Centralization and efficiency: transforming training at IDIADA with the Learning Hub

IDIADA (80% owned by Applus+ and 20% by the Generalitat de Catalunya) has been operating under an exclusive contract from the 351-hectare technology center near Barcelona since 1999.

Applus IDIADA is a global partner to the automotive industry with more than 30 years of experience supporting its clients in product development activities by providing design, engineering, testing and homologation services.

IDIADA’s success in product development is based on a unique combination of highly experienced engineers, state-of-the-art testing and development facilities and a constant drive for innovation. The company has +3,000 professionals and an international network of 56 subsidiaries and branches in 22 countries, ensuring that its customers receive fast and customized solutions.

The Challenge

Totara: The flexible solution for the learning ecosystem at IDIADA

IDIADA’s training was centered on classical, classroom-based learning, linked to needs that arose during the year without any overall training planning and strategy. IDIADA only had an internal training management tool to manage information, attendance and grants. There was no LMS, only a learning platform of the parent company to carry out Compliance training.

More than two years ago, IDIADA made the decision to deepen and give more value to learning within the organization, creating an ecosystem designed to boost the training of people. As part of this strategic initiative, the decision was made to acquire a learning platform.

After researching the market, IDIADA found that no tool met all their needs, except TOTARA. This technological solution, in collaboration with Actua, offered the flexibility they were looking for.

Proactive reskilling strategy at IDIADA

The company also wanted to change its reactive approach to a proactive strategy. In its portfolio of automotive clients, apart from classic brands, startups that demanded flexibility and constant updating began to enter. With the automotive industry advancing in technologies such as hydrogen, Artificial Intelligence and electric vehicles, it was crucial for IDIADA’s team to be prepared for this new reality. Therefore, a reskilling strategy was implemented to equip staff with new skills and encourage self-training.

Internal and integral training as an objective

One of the biggest challenges for the company was to add value to the project. IDIADA wanted to create internal trainings to share with all its staff, to develop in new technologies, and that all the knowledge was kept and could be transferred in the company.

Being a technical company with most of the people working in engineering, the HR department wanted to increase the competencies in soft skills, while enhancing the hard skills that IDIADA needs. In short, they were looking for comprehensive training coverage for all teams.

The Solution

Understanding the customer in order to offer effective solutions

The first step we took in Actua was to know the critical needs that IDIADA needed through its strategic consulting service, based on the Learning Continuum methodology, in order to provide appropriate solutions to the company.

In November 2023, IDIADA launched the platform. They began to implement it in the headquarters, generating and unifying training policies, and during 2024 they are training the other international administrators to assume the responsibilities in each business unit.

Since the launch of the LMS, the training team has been able to reach out to other departments and standardize training across all business units.

Centralization and efficiency: transforming training at IDIADA with the Learning Hub

To ensure the challenge of learning agility, with IDIADA Learning Hub they have achieved a single point of contact, facilitating training for all employees.

IDIADA provides technical and soft skills training through GoodHabitz, offering more than 10 courses on a recurring monthly basis. With them, they have been able to train more than 500 people and have doubled the number of courses completed compared to the previous year.

They make great use of the functionality of notifications, seminars and certifications. The activities performed at IDIADA require rigorous and specialized preparation. This preparation includes the combination of theory, its application in practice and authorization to be able to perform work safely and efficiently. Thanks to the functionalities offered by Totara, it is possible to automate these itineraries, streamlining and significantly improving the processes of control and qualification of personnel. This not only ensures that all employees are properly qualified for their tasks, but also optimizes the efficiency and safety of all operations.

The target of the training is engineers, representing 60% of the workforce, who positively valued the fact that skills development and technical training are centralized under the IDIADA Learning HUB platform, allowing visibility of the training.

Result

Use of reports, bonus with Fundae and 2,205 courses completed

The reports generated by the platform allow managers to monitor what their teams are training on and what content is most successful. They also facilitate communication with Applus+, standardizing deliveries and updating content in Compliance. In this way, they ensure that training actions are strategic and meet the needs of the teams.

These reports are also useful for Fundae (State Foundation for Employment Training). In that sense, they can benefit from bonuses thanks to the functionality developed in Totara to collect the data required by Fundae.

IDIADA highlights the speed of the platform’s implementation. It was launched in November 2023 and only 8 months have passed from the strategic consultancy to the launch phase. On average there are 200 entries per day and since its launch 1944 people have logged on to the platform. In the last 30 days 119 courses have been completed in Skills Development alone. A total of 2205 courses have also been completed, and there are 300 items in the catalog, of which 200 are courses, 30 certifications and 8 programs, among other items.

Department-led in-house training to ensure knowledge transfer

The key has been to create a collaborative learning ecosystem in which everyone can participate and be involved in training and development, using Totara’s extremely flexible “roles and permissions” functionality.

IDIADA currently collaborates with 6 departments in the implementation of the new training model. More than 25 technical and internal training courses have already been developed and more than 1400 people have been trained.

Individualized plans to support the “People Ready” target

The new Performance Management process will allow us to identify internal talent, defining competency profiles by position and fostering a feedback culture.

Totara Perform has been used to shape this process, called PERFORMANCE & DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM, which includes the annual Talent Evaluation process, the Skills Review and the MY Development Plan.