Case study
Industry
Furniture Manufacturing
Company HQ
Michigan, United States
Number of Employees
12,700
Steelcase Drives Efficiency, Access, and Impact Through Social Learning
Udemy driving business outcomes
Case study details
Steelcase, the largest office furniture company in the world, is dedicated to the development of its 12,700 employees. They value learning as an important part of talent retention and have been offering opportunities to learn for decades. Over the past few years, they have shifted their strategy from cumbersome, expensive classroom courses to flexible, cost-efficient, on-demand online learning as one key lever.
Increasing Career Readiness
Steelcase discovered Udemy Business at a time when multiple learning platforms were contacting them for business. There were several competing options that Steelcase considered partnering with, but it became quickly apparent that Udemy was the strongest choice. Not only did the Udemy Business model align to the Steelcase L&D strategy of providing accessible, on-demand learning, but the Udemy team provided unmatched support that allowed them to run with the program at a global scale.
The dedication, experience, and generosity of their Udemy team began with the opportunity to “test the waters” with 200 licenses. During this pilot, they were quickly able to asses the appetite for learning at Steelcase as well as the broad scope of topics of interest.
Beyond the pilot, Steelcase’s Udemy team continued to act in close partnership, providing guidance and remaining alongside the L&D team into their expansion phase of the platform. The strong collaboration between Steelcase and Udemy enabled them to quickly design and successfully launch a targeted career development experience focused on employees’ future fitness. Ongoing support provided by the team made the journey smoother and more sustainable for Steelcase than simply working with an “off the shelf” learning solution.
Team Lead, Learning & Development
Pairing content with social learning is key
Steelcase was very intentional in how they began to deploy their sourced content learning strategy. “Our strategy is to design learning experiences that meets the needs of our employees at any given point in time. With the amount of disruption and change we have faced over the last year, offering accessible, global learning opportunities that are engaging, supportive and allow employees to “learn in the flow of work” was critical.”
It wasn’t just about checking boxes; they treated this experience as a journey with its own unique story. With the ability to apply key learnings from the pilot, the L&D team at Steelcase was able to design a Future Fit program that was responsive to employees’ needs and the changing conditions. The quick design and launch was a major feat that they could not have done on their own using a traditional learning program approach due to the resource-intensive process of creating proprietary content. “With Udemy, we were able to roll out very quickly and efficiently, which we simply couldn’t have done on our own because creating good quality content is a heavy lift. We were also able to focus our efforts on designing a meaningful programmatic experience that leverages Udemy content for maximum impact.,” says Karen.
Another valuable aspect of Udemy is that the platform is user-friendly and takes learners on paths to develop new skills and grow in their careers. The Future Fit experience, leveraged high quality, relevant Udemy content to support Steelcase learners in mapping out and executing their goals. This supportive approach—along with dedicated time each week for employees to focus on learning— has empowered team members to prioritize and reinvent themselves to meet their most pressing business and development needs.
Opportunities to discuss courses in real time or through social channels reduced obstacles to learning, increased motivation and sustained engagement over time. Through this social learning experience, the L&D team has been able to implement a continuous model of learning, while gathering invaluable real time feedback and insights to inform future program design.
Karen explains, “We are tracking a high level of satisfaction with the Udemy courses. Employees like being able to access learning on their own through this one-stop shop. It’s much better than the piecemeal approach we were limited to before. Feedback from our learners has been extremely positive.” “Plus,” Karen notes, “one of the great things about using Udemy Business is that we are able to create a social community around learning which increases team engagement by encouraging curiosity and connection as a group.”
Global expansion, ROI, and increased engagement at Steelcase
Now in their expansion phase, the L&D team at Steelcase is thrilled to see their program participation and interest grow tenfold since the pilot, all within the first year of the partnership. Scaling up with the Udemy Business and taking their learning paths to the next level are top priorities for Karen’s team in the months to come.
Best yet, the business case was a success proving the value of Udemy Business through the incredible learner satisfaction. Amongst the positive comments shared by learners included:
“Udemy has been a great platform to stay competitive in the digital transformation of the workplace by offering fresh, relevant, personalized on-demand learning content powered by a dynamic content marketplace. I managed to complete more than 80 courses on Udemy Business over nine months; it is challenging to display all certificates here, however this was an accomplishment worth my time invested and has re-energized me to manage the upcoming challenges with a smile.”
What’s next? Seeing how their efforts have made a notable difference in employee engagement in their growth trajectory, the L&D team will focus on scaling and diversifying learning offerings that leverage Udemy Business content to meet both “just in time” and strategic organizational needs.
Team Lead, Learning & Development
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