The Learning Award Winners 2013

Emma Cox

Sift Media

Campaign Executive

The Learning Award Winners 2013

By Emma Cox

The Colin Corder for services to Learning

Jane Hart

The recipient of the 2013 Colin Corder Award has worked tirelessly over the course of her career to help the Learning and Development profession embrace new tools and models for learning. Jane Hart is an accomplished author, speaker and thinker on social technologies for collaborative learning and collaborative working.

Beginning in 2005 as a simple service providing regular information on the latest in learning technologies, Jane’s website – the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies (C4LPT) – is now one of the world’s most useful learning resources, with over 100,000 monthly visits. Testament to Jane’s ability to build a useful information stream from scratch, the C4LPT website also epitomizes something else about Jane and her approach to learning: the resources on the site are free. She doesn’t just write and talk about the value of sharing – she practices it, too.

This considerable body of work includes her Directory of Learning & Performance Tools (with over 2,000 entries) and her annual survey of the Top 100 Tools for Learning (now in its seventh year), as well as the ever popular Jane’s Pick of the Day and the Social Learning Centre online community for learning professionals in both education and the workplace.

Jane spreads the word for collaborative learning and working by writing and speaking about it regularly, working with organisations around the world to build their understanding of the usefulness of social technologies. It is the Institute’s honour to present her with this year’s Colin Corder Award.

Apprenticeship Programme of the Year SPONSORED BY OCR

This is the second year that we have included an Apprenticeship Program of the Year in the Awards; and all of the entrants demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the fact that these programmes really are “changing lives”.

Gold Award– QA

QA’s award-winning Apprenticeship programme is widely recognised by many employers, and the sector skills council, as a ground-breaking initiative. By working closely with Cisco, QA has been able to develop a three-year Advanced Service Apprenticeship scheme that includes the CCNA and CCNP Cisco certifications. QA provided consultancy, recruitment support and technical training and upon completion the recruits will have completed an Advanced and Higher apprenticeship gaining them a level three and four qualification, and experience with one of the leading global technology businesses. The judges commented specifically on the close working relationship with Cisco, and the flexibility within the programme to accommodate individual talent and aspirations.

Silver Award - Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Bronze Award – F1 and Fenland District Council

External Learning Project of the Year SPONSORED BY Ricoh

The External Learning Project of the Year Award is presented to a Learning Provider that has undertaken a major training project for a client that is innovative in concept and has produced demonstrable performance improvement for the client.

Gold Award – Toolwire & Leeds Metropolitan University

Social work students have limited opportunities to ‘practice’ observational and assessment skills, and apply theories and legal frameworks to inform decision-making in a safe yet authentic learning environment; that is, until 2012.Working closely with Leeds Metropolitan University, Toolwire created a credible experiential learn scape that explored the issues, pressures and real-world conditions that social workers encounter. Working through a typical case involving the abuse of a young child, students are challenged to apply many of the recommendations made by the Munro Report following the death of “Baby P”. The emotionally challenging authentic story tests the student’s ability to make what Munro calls: “the best judgements they can to protect a vulnerable child”.

Silver Award – Impact International & Thomson Reuters

Bronze Award – The Mind Gym & Santander

Innovation in Learning Services SPONSORED BY Afiniti

The Innovation in Learning Services Award is open to any organisation that can demonstrate that they have made a unique and innovative contribution to the delivery of learning services.

Gold Award – SpeakingPal

There are millions of people who want to improve their English speaking skills to enhance their education, career and business opportunities globally. SpeakingPal has developed a platform using the best speech recognition technologies that is highly accessible through a choice of smart devices including mobile and TV. Combining high-end multimedia rich content with automatic speech recognition enabled SpeakingPal to create a highly interactive and engaging learning service.

By simply speaking into the device with a video character simulating a real phone call, instant pronouncement feedback is provided on sentences and words, colour coded for easy interpretation.

The benefit for individuals to build their confidence talking in English, based upon a freemium model and sensitive price bands for additional features will ensure the innovation in learning speaking skills will go from strength to strength.

Silver Award – SAS Education

Bronze Award – Dell Computers

Instructional Designer of the Year SPONSORED BY Toolwire

The Instructional Designer of the Year Award is presented to an individual who has developed a learning intervention that demonstrates exceptional instructional design.

