Allianz Customer Story | LinkedIn Learning Solutions

Allianz has historically relied on traditional, in-person trainings for employee development — but with more than 200 offices around the globe, the learning experience was inconsistent at best. Additionally, those in-person trainings were proving too cumbersome to meet the needs of today’s employees. “Skills and job functions are evolving so quickly that traditional learning programs can’t keep up,” said Heather Duttweiler, people development consultant at AllianzU. “People need to be able to learn in the moment.”

As part of a global HR transformation, a corporate university called AllianzU was created in order to build a consistent learning infrastructure and employee experience. One of their first goals? Get the entire enterprise’s development programs under one roof. The company had a number of different vendors for learning initiatives, but there was no harmony. They needed something flexible that could supplement culture initiatives.

To solve this challenge, the AllianzU team chose LinkedIn Learning (LiL) to give their employees a consistent, modernized learning experience. “With LiL, people are able to get the information they need, when they need it,” Duttweiler said. “They no longer need to depend on a course catalog or wait for training.”

Allianz employees also cited the mobile capabilities as a plus. "LiL delivers learning anytime, anywhere, on any device, online or offline," said Jacqui Knight. "This is so important because we can start, stop, and pick up again — right at the times we're available."

Derek Halen agreed. “It’s a never-stop learning tool,” he said. “Not everyone’s schedule is the same, and you can access it day or night.”

Five months in, the AllianzU team was blown away by the results. Already, 28,000 employees had signed up for LiL and viewed 30,000+ hours of learning. The year before, the average Allianz employee participated in just three training days. With on-demand learning from LiL, employees exponentially magnified their development.

Most importantly, every single Allianz employee around the globe has the same learning opportunity. “We can finally tell every employee at Allianz – ‘this is for you’,” Duttweiler said.

For Allianz employees, LinkedIn Learning provided a natural way to learn — searching for courses is simple and then it starts providing recommendations based on a learner’s interests. The personalization made it easy for employees to log in and find what they wanted right away.

LiL empowered employees to take charge of their own development, a sentiment echoed by Allianz employee Elle Dodds-Thompson. “I love that you can look at courses that are in line with your creative development or your outside interests. The fact that I don’t have to go back to university to study, that I can do it here at work and at my own pace — it’s amazing.”

The AllianzU team also curates playlists for employees to help them focus their time. If people need a little guidance, or want to follow a learning path that’s important for Allianz specifically, that material is there and ready for them.

Allianz is also using LinkedIn’s unique insights to prepare their workforce for tomorrow’s challenges. “We’re running an analytics project to identify job families and skills that will be relevant in the next three years,” Duttweiler said. “And with the insights from LinkedIn, we can curate lists that align to our future strategy and see if people are learning about those skills — and keep adjusting from there.”

Employees at Allianz know how important it is to stay sharp for the future. “LiL is the latest trend in digital learning and is the first step towards digital upskilling,” said Dalia Elrasheedy. “Digital learning is the future.”

With the investment in LinkedIn Learning, Allianz now better meets the professional needs of their workforce. “Career growth now is less like a ladder and more like a lattice, where you move around and constantly change,” Duttweiler said. “And the average shelf-life of a skill now is less than five years, so you need to stay sharp.”

Now with LinkedIn Learning, Allianz can facilitate that development. “Allianz is determined to provide our employees with the opportunities to constantly hone and enhance their skills so they remain employable in the future,” said Christian Finckh, chief human resource officer at Allianz.

Duttweiler cites the company’s values as the main driver of that determination. “We believe learning is not a privilege—it’s a right,” she said. “That’s the principle of what we’re doing with AllianzU: putting the learner first.”

That strategy has certainly paid off for the AllianzU team. Their advice to other companies who face the same challenges? “It’s not enough to just offer up LinkedIn Learning as a solution. Get your leaders on board, tie it into other company culture initiatives, and empower your people to learn in a whole new way.”

CHALLENGE:
● Creating a streamlined learning experience for a 140,000-employee enterprise

● Building a learning program that enables employees to develop skills for their current and future roles

SOLUTION:
● A highly-personalized solution that supports mobile learning

● Expert-led content that captivates and motivates learners

● Curated content lists that align to company strategy and values

RESULTS:
● One holistic, on-demand learning experience for the global enterprise

● 26,000 new active learners in five months

● 30,000+ total hours of learning

● 400% increase in weekly learning time per employee since LiL rollout

About Allianz Group

With more than 140,000 employees in 70+ countries, the Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers, asset managers and investors. Allianz serves more than 88 million customers globally, who benefit from a range of personal and corporate insurance services.

INDUSTRY: Financial Services

NO. OF EMPLOYEES: 140,000+

HQ LOCATION: Munich, Germany

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In their own words

“With the insights from LinkedIn, we can curate lists that align to our future strategy and see if people are learning about those skills — and keep adjusting from there.”

Heather Duttweiler
AllianzU People Development Consultant, The Allianz Group

“The shelf life of employees’ skill sets is shortening due to the unprecedented pace of technological and digital changes. Developing a stronger and better learning culture in our company is key to remaining successful.”

Christian Finckh
Chief Human Resources Officer, The Allianz Group

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