How Booking.com and Silica are Preparing for the Future of Work February 27, 2019 | 10:00am GMT

Speakers

Sue McLagganChange and Learning Consultant,

Silica

Kirk Davies Learning Operations Manager,

Booking.com

Agenda

1 Silica.com: Reskilling our workforce for automation

2 Booking.com: Soft skills training to prepare for automation

3 Booking.com: Social learning to stay ahead on tech skills

4 Q&A

We’re in the middle of the largest-scalejob transition since the industrial revolution

By 2030, as many as 375 million workers—or roughly 14 percent of the global workforce—may need to switch occupational categories as digitisation, automation, and advances in artificial intelligence disrupt the world of work.1

MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE

Businesses are the architects of the future of work

Organisations with a formal future of work plan

Organisations with an informal future of work plan

Organisations with no future of work plan

31% 13%30%

Silica: Reskilling our workforce for automation

CASE STUDY #1

About Silica

• Silica is a business process outsourcing and technology company based in South Africa

• We deliver services to the investment industry in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Our goal is to ensure investment transactions are processed seamlessly and quickly

How digital transformation is redefining Silica

• AI, robotics, & automation enable us to process an investment application in hours instead of days

• By eliminating manual data capture processes, our clients enjoy better end-to-end service

• To achieve this goal, our L&D team is reskilling our workforce

Our L&D team is reskilling our workforce for the future of work

• Our Silica Digital Learning Academy is reskilling data capture jobs for new roles at our organisation in:

§ Project management

§ Software development

§ Client relationship management

§ Technical, business, and test analysis

How Silica’s Digital Learning Academy is reskilling its employees for new roles

• We offer full-time 3-month training programmes:

§ Junior Developer Programme

§ Generic Analyst Programme

§ Project Coordinator Programme

Silica’s Digital Learning Academy is a blended learning program

• Online courses on Udemy for Business, blended with classroom sessions and group coaching

• Job shadowing

• Mentoring with subject matter experts

We include all our employees in our preparation for the future of work

• We make learning accessible to our broader workforce by offering online courses on Udemy for Business to all Silica employees

Results of the Digital Learning Academy (DLA)

• 10 out of 10 learners in the first Academy intake successfully placed into new roles

• 6 out of 10 learners in the second Academy intake successfully placed into new roles

• 4 out of 10 learners in second Academy intake remained in their original team but have helped their team incorporate automation at a faster rate

Results of the Digital Learning Academy (continued)

• 20+ learners that are not in Academy are following the curriculum and actively engaged with mentors in the company

• 50+ candidates application rate for each Academy intake so far

Our philosophy on preparing our workforce for the future of work

The skills we want to develop are those that combine the best AI and the best people have to offer.

Tips on planning for the future of work

• Develop broad cross-functional skills

• Focus on developing and improving critical thinking skills

• Work together at encouraging creativity in team members

Tips on planning for the future of work (continued)

• Develop a life long learning mindset

• Keep improving emotional and social intelligence

• Keep up-to-date on automation and digitization trends

Booking.com:Soft skills training to prepare for automation

CASE STUDY #2

About Booking.com

• Booking.com is one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world

• Our mission is to empower people to experience the world

How automation and chatbots impact Booking.com

• Chatbots impact the way Booking.com does business - especially in client facing roles

• 50% of workforce at Booking.com is client facing

• While chatbots focus on simple tasks, customer support agents handle more complex cases

Challenges for L&D as a result of chatbots

• Customer service agents needed training on soft skills to better empathize with the customer, handle objections and problem solving

• Providing soft skills training at scale

• Uncertainty and fear that AI or Chatbots are going to take their jobs

How L&D addressed uncertainty over chatbots

• Hired candidates with a growth mindset who are adaptable to change

• Sent signal we value our employees and will help develop them for new roles at Booking.com

How Booking.com is reskilling its employees to take on more demanding roles

• Designed an L&D soft skills program to enhance our agents’ problem-solving and troubleshooting with empathy skills

L&D program for agent soft skills training at scale

1. Specified skills/behaviors required for each role

2. Conducted diagnostics to identify individual training needs

3. Provided online courses on Udemy for Business to learn in their own time

4. Offered classroom learning for high priority needs across team

5. Motivated workforce to participate and learn

Specified which skills/behavioursare required for each role1

• Identified key soft skills needed per role ranging from dealing with complaints to empathy

• Conducted workshops with key stakeholders for each function to determine key skills needed for each role

• Mapped content to learning pathways

Conducted diagnostics to identify individual training needs2

• Analyzed individual customer assessment scores to identify skill gaps

• Employees chose from a pre-defined list of skills and rated themselves

• Scores were sorted and averaged to determine which areas are the biggest need

Provided online courses they can learn on their own 3

• Provided a list of suggested soft skills online courses on Udemy for Business

• Employees took online courses on their own time

Offered classroom learning for high priority needs across team4

• For high-priority needs like empathy, offered classroom learning

• Included role-playing practice sessions

• Classroom training was provided with planned downtime

Motivated employees to do training5

• Motivated employees by tracking their customer satisfaction scores

• Scheduled downtime dedicated to learning

• Gave employees autonomy to choose what they wanted to improve based on feedback from managers

• Allowed them to have some level of control over their own development

We measured success by tracking customer satisfaction scores

• Tracked customer satisfaction scores for agents before/after training

• Encouraged agents with lower scores than peers to do more training

• Tracked customer satisfaction scores from chatbot vs. agent

Booking.com:Social learning to stay ahead on tech skills

CASE STUDY #3

The importance of data science and machine learning for Booking.com

• Each day more than 1.5 million hotel rooms are reserved on our platform

• Being able to analyze, process, and act on data successfully is crucial for the business

• Over 100+ people working on data science but in different departments across the company

Staying at the forefront of data science and machine learning

• Tapped into social learning as a way to foster constant up-skilling

• Created grassroots Data Science Community to stay ahead of the latest best practices & skills

• Connected data science employees across the company to share ideas

What is our Data Science Community?

• A cohort of employees studying machine learning in a self-driven community

• Community organizes informal meet-ups but most communication is done online

How we built the community

• Used workplace communication tool to invite employees with data/analytics titles into the community

• Ensured buy-in and active participation from senior leadership in community

• Senior leadership regularly posts online Udemy for Business course recommendations

How we keep the community motivated and informed

• L&D team makes an effort to drive posts

• L&D ensures questions are being picked up

• Community organizes offline meet-ups

• Community is largely now self-sustaining

How the Data Science Community drove learning

• Direct relationship with online learning usage and the start/activity in the community

General tips on successfully running social communities

• Enabling vs. preparing everything beforehand

• Make sure L&D resources are visible in the community

• Keep a close eye on the community

• Be on your feet not to lose momentum

Tips for planning the future of work

• Move at the speed of business

• “Let’s do it” mentality

• Ears to the ground

• Agile approach from L&D team

Thank you

Q&A

Sue McLagganChange and Learning Consultant,

Silica

Kirk Davies Learning Operations Manager,

Booking.com