Shell saves $200m by replacing field trips with virtual learning
Oil and gas multinational Shell has turned to virtual, immersive teaching tools to train its staff, rather than expensive field trips, creating savings of $200m net of development costs. The move is part of a 15-year drive to digitise the business. Shell has already deployed more than 12,000 lessons, complemented by personalised feedback and recommendations. Jorrit van der Togt, head of human resources strategy for Shell, said modern e-learning had improved to the point where it "delivers true engagement", adding that it was "faster, cheaper, more challenging and more fun than other types of learning – and deeper".

Royal Dutch Shell, the British-Dutch oil and gas multinational, has cut the cost of some of its most expensive learning programmes by 90% by developing interactive learning platforms for staff.

Virtual lessons, which feature interactive videos and graphics, are replacing expensive field trips and geology primers, as well as being used to support leadership and behavioural learning.

Shell’s use of virtual, immersive learning – an example of which Shell has made available online – has delivered dramatic savings already, with more in the pipeline. To date, it has delivered more than 12,000 virtual lessons, saving the business $200m after development costs.

Jorrit van der Togt, executive vice-president of human resources (HR) strategy for Shell, said the company’s investment in virtual learning is part of a 15-year digital transformation journey for the business, embarked on in 2002, that has delivered benefits quickly, with the promise of more to come.

“We started by looking at the potential to move field learning into a virtual environment, but in fact virtual, immersive learning is a bigger play even than that,” said van der Togt.

“It is faster, cheaper, more challenging and more fun than other types of learning – and it is also deeper. Where e-learning in the recent past was persuasive because it was cheaper to deliver, today’s immersive learning is compelling because it is better.”

Van der Togt, speaking at an industry conference, said virtual learning has proved revolutionary because it mimics the work environment but delivers faster feedback with greater intensity and is more fun.

“We benefit from the way it facilitates a community of practice, too,” added van der Togt. “For each learner, there is the knowledge that you are not on your own. You are part of an intelligence network – and you are in it together,” he said at HR Tech World (Unleash) in Amsterdam.

Read more about human resources technology Automobile glass repair company Carglass France is using knowledge-sharing technology to distribute expertise among 3,000 employees.

Digital technology is changing the way companies manage their workforce at an accelerating rate.

Airbus has created a digital learning library that is helping more than 100,000 staff in 35 countries keep their skills updated.

For Shell’s leadership, van der Togt said virtual learning offers the space to put new ideas into practice, and is underpinned by personalised feedback and recommendations for employees.

“What the learning environment delivers is true engagement, not just for management but for all our workers – and it is a key driver of performance. Engagement is the x-factor that results in real change and real improvements,” he said.