MPC benefits from a robust, scalable LMS to enable efficient global training delivery

Moving Picture Company (MPC) is a global leader in visual effects (VFX), with facilities in 9 locations including London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Paris and Montreal.

MPC adds creative expertise to advertising, film and entertainment industries for projects including The Jungle Book, X-Men, the Harry Potter franchise and Godzilla, as well as famous advertising campaigns for brands including Samsung, Coca-Cola, and Channel 4.

The Challenge

Prior to the implementation of its new learning management system (LMS), MPC delivered its training either in-person or in the form of written and video tutorials on the company’s intranet. While the organisation had several hundred pages of documentation and training, it was not well organised.As a large global company, MPC had a requirement for crucial training in technical topics, much of which is proprietary.Substantial goals are set for the training: firstly to deliver high-quality, consistent training for new starters, and secondly the provision of a set of training materials to enable all current employees to advance in their craft.The company recognised that their current delivery method did not meet the requirements of a robust, scalable tool to continue to deliver training globally in an efficient and cost-effective way.Their requirements for their new LMS included a suitable user interface, being a local installation, being easily editable, the ability to generate comprehensive reports and functionality including the automatic enrolment of new hires.

The Solutio

The LMS research was completed in August 2015 with their selection taking place in September. Totara Lear met the key requirements for the implementation and was chosen as the preferred platform.Importantly, Totara Learn allowed the scalability that was necessary to meet key requirements that are prerequisites for a global company. In particular, the reporting capabilities and the option to import user data and organisational hierarchies directly from an HR system were fundamental.Additionally, the ability to automate course enrolment based on roles, etc, and to create ‘programs’ of courses played a big part in the decision. 

MPC appointed Totara Partner HowToMoodle in September due to their offering of design and support requirements that the company needed, plus ‘when speaking with them they engaged us and seemed supportive and were well reviewed.’ (Andrew Schlussel, Global Head of Training and Development at MPC).

HowToMoodle assisted MPC with the development of Totara Learn within the company, which included the design of a custom theme using HowToMoodle’s Design it! service and five days of detailed onsite Totara Learn training (Totara Course Creator Essential, Totara Administrator and Totara Course Administration).Over the course of the following few months HowToMoodle worked closely with MPC to create their theme in accordance with their requirements.Many of MPC’s employees work in low-lit editing suites so a dark theme that complemented this environment was required. HowToMoodle also incorporated a light theme into the design that could be used in offices with standard lighting.  Onsite Totara training was delivered at MPC’s London offices to key staff involved with the new LMS system.This enabled the MPC team to understand the functionality, administration and management of the extended options that the system provides, ultimately giving them the knowledge and confidence in the platform to take full advantage of the key features that Totara Learn offers.Commenting on the training, Andrew Schlussel said:

“[It was] very professional, our trainer was well prepared and his materials were good… this was essential for us to see the potential of Moodle and Totara Learn and prepare us to use it. If you are serious about implementing this for your organisation it is necessary.”

From January to June 2016, MPC performed a soft roll-out, in which selected groups in different locations began using it in a limited capacity.This pilot phase allowed the organisation time for testing, feedback, additional honing and fine-tuning the system to meet their requirements perfectly. 

The Results

So far, the system has had a great amount of positive feedback, and is now much better organised than the existing intranet that was being used.MPC plans a global-wide release for the Totara Learn platform in June 2016, which will include a compelling set of training that is customised, built and assigned to key departments.Future plans for the organisation are to add ‘new hire’ training across all departments. This will be a large project due to the extensive nature of the departments (with over 20 departments and four main sites running globally); however the company anticipates achieving a significant ROI by getting its staff up and running quicker and in a much more efficient way.

“For a large organization, creating audiences is very helpful, to assign roles and assign learning. The reporting is an important requirement. HR import and export was an absolute requirement from our parent corporation. Programs are also important to be able to efficiently assign learning.” – Andrew Schlussel, Global Head of Training and Development