Awards & Recognitions

One of the most prestigious awards in the industry, Training Company of the Year recognises organisations which stand out for exceptional quality and innovation in terms of content, client support and instructional techniques. In 2012 the category was judged by industry thought leaders Charles Jennings, Nigel Paine, Alan Bellinger and David Grinham.

The judges described MindLeaders as a “company with passion and vision that knows how tough the market can sometimes be, but continues to succeed nonetheless. ‘Changing lives through learning’ is a compelling vision, and through its focus on a combination of vertical and horizontal market sectors in both the UK, US and EMEA, the organisation truly lives up to its values.”

ThirdForce Chief Executive Officer, Brendan O’Sullivan commented: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this award which recognised the innovative use of mobile computing and elearning to solve distributed and disparate learning requirements.”

Brewers Fayre, part of Whitbread Plc, is founded ‘on great quality food at affordable prices’, but compliance with food safety was poor and mystery guest quality checks showed five per cent of meals were out of specification. However, off-site external courses had a 60 per cent drop out rate, making them ineffective.

“The scale and distribution of the learning audience demanded an elearning solution to the problem,” said Malcolm Bland, Senior Consulting Partner at Timely Intervention, “but lack of suitable equipment and an audience with low levels of IT literacy meant that elearning had never been used in this type of situation before.”

The solution was to use Third Force’s food safety elearning courses delivered using a touch-screen PC-tablet, requiring no PC skills, making it suitable for all levels of ability and education. This was rolled out to over 16,000 staff across all 450 restaurants and Brewer’s Fayre now has the highest food safety scores in Whitbread.

“The achievement of learners exceeded our expectations,” said David Goodson, Whitbread’s Head of Learning and Development. “We were able to engage with everyone regardless of background or previous educational experience and this has laid the foundations for employment development and the growth of managers.”

The National Training Awards are the UK’s number one accolade for businesses, organisations and individuals who have achieved lasting excellence and success through training and learning. Regional Training Awards are made to entries that are judged as demonstrating outstanding achievement in their region.

The Best Companies to Work for competition is part of an initiative by the European Commission to draw public attention to the many progressive workplaces throughout Europe. The purpose of the contest is to recognise organisations in which employees are provided with a great working environment, and to encourage other organisations to do the same.

In this way, the Commission, with the help of the Great Place to Work® Europe Consortium aims to raise workplace standards in Ireland and throughout the rest of the EU. This is achieved by promoting healthy competition among organisations throughout the EU striving to define themselves as one of their nation’s and EU’s best workplaces.

Each delegate works through an elearning version of the course on an el-box™ – a mobile tablet PC dedicated to training. This part of the programme, which covers the entire NCL syllabus, is done in the workplace in bite-sized chunks and at a pace to suit each individual. Delegates then attend a specially designed 2-hour, off-site, group revision session immediately prior to sitting the BII exam.

The blended programme has been developed in partnership with Inn-Dispensable, the UK’s leading supplier of traditional training and support for the licensed retail sector.

The results are impressive. Of the circa 250 Brewers Fayre managers and team members who have completed the programme to date over 86% passed the exam at their first attempt. This compares with national averages of 65% for colleges and 77% for traditional training providers.

The total cost to Whitbread worked out slightly less than the cost of sending 250 people on a full one-day course and also meant less time away from the workplace for the delegates. CLM and Inn-Dispensable are currently working on an updated version of the course to cover the new NCPLH syllabus and all delegates will be able to review this well before the new legislation takes effect later this year.

“We were delighted to have achieved such high pass rates with this project by using a blend of elearning and traditional training methods”, said Richard Taylor, managing director of CLM. “We will be using a similar approach for our new Intermediate Food Safety and HACCP course.”

Whitbread were equally happy with the results. Jenny Hall, learning and development project manager, commented “our managers and team members love the el-box and we were very pleased to be able to get so many people through this programme so quickly and still achieve such remarkable pass rates.”

