AND Digital, HowNow halve curation time, revamp onboarding

AND Digital has partnered with learning platform provider HowNow, with both companies pointing to efficiency gains in onboarding and internal learning.

The partnership centres on AND Digital using HowNow as a single platform for training pathways and internal knowledge sharing. Following the roll-out, AND Digital reports that learning content curation time has been cut by about half, while learning and development administration linked to onboarding has fallen by 80%.

AND Digital is headquartered in the UK, with teams in the US and the Netherlands. It employs 800 people and says around 80% are client-facing consultants. HowNow describes itself as a skills-first learning platform, with customers including TomTom, Trainline, HotelPlan, Investec and the UK Government.

Operational metrics

AND Digital began working with HowNow in early 2023 to centralise learning resources on one platform and increase speed to competence for new hires. The set-up also aimed to broaden employee-created content, with subject matter experts contributing material for colleagues.

By linking LinkedIn Learning with HowNow, AND Digital says it reduced the time the learning and development team and subject matter experts spend curating content by about 50%. The change has also shaped how the firm builds learning pathways for specific practice areas across its consulting workforce.

The firm has also redesigned onboarding, moving from a week-long induction to a single learning event with structured follow-up content. It describes the shift as an 80% time saving for the learning and development function in onboarding administration.

Use of the platform increased after the introduction of a learning pathway on AI Enablement, the companies said. AND Digital reports that 75% of employees now visit HowNow every working day.

Workforce learning

Technology services firms have renewed their focus on structured learning as demand shifts across cloud, data and AI. Mid-market consultancies also face pressure to keep staff billable while maintaining training in new methods and tools. Learning systems are also moving closer to day-to-day workflows, with platforms integrating third-party libraries and company knowledge bases.

At AND Digital, the platform is used for onboarding content and ongoing pathways that sit alongside day-to-day project work. The firm has also highlighted internal expertise as a key input to its training catalogue.

"HowNow has been the linchpin of this transition. By housing structured onboarding pathways and post-induction support in one accessible place, we've been able to move toward a self-serve, on-demand resource model. As an L&D team, this has also reduced our induction admin by 80%," said Tara Ryan-Tedford, Learning and Development Lead, AND Digital.

Ryan-Tedford also linked increased adoption to the recently introduced AI Enablement pathway.

"We wanted an agile partner and HowNow definitely ticks that box. The platform is purpose-built to support skills-driven learning and we really like that it enables people to create and contribute their own content. We have lots of technical experts so enabling them to share their knowledge with colleagues is part of our future-proofing strategy," she said.

Supplier perspective

HowNow said the partnership reflects growing demand for skills frameworks and measurement across learning activity. The company says its approach connects what people learn with the skills needed in their roles, with content accessible in the flow of work.

"The AND Digital team is committed to building consultant capability and future-ready skills, and we're delighted to be supporting such a fantastic organisation. Our skills-first partnership is driving faster expansion and diversification of AND Digital's consulting services and we're thrilled to be supporting them on this critical journey," said Nelson Sivalingam, Co-founder and CEO, HowNow.

The companies said AND Digital will continue to develop role-specific learning pathways on the platform, with more internal content expected across its consulting practices.