Case study
Industry
Financial Services
Company HQ
Sandton, South Africa
Number of Employees
540+
Office Locations
Across Southern Africa and expanding into Europe
Silica Boosts Employee Skills and Retention with Accessible Online Training
Udemy driving business outcomes
Case study details
From humble beginnings more than two decades ago, Silica, has grown to become one of South Africa’s leading business process outsourcing and technology companies. It uses specialist skills and innovative solutions to help wealth and investment managers across Sub-Saharan Africa, grow their businesses through easier investment accessibility.
While its employee satisfaction and retention were already high, Silica sought to develop its training and skills program further — helping it reset the standard for employee learning and career development in South Africa and beyond.
Giving people the right skills today for the jobs of tomorrow
With strict South African qualification frameworks to abide by — compounded by the company’s progressive ethos towards learning — employee development was already well established at Silica through its Digital Learning Academy. But ever diligent to push its boundaries, the company wanted to shift the focus of its employee development away from academic qualifications to skills-based competencies more relevant to the modern workplace.
“While Silica already had a L&D program in place, I was keen to boost employee engagement,” says Sue McLaggan, Learning & Development Lead at Silica “This meant taking a different approach. So, rather than department managers leading our training programs, I sought a proven online learning solution that could empower our people to take personal development into their own hands.
This desire to move away from a hierarchical training structure also supported one of the company’s key values — to be curious — giving employees the confidence to undertake online learning even if they felt they didn’t have the time during work hours.
Sue and her L&D team needed a web-based solution that would help improve training adoption across the business in a cost-effective way. And most importantly, deliver a wide range of high-quality courses that would give employees greater opportunities to advance their careers, build skill sets, and open doors to future job roles.
Learning & Development Lead
A proven learning platform that puts employees in control
After evaluating other top online learning solutions, Sue and her team selected Udemy Business. “We chose Udemy Business because it gives us access to a wide range of quality courses — meaning no matter what skills people want to develop, there’s something for everyone,” says Sue. “We found it much easier to use than other online learning solutions and far more cost-effective, close to 20% savings annually, than what we had before.
Giving people the right skills for tomorrow’s workforce
With a platform that’s accessible 24/7 and even available on mobile, Silica’s employees now have the power to design their training schedules around their busy lives. And because the platform offers a vast catalog of technical and soft skills courseware, people now find it easier to upskill beyond the scope of their current job requirements.
For example, as automation plays an increasingly important role in Silica’s technology offering to its clients, the need for developer, cloud engineering, and business analyst skills across the business is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. By offering existing employees the opportunity to upskill in these specific areas, the company now offers greater opportunities for growth, making it easier for people to advance their careers and achieve more senior roles. And they are.
“Our entire workforce is now taking a more proactive approach to learning, and Udemy Business has played a significant role in this,” says Sue. “The results have been fantastic. Thanks to greater upskilling opportunities, we now have several people in senior positions across the company who may not have had those opportunities through our old program.”
Enhanced L&D reporting to help drive regular improvements
Without the right data, it can be difficult to measure whether learning and development initiatives are working and to what extent teams are taking advantage of the program. With the advanced reporting capabilities in Udemy Business, Sue and her team now have access to deep insights into their training program performance, such as top course completions and time spent per power user, helping them make regular improvements based on hard data.
“Udemy Business has driven accountability across the business,” says Sue. “I can now share detailed metrics with senior leadership — such as adoption and completion rates. We also leverage this data within the overall company performance metrics, meaning our L&D program is now an integral part of the company’s overall strategy
Learning & Development Lead
An upskilled workforce and better career progression
With close to 80% of the workforce active learners in Udemy Business, more Silica employees are reaping the benefit of enhanced skills-based training than ever before. By offering flexible courses that can be completed both in and outside work — rather than relying on their line managers to assign them training — employees now have far easier access to courses.
“While we give our people time during the work week to complete necessary courses, we’ve found that many opt to study in their free time,” says Sue. “It’s a true testament that our employees recognize the benefits upskilling can have on their careers, which motivates them to log on.”
An unanticipated outcome for Sue and Silica leadership is the jump in employee retention because of the new learning and development platform. “We now see Udemy Business as an extension of our workforce,” says Sue. “Even though our people are now better skilled, they also appreciate the investment we make in their development, and are staying with us longer.
Learning & Development Lead
Expand learning and build on success
“We had strict criteria for an online learning platform, and our expectations were extremely high,” says Sue. “Udemy Business easily delivered, and we’re continually surprised at the breadth of courses offered.” Looking to the future, Sue and the L&D team plan to expand their learning program, offering Udemy licenses to all new hires and more. This includes the company’s regular intern intake, who can now expect not only a unique work experience with one of South Africa’s most progressive firms but also a suite of ondemand training courses to help develop their transferrable skills — helping prepare them for whatever the future holds.
Learning & Development Lead
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