Improving the Performance of Learning
Venture House, Arlington Square, Downshire Way, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 1WA Telephone: +44 (0)844 630 9000 Fax: +44 (0)844 630 9090 Email: info@knowledgepool.com knowledgepool.com
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Optimise your learning, transform your business
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Your partner for learning
Long history, unrivalled experience KnowledgePool knows learning. Having accumulated over 40 years’ experience improving the performance of learning for dozens of global corporations across multiple industry sectors, we enjoy a position now as the European market leader in managed learning. Managed learning services A good managed learning service provider becomes a single partner and offers a channel to manage all of your learning activity and operations. We undertake all delegate and event administration, source and manage all training delivery providers, and provide quick and easy access to extensive market intelligence and learning expertise.
Improving the performance of your learning Our managed learning service is the ideal platform for L&D leaders who want to make a real impact and introduce world-class learning & development. We ensure your people receive best-practice learning from the most innovative suppliers in the market, and we can help unearth that specialist programme that might really put L&D on the map. Our resources and tools help you to understand the real needs of your organisation. We go the extra mile to measure and quantify the difference the learning makes. Our way of working ensures that your learning is relevant, engaging and aligned with the business and involves line managers more in both set-up and follow-up.
“ KnowledgePool have helped us to think about new suppliers and services and they’ve also supported us in rationalising our administrative processes and costs. We have an excellent relationship with them and it is great to have such trust in an outsourced partner.” Jill Youds, Executive Director of Resourcing for Talent, Development and People Operations at Virgin
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Improving the Performance of Learning
Empowering your in-house L&D team We reduce administration headaches and take care of the details, leaving you and your team with the time and freedom to really focus on the business. Organisations rated as “best companies to work for� have successful learning cultures and have strong L&D managers who act as trusted strategic advisors and partners for the businesses managers. We understand the pressures and challenges faced by L&D leaders and our operational support helps you to change gears and improve the overall performance of your team.
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Achieving more with less Cutting costs is rarely off the agenda. Yet expectations continue to rise. So we see our challenge as helping you to achieve more with less and we have a track record of delivering savings which can cut your training spend by a third. Having worked across many sectors over many years, we know that some training just does not work. Either the content misses the mark, the course is not targeted at the right people, or the delivery style or method does not gel with the delegates. So we use the evaluation data to weed out this wastage and focus relentlessly on improving the effectiveness of what remains.
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A bespoke service to suit your needs
Flexible access to resources, know-how and experience We tailor our service to complement your in-house resources and know-how and to align with your objectives. In practice, most clients opt for one of three broad types of service; Buying better and smarter If you are looking for a light-touch service then we can act as a Sourcing Manager for you. This means you have access to our market knowledge, supplier base and buying power. It enables you to take advantage of significant time and cost savings when booking training through us.
Holistic management and control Acting as a Learning Manager, we are able to offer a more integrated level of service. In addition to working as your Sourcing Manager we are responsible for managing, administering and evaluating most, if not all of your internal and external training. As part of this we provide you with an online portal and course catalogue. This level of integration also provides advanced reporting and account management facilities, all of which free you up to be more focused on the strategic side of learning.
“ Knowledgepool provide an excellent service sourcing quality solutions at the best price. They really understand the business issues as well as getting under the skin of the L & D requirements.� Suzanne Beck, Management Development Manager, Carphone Warehouse
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Improving the Performance of Learning
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ning Optimise r a r Le ning Manage r a r Le ing Manag c r ou
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Deeper meeting of minds and know-how At the highest level KnowledgePool will act as your Learning Optimiser. This is our flagship level of service and involves the full integration of your learning and development processes and systems with ours. At this level we take on all the responsibilities of a Learning Manager and also engage with you as Learning Consultants on an ongoing basis. We work with you in a strategic partnership to assess needs, plan demand, design curricula, and analyse the ongoing stream of data to optimise your return on investment. Measuring, analysing, optimising Across all three levels of service, breakthroughs happen because our managed learning service gives you a complete factual picture of your learning activity, often for the first time. We measure and benchmark the outcome of every learning intervention and every change we make and this feeds into a continuous process of improvement. The analysis gives you control and visibility over what training is going on across the organisation and about return on investment.
