Wragge & Co Case Study - Ashridge

Virtual Ashridge case study
ORG A N I SATION WR AGGE & CO
INDUSTRY S ECTOR CONSULTING, PROFESSIONAL & BUSINESS SERVICES
HOW WE USE ONLINE INSIGHT FROM ASHRIDGE
Empowering people to take control
of their own development at
Wragge & Co
CHALLENGE
We had worked with Ashridge to develop a five day bespoke leadership programme
for partners and senior staff. This ran over a three year period and we were keen that the learnin
experience extended beyond the classroom.
As a law firm, where people sell their expertise and time, we are very aware of time spent away
from clients. It was essential that people, in their daily roles, could cut straight to the information
they needed, fast.
SOLUTION
Virtual Ashridge (formerly the Virtual
Learning Resource Centre) was the
ideal solution. We chose a customised
solution that integrates into the Wragge
& Co learning portal and is based
around the key topics covered in our
various learning and development
programmes.
The Ashridge team made the
customisation process very easy.
We told them the business areas
we wanted to incorporate and they
selected appropriate content and
reviewed our website to ensure that the
look and feel of the resource matched
our core identity. And then it was just a
question of making tweaks.
It is available to all 1000 employees
People know that it’s Ashridge they are
accessing and this gives the resources
credibility.
IMPLEMENTATION
We announced the launch of Virtual
Ashridge in the Daily Wragge, an
email bulletin that goes out every day
at midday. The launch was featured
over a period of two weeks.
All employees had a Virtual Ashridge
branded screen saver for the week of
the launch, keeping the resource front
of mind. Also, our intranet, called
the Wraggle ran a main story about
what the resource offers with a link
to the learning portal.
There is a permanent link to Virtual
Ashridge in the Wraggle. It has to be
made as easy as possible – we have
placed it in the quick-links section
which attracts the most internal traffic.
W E N DY
M O R R I S O N
DIRECTOR OF
PROFESSIONAL
DE V ELOPMEN T
“The Ashridge
team made the
customisation
process very
easy
”
www.ashridge.org.uk/virtual

25%
50%
75%
RESULT
We have a lot of bright people at
Wragge; people are up for learning.
That said we are all very busy which
means that training isn’t always top
of the agenda. People are encouraged
to take responsibility for their own
learning rather than just trooping along
to training courses. So Virtual Ashridge
means a shift in people’s training
mindsets. We’ve found that if we can
give people a ‘reason to visit’ the
resource they tend to be impressed with
what they find and are keen to explore
further.
“Our business
development teams
use the country
and market
summaries 100% to keep
up to speed
W R AGGE & CO CASE ST UDY | CONTINUED
The fact that Virtual Ashridge can be
accessed outside work is a real plus.
People may not have time at work
but many choose to do pre-course
preparation via Virtual Ashridge in their
own time which adds a lot of value
to their overall learning experience.
25%
Virtual Ashridge is widely used by the
people at Wragge who deliver training.
50%
We incorporate relevant resources into
training programmes
and link the
resources to
programmes that
75%
people have been
on or are looking
to go on to ensure
that learning isn’t
100%
restricted to the
classroom.
”
The content of the
learning guides is
very good. They
tend to be used by more senior people
who find the development activities
useful. Our business development teams
use the country and market summaries
to keep up to speed. The pocketbooks
are also extremely popular and I often
hear people referring to them.
DIFFERENCE
•
Offers us a lot of high quality material
People who use it regularly say it’s a valuable resource
•
Provides us with a useful resource for internal coaching
For example, if time management is identified as a developmental area, we will
point people in the direction of the learning guide to Time Management.
We can also quickly assemble good learning packages of Virtual Ashridge content
to help individuals and teams
•
WHAT’S NEXT?
I believe that online learning will
increase and improve face-to-face
learning. It won’t replace face-to-face
learning. It is becoming the norm for
theoretical learning to be available
online for people to review prior to
attending a learning programme.
People are increasingly engaging with
the virtual world, playing games online,
immersing themselves in virtual worlds
via sites such as Second Life where
they are interacting and engaging with
others across different time zones.
If we broadened our definition of
learning to include virtual worlds and
online simulations, people would find
the time to learn for themselves -
they would put their headphones on
without waiting to be sent on a training
course or reminded. And then they
would still meet face-to-face back in
a classroom.
25%
Associated activities help to embed the learning
The learning guides come with useful development activities to put theory
into practice.
50%
But the classroom experience would
be used to discuss the online
experience, to practice and to engage
75%
in coaching.
In my opinion, if people have
knowledge gaps they’ll find a way to
learn what they need by exploring
100%
online. It’s what we’re increasingly
used to doing, thanks to tools such
as Virtual Ashridge•
“People know
that it’s Ashridge
they are accessing
and this gives the
resources credibility
”
25%
50%
75%
100%