Skills development is a critical aspect for any individual or organisation that wants to stay ahead in the competitive marketplace. Many companies are discovering the benefits of investing in the learning and development of their employees. We met with one of our valuable clients, Gulf View Medical Centre, who utilises our Free Learning Management System (FLMS) to acquire, maintain or improve their workforce’s skills and expertise.
Please tell us more about your Gulf View Medical Centre.
Established in 1993 by Dr S. David Ali and Mrs S. P., Gulf View Medical Centre (GVMC) is a 33-bed multi-speciality full-service private hospital that provides a wide range of in-patient and out-patient services to the population of San Fernando and the surrounding areas.
The Hospital is staffed by an extensive team of highly skilled specialists, professional medical staff, and an infrastructure that features the latest advances in diagnostic testing. Our hospital employs approximately 200 employees.
At Gulf View Medical Centre Ltd, we are committed to providing our customers with affordable, high-quality healthcare services within a patient-friendly environment.
Our goal is to provide patients and their families with the highest level of comfort, respect, confidence and peace of mind during their treatment with the aim of making GVMC their most trusted destination for quality healthcare.
What are the biggest challenges facing organisations when it comes to upskilling their workforce?
The pace of technological change is a major factor. Rapid advancements in technology are creating new skill requirements, and organisations need to ensure that they are keeping up with these changes to remain competitive.
Ensuring that employees are engaged and motivated to participate in upskilling programs is another challenge. Employees may resist training if they feel that it is irrelevant to their job or that it may not have value beyond their current position.
Why is investing in skills development for your team and organisation important?
Investing in skills development for my team and organisation will pay off in increased productivity, employee satisfaction, and the likelihood of increased innovation and creativity making it a worthwhile investment.
When people are properly equipped to do their jobs and feel confident about their success, this can only lead to more wins for the organisation.
What is your company’s learning and development philosophy?
We encourage and support employees to maintain ongoing efforts to develop new skills and knowledge. By promoting a culture of continuous learning, we are assured of a knowledgeable, skilled workforce, through which effective succession planning can lead to organisational sustainability. This is done via a robust performance assessment system that identifies and provides for closing detected gaps.
What are the benefits of using Alison’s FLMS that you have reaped/are reaping?
Within the past 18 months, we have embarked on an aggressive campaign of digital transformation across the organisation. This has led to many changes in existing procedures and caused the development of new ones.
These endeavours have opened many skill areas that are lacking amongst our staff population. Alison’s free LMS has allowed us to give our employees the option to study at their own pace in the areas that are most critical, thereby building their skills and abilities to do their job effectively.
How has your experience been in using the platform and monitoring your teams’ progress?
The LMS allows the Manager to view all employees who are enrolled in courses – even multiple courses – and to be able to see their progress, in terms of percentage completed.
This gives us the opportunity to converse with the employee if a course is taking too long to complete; what might be the challenges they are experiencing, or simply give them a timeline for completion.
Has the introduction of an LMS increased learning and development in your organisation?
Yes, it certainly increased L&D within the organisation. It gave employees the opportunity to study in their own time, using their phones, laptops, or tablets – whatever is available to them – rather than having to attend classes at a pre-set time which would create schedule conflicts.
This LMS allows them to gain their certification in their own time at a pace that they can manage individually, and that has resulted in a substantial increase in certifications and courses completed.
What problems did the LMS solve for you or your organisation?
The main problems solved were the ready availability of courses all in one place, the sheer variety of topics, and the ability to study at the employee’s own pace as opposed to pre-set classes at various institutions.
What key features of Alison’s FLMS did you find most attractive or beneficial to you?
The feature that allows the Manager to view each employee’s courses and the progress made on each course.
Alison’s Free LMS is quick and easy to set up. It allows you to keep track of your staff’s progress and because of the flexible and self-paced learning paths, it’s ideal for different learning styles.
