ACS Solutions

HOW ACS SOLUTIONS INSPIRED 95% OF ITS INDIA WORKFORCE TO BUILD KEY TECHNOLOGY SKILLS IN 90 DAYS

You know your enterprise’s transformation into a digital-first learning culture is going well, when the top three employees on your upskilling leaderboard have together earned 1915 digital badges, reflecting the volume of learning content they’ve completed.

However, this L&D success metric is even more impressive when put in context.

The India-based workforce for ACS Solutions not only earned thousands of Skillsoft digital badges for critical Technology and Developer skills—they also embraced the IT services company’s roll-out of the Skillsoft Percipio learning platform, to the tune of 95% adoption in less than three months.

But here’s the catch: Before abruptly shifting to working from home, these learners had little-to-no experience learning in a purely remote, all-digital format.

THE CHALLENGE

Pre-pandemic, the monthly brainstorm meeting between Skillsoft, our customer ACS Solutions, and our partner Excel Design Technologies (EDT), was often about long-term, forecastable learning topics. All of that changed.

Not everyone could be in the same room due to pandemic restrictions, but that wasn’t going to stop this powerhouse team from problem-solving. The mission was clear: transform a classroom based learning environment into a blended learning engine that inspired thousands of employees to grow.

The circumstances were strained. Because employees were working remotely for the first time, whatever solution they designed had to motivate big changes in behavior—and it had to do it quickly.

How could they win hearts and minds, so learners did more than take assignments, but also pursue new learning opportunities linked to ACS’ goals?

With ideas in hand, the learning team turned to Skillsoft’s Percipio platform for its rich learning content library, and its admin tools for engaging learners. Following a smooth implementation of Percipio, ACS and EDT soon realized the platform’s advanced capabilities offered everything they needed to get employees onboard and learning—while easing the burden placed on ACS’ training team.

"Skillsoft helped us spark engagement and build a culture of self-motivated learners faster than we thought was possible. Within 3 months, 95% of our employees were using the platform. Our learners were drawn to Percipio’s easy access of desirable content – including a huge library of technical courses that upskilled our team on modern tools and practices. And our talent development leaders were inspired by the insights and gamification capabilities offered.”

ANJU SINGH

Associate Director, HR, ACS Solutions

Outcomes

How ACS’ Engagement Campaign Inspired a #-strong Workforce In India to Quickly Log In, Take Courses, And Build Skills.

95%

95% of employees built new skills using Percipio within 3 months.

16,700

Learners earned more than 16,700 badges within 6 months.

THE SOLUTION

Together, ACS, EDT, and Skillsoft designed and rolled out a three-pronged approach.

  1. First, they created a steady cadence of communications designed to bring employees to the platform for the first time, but also to keep them coming back. They went beyond announcement emails to truly engage learners.
    • The ACS L&D team assigned courses to employees, relevant to each of their unique roles in the organization. Assignments included a coveted list of in-demand technical courses on cloud-centric topics such as AWS and Azure.
    • Once assigned, Percipio triggered automatic reminders drawing learners to the platform. The team also sent weekly personalized email notifications to ACS employees who had not yet engaged with content.
    • Using the Percipio platform’s measurement features, the team closely monitored learner activity to see what content was prompting the most badge-earning and return visits. And they adjusted their communications based on these insights.
  2. Thanks to the team’s creative ideas, ACS was also able to make learning fun. After assigning the first wave of valuable content, the team focused on recognizing and rewarding early success as a way to cultivate a self-learning mindset. They published an online leaderboard frequently to recognize top Skillsoft Digital Badge earners. In addition, everyone who completed badges was entered into a raffle as an extra
    incentive to get users to try something new.
  3. In parallel, the learning team focused on rolling out a blended learning curriculum that built upon the deep Skillsoft content library, with customized content from ACS’ own professional training team. They integrated the custom course material with upcoming role appraisals to ensure tight alignment with business needs.

By integrating the skills framework into their dashboards, the learning team could see real-time where skills gaps existed, and strategize on closing them. For the first time, the ACS Technical Center of Excellence’s “train the trainer” program had a rich library of digital technical content to get them started on this important mission.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

Learners at ACS Solutions have taken the driver’s seat, searching for growth opportunities independently, and actively sharing their accomplishments with peers. Meanwhile, the collaboration between ACS, EDT, and Skillsoft is only growing stronger. The team continues to meet regularly to share ideas, solve problems, and enable learners to thrive.

Paras Raina, CS Manager, from Excel Design Technologies, sees these elements as crucial to success: “Our role in ensuring that ACS Solutions can fulfill its goals for learners gives us pride and inspires us to continue advancing ideas that are both strategic and creative. Working closely with ACS and Skillsoft, we feel supported and empowered to innovate. We look back at our three-party brainstorm meeting and how it led to an engagement-rich campaign—and we see a clear roadmap for sustaining the new learning culture we’ve built together.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT SKILLSOFT’S LEARNING SOLUTIONS

Has ACS’ story inspired you? Learn how you can unleash your organization’s edge by working with Skillsoft.

  • Skillsoft Percipio, the immersive learning platform designed to make learning easier, more accessible, and more effective.
  • Skillsoft’s Technology and Development learning content, for empowering organizations and teams with future-ready skills.

Skillsoft delivers online learning, training, and talent solutions to help organizations unleash their edge. Leveraging immersive, engaging content, Skillsoft enables organizations to unlock the potential in their best assets – their people – and build teams with the skills they need for success. Empowering 36 million learners and counting, Skillsoft democratizes learning through an intelligent learning experience and a customized, learner-centric approach to skills development with resources for Leadership, Technology and Development, and Compliance.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CUSTOMER

ACS Solutions is a leading global information technology, consulting, and business solutions company. Since 1998, we have been a trusted partner to customers worldwide in their IT transformation journey. Our extensive experience serving many industries is powered with a passion for innovation and delivered by our world-class employees and consultants. This enables our clients to grow and run their businesses more efficiently and drives exceptional results. Headquartered in Atlanta, ACS Solutions has grown to be over a billion dollars in revenue with more than 20,000 employees and consultants worldwide. We have consistently ranked as one of the fastest growing companies in the State of Georgia and recognized globally. A guiding principle is giving back to our communities around the world where we live and operate. At ACS Solutions, we grow your business with you and grow our communities.