We recently sat down with Andrew Barker, Head of Academy at Tata Steel Europe. He spoke to us about the positive impact Wranx has generated for Tata Steel Europe and the learning benefits our platform has had for employees.

What type of training does Tata Steel deliver through Wranx?

 In Tata Steel we use Wranx as the platform to deliver our product knowledge training.

What specifically led you to choose Wranx as an expansion of your training methods?

The decision to refresh our product knowledge training approach was driven by the restructuring of our account management practices and the need for customer facing staff to significantly grow their working knowledge of a far greater product range. We knew instinctively that traditional classroom approaches or even modular eLearning were not the answer. But we didn’t actually know what it was, until we found Wranx.

What are the notable benefits your business has realised since adopting Wranx? (From the perspective of knowledge retention among staff, staff culture, communication and relationships, receptiveness to learning etc).

It is still early days with our product knowledge campaign. We aim to progressively release new product drills to a core commercial population. The data provided by Wranx clearly indicates the degree to which new knowledge is being absorbed. Couple this with a positive user response and we get very effective as well as cost-effective learning.

In a recent module, 97% of learners improved their pre to post-assessment score. The general knowledge improvement was 15%, which equates to learners answering, on average, 7.5 (out of 30) more questions correctly in their post-assessment.

How do Tata Steel learners feel about using Wranx? Can you share any feedback? i.e.

We have worked hard to understand user response and we have some great learning on how to deploy to future cohorts. Perhaps it should be no surprise but user application and feedback was strongest where the launch had been properly positioned, with local line manager involvement.

Each module achieves 40+ hours of remote training which is significant given that each session length is only 3 minutes. This has a very positive impact on downtime as learners can complete their training so quickly.

 What is noticeable is that if you get users in early they tend to stay in. Typical feedback would be:

• They really like the quiz based format and the quality of the slide packs in the media section
• Using the phone app is really well liked. Very handy when commuting or travelling on business

How do your colleagues in the Learning & Development/Academy team feel about the service Wranx delivers?

We have a governance team reviewing all user feedback. This has resulted in a more focused on-boarding process as well as some hopefully insightful feedback to Wranx on functionality. The best part of working with Wranx is how receptive and responsive they are to feedback. I’ve just seen the plans for the new release, and the platform just gets better and better. Thanks, guys.

Thinking specifically about unique features of Wranx, what are your thoughts on the following?:

• Assessments with Certainty Based Marking (CBM) (i.e. confidence vs accuracy, ability to view clear data, insight into individual knowledge gaps)
• Content Conversion (i.e. understanding your products, tone of voice, culture)
• Analytics (i.e visibility of available, real-time data, measurement of progressions for teams and individuals)
• Gamification features (i.e. Leaderboards, Seinfeld Chain, Badges, etc)

As we move ahead with Wranx and hopefully open up new subject areas, we would look to make a lot more use of the fantastic features the platform offers – particularly the analytics. The reality for us has been a focus on content and we designed and launched new drills on the hoof. We now have some great insight and a far deeper understanding of the full range of capabilities offered by the platform, which we will try to leverage.

Tata Steel recently won the Steelie Award for Excellence in Innovation in Training, with Wranx being the product featured in your submission;

• How will this success impact your business?
• What will this award mean for the future of learning at Tata Steel?
• Do you believe Wranx could expand into other regions?

The Wranx platform formed the basis of an award of excellence in Education & Training given by the worldsteel organisation. The learning approach is new to Tata Steel and, we believe, unique to the industry. We believe it is future focused and attuned to the needs of a changing workforce demographic.

The award was presented to Dr Hans Fischer, CEO of Tata Steel Europe, by his peer André Johannpeter, Executive Vice Chairman of Gerdau during the worldsteel Annual Dinner in Tokyo, Japan. Safe to say that this recognition has been well received.

Finally, how likely are you to recommend Wranx to an associate or company who is looking to adopt an innovative training solution?

I would wholeheartedly recommend trying Spaced Repetition learning. It’s a new concept for workplace learning and is particularly relevant when needing to embed knowledge in a fresh, enjoyable and cost-effect way. And if you fancy giving it a go, then look no further than Wranx. They have a great platform but specifically, a great team who are only too willing to help you build the learning solution you need.

Please rate how likely you are to recommend Wranx on a scale of 1–10 (with 1 being not likely and 10 being extremely likely). 

10