knowtion & LMS | 2022 - 2023
Steinel GmbH
Founded in 1959, Steinel GmbH is a leading specialist for sensor technology, sensor light and thermal tools. Headquartered in Herzebrock-Clarholz (NRW), Steinel employs over 1,600 people in five European countries. All Steinel products, whether for private or commercial use, are "Made in Europe" - a commitment to quality and craftsmanship that is reflected in every single product.
The initial situation
Switching to digital learning methods in times of the pandemic
As in many companies, the coronavirus pandemic has also led to a lasting change in Steinel's training strategy: Until 2020, the focus was purely on face-to-face training and seminars. When the corona-related restrictions began, training courses were initially held virtually via Microsoft Teams - a pragmatic emergency solution to continue to meet demand.
As a result of the increasing pressure to digitize, the company then decided in 2021 to go one step further and focus on "real" digital learning content in the future. The first step was the introduction of a learning platform, the so-called "Steinel eAcademy" based on the youknow Learning Management System (LMS), which laid the foundation for offering e-learning formats in the company.
The next step on the agenda was to create our own learning content so that we could get off to a flying start with e-learning. The specialist departments were also to be brought on board and involved in the training production. The aim was to incorporate the knowledge and expertise of the entire company into the learning content in future.
The solution
knowtion - An AI Authoring Tool also for training novices
With this in mind, Steinel's HR department set out to find a suitable Authoring Tool. The requirements were clear: the tool had to be user-friendly and easy to use, especially for employees from the specialist departments who had no previous experience of creating learning content. After an intensive research and test phase, Steinel finally opted for knowtion, the smart, AI Authoring Tool from youknow. One of the convincing features was the "Guided Mode", which uses AI to guide users step by step through the training creation process and supports them in setting the most important framework parameters. This considerably simplified the onboarding of trainers in the specialist departments, some of whom are not very tech-savvy.
Knowtion was also able to score points with its integrated didactic support, which always provides the right tips for the situation at hand - and when they are needed. This also enables employees from the specialist departments to turn their specialist knowledge into valuable didactic training. For example, learning content on the topic of "information security " is now created independently by IT or "environmental training " by quality management using knowtion.
What happens next?
More acceptance through effective learning content
The change process away from face-to-face learning (or at least significantly less) towards "real" e-learning with all its advantages is of course far from complete at Steinel. But with the Steinel eAcademy, the technical basis has been laid to get started in digital learning and the first content has been created in-house. The task now is to continuously expand the acceptance of e-learning. The dedicated HR team at Steinel GmbH plays an important role in this. The four employees must continue to convince their colleagues, some of whom still believe that proper learning only works face-to-face.
The key to this is learning content that can be used to effectively achieve the learning objectives and is also fun. knowtion is a great help here, as the Authoring Tool makes it easier for Steinel to involve more employees in the creation of learning content and to prepare the learning content in such a way that it is didactically valuable and therefore easy to grasp. And it has another advantage: experience shows that training courses that are created by colleagues themselves (so-called "user-generated content") are better received than content that comes from external service providers. Steinel therefore also wants to gradually increase the number of active knowtion users. The variety of topics is also to be expanded: At present, the focus is still on mandatory training courses - partly due to time constraints. In future, however, more Steinel-specific topics will also be covered. For example, the customs department plans to create customs training courses for sales employees with knowtion in the future.
Lea Petermann
Junior HR manager
Steinel GmbH
„Switching from traditional training courses to our eAcademy was no walk in the park, but it was worth the effort! Flexible learning is essential in our constantly changing working world. The digitalization of our training system has enabled us to successfully integrate this change into our company. However, we are not resting on our laurels, but are constantly looking for new ways to optimize our training and take it to the next level.“
Conclusion
On the right track
HR's plan seems to be slowly paying off, as numerous new ideas for training are already coming from the specialist departments. With knowtion, they have the right Authoring Tool at hand to meet the constantly increasing demand for learning content and thus establish e-learning in the company.
Ken Weid
Key Account Manager
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