1. Kuoni Connects Employees to
a World of Elearning
C A S E S T U D Y
Challenges
• Boost management and employee
awareness of elearning opportunities
• Initiate competency and business-aligned
elearning programmes for individuals,
teams, managers and front-line staff
• Track, measure and demonstrate
the impact and ROI of elearning
across the business
• Motivate employees around the
globe to embrace self-directed
learning and development
• Embed fully enabled blended learning
strategies and learning interventions
across the organisation
Solution
• Skillsoft’s Skillport delivers elearning
resources, interactive courses and
content via LEON, Kuoni’s online
learning system, to 3,200 employees
around the world
• Using Skillsoft Leadership Advantage,
Kuoni is able to design and deploy highly
relevant virtual learning experiences
• Skillsoft’s extensive learning library
disseminates structured technical
training and career development
programmes that are consistent with
locally-relevant issues
Results
• Employee adoption of elearning is
growing rapidly, with usage of LEON
up 36% in just one year
• Elearning is reaching new audiences; last
year staff clocked up 12,625 hours of
online learning, with video courses up 71%
and readership of online books up 86%
• Employee motivation and satisfaction
with virtual learning is high; 83% say
courses are easy to access and navigate
and 77% would recommend courses
to other employees
• Uptake of online learning has been global
One of the world’s leading wholesalers of
hotels, ground travel products and group
tours, Kuoni Global Travel Services serves
the fast growing business-to-business
travel industry. With 3,200 staff in 86
offices across 38 locations in the world,
Kuoni offers one of the biggest travel
networks on the planet. Working with
travel agencies, tour operators and well-
known online travel portals, the company
prides itself on efficiently delivering what
customers and suppliers need – and
always finding the most relevant solutions
for the local markets it serves.
Having initially partnered with Skillsoft
in 2011 to deploy elearning training
and resources to its global workforce,
Kuoni wanted to take online learning
to the next level. This meant initiating
structured blended learning programmes
to extend new learning opportunities
and experiences to the widest possible
audience – everyone from senior
management to front-line staff.
Connecting learning strategies to overall
business objectives was just part of the
task. Kuoni wanted to make LEON, its
corporate online learning portal, the premier
destination for employees looking to take
charge of their own development journeys.
Embedding elearning within
the organisation
Having implemented an elearning resource,
Kuoni now wanted to involve all key players
in the ecosystem – learners, managers and
LD leads across the business – in new
learning initiatives.
“In the early days we simply pointed at
the LEON resource and said ‘Here’s a
portal that gives you access to online
training and development’. And while initial
take-up was good, with staff completing
mandatory courses such as anti-corruption
compliance training, we knew we hadn’t
exploited the full potential of elearning
on an organisation-wide basis,”
explains James Reuben, Vice President,
Organisational Development for Kuoni
Global Travel Services.
“We quickly realised you can’t offer
people the entire elearning buffet and
expect them to help themselves. To
maximise staff engagement, we needed
to align the virtual learning proposition
with organisational needs, values
and goals – and market our elearning
platform to all users,” he continues.
The LD team reached out to
management leads across the business,
introducing the arsenal of online
resources that could be mustered to
build managerial, team and individual
capabilities. The goal was to introduce
a blended learning approach that would
extend knowledge acquisition beyond
traditional classroom training and
maximise learning outcomes.
Developing the offering
Following consultations the LD team
created career development programmes
focused on the organisation’s 16
competencies, which include Leadership
Development, Sales, Negotiation,
Teamwork and Communication. Featuring
tailored programmes for all employees –
from frontline staff to senior managers,
each plan was supported with a folder
of selected LEON assets that included
courses, videos and related reading.

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“We created a formal training framework with clear
signposting to appropriate elearning resources that would
support specific development needs. In this way we
initiated a culture of continuous learning for all – delivered
via an online platform that was open for business anytime
of the day, whenever staff had the time or opportunity to
learn,” explains David Kinsey, Learning and Development
Manager Technical and Online at Kuoni Global Travel
Services.
Kick-starting the new organisational approach to blended
learning, a number of ‘high impact’ initiatives were piloted
in London and Zurich. Following a short classroom session,
employees were assigned online courses, presentations
and videos to review – giving them time to reflect on
learning and fully embed their new skills.
The creation of competency and business aligned
catalogues of learning offers has proved highly effective in
supporting a variety of global development initiatives across
Kuoni and today the LD team is regularly contacted by
business leads requesting tailored learning solutions for
their teams, featuring content available via LEON.
“Using Skillsoft we’re able to design, build and deliver
learning interventions adapted to the specific requirements
of individual managers or lines of business,” continues
David Kinsey. “Once delegates complete a class, we point
them towards related elearning assets in LEON and in the
process introduce them to a world of elearning resources
that they can access whenever they want.”
Cascading awareness
Kuoni’s LD team takes every opportunity to promote
LEON to the workforce, utilising a variety of channels to
highlight virtual learning options that deliver real-world
benefits for employees.
“We’ve made extensive use of Chatter, our corporate
social network, to stimulate interest in themed resources –
and we’ve seen staff using Chatter to recommend LEON
resources to others, posting links to assets they’ve found
helpful or highly topical,” explains David Kinsey. “We also
use our intranet page to promote assets on topics like
‘handling change’ or share the personal top picks and
experiences of our top learners – all of which has helped
build a growing following of users looking for inspiration for
their own learning journeys.”
In just 12 months global usage of LEON has jumped 36%
and a recent evaluation survey reveals 82% of employees
strongly agree the elearning they’ve undertaken met their
needs, with 77% happily recommending courses to others.
What’s more, 70% are using LEON to undertake self-
directed informal learning in addition to structured learning
relating to their job role.
Extending learning across the enterprise
A growing appreciation that LEON exists has seen users
across all territories embrace virtual learning opportunities
on a continuous basis, with a 77% increase in video uptake
and access to books up by 86%.
“We’re seeing a steady growth in online learning across
the enterprise and managers are now approaching us to
develop high impact learning interventions using LEON
resources. From on-boarding training to technical training
and career development programmes, we’re reaching the
widest possible audience and ensuring that everyone –
especially front-line staff - have equal access to the skills
training they need,” concludes James Reuben.