Learning at the time of need – excellence during the pandemic
The refreshed and revitalised ALDO provided the perfect solution at the beginning of the pandemic. With all leisure centres suddenly having to shut their doors, staff working within this service were asked to complete a programme of courses to equip them with the knowledge and skills for work in Health and Social Care (i.e. working in Care Homes, Home Care Service, etc.).
This quick action and accessible learning meant that staff was equipped and able to be redeployed in a different sector during the most critical time – securing jobs, and wages, and enabling care for those in great need.
The Impact
“The relaunch and modernisation of ALDO with a new look and feel mean that it is now fit for purpose and allowed us to maximise the benefits of technology – e.g. anytime, anywhere, just-in-time learning, 24/7 accessibility, on any internet-enabled device, to keep increasing training uptake.
Having the support of Learning Pool to implement new changes and technological updates has been invaluable to us at Aberdeenshire Council.
ALDO is now part of our everyday cultural language and landscape – embedded in everyday working life, regardless of levels, roles, location or responsibility.
Feedback on ALDO has been really positive and has given us an indication of what learners want. We will look to expand and reflect this feedback on an ongoing basis, as we will be able to amend content quickly and effectively as needed.”
Sharon O’Neill, Employee Development Officer.
Through working with Learning Pool’s Stream LMS, Aberdeenshire Council has seen nothing short of outstanding results. In the last four years (from 2019 to the end of 2021), course completion rates have risen by over 240%, to over 47,000 per annum. The current total of completions in 2022 (up to the end of June) has already surpassed 2021 figures.
This is further reinforced by over 600 unique daily logins and an average of 4.1/5 user feedback ratings.
Aberdeenshire Council can also report that its ALDO feedback word cloud consists of phrases like:
- ‘Great’.
- ‘Godsend over Covid-19’.
- ‘Excellent’.
- ‘Perfect for online learning’.
- ‘Valuable’.
All such feedback is captured, and any constructive feedback is acted upon.
As a result, ALDO has seen Aberdeenshire Council achieve:
- Increased uptake in training completion – up by 240% since 2019 to over 47,000 per annum.
- Contributing directly to a 19% reduction since 2019 in Aberdeenshire Council’s goal of 75% by 2030 and Net Zero by 2045 through;
- Saving paper with the reduction of printing course materials due to online transition.
- Reducing travel necessities and costs, leading to an impact on carbon footprint.
- An improvement in the digital skills of its workforce – computers available to all employees, and confidence has measured growth in using their own equipment and devices to access their learning.
The learning journey is continuous; therefore, ALDO will continue to develop, expand, and evolve as individual learner needs are identified. While such changes are inevitable, one thing will remain – with its new capabilities, accessibility and functionality, ALDO will always play a key role within the overall culture of Aberdeenshire Council with continuing support from the Learning Pool team.