Increasing Training Effectiveness for all Learners: Kraft Heinz’s Offline Learning Journey

Case study at-a-glance

Providing high-quality, effective learning experiences to every employee is a challenging yet crucial endeavor. Kraft Heinz recognized the need to extend their comprehensive ethics and compliance training to manufacturing workers, breaking barriers that often separate those with desks and those who are “deskless”. Approximately 18,000 learners online and 12,000 learners offline take their custom course, Whistleblowing: Managing Questions and Concerns.

Acheeria Walters, Senior Manager of Legal, Global Ethics and Compliance, and Laura Meredith, Senior Manager of Capability Development in Global Learning and Diversity revealed to SAI360 how they spearheaded this transformative initiative.

When asked about what Kraft Heinz thought we or others should know about their experience with Offline Learning, Walters mentioned the following, “What appealed is that SAI360 has been our ethics and compliance training provider for a few years, and we went through a robust process to choose them.”

Setting the Stage

Kraft Heinz, a global leader, values a culture of continuous learning. Walters’s role focuses on ethics, compliance, and risk management, while Meredith specializes in learning and diversity. They both shared a common goal-ensuring that the entire workforce, from corporate roles to manufacturing, receive top-notch training with appropriate-to-role scenarios.

Identifying the Gap

The realization struck during a review of training programs. While employees who work from desks seamlessly completed core trainings on harassment, bullying, discrimination, theft, conflicts of interest, whistleblowing, and speaking up, manufacturing workers faced challenges in both accessing and engaging with the learning content. The need was clear: tailor the training to the unique situation of manufacturing workers. Walters says, “I felt like we wanted to do a better job as a company globally and in terms of benchmarking, in terms of trainings and completions, especially for specific topics like our code of conduct and anti-bribery.”

Offline Learning Materials Enter the Scene

Offline learning strategies have gained significant traction across various industries, particularly in manufacturing and healthcare. Many companies are adopting a blended learning approach, combining offline materials with mobile-based learning modules to ensure continuous training access, even in remote or disconnected environments.

On that note, realizing that creating this training internally would not be cost-effective or logical, Kraft Heinz chose SAI360 Offline Learning Materials to bridge the gap. As a trusted, longtime partner in their ethics and compliance learning, the choice was easy. SAI360 collaborated with Kraft Heinz to develop specific training modules for their manufacturing team in the form of an engaging and branded PowerPoint deck. And while completing the course on a laptop in one sitting might be feasible for office or work-from-home employees, it was unreasonable to expect their manufacturing team to sit in a classroom setting for large parts of their workday.

Walters and Meredith explored the decision-making process, emphasizing the importance of aligning training materials with the manufacturing workforce’s needs. The result proved to be a strategic fit for Kraft Heinz’s goals.

Strong Customization and Design

The Offline Learning materials underwent meticulous customization to capture the essence of Kraft Heinz’s brand while ensuring relevance to the manufacturing environment. Instead of images featuring workers in a corporate setting, scenes from manufacturing plants and warehouses were added. An additional priority was the ability to easily edit the course content and segment the training into smaller sessions. Walters and Meredith commended SAI360 for their dedication to quality and expressed that the final product exceeded expectations.

Rollout and Future Plans

Kraft Heinz is currently in the process of the global rollout and anticipates a Q1 launch. The materials, carefully designed for flexibility and translation, are poised to empower manufacturing employees. Walters envisions a future where completion and performance metrics will help benchmark and gauge the success of the Offline Learning initiative, as well as inform best practices.

Benefits and Impressions

The leadership at Kraft Heinz is impressed with Offline Learning materials, viewing them as a win. Meredith highlighted the ease of adaptation, emphasizing the importance of delivering critical lessons in a format convenient for their roles.

Recognizing the unique challenges faced by “deskless” workers, the customized offline learning materials tailored for the manufacturing environment allowed for more flexible and engaging training sessions.

The global rollout of these materials is anticipated to foster a culture of inclusion and continuous learning, highlighting Kraft Heinz’s commitment to ethical standards and compliance, and demonstrating the value of strategic partnerships in achieving learning objectives.

Key Takeaways

By using SAI360, Kraft Heinz was able to save time and money. Walters notes, “We decided to partner with them for offline learning rather than building [the program] in-house, as we considered cost, time to develop, and an ability to customize, which we’ve always felt was a strong suit of working with SAI360. And there was a quick turnaround as well, as we were able to stick to our timeline.”

Kraft Heinz’s story underscores the importance of adapting learning experiences to diverse workforces. Offline Learning emerges as a powerful tool in closing the training gap, fostering a culture of inclusion, and ensuring every employee receives training that resonates with them, learning in the flow of work.

This case study encapsulates Kraft Heinz’s commitment to learning, the strategic partnership with SAI360, and the transformative impact of Offline Learning on manufacturing education.

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