Atkins uses e-learning to create bespoke Health & Safety, HR and systems courses

Atkins - the worldís third largest consulting engineering and architectural group - is using e-learning to create bespoke Health & Safety, HR and systems courses and to deliver generic training in desktop IT skills.

Rather than taking the option to use its existing learning management system (LMS) Atkins elected to reduce its in-house support costs by having the courses - from SkillSoft - delivered via the supplierís in-built learning management platform (SkillPort). As well as hosting the generic e-learning content, SkillPort will run an online mentoring service; provide pre and post assessment and test preps; facilitate the in-house creation of Atkins-specific e-learning; and enable access to content provided by specialist external suppliers such as Blue Slate.

We opted for SkillSoft because they demonstrated a clear understanding of our needs and took time to get to know our business, said Barry Smith, Service Delivery Manager at Atkins. The pre-sales support that we received was of a very high standard and gave us confidence in their ability to deliver.

The SkillPort product meets all of our requirements to deliver top quality training, globally, at a time that fits into our employeesí workloads. Our staff can access the system from the office, on the road or even from home.

We are confident that we have made a wise choice - we have seen usage rates rocket; we get excellent support; and we can quickly upload new courses to meet the ever changing needs of the business.

One of the biggest benefits for Atkins is the ability they now have to build their own in-house content using SkillSoftís Course Customisation Toolkit (CCT). The CCT is proving to be a hugely cost-effective way for the companyís own training experts to respond immediately to the strategic needs of the business by creating company-specific e-learning content. This is being used to develop e-learning to deal with industry compliance issues and Health & Safety as well as to address the specific needs of a division or even a particular project.

Typically, Atkins can now build a bespoke course from scratch and make it available online within less than five days.

Approximately 160 SkillSoft courses have already been made available to 10,000 UK employees. The early feedback from users is so encouraging that Atkins is now looking at adding generic business skills content and rolling the e-learning out to Hong Kong, the Middle East and the US.