Rachel Devereux-Douglas: A magical e-Learning journey at Supreme Group

Rachel Devereux-Douglas has worked in Dubai for 12 years, 10 years in a Learning & Development Capacity. She began her career with Emirates Airlines in 1998 and quickly began training Cabin Crew for Service Delivery and Customer Service. During her 5 years training, she completed a Training Development Diploma through the University of Leicester, before moving to the Corporate Leadership Department as a Learning & Development Specialist to deliver management training programs and development centers for senior managers. During this period, she began and has now completed her Masters in Social Science for Human Resource Development and Performance Management through the University of Leicester. After 10 years with Emirates Airlines, she moved to a company called ‘Supreme Group’ in 2008, a Foodservice and Logistics provider to clients in challenging and remote regions. She joined ‘Supreme Group’ as the Corporate Learning and Development Manager to set up the department and deliver management training programs. Supreme has grown from 3700 employees to 9000 during Rachel’s tenure and is still growing today.

After conducting 38 interviews as part of a Training Needs Analysis (TNA), she quickly identified employee needs, which evolved around almost 300 different topics with requirements for technical and non technical skills – which of course she could not personally deliver. Through networking, she was introduced to Paul Michael Gledhill, Director and Co-founder of Xpert Learning. Paul subsequently came to visit Rachel in a small office in Deira to discuss the needs of Supreme. Rachel then attended an open seminar facilitated by Xpert Learning, SkillSoft and their clients at a five-star hotel in Dubai. The event included a panel of high-profile Learning & Development professionals and speakers, all sharing best practices. Attending this seminar helped Rachel to conceptualize her approach to e-Learning in order to make the initiative within Supreme Group, a success. After this session, she prepared a SWOT analysis and conducted a cost benefit analysis to compare the cost of classroom training, travel, accommodation, time spent out of the business amongst others, to the fractional cost and large selection of online learning modules. Rachel was particularly attracted to how e-Learning could accommodate her employees’ needs, especially those working in remote locations with 24x7 learning at the fingertips.

e-Learning began in April 2009; the contract started with 100 employees who were nominated as ‘good performers’ in order to gain membership. At the onset this was treated as a ‘Reward’ program. Rachel selected modules that linked to the organization’s Mission, Vision and Values, core competencies, through an online TNA facilitated by Xpert Learning and face-to-face TNA by herself. This approach offered a seamless development plan aligned to the annual performance review. Through the application process, employees had to analyze and prioritize which modules would add most value to their development; this required feedback from the line manager, therefore aiming to gain commitment. The Manager was also requested to set objectives in the performance review, requesting their employees to complete at least 10 modules per year. Xpert Learning offered a lot of support and flexibility to add additional modules on where necessary; with quarterly scheduling in order to provide a summary of results and revisit achievement of objectives. This added value particularly where managers needed a specific skills set outside of the core competencies.

Rachel ensured that employees received a bi-monthly newsletter on e-Learning to illustrate results, employee testimonials, top 20 learners, most usage per business unit to create healthy competition and communicate prizes and prize winners for completing the most number of modules.

Halfway through the program, Rachel initiated a recognition ceremony to reward e-Learners and employees who completed corporate programs with certificates. As part of a post-course for e-Learning, Rachel designed and recommended the use of a reflective learning log; supplemented with feedback from the line manager, that should be attached to the performance review in order to provide recognition for behavioral changes on the job. Although the training was not mandatory, the results were above 100% target with 1082 modules completed in 2009-2010. By the end of the first year, the total number of employees using e-Learning had doubled in size.

The feedback from employees has been extremely positive; this has provided a motivational tool for employees who are grateful of the investment in their development, creating ‘positive perceptions of goodness’ about the company they work for. Many potential employees even enquire if development is provided for employees, making the employer proud to confirm that e-Learning is one of the learning tools available for them.

The 2nd year of e-Learning at Supreme Group has just started and an invitation has been sent to all employees to apply for membership. Potentially, the number of users could grow between 300 – 3000 employees. Rachel whole-heartedly testifies through personal experience that adding best practices, before, during and after implementation, will support a company embarking on an e-Learning program.

Undoubtedly, this will be another successful e-Learning year for Supreme. We wish Rachel all the best in her endeavors.

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn or contact her at racheldouglas@mailme.ae

Paul Michael Gledhill, a visionary leader with a passion for e-Learning

Having worked in the travel industry in some of the world’s most exotic locations, Paul returned to the UK to continue his training career and development studies. He worked for the UK Government as Business and Training Advisor and received several awards from the Training and Development Lead Body (TDLB), and Lincoln and Durham Business Schools for Business and Training Counseling. As a professional trainer and an excellent presenter with a keen interest in emerging technologies, Paul started looking into the booming e-Learning industry. Paul is currently a Director and Co-founder of Xpert Learning FZ-LLC, an e-Learning service and solutions provider, based in Dubai and founded in April 2003. Xpert Learning works with the leading corporate, government and educational establishments throughout the Middle East.

