Quick facts about Aspire: 
- Industry: Housing association
- HQ: Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK
- Established: 2000
- Website: www.aspirehousing.co.uk
Challenge: Low adoption of existing LMS
Aspire Housing is a leading housing provider, property developer, and place shaper based in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Created in July 2000, we own and manage more than 9,000 homes and support around 19,000 customers across Staffordshire and Cheshire. Aspire’s existing Learning Management System (LMS) was suffering from low adoption and was difficult to manage.
The learning team was looking for a new fully featured LMS that would be far better integrated into the daily work of Aspire’s 400 employees, be effortless to manage, and provide a springboard for ambitions to support engagement and professional development across a diverse workforce.
“Implementing Learn365 means that learning is completely integrated into our daily work. People love that they can see all their learning in one place. The automation and features have saved us so much time and are helping to increase adoption.”
Shelley Austin, Learning & Development Business Partner
Solution: Enabled learning in Microsoft 365
One principal problem with Aspire’s existing LMS was that it sat outside Microsoft 365 and Teams, where many employees spend their working day.
Shelley Austin, Learning & Development Business Partner, comments:
Our LMS was completely separate from Microsoft 365. This was a real barrier for people and had resulted in low usage. Our new LMS had to have seamless integration with all our Microsoft applications. Learn365 was the only solution that offered the deep level of integration we were after to deliver learning in the flow of work.
The team was also looking for a more fully featured solution that would provide a smoother experience for learners and be far more efficient to manage.
Our existing LMS had limited automation and reporting and took up too much administration time. We wanted a solution that was automated and created efficiencies in our processes such as monitoring and reporting on mandatory training. We also needed simplified booking for both virtual and in-person sessions with a more automated invitation process.
Armed with a list of requirements that also included the ability to support blended learning, the team viewed several solutions, finally shortlisting two vendors, including Zensai.
One approach that helped Aspire Housing decide to select Learn365 as their ideal solution was the ability to access a free trial version. Shelley Austin comments
We appreciated the ability to try before we buy. We could see what it looked like from a user perspective and trial it with groups like our maintenance teams who have had technical difficulties accessing e-learning in the past. It also helped us get used to the functionality of the system which meant we could implement Learn365 in just six weeks.
In December 2023, Learn365 successfully launched in Aspire Housing, enabling learning for the 400-strong workforce.
Results: Learning in the flow of work
Today employees can access Learn365 through SharePoint, Microsoft Teams or via the Learn365 mobile app.
Shelly Austin explains:
People can access learning on Teams or SharePoint, so it really is part of their daily work. For example, they may get a recommended course from their manager via Teams chat. Meanwhile our frontline employees can access learning on the go via the mobile app. Having different ways to access Learn365 has given us that flexibility and removed barriers to learning.
Seamless integration with SharePoint has also created opportunities to drive more awareness of the courses offered and enable learning for all employees.
We’ve created a learning landing page in SharePoint which has enabled us to send out targeted campaigns to drive adoption of Learn365, for example around Learning at Work week, an annual event in the UK. We can showcase what we’ve been doing.
Shelly Austin also attributes the tight integration with Microsoft 365 as one of the reasons why Learn365 has been so well received across Aspire.
Initial feedback from colleagues and managers has been really positive, People are finding Learn365 easy to use and access. They love that is integrated into the systems they already use. The look and feel have definitely helped as people are already used to Microsoft tools.
Enabling learning with better visibility
The increased visibility of learning is also a huge plus. Shelly Austin explains:
People appreciate seeing all their learning and certificates in one place, and what needs to be completed by when. Managers also love being able to track the progress of their team’s learning. Learners also receive automated reminders and if a deadline is missed then managers are alerted. Because everything’s much easier and more visible we’re starting to see higher course completions and mandatory courses being completed more quickly.
A critical feature of Learn365 has been to streamline registration for learning and the process for confirming attendance, even using a QR code for in-person events.
