London (UK), October 2015 - glh hotels, the parent company of four leading UK hotel brands including the Thistle and Amber hotels, has selected Totara Platinum partners Mind Click to innovate and support the delivery of their complex, multi-branded, multi-device Totara LMS. Within three months, Mind Click provided glh hotels with four separate custom-themed portals woven into one targeted user interface reflecting each hotel's brand identity. This has completely transformed their training delivery.
Before teaming up with Mind Click, glh had face-to-face training in place, which created a number of logistical challenges for them. Their largest obstacle was co-ordinating classroom attendance, as it meant front line staff were away from their daily duties. glh soon realised online training could tackle these challenges.
glh’s goal was to create "one source of truth" through a platform that could host eLearning, staff information, reference materials, and learning resources. It also had to be multi-device. But with the four independent brands, it was imperative that each staff member logged on to an LMS that reflected the brand identity they connect with and work for.
Mind Click was chosen to build the user targeted portals. Sarah Beal, Head of Resourcing and Talent at glh hotels, commented on why. "Mind Click offer great customer-support options and are extremely competitive on LMS pricing. But why we chose them is the personal service we received throughout the initial sales process and the ongoing sense of continuity since. That doesn’t happen with suppliers very often these days. Mind Click know what we want to achieve, take the time to understand our objectives, and are always ready and able to help us achieve them."
The implementation of the multi-device Totara LMS took only three months. Key features include the ability to switch off non-essential features and functions, a performance-appraisals module, and blended-learning programme support. But the most critical requirement included mobile access to eLearning and a responsive LMS.
Beale states, "A large proportion of our people are not desk based and do not have their own device for work. Whilst we don’t place any expectation on our staff to use their own smart phones or tablets for work, and always provide access via shared workstations, the world is rapidly becoming more mobile driven. So it was important that Mind Click implemented a responsive LMS and that it went live with the clear message that people could access it wherever and whenever they wanted, including from home on their own device if they wished."
Over 18,500 eLearning courses were completed by glh staff in the first six months. Glh has become an early adopter of the new performance-management functionality in Totara 2.7, meaning their learners’ development journey is now all accessed in one central place.
Looking to the future, glh plans to use Totara LMS to support their induction process, allowing new hires to begin engaging with the system before they start their new role. They’re also exploring how to leverage Open Badges to support new internal certification, providing more formal recognition to their staff training.
