We sat down with Centrica Energy Storage's Chief of Staff, Mike Orley, to find out why the international energy services and solutions company recently invested in eduMe - the leading training solution for companies with frontline workforces.

Can you tell us a bit about Centrica Energy Storage

Centrica is an international energy services and solutions company. Arguably, the biggest brand name within Centrica is British Gas who provide energy supply, services and solutions to residential customers in Great Britain. 

Centrica Energy Storage fits into the infrastructure part of the business. By infrastructure, we mean that we have large scale onshore and offshore assets that are focussed around natural gas storage to support energy supply in the UK.  The rough reservoir for storing gas is around 3km below the seabed and is the size of around 2000 football pitches - it can store a lot of gas.

What is your role?

I’m Chief of Staff at Centrica Energy Storage. There are two halves to my role. 

The first part is looking at how we improve and add value to our current business operations. We can always do things better and it's part of my role to understand the gaps or frictions in the business and then deliver solutions that deliver significant value from a safety or productivity perspective. 

The second part of my role is focussed on Energy Transition and a potential hydrogen future for the business. I’m leading a number of workstreams looking at large scale hydrogen production and storage and how we integrate that into our current operations. 

How did you find out about us?

Whilst working for tech start up company FYLD, eduMe was being used as an onboarding tool. It had a great look and feel to it, it was easy to use and more importantly allowed us to understand engagement levels for individuals and teams using the platform. 

I was able to create my own training modules within 30 minutes in eduMe and send them directly to 500 users, where I could track levels of engagement and understanding of the content through quizzes associated with the content. 

I was able to create my own training modules within 30 minutes

What problem was eduMe brought in to solve?

We primarily use emails in the business to convey important information, whether that's around important safety messaging or company communications. When we send information out we don't know who is actually reading it, let alone understanding what is being sent, and this is critical, especially around safety messaging.  

We also want to ensure that our contractors are also receiving the same information and understand it, given that they make up over 50% of the workforce. eduMe provides options for reaching out to both our employees and contractors and that makes it a powerful tool for improving what we do within the business.  

What will you be using eduMe for?

eduMe is going to be used across a number of areas in the business. The hardest part is going to be ensuring a controlled amount of content at first as there is a lot of excitement around content creation. The initial targets are going to be around safety and onboarding within the company and build out from there. 

The vision for the operational assets is that they could potentially use eduMe for on-site training rather than have to pick up a hefty 100-page paper-based procedure. The return on investment for us and using eduMe is going to be significant. 

The return on investment for us using eduMe is going to be significant

You mention excitement around creation. What’s the creation journey like?

The content creation interface is so easy to use, it makes it easier than putting together an email, but we get the added benefit that we know who has engaged with the content and we know who has also understood the content.

It's easier than putting together an email

We’re not great in the high hazard industry at being able to break down complicated messages into understandable, bite-size chunks and eduMe drives you to do that.

Ensuring that everyone understands certain messages, information and training allows for a safer, more productive organization. 

Why did eduMe stand out? 

It was so easy to create high impact training material in such a short period of time. From that, it was easy to send out to particular groups and identify levels of engagement and understanding of that material and even provide an opportunity for users to provide feedback. 

eduMe's Microsoft Teams integration is huge. We do a lot with Teams across the business and it has become an important tool for communications ever since remote working was introduced during COVID. All of our business uses it from the office, to the offshore and onshore gas processing sites.

eduMe's Microsoft Teams integration is huge. We do a lot with Teams across the business and it has become an important tool for communications. All of our business uses it, from the office, to the offshore and onshore gas processing sites.

The other capability worth calling out is the knowledge test element. Being able to identify if people across the business understand the material being put out. This allows us to tailor future training and messaging to improve engagement in the business. 

Thank you Mike! Any concluding words?

We are always looking for innovative solutions to drive improvements in the business and eduMe is a no-regret solution that can deliver that. 

eduMe is a no-regret solution. The platform is game-changing

The platform is game-changing for ensuring that training and information is engaging and understood in a high hazard, safety critical industry. 

Looking to integrate training into Microsoft Teams, or deliver seamless, engaging content to your frontline?  

Add your details below and we'll set up time to talk about how eduMe can help improve your workforce onboarding, productivity and safety 👇