Housing provider Volkshuisvesting Arnhem upskills employees with WorkplaceBuddy in Microsoft Teams

Volkshuisvesting is an affordable housing association based in Arnhem, Netherlands, that rents homes to residents who are unable to find housing in the city’s competitive market. The nonprofit’s 170 employees serve more than 13,000 customers using Microsoft 365 as part of its operations.

Michel van Dalen, Information Manager for Volkshuisvesting Arnhem, believed that he and his colleagues could serve their customers better if they could get trained on the latest Microsoft productivity tools. His objectives were to save time and drive efficiency while preparing workers with more up-to-date skill sets. “Many of our employees have worked with Microsoft solutions for a long time, and they work in ways that they’re used to,” says Van Dalen. “What we see is that it’s difficult to adapt to new ways of working with the software, and sometimes you don’t know that something can be done more efficiently. You’re used to doing it your way, and there’s no incentive to change that.”

Van Dalen had previously tried an in-person group training program, but it had several pitfalls. “A problem with generic training is that you get information on how to use a solution, but it doesn’t stick,” he says. “A lot of what you hear doesn’t fit your needs because everybody works in a different way.”

After discovering WorkplaceBuddy in AppSource and exploring the “light” version of the solution, Van Dalen drafted willing employee volunteers into a pilot program that was about to make their office more productive—and happier.

Mission: Introduce an adaptive learning solution that integrates with Teams

Volkshuisvesting uses Teams to communicate and collaborate, and because WorkplaceBuddy integrates directly into Microsoft Teams, employees don’t have to leave the platform in which they’re already working. “With the shift to remote work, Teams became our hub for working together,” says Van Dalen. “Having WorkplaceBuddy in Teams feels like a logical fit for our colleagues.”

Sven Ver A, Customer Success Manager for WorkplaceBuddy, says that was deliberate. “For an increasing number of companies, Teams is the main hub for employees during their working day, and WorkplaceBuddy as a Teams app is part of their experience,” he says. “It puts help at your fingertips without needing to go to another website or system.”

WorkplaceBuddy is designed to engage. After installation, the solution exists in the lefthand menu in Teams. It begins by sending a notification via Teams and then conducts an automated interview that’s designed to assess each person’s preferences and needs: How do they work? What solutions do they use? What are they interested in learning? After completing the assessment, WorkplaceBuddy suggests a learning path and engages employees through proactive “campaigns”—a set of Teams messages sent over time about relevant topics, challenges, and lessons. When employees complete a learning path, they receive a badge. If employees need to pause a lesson and come back later, WorkplaceBuddy’s bot messages them with reminders in Teams.

“Each lesson is very short—three to five minutes, tops,” says Van Dalen. “With the campaign functionality in WorkplaceBuddy, you can actively engage employees with content that we find important for them to learn more about. You can choose to send them check-in questions, too, like ‘How do you like the campaign so far?’ or ‘Do you have any feedback?’”

The learning library boasts more than 1,000 videos and is constantly being updated, says Ver A. The content is a mix of Microsoft learning pathway videos and original WorkplaceBuddy videos. And whenever an employee has a question or wants a quick tip, they can ask the WorkplaceBuddy bot in Teams for direct answers and to easily reference their past lessons via their Teams history.

Personalized, professional development that makes a difference

WorkplaceBuddy created a custom learning path for Volkshuisvesting, recommending videos relevant to the company as a whole, in addition to each employee in Teams. Employees can also pursue topics that interest them, and among the most popular Microsoft tools they want to learn about are Teams, Outlook, and OneNote.

Proof of WorkplaceBuddy’s personalized approach to learning is in the employee adoption stats—90 percent have completed initial intake surveys to create personalized learning paths, and 80 percent gave satisfactory ratings. Other results included: 

• 80 percent active usage
• 98 questions answered
• 348 learnings followed
• 25-person pilot program completed in two months
  
  

The pilot was so successful that Volkshuisvesting is in the process of rolling out WorkplaceBuddy’s fun, personal, and continuous learning solution to every employee. “The fun approach to learning makes the curriculum more accessible and makes it feel less like a burden for people,” says Ver A. “That’s what really sets us apart from group trainings, one-on-one training, or other adoption tools.”

A Teams-friendly solution that’s convenient and fun 

In addition to the volume of learning paths that Volkshuisvesting employees have completed so far, their feedback tells a story that runs deeper than numbers. “Our staff thinks WorkplaceBuddy is a fun way to learn because it’s short and finding time to do it is easy,” says Van Dalen. “We got a lot of positive feedback. And that’s why, after the pilot, we decided to make it available to the whole organization.” 

The learning continues today, with employees turning to Teams to watch videos, earn badges, and share their success in fluently navigating software. Meanwhile, Van Dalen is looking to expand the use of WorkplaceBuddy at Volkshuisvesting. One use case he’s considering is aiding the company’s shift to Dynamics 365 Business Central later this year. Another potential use for WorkplaceBuddy is for a company-wide cybersecurity campaign. 

The bottom line, says Van Dalen, is that Volkshuisvesting Arnhem employees not only became more productive with WorkplaceBuddy, but they also deepened their knowledge of—and engagement with—Teams. For people in a modern workplace who also want to realize their potential, WorkplaceBuddy is a great place to start. 

Find out more about Volkshuisvesting Arnhem on Facebook and LinkedIn, and visit WorkplaceBuddy on AppSource to learn more and start a 30-day free trial.