The new online courses, called The Essentials, highlight effective management and workplace behaviour in short learning bites to help employees reflect on and improve the way they interact with colleagues.

"On one hand, we have to support our staff and ensure they have the management and interpersonal skills they need to work well together, but on the other hand, much of our income comes from donations, so we have a duty to ensure we use our funds constructively," said Lyndsey Moule, the NSPCC’s Learning Systems and Solutions Manager.

"We needed to find a more cost-effective way of providing personal development for all our staff than face-to-face training. The Video Arts eLearning courses are perfect because they highlight the essential skills and behaviours that underpin successful relationships in the workplace, and they appeal to every level and role. The beauty of eLearning is that people can access and use these courses whenever they need them."

The 22 new courses, which star famous actors such as Robert Webb and Helen Baxendale, cover issues such as self-management, communication, leadership, team development, motivation, and one-to-one support. Each course provides around thirty minutes of learning content in four styles: look, think, practise, and remember. 

"The Video Arts courses are changing the perception of eLearning within our organisation," said Lyndsey Moule. "The humour in the courses adds something different to the other training that we provide around compliance and dealing with challenging and sensitive situations. The use of famous actors in the Video Arts courses also draws people into the training. If they know the actors from their TV shows, they’re more likely to check out the training. The courses provide short, sharp learning points, they’re interactive, and they’re very engaging and fun to use. So once people see how effective the training is, they come back for more."

Staff at the NSPCC can access the Video Arts eLearning courses to help them meet their individual training needs, which they’ve identified in their development plans. The charity is monitoring usage of the new courses using its learning-management system, from Cornerstone OnDemand.

"We’ve made it very easy for our staff to find the most appropriate learning content for their needs, and our line managers are also directing people to specific courses that they think will benefit them," said Lyndsey Moule. "Video Arts have worked alongside us all the way, helping us to promote the courses internally. They’ve given us trailer videos that we can stream and helped us create emails to encourage people to try the courses. As a learning provider and a partner, they’ve been a breath of fresh air because their approach is quite unusual. They really want us to succeed, and they care about making sure that we get a good return on our investment."