ETP is Ireland’s national standard for human resource development. Its purpose is to encourage organisations to strive for excellence through training, development and involvement of their people. ETP also strives to show recognition for organisations that have achieved this aim. Certification is given for a period of one year and re-accreditation is subject to the successful completion of an annual audit.

The first-rate skills of our passionate employees have been recognised by an Irish Government initiative.

Creative Learning Media’s clients, products and employees were well and truly recognised and celebrated on Thursday night at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. The event was the inaugural ‘elearning Industry Awards’ organised by e.learning age magazine and the eLearning Network and sponsored by City & Guilds.

The judges chose CLM for three main reasons:

1. Their focus on delivering a genuine and clearly measurable ROI to their clients.
2. Their remarkable trackrecord of 800% sales growth since 2002.
3. The number of awards and subsequent publicity they have generated for their clients and for the elearning industry.

The judges were particularly impressed with CLM’s pioneering and highly innovative approach to elearning which includes inspiring course design, delivery via the el-box™, comprehensive support (both tutoring and mentoring) and integrated learning management system. Strong feedback and data from CLM’s clients proved conclusively that this approach changes behaviour and improves both individual and corporate performance.

Richard Taylor, CLM’s founder and managing director commented “We are absolutely delighted to receive this award from our peers, particularly in light of such a strong shortlist. I would like to thank all our clients for their continued support – this award is for them as well as us”.

The aim and goal of the Institute is to continuously raise standards of professionalism within the IT training industry and to establish benchmarks of excellence against which practitioners may be measured.

The Technology Fast 50 programme ranks companies that have demonstrated innovative strategies, sound management practices and marketplace vision driving them to achieve the status of high-growth leaders. The awards are an opportunity for businesses to gain recognition for their successes and achievements over the previous 12 months.

The European Fast 500 programme has more than 21 participating European countries. Ranking is compiled from the winners of the regional Fast 50 programmes.

The programme started in San Jose, the centre of Silicon Valley, California in 1995 and has expanded to over 20 major cities world-wide. It quickly became the growth benchmark of success in the USA, and has now taken hold in Europe.

Electric Paper Technology Fast 50 rankings
2004: 4
2003: 19
2002: 6
2001: 5

Electric Paper European Fast 500 rankings
2004: 179
2003: 57
2002: 93
2001: 74

The Technology Fast 500 programme ranks companies that have demonstrated innovative strategies, sound management practices and marketplace vision driving them to achieve the status of high-growth leaders. The awards are an opportunity for businesses to gain recognition for their successes and achievements over the previous 12 months.

The European Fast 500 programme has more than 21 participating European countries. Ranking is compiled from the winners of the regional Fast 50 programmes.

The programme started in San Jose, the centre of Silicon Valley, California in 1995 and has expanded to over 20 major cities world-wide. It quickly became the growth benchmark of success in the USA, and has now taken hold in Europe.

Electric Paper Technology Fast 50 rankings
2004: 4
2003: 19
2002: 6
2001: 5

Electric Paper European Fast 500 rankings
2004: 179
2003: 57
2002: 93
2001: 74

Hall & Woodhouse also won “Best Managed House Development Programme” for their suite of elearning courses developed with CLM.

The NITAs, which are organised by the British Institute of Innkeeping, are the only nationally recognised training awards for the hospitality industry and winning is the ultimate seal of approval for training excellence.

Richard Castleton, Head of HR for Hall & Woodhouse, commented “Our Bronze Hallmark development programme, which was developed in tandem with CLM’s job skills suite of elearning courses, has led to significant improvements in retail standards in our pubs that can be measured on both the top and bottom line. We have also succeeded in creating a very positive learning culture. As a result nearly all management appointments now come from within and we have seen a sharp increase in staff morale and a 20% reduction in staff turnover. We work with CLM very much as a strategic partnership and we are delighted to celebrate our win with them”.

In winning the award, CLM overcame stiff competition from some of the leading training providers in the UK.

