About Etex Building Performance
Etex Building Performance UK is a subsidiary of the Etex Group, a Belgian family owned manufacturing business built through multiple acquisitions over a century. Etex Building Performance produce and sell plasterboard as a B2B business.
The UK employ 500 employees from factory workers and engineers, to a large national sales force, executive leadership team and a full complement of head office functions. It operates across five sites Bristol Plant, Ferrybridge Plant, Gordano House (Bristol), Basildon Warehouse and Grangemouth Warehouse.
The First Challenge – where to start
From the start the challenge was getting started. From scratch. There was no pre-existing system being used to record learning. It was just spreadsheets on different drives. There was nothing to improve and build from. This was the true beginning of a Learning Management System.
The main drive to roll out a Learning Management System was to be compliant with ISO OHSOS 18001 and to fill in the gaps the central HR system could not provide. Adding to that, the Learning Management System needed to have a seamless link between multiple platforms including; the global learning management platform that hosted eContent; the local document control system. It also needed to host internal local content as well.
Another challenge faced was that there was only one full time employee able to work on the deployment of the system.
The ‘last but not least’ challenge was the audience: manufacturing.
With low IT literacy across numerous different plants in the UK and a remote workforce of home-based employees this would prove one of the most difficult areas to manage.
The First Solution
Totara Learn was chosen as Etex Building Performance UK’s first Learning Management System (LMS).
Chambury Learning Solutions were chosen as their Partner because of their proven record of support that would be provided during the implementation and post deployment.
With just one full time employee able to work on the implementation, support was key to make sure that all the spreadsheet data was manipulated and populated correctly, and that training was available. Within Totara, certifications, programmes and audiences were created, and the design and theme was executed in accordance with the Company’s brand guidelines.
The LMS needed to be integrated with Office 365 to deliver single sign on for ease of moving between the different global and internal platforms; which required close collaboration with European based Etex IT team to configure.
Where data existed on spreadsheets it was combined and manipulated to be uploaded as legacy course completions. This allowed for training courses to be analysed internally and a structure defined where none seemed to exist. Learning paths were then created inside the LMS to align to new site competency/ training matrices for each site. Audiences were also created for the different plants and positions to allow for auto-enrolment, ensuring new starters were enrolled into the correct learning from day one.
Once Totara was configured, and the data pre-loaded, the compliance reporting could start using both Chambury’s custom RAG modules and RAG matrix reports alongside core Totara certification and program overview reports. Each manager now had their own dashboard, and for the first time in the Company’s history they were empowered to be able to manage the compliance training for their teams and departments. By engaging the employees in mandatory learning and providing a structure that they could follow the company’s learning culture began to grow.
They were hungry for more. So now the fun could begin.
Creating locally relevant content was a really important factor that has brought the site to life and engaged its learners. This could only be done with and through local Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) within Etex Building Performance UK.
Chambury Learning Solutions supported the delivery of some face to face sessions that helped the SMEs get started.
Totara’s easy to use platform and ongoing support through their online Learning Academy and YouTube videos really helped the SMEs to get creative and create blended learning courses that they could own and update locally.
The courses had a clear outline and structure they all needed to follow to provide consistency to the end users. This outline and structure were designed by the LMS manager with the idea of the page looking familiar to what the end user was already used to; an internal web page staff were used to using.
The courses are set out in topic format with images, videos to minimise the text and local imagery to create interactive, intuitive and engaging learning content.
The activities and resources used inside a course are; embedded videos, SCORM packages, seminar events, quizzes, checklists, assignments, certificates, file uploads, comment boxes and forums. Etex Building Performance use Active Presenter to create eLearning / videos for demonstrations and learning, this can be easily added to a course.
Alongside courses, certifications and programs, the finance team at Head Office actively use the ‘Record of Learning – Other Evidence’ area for their CIMA certificates and evidence for their professional registration.
Demonstrating all learning and development can be held in one place.
Dashboards were designed to show what needed to be accessed in the least clicks possible, this includes an introduction course which is a set of courses, for employees and managers, to explain what the LMS is, where they will find their Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) data and how to do they complete their upcoming and due courses / certifications / programs. At the same time this gets them used to the way a course will look like, resulting in them being engaged and familiarised right at the beginning.
