“As an organisation of around 160,000 employees, we have people wanting to learn every skill you could name,” says Peter Butler, head of learning at BT Group plc. 
However, it’s one BT is addressing with confidence. Butler explains that he is a great believer in informal learning (or as he would rather call it, natural learning); the sharing of knowledge between colleagues. Yet he recognises that there will always be a need for formal learning too – especially when there’s a demand for qualifications and certification.

A good bridge between this natural learning and the more structured formal learning (for example, classroom-based tutorials) is e-learning. Consequently, SkillSoft e-learning courses form a significant part of BT’s blended learning programme – all directed through its Route2Learn management system.

The practicalities of e-learning – the acceleration to competence and fast return on investment – means that senior management has been quick to recognise the Benefits. But what about those on the learning frontline? Would they rather be sitting in a classroom or attending an off-site seminar?

It seems not. “When I first joined BT, around five years ago, it was probably only around 20 to 30 per cent of employees who used the e-learning system. Now around 80 per cent use Route2Learn to access learning content,” says Butler.

Operating in around 170 countries, BT is well known as a major player in the telecoms sector. However, the corporation is slightly adjusting its tack, moving to embrace software services.

“Traditionally, the majority of our employees would be telephone engineers – people that turn up, fix a socket and connect a few wires. Today, we are creating our 21st century network platform, enabling us to offer an open network to software services companies.  Re-skilling the workforce is a real Challenge,” Butler explains.

Other global economic and demographic factors are making the situation even more complex. For a start the workforce is ageing and over the next three to five years, many BT staff will be retiring, taking with them much wisdom and well-honed skills. Then, there is the current economic downturn to contend with. “Many organisations have had to reduce their training budgets and BT is no exception – so we are having to re-skill and maintain the quality of courses with less money,” he adds.

BT was originally a customer of NETg, acquired by SkillSoft in 2007. “Moving to SkillSoft was seamless – but what we gained was a significantly larger catalogue and a quality of service that was as good if not better than before,” says Butler.

When the contract came up for renewal, BT policy demanded the work be put out to tender, giving Butler and his team a chance to survey the market and see what else was on offer. “However, there was nothing that offered the same breadth and quality of content,” he says. “And as we were very happy with the service too, it made sense to stick with SkillSoft.”

Meanwhile, Butler was busy consolidating the dozen or so systems that existed across BT into one single way of delivering the SkillSoft courses. “E-learning in the company is now managed through our own single learning management system called Route2Learn. 

“Everybody has their own learning account with a single sign-on capability and they book their learning through the system. We can then record and track all the courses they undertake.

“We have targets to ensure that we have a workforce skilled up to a certain level. For example, we may aim to have two thousand Sigma-qualified people by the end of the year. With the information the system provides, we are able to make sure we achieve this.

“Also we are audited closely from a health and safety point of view – some of the SkillSoft programmes are part of a blend to get people to the right level of accreditation, so we obviously need to track this very carefully.”

With such a large and dispersed workforce, it’s important to spread the word about the courses on offer and this is done by holding workshops and roadshows which are run jointly between SkillSoft and BT.

BT has also found another way to help introduce e-learning to its staff; it gives five licences per staff member for their family to share at home. “The advantage of this is that it gets people looking at the courses from a personal point of view. They then start to realise the Benefits of using the system for work purposes too. It’s a way of getting them to dip their toes in the water,” says Butler.

It seems clear that in a time of economic uncertainty, BT has found a way to deliver training as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. “E-learning is only a fraction of the cost of classroom training and taking time away from the job and return on investment comes very quickly.

“Because we pay the licence fee to SkillSoft from a central fund the courses are 'free' at the point of use. This means that anyone that has a desire to go and improve their skills and capability can do so without having to worry about going to their line manager and securing a budget to do so.”

He also points out that SkillSoft’s extensive range of content also helps add value.  Instead of having to wait for a particular course or programme to run, employees can access what they need very quickly, without being away from their job too long, if at all.  “Time to competence has reduced significantly,” says Butler.

Butler stresses the importance of this in today’s economic climate. “If a company is going to be successful in the future, it will need to find ways to accelerate its pace out of the recession. The way to do this is to have a well-trained, high quality workforce that is ready to turn things around.”

Understandably, Butler is a great believer in the importance of informal learning and thinks that the rise of online social networking will facilitate better collaboration and sharing of information between staff. However, this, he says, won’t take away the need for formal learning too. “It’s a question of offering a mix – especially where it’s important for staff to get the right certificates and qualifications.

“We work very closely with the SkillSoft guys and they keep us up-to-date with new e-learning content so we’re ready to shift emphasis and be flexible as the future dictates,” he says.

So what advice would Butler give to any organisation considering replacing traditional classroom methods with e-learning? He is quick to reply: “Don’t contemplate for too long.  It’s something that will become hugely attractive to your business. I can appreciate that people feel they can’t spend at the moment, but ensuring staff are skilled to do their jobs may help you be among the first to benefit when things improve.”