We can invite people to book themselves on sessions with the invite going straight to their calendars. They can then virtually sign in, so there’s no need for paper attendance sheets anymore!
Another huge benefit of Learn365 has been the ability to integrate with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Active Directory) meaning that existing Entra ID groups can be used to target particular learning.
Shelley Austin comments, “In our previous LMS adding new starters and allocating training was all manual. It was time-consuming with a high potential for errors. With Learn365 we just use our existing Entra ID groups such as new starters or our customer service team. Everyone is then automatically enrolled in the right targeted training.”
Overall, the time saved on learning administration achieved through automation in areas such as notifications, registrations, and reporting has meant the learning team can focus on more value-added activities.
It’s been fantastic. We’ve been able to concentrate on things like improving the whole onboarding process, management development, and creating exciting content as we’re not spending as much time doing the day-to-day administration tasks.
Staying compliant with ease
Another welcome Learn365 feature is the ability to get up-to-date metrics on learning completions and more, helping Aspire to meet its compliance and regulatory requirements.
Shelley Austin remarks “We are a regulated sector. We have to demonstrate governance around areas like safeguarding and GDPR. The reporting of mandatory training with Learn365 has really helped the team to do this more efficiently.”
One advantage of Learn365 is the variety of content that can be added to support different learning needs. This ranges from in-person learning to one-off virtual learning events to a wide variety of ready-to-go courses available from Go1.
Shelley Austin comments “We’ve been able to push a much wider variety of content out through the Go One library into the platform as well as our own bespoke content. Learn365 has also allowed us to deliver a blended approach to learning. For example, our training for customer complaints has two stages, precourse e-learning and a follow-up face-to-face course which people can then book onto after their e-learning is complete.”
Learn365’s ease of use has also empowered different teams to directly manage their own content.
Subject matter experts from areas such as health & safety and customer complaints can load courses and push out content themselves. That’s been really helpful because we can shift some of that accountability across the business.
One aspect that has made a difference is ongoing support from the Zensai team. Shelley Austin comments, “We wouldn’t be where we are without the fantastic support from our Customer Success Manager. We have monthly meetings where she’s always super helpful. She’s been there every step of the way from the start of our journey helping us to navigate any challenges.”
Future: Expanding and enabling learning in Microsoft Teams
Going forward, Aspire Housing plans to continue expanding the learning opportunities available on Learn365. Soon they will be adding bespoke content including courses from the Housing Services team to help frontline staff, as well as all the content from a recent in-person management development program.
There are also plans to use Learn365 to improve employee experience, including evolving the onboarding experience for new starters, and even to support companywide celebrations.
Shelley Austin comments:
We plan to use Learn365 so people can register for any companywide events and the details go straight into their calendar. We’ll also be saving money as we’ll retire our existing paid event solution.
One exciting future priority is to use data from Learn365 to help develop a skills and competency framework to support professional development.
Shelley Austin explains, “In the UK housing sector there’s a real drive for professionalism through the development of a new Competency and Conduct Standard. There will be a focus on developing and managing the skills, knowledge, and behavior of colleagues. Learn365 skills functionality gives us an approach and place to define and develop a role-relevant skills framework, and so will support us to develop and embed learning initiatives and approaches that enable a culture of continuous professional development.”
One aspect of Learn365 that supports the future growth of the platform is the roadmap of new features.
Learn365 is constantly getting updated with new functionality that you don’t have to pay anything extra for. And unlike some other systems, whatever is promised on the roadmap does get delivered! It’s been really positive for us.
About Aspire Housing
Aspire Housing is a leading housing provider, property developer, and place shaper based in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Created in July 2000, we own and manage more than 9,000 homes and support around 19,000 customers across Staffordshire and Cheshire. Our profits are reinvested in new homes, in revitalizing communities and in a comprehensive range of innovative support services designed to transform lives.