then wanted to respond to the individual needs of employees who have limited availability, encouraging them to develop their skills by allowing them to train wherever and whenever they wish. Thanks to the flexibility of e-learning, they can train while making optimum use of their time», says Nathlie Alline.

Escaping from geographical constraints to train people on a large scale.Since 2010, the e-learning program has been extended to all the Group’s staff, at least the 180.000 people who use

Success Story

Thanks to e-learning, GDF SUEZdeploys its training program on a large scale

At GDF SUEZ, innovation is a state of mind that drives human resources policy. The group feels that it is vital to anticipate changes in its core business streams and to develop the skills of its 220.000 staff.Operating in 50 countries, the world’s leading energy and environment firm has chosene-learning to facilitate access to training. It brings many advantages, including a fresh approach to training, easier access, and increased cost-effectiveness. CrossKnowledgeworks hand in hand with GDF SUEZ to fulfill the group’s training objectives.

More information, videos and success stories on www.crossknowledge.com

«E-learning has become an essential format in the world of training», says Nathalie Alline, e-learning coordination and support manager at GDF SUEZ (Learning Division). «In the current economic context and given our international scale, not only can we not do without e-learning, we also want to do

far more with it». The GDF SUEZ and CrossKnowledge partnership began in 2008, providing the Group with an LMS platform, blended courses, and off-the-shelf e-learning content. The scope of the partnership has grown over the years to make it possible to offer skills development for all. «The economic challenges to which e-learning responds are even greater than in 2008, explains Nathalie Alline. «It’s one of the key solutions to optimize training costs». At the start, the GDF Suez distance-learning program only targeted the group’s 40.000 managers. «We

Success Story

computers. To date, 92.000 staff members are enrolled on the e-campus. There are over 600 courses and more than 21.000 training hours have been clocked up. «We’ve gradually extended the program to all our staff, especially by introducing courses and content directly relevant to the Group’s core business areas».Thanks to this new approach, GDF SUEZ is able to deploy large-scale training programs on a global scale and industrialize its courses in order to reach out to a broader population, especially where cross-functional topics are concerned. «Several of our functional subsidiaries have developed content that makes it possible to reach a large number of people spread across the group», explains Nathalie Alline. The group has 9.000 resources from the CrossKnowledge catalogue on cross-functional

More information, videos and success stories on www.crossknowledge.com

themes and produces content internally, especially for technical subjects and topics relating to core business. «For certain core business training issues, custom modules are developed by our subsidiaries. About 30 % of the time spent on the campus is now devoted to this kind of content», says Nathalie Alline.GDF SUEZ organizes a range of initiatives throughout the year to make sure staff keep coming back to the on-line campus. «We’ve set up a recurrent operation focusing on the development of e-learning and the use of the e-campus», explains Nathalie Alline. Each summer, with support from the Group’s Public Relations Division, the Learning Division runs an operation called «Summer Campus» to help keep staff members involved.A corporate initiative focusing on strategic themes also takes place with the help of CrossKnowledge, which sends learners a monthly newsletter spotlighting resources especially relevant to what is currently happening in the Group. To coincide with World Disabled Day, for instance, two CrossKnowledge resources on diversity were spotlighted, as well as a Serious Game developed in house on how to manage disability. «The Web 2.0 functionalities, such as «My Discussions», work very well. Managers and staff are sharing their experiences and making comments more and more often», observes Nathalie Alline.

A program well adapted to the needs of a decentralized organization.Thanks to the flexibility of the CrossKnowledge program, adapted to the scale of the subsidiaries, GDF SUEZ has been able to bring together its six business divisions and numerous subsidiaries on the Group’s training platform.«We’re a very decentralized organization, and this gives the subsidiaries a lot of independence given the range and specific nature of the business areas in which we operate. It’s important for us to enable each subsidiary to make the solution its own, designing courses itself and managing its own training initiatives», explains Nathalie Alline. GDF SUEZ has over 150 platform administrators worldwide, a number that is constantly growing. Each subsidiary, depending on its needs, identifies a person who will be in charge of designing e-learning programs.«At Group level, we’re eager to promote the sharing of experience and to coordinate all these initiatives so that everyone can reap as much benefit as possible», concludes Nathalie Alline.

The economic challenges

to which e-learningresponds are even

greater than in 2008.It’s one of the key

solutions to optimizetraining costs.

Nathalie ALLINEE-LEARNING COORDINATION

AND SUPPORT MANAGER - LEARNING DIVISION GDF SUEZ