Cegos Group, an international leader in learning and development, employs more than 1,500 people across Europe, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. But their impact is much bigger than that: Through a global network of trusted partners, Cegos Group annually trains 250,000 people across 50 countries—and in more than 25 languages!
“Our training offerings are global,” explains Patricia Santos, Director of Group Solutions and Partners at Cegos Group. “We are committed to supporting individuals, and organisations in every sector and on every topic. We provide both digital learning and in-person training. As soon as we develop new courses, we localise them into 25 languages with the help of our partners. Localisation is much more than translation; we use various techniques to adapt the content’s full meaning to the local culture.”
QUICK FACTS
- Publishing partner since: 2012
- Categories covered: Business Skills, Leadership & Management, Wellness, Technology, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Results: Expanded global reach, improved course ratings, increased usage of 35% in two years.
A long-standing strategic partnership
Cegos Group partnered with OpenSesame in 2012. Over the years, the two companies have continuously supported each other in developing digital learning solutions.
“Our partnership with OpenSesame has been strategic from the beginning,” says Santos, adding ”we have always believed in the content marketplace model. Our partnership is built on shared values and a common belief in the transformative power of learning and development. OpenSesame has enabled Cegos Group to reach markets where we don’t have a direct presence.”
A meaningful two-way dialogue has been foundational to the joint success of these organisations. Explains Santos, “our relationship with OpenSesame is open, honest, and strategic. We receive valuable input and feedback from the OpenSesame team to develop new content formats and ensure they meet learners’ needs.”
And the expertise Cegos Group brings to the table is top tier. “Our strength lies in our experience in face-to-face training and pedagogy, which we incorporate into OpenSesame’s digital learning solutions. Our learning modules are designed based on stories, real life challenges, examples, and exercises,” notes Santos.
“With OpenSesame’s extensive experience in digital learning, their team deeply understands what works in digital content. They consistently provide valuable input during our learning module design process. For example, OpenSesame’s comprehensive content guidelines have helped us ensure our content is accessible to all learners,” she adds.
Continuous improvement
Cegos Group continuously evaluates content quality and makes improvements to increase learner engagement. This process ensures that all modules stay up-to-date, and those with the lowest ratings are replaced with fresh and improved content based on feedback.
“The OpenSesame Marketplace serves a large number of learners, providing us with valuable feedback. We also combine this feedback with insights from in-person interviews conducted globally with our customers. This comprehensive approach helps us understand learner needs, and ensure our modules are engaging and meet diverse global needs,” Santos explains.
Underscoring their commitment to global audiences, Cegos Group takes geographic differences and preferences seriously. “We observe differences in learner preferences across regions. For instance, learners in Asia generally prefer longer learning modules, while in Europe, there is a preference for shorter, bitesized modules. We adopt a learner-centric localisation approach to ensure that learners engage with our content in a way that feels natural and familiar. For example, we recognised a cultural shift towards diversity in the Middle East that we support in our Arabic localisation,” said Santos.
Based on market input, Cegos Group has developed a wide variety of content formats with different learning module durations.
Santos continues: “There is no single way of learning, so we offer a portfolio with various formats and interactions, to meet learners’ specific needs and make the learning experience as personalised as possible. With this approach, we have seen improvements in usage and course ratings over time. Our course ratings have improved by 2.5% and usage has increased by 35% in the past two years.”
Focusing on skills development and new learning formats
Recently, Cegos Group has organised its content catalogue around five capability areas, focusing on 20 core skills.
“We give learners the opportunity to develop specific skills and fill their skill gaps. Due to high demand, we are currently exploring trends around AI, immersive learning, and gamification, and developing a new pedagogical approach such as delivering knowledge in a shorter and more concise structure to suit new generations. For example, with interactive short videos and learning activities based on escape games,” says Santos, before again emphasizing the importance of collaboration in this endeavor.
“We value the open, honest, and two-way relationship with OpenSesame. Our teams always share constructive feedback, and we develop our products and services together.
We also receive support from the OpenSesame marketing team to build co-marketing activities, which significantly increase our visibility globally. The partnership with OpenSesame is a true win-win relationship,” she concludes.
ABOUT CEGOS GROUP
Cegos Group is Europe’s largest training organisation and one of the world’s leading Learning & Development companies. Cegos was founded in 1926 in France and has a strong foundation with more than 80 years of experience within Human Resource Development, Corporate Training and Operational Consulting. Cegos specialises in the development and growth of managers and their teams and has a significant number of Global MNCs as world-wide training partners. More information: www.cegos.com