Gold Award – Moira Nicholson, Saffron Interactive

In tackling a really difficult subject (health and wellness) in conjunction with Transport for London, Moira really impressed the judges with her approach that clearly started “with the end in mind”. Stress, depression and anxiety are now the number one cause of long-term sickness absence within the public sector, and the programme that Moira designed had a demonstrable impact within TfL – not just immediately after the learning intervention, but on a continuing basis. Moira’s commitment to ensuring that ID delivers a return on investment by inspiring mass behavioural change, is inspirational and the variety of techniques she uses to achieve this goal are testimony to her professionalism and capability.

Silver Award – Chris Dunning, Mind Click

Bronze Award – David Gristwood, Unicorn Training

Internal Training Project of the Year SPONSORED BY QA

The Internal Learning Project of the Year Award is presented to an Internal Learning team that has undertaken a major training project that is innovative in concept and has produced demonstrable performance improvement for the organisation.

Gold Award - National Express Bus

National Express needed a system that could address behaviours which contributed to the causes of road accidents, fatalities and claims linked to driver error, providing on-going development of driving skills thereby improving public safety. National Express, as an industry first, a universal training and assessment programme which addressed regulatory concerns, identified and allowed for the continued professional development of key workers, benefiting the company and customer. This is an outstanding and innovative programme, the only one of its kind in the industry, which has been accredited by RoSPA (Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents) and the Institute of Advanced Motorists. It has the full support of management, staff and the Union and the implementation of the programme has changed the culture and attitude at all levels within the organisation. Since its launch, National Express Bus has recorded a 50% reduction in passenger injuries during a 12 month period where more than 274 million passengers have been transported over 70 million miles.

Silver Award – Sodexo Prestige

Bronze Award – Dell EUC Training and Design

Learning Company of the Year SPONSORED BY Prometric

The Learning Company of the Year award is presented to an enterprise providing training to external clients. Candidates should demonstrate consistent high quality and innovation – both in terms of content, client support and instructional techniques.

Gold Award – Mind Gym

It is generally considered that one of the greatest challenges that a Learning Company faces is that of maintaining quality whilst scaling the business. Mind Gym is an organisation that has not only demonstrated that it can meet that challenge – it has done it to a degree that is extraordinary! There are now hundreds of qualified coaches world-wide who have been through the Mind Gym Academy that prove this UK-based organisation has a truly global footprint. The fact that Mind Gym continued to exceed the expectations of its clients demonstrates its commitment to its core values – and those values now extend to the innovative Parent Gym programme.

Silver Award – NKD Learning

Bronze Award - Afiniti

Learning Department of the Year SPONSORED BY Knowledge Advisors

The Learning Department of the Year Award is presented to a L&D department within an organisation providing training to internal clients. Candidates should demonstrate consistent high quality and innovation – both in terms of content, client support and instructional techniques.

Gold Award – First Data

Whilst there are many great examples of strong L&D departments, the fact that really shone through with First Data’s submission was the direct line of sight between learning interventions and business benefit. The L&D department is a critical operation within First Data’s Retail Payment Solutions business, and it has grown substantially in the last twelve months. It is a real achievement to have been able to deliver strong value-add throughout this period of expansion. The operation has demonstrated that it is extremely innovative in its approach and, with excellent senior management endorsement, it has been a substantial agent of change within the operation. The team demonstrated excellent business acumen, and exceptional political awareness.

Silver Award – Legal & General

Bronze Award – Ernst & Young

Learning Technologies Solution of the Year SPONSORED BY Microsoft Learning

The Learning Technologies Solution of the Year Award is presented to an enterprise that has carried out a training project using one or more learning technologies that demonstrates high quality and innovation – in terms of both content and instructional techniques – and that has made demonstrable performance improvement for the client.

Gold Award – LearningAge Solutions

Applying learning technologies to sales productivity can produce significant value-add for the organisation – if it is done well. But that’s a big “if”! Working collaboratively with its client, Tarkett (a world-wide flooring solutions provider), LearningAge was able to develop an innovative solution that involved both conventional channels and mobile delivery. Whilst the extent of innovation was impressive, the delivery in fourteen different languages was challenging, and the fact that the user can change the content was extremely sound, it was the business outcome that really impressed the judges. Achieving a significant increase in sales productivity demonstrated that it met its immediate objective, but the organisation’s future plans for the deployment of learning technologies show that the programme will have a longer term impact on business performance.

