Thinking Outside the [Cardboard] Box

Global logistics company delivers compliance training in multiple languages to an international workforce via Skillsoft’s Language Selector feature

As we look towards a pending recession, organizations around the world are laser-focused on optimizing sales and cutting costs. But to retain employees during a recession, it is important to spend some time on corporate culture.

Fostering a safe, ethical workplace that’s both people-led and innovation-driven can inspire loyalty and trust. Yet, it requires effective compliance training that’s consistent and consolidated.

Skillsoft is a trusted partner to nearly 2,000 organizations who are continuously working to improve their compliance offerings. In fact, we often make product updates and enhancements based on the feedback we receive from our customers so that Skillsoft’s compliance solutions continue to effectively meet the evolving needs of global organizations.

Case in point: Skillsoft works with a well-known global logistics company offering compliance training for hundreds of thousands of people in up to 22 different languages. Before Skillsoft, the company used to build its training courses in-house, but a couple of years ago it turned to Skillsoft to help build out content in multiple languages to save time.

While this transition was extremely helpful, the company still faced the challenge of deploying courses in multiple languages. But because it relied on a third-party learning management system (LMS), the process was a bit more complicated.

Administrators at the organization would collect all available versions of a compliance course in what amounted to a digital “box” of content. That box would then be assigned and distributed to each team member, who would then have to sift through its contents to find the right course in their language of choice. The navigation was complicated, confusing, and clunky.

For companies using Skillsoft Percipio as an LMS, the process is naturally more streamlined. But organizations with a third-party LMS need to consider additional issues, including:

• How to package courses together, making sure to include all available languages?
• How to enable each language for the users that need them?
• How to allow users to select their native language?
• How to track course completions in all languages?

Skillsoft and our global logistics customer knew we needed to work together to improve the process for others with third-party LMSs. So, we decided to think outside the [cardboard] box and create a solution that worked for everyone.

Enabling its team to easily access compliance training in their preferred language was a priority for the global logistics company. Language barriers are a contributing factor in 25% of job-related accidents, according to OSHA. Not to mention, people learn faster when training happens in their native language.

In the global workforce, more than 1.5 billion people speak English, but about 75% are non-native speakers. We wanted to make sure that every employee at the organization — and across other organizations with third-party LMS solutions — would have easy access to the compliance training they need in their preferred language.

With ongoing feedback from our customer, Skillsoft introduced a language selector feature to support organizations with multi-language course needs. It allows users select a preferred language directly from their LMS.

Now, organizations like the global logistics company can upload a single version of any course into their LMS and encourage learners to choose their preferred language directly. Skillsoft does heavy lifting, creating connections between different languages and lightening the load for both administrators and users.

Learners can get to work quickly and efficiently with minimal effort from administrators.

1. Load a preferred default language into the LMS.
   Administrators no longer need to load multiple course titles. Save time and conserve bandwidth by loading the English version of the course, only, and tracking course completions in all available languages back to that version.
   
2. Select a preferred language.
   When learners launch a course for the first time, they will be able to select a preferred language from a list. The languages displayed will include the translations available for that course in the languages an organization has licensed (replicating some of the capabilities of Skillsoft Percipio Compliance).
   
3. Hit play.
   After learners select their preferred language, the page will be translated into that language, and they can launch into the course. Each time the course is opened, the language selector page automatically defaults to the preferred language.

An organization can configure a course to reflect its own documents, policies, non-instructional videos, and custom text and audio; the configured course will continue to work with the language selector.

The biggest win for both Skillsoft and our global logistics customer? A drastically improved end-user experience. Now, Skillsoft compliance courses look and function better — all because of the useful feedback and trusted partnership Skillsoft forged with the customer. 

Skillsoft customers with third-party LMSs can now quickly and easily assign and track compliance courses across multiple languages. Every employee will have the ability to choose their preferred training language easily — so they can focus on maintaining a safe and ethical workplace, and not the logistics.

Another bonus? The language selector tool can support your organization’s commitment to diversity and inclusion by making compliance training as easy as possible to access, in every language.

Questions about how Skillsoft’s Language Selector feature can serve your organization?