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Managed Learning Services
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A complete approach to learning
Like-minded and on your side of the fence We strive to delight our clients. We give the personal touch and respond thoughtfully and empathetically to every different client need. On a day-to-day basis, you deal with a dedicated team of learning professionals who get to know your business and culture inside-out and very much become part of your team. Backed up by excellence Behind the scenes, is a rock-solid operation which combines three core capabilities: Training Administration, Supplier Management and Learning Consultancy. These capabilities reside in our multilingual shared service centre and deliver a comprehensive managed service covering everything from initial needs analysis through to a final assessment of how that learning performed and the lessons to be taken from it.
Training Administration: Taking care of all the details In large organisations, Training Administration involves handling many thousands of delegates, suppliers, venues, events and enquiries and surprisingly complex workflows. One of the key elements of effective learning is getting all these details right first time. Doing this successfully requires automation technology, a well-run team of highly trained administrators and robust efficient processes. We run this “silent machine”, taking these headaches away from you and we can do so across any business area, industry sector or geographic region.
“ KnowledgePool is our chosen Partner for managing all our Learning & Development services in the UK. We achieve economies of scale and quality standards through their centralised administrative and supplier management services. We enjoy best practice consultancy and information from their breadth of experience. The team are professional, responsive and passionate about training.” Paula Leach, Learning & Development Manager, Ford
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Supplier Management: Choosing the best trainer for the job With the sheer number of suppliers available, finding the right one for you can be a daunting task, particularly for those really crucial strategic programmes. Our established network includes thousands of suppliers globally, covering every subject matter area. We know who and what works best in each situation. Our Supplier Management team of research analysts and procurement specialists can source anything from a compliance course for 50,000 employees through to a coaching programme for a single board-level director, securing you the best price available.
Learning Consultancy: Addressing your burning questions Our Learning Consultancy team bring the expertise to help solve any number of questions for you. They work with you through needs analysis and demand planning to build a curriculum of bespoke programmes addressing the real challenges you face. Our work doesn’t end when the learning starts, though. Detailed evaluation analytics assess the value and success of your training, and highlevel management information reports measure the ROI of your learning programmes.
Independent Advice and Guidance
Supplier Management
Training Administration
Learning Optimisation Management Information
Demand Planning
Learning Consultancy
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Driven by intelligence, powered by technology Unique to KnowledgePool Operating at the forefront of the training industry requires an ongoing investment in developing new learning tools and technologies. Our technologies are designed to increase the efficiency of our training administration, improve the effectiveness of the training delivery, give easy access to suppliers globally and capture and share a huge amount of valuable intelligence. We use these tools day-in and day-out as part of our managed service operation, and we are also proud to offer them to clients as standalone offerings should they best suit your needs.
Eclipse Eclipse is our proprietary technology platform that drives the business. It automates workflow, creates user-friendly frontend portals, consolidates invoicing, conducts evaluation and provides sophisticated reporting functionality. It creates comprehensive course catalogues that incorporate internal and external events across instructor led, e-learning and informal learning and pre-integrates hundreds of major suppliers into a readymade supply chain. Together we agree and embed rules for routing delegate enquiries to the most cost-effective of these delivery options, and to the very best supplier. Eclipse readily integrates with most leading Learning Management Systems and ERPs to provide clients with a seamless “single shop window” and “source of truth” for learning-related data.
