Why Cornerstone
The Virgin Media team evaluated 6-8 vendors over a two day period, agreeing a shortlist and carrying out workshops and reference calls. After this process, the team selected Cornerstone Learning and Performance.
“Our end decision was driven by the question ‘what would this be like for the end-user?’” continued Iles. “Working with Cornerstone was extremely easy because we did not have to provision any IT resources for it in parallel – Cornerstone handled all of the back-end processes.” Cornerstone’s products form the basis of Ignite, Virgin Media’s in-house learning and development system, which is the central hub for all courses, management and progression tracking.
Virgin has also partnered with various companies including ILX to provide content including PRINCE2 and ITIL training. The content is offered in a variety of formats including classroom and e-learning, and is delivered sensitively according to job function; senior executives, for example, have access to training appropriate to their rank.
The Result
Virgin Media now has one central learning and performance management system, from which managers can set career goals and performance targets, and all employees can view their own individual immediate and long-term training and performance status.
All managers can now track how training supports organisational objectives, and can set learning targets, updating these as goals change. Employees also have access to a wealth of ‘softer’ training tools like Open University courses, as well as social learning forums to discuss new business challenges. Virgin media has also achieved:
- Productivity: The e-learning system has reduced training time by 35%, giving teams more time to focus on day-to-day work
- Company Profitability: Improved training co-ordination means that Virgin Media can bring new services to market faster
- Customer Satisfaction: A more consistent training experience has led to superior contact centre efficiency
- Reduced Administration: The system is more automated, reducing administration time. Approximately 15,000 hours have been saved on the appraisal system alone and paperless reviews have also cut admin time
- Enablement: Social learning capabilities allow Virgin Media to make the most of internal knowledge and overcome problems without external advice
- Cost Savings: Switching to e-learning and virtual instructor learning has saved Virgin Media money –one example being when Virgin Media used virtual instructor ITIL training and saved approximately £102,000 compared to standard training
Virgin Media can customise both the look and feel of the system as well as the content of Ignite based on the department so that different sections have access to different training modules. Employees can create career paths and the HR team can respond to any changes in the organisation by planning out learning and development routes to ensure that there are no skills gaps.
All performance information is now in one place, and managers can see the rolling feedback and evaluation material on employees, rather than looking at paper documents, which improves the effectiveness of 1:1 sessions and reduces administration. The Ignite system can be accessed via smartphone, tablets or via other mobile devices, allowing employees to manage performance and learning wherever they are.
“We’ve had great feedback in the satisfaction survey and Cornerstone has undoubtedly helped our retention,” continues Iles. “The client success managers at Cornerstone have been invaluable. We can call and ask for advice, and depending on the business outcome that we are trying to achieve, they can tell us how to configure the system in the best possible way. This way, we decrease our time to market for new services, processes or training methods even more, accelerating our business”.
