Quick facts about Poclain: 
- Industry: Hydraulics
- HQ: Verberie, France
- Established: 1968
- Website: www.poclain.com
Challenge: A blended learning program for a global workforce
Poclain designs and manufactures specialist hydraulics components that serve the needs of several industry verticals. A blended learning program supports the innovation, knowledge-sharing, and highly technical expertise that are part of Poclain’s DNA.
With a distributed and diverse global workforce of nearly 2,500 people, the company needed a global and comprehensive learning platform that would allow the company to continue to innovate at the very highest levels, while also driving efficiencies and increasing productivity.
“Learn365 has been the ideal solution for blending learning. Our training paths incorporate self-learning, webinars, classroom-based courses and external training. We manage everything from the platform, saving us huge amounts of time while providing a ‘one stop shop’ for our learners.”
Eric Blondeau, Manager, Poclain Academy
Solution: Blended learning in Microsoft 365
With no previous learning management system (LMS), Poclain started a discovery process to find a solution. Eric Blondeau, Manager, Poclain Academy, explains:
Our products are highly technical, so we need to ensure employees are equipped with the right level of knowledge. We needed a solution that would allow us to create blended learning paths for all staff and be easy to administer.
The new solution had to support both online and in-person training, becoming a “one-stop shop” for learning as well as extending the range of digital options to drive efficiencies.
We wanted to make cost savings in our training through going digital, and also enable employees to be more productive and effective.
The company also wanted a solution that integrated effortlessly with Poclain’s Microsoft 365 digital workplace.
With requirements established, the team started to identify potential products. Eric Blondeau shares: “We produced a shortlist with three solutions that had all the features we required. We then carried out a Proof of Concept to see how the solutions worked in practice. Learn365 was easily the most complete system with the depth in functionality we needed.”
With Learn365 chosen, the team worked on implementation with Zensai partner BeWe, making minor adjustments to the interface and building up a comprehensive catalog with nearly 100 courses. In January 2020, the Poclain Academy was launched to over 2,000 learners.
Results: Global blended learning delivered in the flow of work
Although Poclain Academy has only been running for a few months, it is quickly becoming a part of the way employees work every day. The course catalog has already doubled in size to 200 courses and supports an ambitious blended learning program featuring online learning, classroom training, external training, and a growing number of webinars.
Topics range from highly technical learning to employee onboarding. With such an extensive catalog, the team has leveraged Learn365’s flexibility to allow users to filter the course catalog.
We divided the catalog into different domains such as Onboarding, Health & Safety and Products & Systems. It’s very important to have a structure with the right keywords so people can find the courses they want.
Adoption has also been very strong, largely driven through peer recommendations. Here, the impact is even starting to drive a culture of learning. Eric Blondeau comments:
Employees now go spontaneously to Poclain Academy. We are becoming a learning company with many users and contributors. Some training has become very popular and even gone viral, reaching a lot of people in the organization across the world in a very short time. One example is our “Design to Cost” self-learning module. Here, knowledge has been spread very efficiently in a way we have not seen before.
Learn365 is also proving to be highly effective in driving technical learning, working alongside an existing knowledge management platform. Here, the learning team is partnering with subject matter experts around Poclain to produce bite-size video and PowerPoint-based assets.
Learn365 is helping us to share knowledge and best practices throughout Poclain. Employees can access bite-sized content so they can better fit learning into their busy schedules. Our subject matter experts also save time because they can point employees towards a self-training module or planned webinar rather than having to answer lots of questions.
Another area where Learn365 is making a difference is supporting IT learning. Staff can access Microsoft Learning Pathways content and learn about any new tools introduced. Eric Blondeau remarks:
We now always use Learn365 to launch new software. We direct employees to the self-learning module so they can understand how to use a new application.
Future: Expanding blended learning into Microsoft Teams
Going forward, the learning team wants to keep up the Poclain Academy’s momentum. There are also plans to make Learn365 available through Microsoft Teams, allowing the course catalog to be displayed.
In the longer term, the company plans to potentially extend the use of Learn365 to customers, suppliers, and other third parties, including universities – an exciting development that will take Poclain Academy to the next level.
Reflecting on both the progress made and the journey ahead, Eric Blondeau believes the Poclain Academy and Learn365 are in a good place:
We have achieved everything we originally set out to achieve with the platform. We’re now looking forward to the next chapter, extending the use of Learn365 and the power of learning throughout the company.
About Poclain
Poclain is an independent industrial group designing and manufacturing hydraulics components that serve the needs of various industries. Headquartered in France, the company employs nearly 2,500 staff spread across 20 different countries and 11 production plants. The company has a reputation for technical excellence and innovation.
About BeWe
BeWe, a Zensai partner, is a service company assisting organizations at each step of their digital transformation towards enterprise 2.0: a more collaborative, connected, innovative, productive, agile, and social enterprise. BeWe offers a complete catalog of services that rely on agile, pragmatic, and innovative methods.