Professor Conrad Lashley, Chair of the NITA judges, commented “I would like to congratulate Creative Learning Media on winning the Supplier Training Award for 2004. This was an impressive entry that is clearly benchmark performance for this category. We were particularly impressed with the way that CLM were using technology to support learning rather than driving the learning process. CLM’s approach demonstrates a very clear commitment to learning from experience through close work with clients and there was also clear evidence of evaluation of training using a wide array of measures including employee satisfaction, staff turnover and customer satisfaction.”

Richard Taylor, Creative Learning Media’s Managing Director, said on receiving the award “This is a fantastic endorsement of the quality and effectiveness of our courses. It is a tribute to all our staff, their dedication and the hard work they have once again put in for our clients this year.

“Our courses and support systems are developed in partnership with our clients and are continuously being improved based on the feedback that we receive from learners and their line managers. We also work closely with organisations such as the British Institute of Innkeeping, the Learning & Skills Council (LSC) and FE colleges to ensure our courses are aligned to industry standards and the government’s skills strategy.

“We would also like to congratulate everyone involved in the delivery of the Hall & Woodhouse training programme. They have shown that, with a dedicated and highly committed training team, it is possible for a regional, family-owned company to successfully compete with the national pub companies. Their retail standards are now among the highest in the country and their pubs are becoming synonymous with great customer service.”

Jonny Parkes, Managing Director, Electric Paper, has been short listed for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the International Services category in 2002 and 2003. Parkes has been short listed for the tremendous growth and expansion experienced by Electric Paper in its international markets.

The shortlist is decided by an independent panel of Judges and comprises eight nominees for each of three categories – Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year, Industry Entrepreneur Of The Year and International Services Entrepreneur Of The Year.

Enterprise Ireland is the government agency responsible for the development of Irish industry. The agency works in partnership with client companies to help them build a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

The World of Learning Awards are the industry’s most prestigious awards. Judged by an independent panel of industry experts, they recognise and reward organisations and people who have significantly advanced workplace productivity and performance in the training industry.

In August 2002, Electric Paper was contracted by the Yorkshire and Humber Government offices and the DfES to provide a training and testing solution for the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) for the Yorkshire & Humberside HM Prison Services.

The objective of the project was to provide self-paced IT training materials delivered over the prison LAN, which would actively involve learners in practical examples and exercises of common computer applications resulting in a qualification that would facilitate a seamless release, increasing employment opportunities and or further study.

Electric Paper’s training and testing elearning solutions, combined with their project management and implementation and integration support, have provided the Yorkshire & Humberside HMP Prison Service with an ICT programme that has proven popular amongst trainers and learners alike. Its unrivalled success has led to a second phase in the project with a rollout to 42 other prisons.

Electric Paper is continuing to support this program and is committed to helping the Prison Service achieve its goal of providing prisoners with an opportunity to follow an individual self-paced vocational study programme; extending studying options after release and providing an opportunity for

Surf.direct, the introductory level ICT course that Electric Paper developed for delivery in the learndirect centre network was launched by Ufi* in April 2002. It focuses on the key skills of using the computer to go online, accessing information and using e-mail, in particular web-based e-mail packages.

Surf.direct is a comprehensive course that contains background information about computers and teaches relatively new users how to carry out basic tasks such as managing desktop folders, using Web-based e-mail and searching the Internet. Within the interactive tutorials, an on-line tutor is available at all times to provide immediate and constructive feedback and support to learners.

The primary aim of the Surf.direct project is to provide self-paced elearning, with minimum tutor support, to new learners of differing status, education, ages, abilities and experience, of a kind that would attract learners into learndirect centres.

It is aimed at those learners who would like to learn to use the Internet for practical and fun reasons. The advantages of possessing adequate IT literacy skills are now widely understood, not only by members of the workforce but by all citizens who are seeing that the benefits of IT are becoming increasingly necessary in their daily lives.

Surf.direct is a CD-ROM based course. In order to register for the course the learner enrolls at their local learndirect center, where they are given a username and password to access the learndirect learner support environment and are sent a CD-ROM through the post. They are then encouraged to work through the course at the centre so that they can take full advantage of the tutor support but may work from home if they choose.

