APC Overnight

APC Overnight is one of the UK’s largest independent delivery networks, with more than 100 locations and a large frontline workforce. 

Having previously relied on hours-long training presentations and toolbox talks, they needed a more scalable and efficient way to engage their workforce, foster a strong safety culture and push the needle on key business metrics. 

Partnering with eduMe enabled them to do just that. Here’s how.

Hear from APC Overnight's Corina Forman on how they were able to measure the impact of their training in a clip from our latest webinar:

APC Overnight's Challenge

The sector is rapidly changing and in order to evolve alongside it, we recognized we needed to create a learning culture.

Prior to using eduMe, APC Overnight relied on traditional, in-person methods to train their employees. Head office teams were subjected to boardroom training presentations which lasted several hours, while frontline workers on the operational side (making up 80% of the workforce) attended toolbox talks where trainers would walk around and deliver training on a particular topic. 

This meant that every time they needed to update workers on a new safety policy or create reactive content in response to industry changes, the team would have to spend hours writing memos and emails, creating printed training packs and distributing them to 800+ workers (all of whom have different shift patterns). 

It was also difficult to get buy-in from a workforce that lacked the time to dedicate to hour-long training, and, following delivery, the company was unable to access insights on the performance of training so did not know whether their workers were engaging with it. This proved a blocker, particularly  when it came to monitoring compliance.

Conventional digital learning and engagement solutions are just not well-suited to the needs of workers in this sector.

A second challenge was one faced by many employers, across nearly every industry: reaching and retaining a frontline workforce. With the majority of their workforce being widely dispersed, working a variety of shift patterns and operating across multiple sites, APC Overnight needed a better way to communicate with their workforce and address challenges such as retention and engagement. 

They understood that the best way to foster a strong workplace culture and reinforce their company values was through training - and not just by meeting statutory training requirements, but also focusing on topics that are important to the modern workforce, such as diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility and mental health. 

However, traditional eLearning solutions were not optimized for their frontline workforce who would have had to sit down at a desktop to complete training, disrupting their workflow and inhibiting productivity. APC Overnight needed a mobile-friendly solution which could provide knowledge within the flow of work, and provide measurable business outcomes. 

Our Solution

Partnering with eduMe gave APC Overnight the means to deliver engaging, bitesize training content to their frontline teams via mobile, resulting in a more accessible and impactful learning experience. 

What our frontline workers experience is a constant drip of positive health and safety content.

Accessible anywhere, anytime

Warehouse staff, drivers and corporate employees are now able to access training via their mobile devices with eduMe. This means that workers are able to complete training at their own pace and within the flow of work, driving higher completion rates.

APC Overnight also uses eduMe to train and upskill their agency workers, who access lessons seamlessly via QR codes. HR Director, Corina Foreman, says that through this method, “they’re able to swipe and then immediately access learning content that’s relevant to them.” Removing the need to login eliminates friction and allows their temporary workers to access knowledge right at the point of need.

We use the whole range of eduMe formats to keep the learning really fresh and fun, but whilst still imparting those serious sound bites of learning that are always underpinned by that culture of care and respect.

→ Download Now: Guide - Why Online Training is Essential For Logistics and Transportation

Engaging, bitesize health and safety content

Introducing eduMe has enabled APC Overnight to support and promote their safety culture, delivering crucial health and safety training in short, 2-3 minute lessons to drive better completion rates and long-term knowledge retention. The team is still able to enforce key learning points, while ensuring that their workers remain engaged with their content.

eduMe lessons are designed to replicate the behaviors modern workers have become accustomed to on social media, making for a more interactive and familiar experience. Our gamification features have also helped APC Overnight to drive even further engagement by creating a company leaderboard where they can recognize top performers and encourage further learning. 

If we spot any kind of emerging trend, we can develop eduMe content very quickly to address what we’re seeing.

Focus on KPIs

Whereas previously they were unable to track the effectiveness of their in-person training or monitor workforce knowledge, APC Overnight can now utilize eduMe’s real-time reporting to continuously review and improve their training offering. 

The ease of content creation and dissemination also enables them to respond quickly to emerging workforce trends. For example, if there are a number of accidents where people have been hit by a falling box from a cage, they can prepare and deliver a lesson to remind people of the correct cage opening procedure. In this way, they can ensure that their training is delivering real business results and driving long-lasting behavior change. 

Values-led

Switching to eduMe has also provided APC Overnight with the means to communicate and strengthen their company values (care and respect) on an ongoing basis. They regularly share content designed to support their workforce’s health and wellbeing - from lessons on cardiovascular disease and cancer awareness, to mental health and gambling addiction - and signpost their workers to internal and external support. 

APC Overnight also uses eduMe to celebrate success. In their recent ‘Warehouse to Wheels’ training program, they also supported workforce mobility and helped their first female colleague to progress from working in a warehouse to becoming an HGV driver. Another example is an awards scheme in which top learners from every area of the business were rewarded with a sum of money, with the same amount also being donated to charity.

The Results

Six months before using eduMe, analysis showed that 74% of warehouse night operations colleagues had more than one year’s service with APC Overnight. Since switching to our mobile training solution and meeting workers’ expectations for more relevant and accessible learning content, that figure has now increased to 79%, marking a 5% improvement in retention - particularly impressive in a sector where the nature of hourly paid night work is transitory. 

We’ve seen a steady improvement in productivity by two points - that’s worth circa £100k per month to us as a business, so it’s a really positive result

Transitioning to mobile-friendly microlearning has also driven better workforce performance, resulting in a 2 point increase in productivity. This has been hugely impactful for the wider business, being a productivity related cost saving that translates financially to around £100k per month for the company. 

When it comes to safety and compliance, APC Overnight has seen a steady year-on-year decrease of 20% in the number of accidents taking place, showing the impact of eduMe in better equipping their frontline workforce in accident prevention and driven company-wide behavior change. 

Are you looking to improve safety & compliance among your workforce?

Book a demo with us below to explore how eduMe can help you to drive better engagement and move the needle on crucial business metrics.