Required learning takes them to a report showing what learning needs to be done to stay compliant. “Record of learning”, shows them what learning they have done on what day and what grade they received.
My Team takes managers to their team and their teams learning.
My Reports shows their dashboard of reports relating to certifications and programs, enabling them to manage both their own compliance and their teams’ compliance if they are a manager.
The Managers Academy is an internal program with blended learning courses to guide and support managers relationships with their team, this is targeted at current managers using audiences and inspiring managers. There are also buttons to the other internal Etex systems with gives a seamless link with the use of single sign on through the direct integration with O365.
The plant managers can see the plants overall compliance with graphical pie charts. Providing access to RAG reports [for certifications and program] allows managers and plant managers accountable for their own learning, their teams learning, and their plants overall EHS compliance.
The reporting dashboards also make Etex Building Performance fully compliant with ISO OHSOS 18001.
The Totara system has been so easy to use which has enabled the business to create a local platform with relevant local content relatively quickly. In just 2 years we have gone from zero to something people are engaged with. It’s got the Global Etex Group’s attention too and I already have other countries interested in re-creating what we have done here. I couldn’t have achieved this without Chambury, who have been a true business partner that I could lean on. I really trust them, and we have a great relationship.
Genevieve Tofield, Talent and Development Manager.
The Second Challenge – Covid19
With the government lockdown in March 2020 alongside Etex's internal response to Covid19 Etex had to unfortunately close down all plant stations, and temporarily furlough the majority of their staff.
This action left staff feeling confused, in need of reassurance and requiring frequent communication from head office.
This is where Totara came in once again.
Being hosted and managed by Chambury Learning Solution’s, meant that the Totara platform was the only system used by Etex UK that was available off network and by their staff whilst at home.
The Second Solution
With the Totara site being available onsite and at home Etex's Totara based 'Learning Hub' was re-christened as the Learning & Communication Hub. Previously all employees accessed the site through direct integration with MS O365, which was accessible on and off network and worked perfectly before lockdown. However, once everyone was furloughed, they could no longer visit the office to log directly onto the LMS.
All user logins were reset to manual and the link with O365 temporarily deactivated, so that staff could access the site on their personal computers, tablets and smartphones on their home internet. Meaning that staff members who are furloughed could still access training, help from their manager(s), documentation, internal news and updates etc.
The LMS was drastically changed and updated in just a few days with the help of the Chambury Learning Solutions team, with key buttons to new communication areas.
The site homepage dashboards were redesigned to include just two simple buttons.
The first directs staff to the training homepage, the second to the new communication homepage with several sub-sections.
This new communication sub=page has a Latest News & Information page which has weekly corona updates including messages from the CEO. It has a new Feel Good area featuring stories that staff members send in from home. There is exercise & sleep advice, and links to quizzes & puzzles to help keep teams together. There is also a Chat Box which allows everyone to join alongside a forum to help staff remain and feel connected during this difficult time. Finally, there is also a Manager Guidance section that just managers can see to explain the furlough process, along with stats about their team members.
During this time, adapting Totara to be used in this way, has allowed staff to remain connected with their employer, have direct access to the latest news and updates from senior management, and access business resources.
Importantly, it provides security to those staff that the company is invested in them and that furloughed doesn't mean forgotten.
Etex has less than 500 staff in the UK, so the statistics on the next page may not be huge but they are massive improvements for plants workers accessing the site in such a short amount of time and in such difficult circumstances.
About Chambury Learning
We promise to continually develop our services to meet and exceed customer expectations.
We take your requirements of a Learning Management System and support you into making your vision a reality.
All implementations include; a named Learning Consultant; UK hosting & maintenance; administrative training; deployment to your team. Also included is free access to customer conferences, workshops and focus groups.
Our extensive experience enables us to establish ourselves as a successful partner in your learning management project.
Chambury Learning commits to providing a professional, customer-focused, single point of contact for Learning Management Systems advice and support, ultimately being recognised as an excellent service provider to our customers and preferred supplier to the NHS.
We create an environment in which the customer feels that they can be open and transparent with their enquiry, that they are being listened to, making our customers feel that they are the most important part of the journey.
