APAC webinar recap: Your expert guide to purchasing a learning platform

During a recent Go1 webinar promoting our latest eBook, the panel offered expert tips on purchasing a learning platform, digging into topics such as getting stakeholder buy-in, creating a culture of learning, measuring workplace learning ROI, and more. The webinar was hosted by Melinda Potente, Senior Customer Success Manager at Go1, who was joined by expert guests Luke Barnes, Director of  Partner Success at Go1, Anj Jipp, from the Enabling Team at Chorus, and Olivia Tsen, Development, Performance, and Inclusion Group Lead at Hassel.

We’ll recap the highlights of this insightful discussion, but if you want more, you can also catch up on the full webinar replay below. Or, for further insights, check out our eBook on choosing the right learning platform for your business.

To kick things off, Melinda asked Olivia what prompted her organisation, Hassle, to start on their journey and why learning was a business priority for them. According to Olivia, her key focus was delivering best-in-class learning. 

“We have a lot of learning and knowledge sharing needs and actually purposeful learning is at the core of our strategy and our culture. So one thing that I was very keen to work on straight away when I joined the company was to make sure that we had a best-in-class learning platform and solutions to support our best-in-class work,” she said. 

“For us it was a huge priority, and I'm really pleased that the business got behind and supported the implementation of a new system.”

Anj added to this, noting that her organisation’s learning journey was all about flexibility.

“We already had an LMS, but we were finding it wasn't particularly flexible. It was very, very hierarchical in its structure. And that's quite different from our organisation. We want anyone that joins the organisation to be able to choose not only to complete any mandatory elements, but also what kind of pathways they're interested in,” she said.

“So, the new LMS that we have now allows that sort of flexibility. People can lean into something they're interested in and passionate about as well as completing things that are mandatory.”

Following this, the discussion moved on to getting stakeholder buy-in. For Anj, this was a case of engaging learners throughout every step of the process.

“Most of the time, [our workforce] are accessing learning from their mobile device. They're not coming into the office every day. And so it's really important that the LMS is responsive on a mobile and that you can access it and play content. It didn't require you to have a laptop, and because of that, we really wanted [our learners] to be involved from the beginning,” she said.

“We wanted people to feel engaged and excited, and choose to log on to the LMS because they want to see what’s there rather than ‘oh, I need to do this again.’ So, it's really kind of getting that enthusiasm and excitement about something that's new.”

Olivia expanded on this, explaining her approach to getting stakeholder buy-in at Hassel.

“I truly believe that learning is something that everyone needs to be involved in, either teaching or sharing information and as well as consuming it. So that was definitely part of that consideration in terms of getting stakeholder buy-in, is that we have subject matter experts and people that will be potential users of the platform across every team, at every level of the organisation, whether it's senior leaders or a grad or a business support person,” she said. 

“So, really trying to understand what each of those stakeholder groups needed from it and making sure the platform that we chose and the content that's available through it is flexible and adaptable enough to be able to meet all their needs.”

Next, Luke shared his perspective on what factors can influence an LMS purchasing decision, emphasising that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“I think that ease of use is vital, but also some organisations are quite hierarchical, and they need a very structured learning management system that goes along with that. Others are very self driven, and so they need a system where people can easily input their own content and start sharing that content and have more social elements to it. So, it really is finding the right system to fit your style of organisation and what you're trying to kind of get out of it,” he said. 

Following this, the panel discussed the LMS implementation process and how to avoid any potential hiccoughs along the way.

“Test, test, test. I cannot stress enough, just getting that feedback from people. So testing and getting some feedback and involving people in those early stages. I think that's probably by far the biggest thing that we needed,” Anj said. 

Melinda added to this, sharing her insights on reporting and tracking ROI after implementing a new learning system. 

“I find that a common thread with some of my customers that I speak with is that reporting and insights can really support and uplift the organisation. You can say where top learners, top teams or departments are within the business. And they can start to be some of your learning champions and pilot groups to get that feedback and then try to replicate it across other parts of the organisation,” she said. 

“And that's where you can start to build that learning culture as well, which we all know is so important.”

Finally, the panel cast their eyes to the future, sharing their predictions for L&D in 2024 and beyond. According to Luke, the future of L&D will rely heavily on adapting to change and learning from others. 

“Now, there is a really diverse range of pathways and what someone has done previously isn't necessarily the same thing that you're going to be doing or the same pathway you're gonna take. So, being able to find your own things and your own pathway through, but being able to learn from what a wide variety of people have done is gonna become really important.”

Want more? Catch up on the full webinar replay below: 

For more insights, download our eBook on choosing the right learning platform for your business. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.