THEN

Learning within Van Hessen has always been crucial. Van Hessen’s industry is highly specialized. It is not possible to follow regular training for this, however. To a large extent, the transfer of knowledge happens on the job. You learn by doing. As you do so, however, not everything you need is served to you on a platter. It is important, to ask the right questions to the right people. Of course, there were standardized procedures for doing things. These procedures were laid down in the so-called Casings Manual. The information in that manual was static, though, and often outdated. It was also treated with secrecy because of the confidential character of the information. Only a few had access to it. It contained the tricks of the trade so to speak. In this era of knowledge sharing and online learning, Van Hessen too is working on a new development: E-learning. An online in-company platform for the worldwide distribution of an unambiguous body of knowledge is being rolled out.

NOW

According to Sandra Floor, Van Hessen Learning & Development specialist, digitalization is but one aspect of this new way of learning. It serves various purposes. “Knowledge needs to be secured within the company,” says Sandra. “All this precious knowledge is in the heads of the people. What happens to this knowledge when people leave? As a rapidly expanding company, Van Hessen needs standardized knowledge so people around the world are learning the same things. Employees are now also able to learn independently from other people. This is fitting for the era we live in. Lastly, people internalize knowledge more quickly when people have done an online training before they encounter it on the job.” With the Van Hessen Academy, Van Hessen is preparing itself for the future.