Princes transforms communication for its 7,000 employees.

What do we want to be known for?

Adele Spencer (Head of L&D) and Steven Park (Digital Learning Manager) knew their digital learning strategy needed an overhaul. They began by taking stock of what they already had, and using that information to figure out exactly what they needed. They asked themselves the question:

“As a learning function, what do we want to be known for?”

Their existing platform took a traditional, compliance based approach. While this meant that most of their team received the necessary training, it didn’t fit within the bold digital learning strategy they envisioned. Along with a lack of inspiration and innovation, the platform simply wasn’t fit for purpose: a SharePoint based site with a distinct lack of licences, some of the workforce couldn’t even access it.

They could clearly see the current platform wasn’t going to help them reach their goal as a learning function: to be inclusive, engaging, and accessible to everyone. They wanted a platform that would truly support this vision, and bring their workforce together from all over the world.

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A new taste for training

Steven had worked with Thrive at a previous company, and so he knew what Princes could achieve using the platform. His research continually returned him to Thrive: a partner with whom he’d built a strong, productive relationship. This ultimately helped them stand out from the crowd. Thrive’s functionality, features and entire ethos  just seemed to slot perfectly into what Princes needed, making the partnership a no-brainer.

All the ingredients for a perfect partnership

Transitioning to a new learning platform can be a stressful process. With existing data and learning history to migrate, apps to integrate, and the implementation to complete, there are a lot of plates that need spinning.

Luckily, Steven and Adele knew they were in safe hands.

Thrive’s thorough, structured approach was exactly what Princes needed to make sure the entire transition went off without a hitch. With their very own Implementation Specialist, a dedicated Customer Success Manager, and regular face-to-face meetings, the Thrive team acted as an extension of Princes - and from day one to launch, everyone was on the same page.

To take care of all the technical details, Thrive worked together with Princes’ key stakeholders and made sure that Steven and Adele could focus purely on the learning.

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Food for thought

One of the main objectives when launching the platform was to encourage better communication and collaboration between every single Princes employee. They wanted to make sure that everyone felt truly a part of the brand, and Thrive has allowed them to do just that.

Using Thrive’s Broadcast feature, Princes holds a bi-weekly event called Food for Thought.

During this company-wide event, people from all over the business are brought together virtually to discuss the various projects, business initiatives and ideas that are helping to keep Princes at the forefront of their industry.

From sustainability efforts in Mauritius to European packaging methods, knowledge is shared with absolutely everyone in the company - so no matter their department, people feel connected to every facet of the operation.

This regular event has helped to encourage the sense of knowledge-sharing and collaboration that Adele and Steven had hoped for when embarking on the launch of a new platform.

It’s made even better with the Thrive Mobile App. For factory operatives and other deskless employees, regularly interacting with Princes’ content and branding via the app helps them to feel connected to the business, instead of simply doing their job in a vacuum.

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Pull vs. Push

One of the most impactful innovations within the business has been the welcome move towards “pull” learning, instead of just “push.” In other words, Princes’ learners are now able to decide for themselves when and what would be most helpful for them to learn, instead of simply being told what to do.
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Through the use of Thrive Content - Thrive’s off-the-shelf content solution with thousands of pre-made resources - Princes can be confident that their learning content is consistently fresh, exciting and relevant to their end users. Princes even contributed to Thrive's Food and Drink Manufacturing content suite, so the partnership is going from strength to strength. Thrive keeps ahead of the news and trends within L&D, meaning Princes is also always one step ahead.

Going forward, Adele and Steven plan to use Thrive to achieve a people-driven culture at Princes. Through mapping soft skills to company behaviours and values, they hope to set expectations for the way they want people to communicate with one another.

And with Thrive’s Skills and Goals functionality, managers can use 1:1’s to identify areas for improvement before sending employees in the direction of relevant learning pathways.

The partnership with Thrive has been so successful that Princes even uses it as a part of their recruitment strategy. In Adele’s words:

“We tell new candidates that we use Thrive as a platform, because we see it as being an attraction tool for helping us get people that we want on board with us at Princes.”

We’re thrilled Princes chose Thrive as a key ingredient in their recipe for learning success.