* Ufi Ltd (University for Industry) is the government-funded organisation behind the learndirect national elearning network. It was founded to increase skill levels in the UK. Its role is an integral one in the delivery of the UK government’s lifelong learning agenda. Ufi aims to raise the skills levels of adults of all ages by enabling them to learn at home, at work or in one of over 1,800 learndirect centres across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The College of Business at Colorado State University (CSU), and Electric Paper, have designed and implemented an elearning classroom model called Essential IT Skills. The model uses interactive multimedia learning and assessment software (developed by Irish elearning provider, Electric Paper) as the primary delivery vehicle while utilizing CIS (Computer Information Systems Department) students as classroom learning facilitators. This model is an example of how elearning can replace traditional instructor led delivery to facilitate consistent delivery of a greater number of topics in the same timeframe and at a reduced cost.

The Essential IT Skills course covers seven areas of core computer skills: introduction to IT, using windows, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, and e-mail and the Internet. The course is part of the Core Curriculum for the College of Business (COB), which all students must complete in their Freshman (1st) year. It now supports over 1400 students annually from the COB, the community, and various majors across the university. The objective of the program was to provide consistent content delivery utilizing on-screen interactive multimedia learning technology while reducing course-staffing costs, and to implement on-screen performance-based assessments.

The format of the Essential IT Skills course is “self paced with milestones”. Students are provided with the elearning software on CD-ROM along with a custom course book written by Gene W. Lewis, Assistant Professor in the Computer Information System Department at CSU. The students can move at their own pace through the individual course modules but must meet all of the established course progress milestones. An on-screen assessment is used to measure student performance after each of the seven course modules.

The accompanying course book includes seven comprehensive course projects. Together they enable the students to prepare a basic business plan incorporating the IT skills they have acquired through the elearning software. “Interactive days” provide students with the option of either coming to class to work with the learning facilitators, or of running the software on their own PCs at home.

The benefits of elearning for the large, widely geographically dispersed workforce under pressure to perform ever more efficiently and effectively are well rehearsed and very much in evidence at CSU.

The Essential IT Skills program at CSU is confirmation of how elearning enables more learning material to be delivered more efficiently than ever before. It enables a standard message to be given to a large audience at a convenient time for all of them individually. The students can learn at their own pace, and in a way that suits their preferred learning style. It is proof that technology can realize its promise in the classroom to provide quality instruction at reduced costs.

The project developed for the Queensland Office of Child Care, which was rolled out from August 2001, scooped the top prize ahead of other international projects by Smartforce, Lionbridge Technologies, Global Learning Alliance and Global Information Systems.

The judge’s citation said that they were awarding the accolade to “an organisation that has undertaken a major international training project that is innovative in concept and has produced demonstrable performance improvement for the client.”

Commenting on the win, Jonny Parkes, Managing Director of Electric Paper said: “We are delighted to receive this award together with our project partners Skillgate and the Department of Families in Queensland. The project was substantial in terms of size but all partners worked together to ensure a smooth roll-out.

“Already there has been a remarkable increase in the IT literacy skills of the child care workers who have completed the course. We hope that this award-winning project will provide an example to other organisations of what can be achieved in the IT literacy market,” continued Mr Parkes.

Electric Paper has been developing effective technology-based training materials for over six years and is recognised as a market leader in the provision of elearning materials incorporating a full range of assessment, courseware and testing products for the IT literacy market in both the UK and Ireland. Electric Paper has achieved significant market penetration in the US, Australia, South Africa and Canada.

Electric Paper’s AutoTest was selected from a field of international products developed by companies including VISA, Wide Learning, Skillsoft and Educational Multimedia Corporation. To achieve international recognition at a prestigious global forum gives a strong indication of the quality of the products produced by Electric Paper.

The World Open Learning Awards are the industry’s most prestigious awards. Judged by an independent panel of industry experts, they recognise and reward organisations and people who have significantly advanced workplace productivity and performance in the training industry.