Hero Housing Finance has launched a new learning platform for its more than 1300-strong workforce, most of which comprises field personnel working as sales representatives. The Company calls this learning platform ‘ILAA’, which is short for ‘I Learn Anytime Anywhere’.
The success story of this learning platform is rather remarkable. It has only been three to four weeks since the launch of this learning platform, and it is already witnessing almost 90 per cent adoption rate.
“The platform has been loved and received really well by our employees. Just within a month of its launch, almost 90 per cent employees have registered on the platform,” says Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance.
In fact, the internal team shares that at least 90 per cent of the population has no just registered but also completed at least one course using the platform, which is truly commendable.
What makes ILAA a success at Hero Housing Finance?
While many companies still struggle to pull learners to their learning-management systems, Hero Housing Finance has managed to overcome this challenge with the help of innovative technology, better user experience and course content.
Gamification: What has really proven to be a magnet in attracting employees is the ‘gamification of learning’. As Nayyar rightly states, “The main highlight of ILAA is that everything is gamified”.
Post completion of a course, the learners can take gamified learning quizzes. This really makes learning more interactive and fun at the same time. Learners can take these quizzes to complete their courses and get certified instantly.
Engagement: Additionally, the learning platform also has a leaderboard chart. This also keeps the engagement level high amongst the employees and ensures a bit of competitive spirit too.
User-friendliness: While designing the platform, the Company has also given thought to the user interface. The learning platform, which is primarily designed for smart phones, can be accessed on any device.
The access to learning has been made quite simple for all employees. Anyone wanting to use the application can simply give a missed call and all the credentials are sent to them on sms, which they can use to login to the platform. This way, the employees do not have to remember any usernames, keys or passwords.
“Youngsters want to experience learning the way they experience platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat. Their attention span is decreasing these days. Therefore, it is essential to rely on bite-sized learning content for better experience”
Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance
Bite-sized content: Coming to the content part of ILAA, the Company chose to use bite-sized content or what we call ‘microlearning’. None of the videos or learning content on the platform is more than two minutes.
Company studied the demographics of the workforce, most of which comprises youngsters and asked itself, ‘What do GenZ or millennials like?’
Nayyar asserts, “Youngsters want to experience learning the way they experience platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat. Their attention span is decreasing these days. Therefore, it is essential to rely on bite-sized learning content for better experience”.
Updation: For further engagement, the Company also decided to introduced ‘Terrific Thursdays’. Under this initiative, every Thursday, updated or new courses are available on ILAA and all employees are notified.
Flexibility: When the world is moving towards flexibility, Hero Housing Finance does not want to lag behind. “At Hero Housing Finance, employees are always on the move, especially the sales workforce. So, we want to offer them the flexibility to learn at their convenient time, place and pace,” shares Nayyar.
No doubt, learning flexibility is required at Hero Housing Finance since the field force makes up 70 per cent of the workforce. In fact, the app was majorly designed keeping the field force in mind. Moreover, an internal council was formed from amongst the field personnel, which did the final testing and feedback of the platform before launching.
The platform consists of all the functional courses the employees can take.
Learning strategy
By launching ILAA, the firm has made its intention clear. Microlearning or bite-sized learning will be an essential part of its learning strategy. However, that does not mean other traditional forms of learning will go out the window.
The Company believes that there needs to be a blend. The classroom learning sessions will happen, but bite-sized learning will help the employees understand the subject well. In the classroom learning sessions, they can move to the practical application of that subject in real time. This will save a lot of time for the learning managers and trainers.
Going forward, Hero Housing Finance will keep on making changes and tweak ILAA as per the needs of its people.