Manpower Academy

Train employees in good manual handling practices

Illustration of Manpower Academy case study

Context

Manual handling is an activity which can have numerous implications for those who carry it out in a professional context: accidental injuries, musculoskeletal disorders... repetitive movements can eventually lead to joint disorders of varying degrees of severity, which can disable the employee over the long term and harm the company by generating additional costs (sick leave, delays on worksites, replacements, etc.). These risks can, however, be avoided by raising the awareness of warehouse workers to good workplace practices.

At Manpower, experts in temporary work and permanent/temporary recruitment, a major player in the employment market for over 60 years and a business partner to companies of all sizes and in all sectors, it has been found that manual handling can account for up to 50% of workplace accidents, often linked to an employee's desire to complete tasks more quickly or to do things better.

Need

It was because of this problem, which is more prevalent in the materials handling sector, that Manpower Academy set up an immersive, interactive approach for temporary workers that would enable them to retain the best practices for working safely, while preserving their health.

It was important to enhance learners' skills in a fun way, with an immersive approach that was as simple and visual as possible. To capture their attention, it was essential to design a pedagogical approach directly linked to professional situations in which they could recognize themselves. In addition, the situations presented should not be too long, so as not to generate abandonment before the end of the simulation. Finally, the simulation had to be able to engage both experienced and novice learners, thanks to its high added pedagogical value.

Solution

Manpower Academy chose Serious Factory's VTS Editor tool for this project. The agile use of the VTS Editor software for creating immersive solutions and Serious Games enabled the instructional designer to very easily create a complete simulation for material handlers.

To this end, with the help of volunteer temporary workers, Manpower Academy began by comparing good and bad manual handling practices in staged scenarios. The aim of this first stage was to define the theoretical aspect of the training and then transpose it into a simulation using VTS Editor, as it is in the field that good practices will become ingrained in the learners' habits. Next, Manpower's teams collected the various materials needed to create a storyboard, and exchanged views with the PST intérim team in Caen to provide additional expertise on the long-term consequences for the body.

The result: the design of an engaging, immersive simulation on VTS Editor, incorporating videos punctuated by quizzes and risk hunts, to encourage attention retention and a good learning pace.

Benefits

The development of the project with VTS Editor brought a great deal of dynamism to both design and learning. By going through a storyboard first, the design with the authoring software enabled Manpower Academy to work closely with Manpower's safety prevention department, to share the same experience as the learner, and to reduce the workflow of the entire design phase.

On the learner's side, the realistic simulation provides a gamified experience, making the training more enjoyable than traditional Digital Learning, and encouraging the learner to return to the platform for self-training. The immersive approach and the rhythm of the activities in the finalized simulation were able to promote understanding, retention of best practices and completion of the module deployed on PC, tablet and mobile.

Outside the module, Manpower Academy also observed that communicating about the training, through a teaser showing the animated characters and interactions in the training, brought curiosity and excitement to take the online course.

Thanks to the use of VTS Editor, Manpower Academy saw learner engagement rise from 7% to 67%.

Some Figures

34 000

That's the number of registrations for Manpower Training courses in 2020.

41 585

Catalog visits in 2021 with an average of 22 new visitors per day.

20 minutes

That's the number of registrations for Manpower Training courses in 2020.

I've been using VTS Editor for the past 7 years to meet the expectations of both learners and sponsors. They are all looking for new learning experiences that are both relevant and fun. I recommend this tool for optimizing the design and production of distance learning courses. VTS Editor has evolved considerably, particularly in terms of variables and possible interactions, making it even more playable for learners. The Serious Factory teams are quick to lend their support and expertise to the development of complex projects such as Serious Games.

Sylvie SIMON

Head of e-learning solutions engineering and development for the Temporary Worker Training Department

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