“ I have no doubt that, thanks to KnowledgePool’s robust training administration processes, their vendor independent approach to supplier management and the tailored learning programmes developed with the help of their learning consultancy team – we will see a measurable improvement in the return on our learning investment.” Suzanne Farrelly, Regional Training Manager – Europe, Orange Business Services
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TrainerAdvisor TrainerAdvisor is KnowledgePool’s premium knowledge management system. As a powerful search and database tool, TrainerAdvisor is used by our Learning Advisors to locate suppliers that best fit each and every specific learning need. We use it as a single source of information on suppliers that allows us to quickly and efficiently find out what has worked well in similar situations before, and source, compare and benchmark training providers and the services they offer. TrainerAdvisor has a substantial global database of more than 3,000 supplier profiles and 2,500 case studies of successful programmes, providing a comprehensive overview of suppliers and the best work that they have performed. There are details on the areas they specialise in, the courses they run, biographies of their senior staff and trainers, details on their recent performance and, perhaps most importantly, extensive feedback from their clients and delegates.
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MyTrainingExpert Our comprehensive course portal MyTrainingExpert is a central resource for our Learning Advisors. With a catalogue of more than 6,000 courses, each with a detailed description, it is used to find and book the best open courses on the market. Covering everything from IT certification to high performance leadership skills it offers a comprehensive selection to meet every client need, and because we vet every listed supplier, we can vouch for the quality of all of the courses.
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Case studies: The right learning, for the right people, delivering the right results The Challenge In 2009 Aviva UK spent £8.2m externally on development for its 25,000 UK staff. Just over half of that spend was managed through Human Resources, the remainder was booked by the business directly with suppliers. These direct bookings led to different parts of the business purchasing similar courses from different providers, losing any potential economies of scale. In addition, it was difficult to keep track of spend as so much training was being booked outside of any standardised process. Aviva needed to rationalise and simplify the process, gain more visibility and control and deliver significant cost savings. The Solution Aviva signed an innovative managed learning contract with KnowledgePool.
informal learning solutions and the team provides consultative advice on the most appropriate solution for the learner’s need. E-learning or less formal approaches are often recommended as a more appropriate or cost-effective alternative to external training and we work jointly on demand planning and post-course assessment to constantly improve the curriculum and the impact of the learning. The Result KnowledgePool now manages all of Aviva’s internal and external training. Aviva receives monthly data and benchmarking reports enabling them to evaluate training and compare its performance against other organisations. In partnership with KnowledgePool Aviva aims to reduce its learning spend by up to 37%.
KnowledgePool began by creating a dedicated team of advisors to respond to individual learning enquiries. A learning portal incorporates the full suite of internal and external, formal and
“ We wanted a partner that we could work well with, an organisation that was a natural fit with our culture. KnowledgePool met all of our needs.” Garry Goldman, Head of L&D Delivery, Aviva
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Improving the Performance of Learning
The Challenge Virgin Media needed to meet the learning needs of a diverse group of employees, and were finding it challenging to deal directly with so many training providers. They needed to ensure they were providing the best quality training possible for their staff, and be certain it was delivered by the most effective training providers at the most competitive rates. They also needed to streamline training administration, manage logistics and implement post-learning evaluation. They decided to create savings by channelling external training through an organisation that could offer increased buying-power and effective administration.
The Solution Virgin Media selected KnowledgePool as their training partner. A team of KnowledgePool learning advisors manage day-to-day learning activity, and all training can be tracked and monitored - from booking through to post-course evaluation - on KnowledgePool’s event management system. KnowledgePool’s understanding of the market, sourcing expertise and operational model has allowed Virgin Media to improve the quality of employee training while simultaneously achieving substantial savings. The Result Through KnowledgePool, Virgin Media have reduced the cost of their technical training by around 40%. Consolidated monthly billing has replaced up to 1,800 purchase orders which were previously raised per year. Training providers were streamlined from 350 to fewer than 100.
“ With KnowledgePool’s understanding of the market and the way they work in partnership with us, we’ve improved the quality of the training we provide and made considerable savings.” James Iles, Head of Employee Learning for Virgin Media
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