Paul has implemented over 100 technology-enabled learning and development initiatives for the likes of FedEx, Siemens, DEPA, Nestle, Dubai Duty Free, Emirates National Bank of Dubai, Unilever, GUST University, Etihad Airways, Rivoli Group, Supreme, ENOC, Ministry of Bahrain, Dubai Airports, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Emirates Airlines and many others. The successful implementations have helped these leading companies optimize learning efficiency through the use of innovative learning techniques and technologies.

Paul is also a provider of research centric consulting solutions that assist organizations to define, operate and optimize their strategic learning initiatives.

With thousands of learners on customized corporate learning portals throughout the Middle East, Paul has introduced a new modality of learning to an array of people from so many cultures and demographics. Learners using these portals range from blue-collar workers to white-collar workers to managers and CEOs.

In terms of his achievements, Paul’s list scales from SkillSoft Sales Person of the Year in 2005 to International Business Partner of The Year in 2008. He has been recognized by many of Xpert Learning’s high profile clientele and has been recognized as an expert in the field of e-Learning both in the region and internationally by peers both within and outside the industry.

As a pioneer of research on technology-enabled learning in the region, Paul has also conducted online surveys and collected feedback from learners and managers of online learning initiatives and has provided tremendous insights to trends and future options for the general public. A white paper on the state of e-Learning in the Middle East written by Paul along with two colleagues, Nabeel Nazeer and Riham Khoury, can be found on Xpert Learning’s website via the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/y24yk9a 

Over the past 7 years, Paul has been actively conducting round tables and has been hosting many conferences, most of which he was appointed Master of Ceremonies. Through these high-profile events, he has enthusiastically engaged participation and opened the minds and hearts of people wishing to enhance their knowledge using technology.

The main impact to the region of Paul’s highly avid initiatives has been the 60+ companies that, year on year, continue to work with Paul and Xpert Learning to enhance the working lives and knowledge base of workers throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

All in all, Paul is a very enthusiastic individual who is committed to promoting lifelong learning for people from different cultures within the Middle East. His passion has brought him success in the e-Learning field and with the growing number of clientele for Xpert Learning, lots of opportunities exist for him to share his knowledge to the masses and take e-Learning to a different level in the coming years.


Connect with Paul Gledhill via: 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paul.xpert?ref=ts
Twitter: http://twitter.com/xpertpg
LinkedIn: http://tinyurl.com/y48bvpv

Xpert Learning holds a seminar for Learning & Development Professionals in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, March 24, 2010. Xpert Learning hosted a seminar for Learning and Development Professionals at Park Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The Xpert Learning team included Janine Croft, Managing Director, Paul Michael Gledhill, Director and Co-Founder, William Spindloe, Business Development Director and Riham Khoury, Account Manager. During this informative and practical workshop, presentations were delivered to the audience by the Xpert Learning team on the following key learning and development topics:

• Building the vision and mission of L & D
• Success Criteria – What do you measure?
• ROI calculating practices
• Justifying Budgets – “Learning to love the CFO”
• Doing more for Less – Hints and Tips

The event included lunch and a networking session which allowed the attendees to get to know each other and share ideas and best practices about the industry.

Paul Michael Gledhill, addressing the audience, emphasized on the importance of the ability for Learning and Development professionals to converse with finance professionals using their language. “Success and measurements need to be translated to business impact and return on investment,” said Mr. Gledhill.

William Spindloe, during his presentation entitled ‘Justifying Budgets – Learning to love the CFO’, highlighted the dynamics involved when requesting for a training budget for learning and development. “If you don’t get the training budget you think you need and deserve, you need to ask yourself why. How well did you justify the need to the CFO? Did you put together a robust return on investment analysis? If not, then you will definitely get the budget you deserve, but not necessarily the one you need,” said Mr. Spindloe.

Through these probing questions, Mr. Spindloe got the audience to interact and engage in discussions and brainstorming sessions.

Shabbar Sheikh, Career Planning Coordinator at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority of the Government of Dubai, loved the seminar.

“It was a pleasure meeting the Xpert Learning team and being a part of the workshop. I really feel as if I’ve benefited from the experience and look forward to hearing more from your team and organization,” said Mr. Sheikh.

Ariel A. L. Atabug, Talent Manager at Habtoor Hotels, shared the views of Mr. Sheikh. “The workshop was definitely helpful and I’m sure all of us who attended picked up more than just a few points for our respective Battles of the ‘Budget’,” said Mr. Atabug.

Sonali Bahri, Talent Acquisition and Development Manager at AstraZeneca - Gulf FZ-LLC, found the session very useful and thanked the Xpert Learning team for organizing and facilitating.

Given the success of the seminar and positive feedback received from the audience, Xpert Learning plans to organize similar events within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), more specifically Dubai, in the near future.