Silver Award – Unicorn Training

Bronze Award – Purple Media

Live Online Facilitator of the Year SPONSORED BY Saba Software

The Live Online Facilitator of the Year Award is presented to an individual (employed or freelance) who has shown exceptional online facilitation skills.

GOLD AWARD – Lorna Matty, Crown Agents

Lorna’s organisation Crown Agents is an international development specialist company working with clients in more than 110 countries providing consultancy, procurement and financial services on a commercial basis. During the past 18 months, Lorna has been championing live online learning to staff and contractors and providing delivery of equality & diversity training for staff which focused on the behaviours needed to help create an environment where everyone feels they are dealt with and treated fairly. Lorna facilitated an outstanding session which was thoroughly learner-centred and her use of visuals, interactions and voice was exemplary. All the judges remarked that her session was a role model in how excellent live online learning can be more effective than a face-to-face presentation when facilitated well.

Silver Award - Alan Pottinger, Home Learning College

Bronze Award – Vincenzo Girardi, ReachCentrum

Social Media for Learning Award SPONSORED BY Blue Eskimo

This Award is presented to an enterprise that has implemented a proactive Staff Development Programme for their employees – whether to a target group or enterprise-wide – that can show demonstrable performance improvement for the organisation.

Gold Award: QA

The judges were impressed by the scope of the submission from QA, which delivered knowledge and skills by using social media, and matched many of the specified criteria for the Social Media for Learning award. QA’s Sales365 is a document and information sharing system created for 150 distributed Sales Professionals, which complements existing sales briefings and training interventions. The drive for the initiative originated from the business leaders to address a number of challenges faced by the sales community, and the system rapidly gained buy-in from all areas of the business. Genuine peer-to-peer interaction and collaboration, utilising blogs, wikis, forums and rich media encourage knowledge sharing among the team. Enterprise such as this carries a number of risks; however the judges noted the performance improvement of the sales team that fully justifies the proposition.

Silver Award - Dell Computers

Bronze Award – eLearning Studios

Staff Development Programme of the Year SPONSORED BY 2e2

Gold Award - Market Makers

Staff retention and engagement in the telemarketing industry is an endemic problem, with companies typically losing 30-35% of their staff every three months. Market Makers’ Business School is a mould-breaking solution that is pioneering in their sector. The programme is driven by the founders of the company and sessions are offered to staff at all levels. Employees now have the skills to do their jobs better and progress their careers. The judges were particularly impressed by the business impact the investment has had. Staff turnover has been reduced by almost two thirds and motivation has improved resulting in both increased turnover and profit.

Silver Award – Accenture

Bronze Award – Blend IT/Julie Wedgewood.com

Trainer of the Year SPONSORED BY BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

The Trainer of the Year Award is presented to an employed individual (employed or freelance) who has shown exceptional instructional, assessment, development, and needs analysis skills for their employers.

Gold Award – Sadi Khan, Noble Khan

Sadi Khan is an inspirational trainer – she applies outstanding energy, commitment, focus, professionalism and sensitivity to all aspects of cultural awareness within different communities.

To develop some of her key content, she decided to go undercover to see for herself the issues that minority communities face today. Her findings of the level of misunderstanding, fear of political correctness, and ignorance about different cultures and religions, led her to develop the course content that has made her so successful. But it is the open and engaging manner in which she delivers that content that really resonated with the judges and led to the fact that she fully justifies this accolade.

Silver Award – Maddy Moss, Verridian

Bronze Award – Sheena Whyatt, Lightning Training

Learning Manager of the Year SPONSORED BY SAS

The Learning Manager of the Year Award is presented to an individual who has shown exceptional skills in managing an L&D Department (within either a public or private sector organisation). Candidates (who may be nominated by management, peers, or department members) should demonstrate consistent high quality and innovation.

Gold Award – Ashley Sterland, DLA Piper

Ashley is a dynamic and enthusiastic learning manager who not only understands learning, he also understands the business. He leads a globally distributed team and his ability to manage resources and prioritise team resources to the most appropriate places is truly commendable. His leadership skills are exceptional and are clearly demonstrated through tangible change projects. Ashley’s inclusive approach and passion enables him to get engagement beyond his team. The techniques he used, including the establishment of ‘super users’, were invaluable in the largest technology project that DLA Piper had ever delivered. The judges were particularly struck by Ashley’s desire to learn new things and his use of innovative approaches to encourage his team to do the same. He has a conscientious and creative approach to finding solutions to business challenges.