Lifelong Learning Helps Shape the Future of the Construction Industry

Holcim employs people who contribute to making the construction industry more climate-friendly, creating sustainable living spaces, promoting the development of long-lasting infrastructure and promoting the future of mobility and energy supply. The skills required for this in everyday work are diverse. “Long gone are the days when you completed your studies or training and then worked for 20 years with the skills you learned there,” confirms Ursula Stocker, who as Global L&D Partner at Holcim is responsible for the worldwide training programs and learning initiatives. “Our employees are committed and interested in helping to shape progress. Fostering their skills through learning that is as self determined as possible is therefore an important concern for us.”

Diversity is a top priority at Holcim: The group of companies employs around 1,800 people from 36 different nations at around 130 locations in Germany and the Netherlands alone. Holcim employs 70,000 people from over 70 nations worldwide. An important solution requirement was therefore an offer of learning opportunities and training courses in as many languages as possible. In addition to company-wide programs, many learning initiatives are initiated locally or regionally as well as from the specialist departments. In this way, self-determined learning becomes possible while at the same time providing high-quality educational content provided by the company.

The intelligent learning platform Percipio from Skillsoft convinced those responsible at Holcim above all with the wide range of offers on a wide variety of topics, in numerous languages and formats. “We use Percipio in all regions and in all business areas. We use around ¾ of the learning content provided via the Skillsoft platform and ¼ of our own materials that we upload to Percipio,” explains Ursula Stocker. “The platform is very userfriendly – not only for the learners, but also for the administrators who, for example, add their own content. The fact that the learning offers are available via a single platform is a great advantage.”

Topics used in the company include training, courses and learning content for areas such as leadership, office and business skills, digital transformation, productivity, project management, finance, collaboration, diversity and inclusion. Skillsoft’s Percipio was also able to prevail over competitors in a benchmarking in the IT & Developer area.

The continuous development of technical know-how and business skills is a core element of employee development at Holcim. Especially in the two pandemic years, courses and content on topics such as stress management, mental well-being and the changed conditions of working from home were also in demand among employees. Skillsoft was able to support Holcim well during this difficult time. Especially in countries where the pandemic had to switch to short-time work, the workforce was able to use the time to learn important skills and advance their careers. The L&D team received a lot of positive feedback from employees worldwide - from Europe to the Middle East, Africa, North and Latin America, India to the Philippines.