Digital learning is now a way of life at Schneider Electric

In 2016, Schneider Electric ranked #4 in the eCAC 40 ranking published by Les Echos media group, aimed at assessing the digital maturity of France’s largest listed companies. The group is indeed successfully conducting their digital transformation, although the actual implementation is not that easy. Products and services are complex and are directly affected by emerging technologies, which can be either opportunities or threats. In this rapidly changing context, Schneider Electric puts the digital at the heart of its strategy, especially with its start-ups acquisition and satellisation programs. The latest Silicon Valley Innovation Program, launched in 2016 May, enables to discover and develop start-ups at the crossroads of energy and IOT. However, in order to take advantage of these innovations and force the organization to become more agile, the human factor remains the key success factor. Priya Giri, Vice President of Human Resources Systems at Schneider Electric, answered four questions about Schneider Electric digital transformation program.

How do you see the role of Human Resources (HR) and Information, Process & Organization (IPO) in the global digital transformation at Schneider Electric ? 

HR at Schneider Electric is driving six major transformations of which Digitization is a key lever and focus area for the next few years. The endeavor is to standardize HR processes globally, creating a standard template for all employees irrespective of their businesses, locations, etc. We are able to achieve that by a massive technology adoption & change management at an enterprise level. Information, Process & Organization (IPO) is a transversal organizational unit enabling the organization become a digitally equipped entity via the introduction of new tools, technologies and applications

What would be the key success factors in getting people onboard with digital transformation ?

• Simplicity and ease of use of the process and the tool – today people want work applications to deliver similar user experiences as the ones on Uber, Facebook or Snapchat.
• User at the centre of the process design
• Targeted and specific communication, training and change management to make sure people understand the added-value of technology

What role do you think learning and especially online learning played in Schneider Electric’s digital transformation ?

Learning Organization has been structured to reflect the philosophy of User Centricity & experience. Significant learning content has been made digitally available for our employees – so individuals are able to self-pace their learning. We are experimenting with mobile learning as the next frontier in this journey. Digital learning is now a way of life at Schneider Electric. Internal content can now be produced and hosted on applications such as Schneider IQ (Schneider IQ is the private platform designed by Coorpacademy providing access on all supports included mobiles) Learning is aiding transformation effort. A Learning segment needs to accompany each transformation to ensure proper understanding and adoption. Digital learning enables a la carte training for users, making the adoption faster. We are endeavoring to make this a standard across major transformations. Additionally the social aspect, with people being able to ask their questions on our internal social network, creating a sense of community and reward for people contributing to help others outside of their job, wherever they are in the world

What are the main digital tools that changed the way HR is driving digital transformation at Schneider Electric ?  

On the broader front, IPO is assisting the organization in its path of Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) – this is the most important focus. Closer to the Employee and HR Domain, the effort has been to bring new technologies in Learning, workforce productivity (Box, Social collaboration sites, developers portal etc.). The most recent effort in the Productivity tools enhancement has been via the deployment of Workspace of the Future including messaging and Video chatting i.e. Skype for Business (Schneider IQ is interfaced with MyLearningLink, a part of Schneider internal social network and is also plugged with the Video chatting systeme).