudly.
Looking ahead
As Takeda continues its journey with Cornerstone, the focus remains on enhancing the learner experience and aligning with long-term strategic goals. The idea is to bring various platforms together under one cohesive learner experience.
Takeda’s story is a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to learning excellence. With Cornerstone as a trusted partner, Takeda is well-positioned to foster a thriving learning culture that supports both individual and organizational growth.
