Oil and gas challenger brand, Spirit Energy, has a strong and open leadership team. But one year into trading, an employee survey revealed that staff were crying out for personal development to complement their technical and health and safety training. Spirit wanted to move fast to respond to these newly discovered employee needs, and Hemsley Fraser and 5app matched that need for speed with agility.
In 2017 Centrica merged its exploration and production (E&P) business with Bayerngas Norge AS to form an independent oil and gas operator, Spirit Energy. While the enterprise-sized startup created a fresh brand identity, the talent, resourcing and L&D team were tasked with structuring the new company.
Before long, Spirit’s staff, who were used to accessing a significant learning library and the established processes and infrastructure of their former employers, were calling out for personal development - and that's where 5app and Hemsley Fraser came in.
Initially, Spirit Energy set out to source standalone soft skills development content. Time and budget were of the essence. Following a recommendation by colleagues, Spirit reached out to Hemsley Fraser. The process from this point was responsive, agile and focused on getting Spirit the right result. The conversation moved swiftly from standalone content to trialling the 5app platform. With a working demo live in moments, Spirit could see the potential to launch what would become the Spirit Hub for Improvement, Education, Learning and Development, or SHIELD for short.
Cost and time to respond aside, the critical evaluation criteria for the solution were relevant content and value-fit. Spirit worked with employee influencers, called Free Spirits – who run the company’s internal networks (e.g. Working Parents, LGBTQ+, Incident Free Workplace) – to test the platform, select and prioritise learning playlists and start to create and curate their own content.
To ensure they were comfortable with the interoperability of 5app with Spirit’s internal systems, 5app met with their IT team. Hemsley Fraser account managers supported Spirit, with clear trial and roll-out project plans, and they continue to support the organisation with ongoing queries post-launch. From start to finish, the rollout was managed with ease and to deadline.
Launching a new system during COVID-19 was challenging. But after a problem-free selection and rollout process, the SHIELD launch has been a success. Spirit staff can now access learning and development opportunities, tailored to their requirements, whenever and wherever they need it. Plus early results show that employee engagement has exceeded expectations – so the future is looking good!