L&D Best Practices

NEXT 2021 Conference Recap: CrossKnowledge + Primark

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Primark

Enabling Digital Learning at Primark

The need to deliver mobile learning was clear. The solution was CrossKnowledge’s MyLearning app which put the DLP on their phones for on-the-go learning anywhere, any time.

Pauline Rebourgeon, Digital Learning Experience Lead at Primark.

This year’s NEXT 2021 Conference was such a success, we wanted to share a recap of select sessions. First up is UK retailer Primark. During the event session, Pauline Rebourgeon, Digital Learning Experience Lead at Primark, explained the company’s journey to digital learning and how it launched a new digital learning platform (DLP) for 15,000 worldwide employees.

One fundamental pillar of the company’s success has been its retail workforce and the in-store experience they create. To support this core strength, Primark intended to improve its learning offering to maximize impact and adoption, build a platform that could schedule and host learning, and break learning out of the classroom-based model and bring it into the digital, mobile future.

Access to mobile learning was critical

Given the importance of the retail workforce in crafting the retail experience for shoppers, it was vital that the company supported the learning and development needs of those workers. However, one of the central problems Primark faced in delivering training to its retail workforce was that those workers did not have desks and desktop computers on which to engage the training. The need to deliver mobile learning was clear. The solution was CrossKnowledge’s My Learning app which put the DLP on their phones for on-the-go learning anywhere, any time.

This mobile tool enabled the development of the Visual Merchandising Academy, which supports the Visual Merchandising team in digitizing their learning program. The VM Academy offers three learning pathways with Blendedx content from the CrossKnowledge learning suite, four learning channels, and more than 100 learning resources. It serves all 5,000-plus retail managers.

The Visual Merchandising Academy offers three learning pathways with Blendedx content from the CrossKnowledge learning suite, four learning channels, and more than 100 learning resources.

Pauline Rebourgeon, Digital Learning Experience Lead at Primark.

The results so far have been positive with a reach of 69% of retail colleagues and 90% of head office colleagues. Mobile usage was also impressive with 91% of retail and 40% among head office. The platform has already logged a staggering 17, 694 visits to the various learning resources, and over 2800 hours have been spent on the channels. During the COVID lockdown, Primark responded by adding 125 additional resources to help support their workers in a challenging time.

So what’s next for Primark?

The launch of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and social learning, expanding access to all 65,000 Primark employees, and continued support of the Primark Cares program, which gives learners resources to help them support the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

The NEXT Conference is CrossKnowledge’s annual event that brings together valued clients and partners for 2 days of inspirational keynote speakers, informative product talks, client spotlight sessions, roundtable discussions and the opportunity to reconnect or meet new people.The NEXT 2021 Conference was fully virtual and had over 700 registrations from 52 countries. Attendees were able to select among 32 streaming sessions covering a diverse range of hot topics and challenges that impact L&D, many offering live Q&As with experts and actionable takeaways. The sessions are available on unlimited replay for all registered guests.

Find out how to harness the benefits and convenience of mobility to deliver training anywhere, anytime!