How Michelin Central America boosted digital adoption by upskilling its employees

PEX Live: Digital Adoption 2022 took place on 8 – 9 November 2022 and offered insights from companies the likes of Siemens Gamesa, Paypal and the Government of Canada. In this article, we present exclusive insights that were shared in the opening session of the digital event.

The presentation, hosted by Romina Guevara, chief digital officer of Central America at Michelin was called Rewards, automation and peer ambassadors: How Michelin Central America is upskilling employees in the Digital Age and dove into the tyre manufacturer’s Training Passports initiative.

You can watch the full session below.

During the session, Guevara noted organizations adopt technology “to make their employees’ lives easier, more efficient and hopefully more enjoyable”. At Michelin, she explained the goal is to make her employees focus on what matters most without struggling on manual processes or systems.

Unfortunately costs, complexity and skills are all barriers to full digital adoption and without the right organizational culture which supports technology, new systems can be ignored. She stated making learning a priority is key.

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Michelin Central America’s ambition was to accelerate its digital transformation process by upskilling its employees. In effect, there was a low adoption rate of its e-learning platform due the range and scope of training available. More than 2,000 courses were accessible, which was overwhelming for employees.

Guevara explained: “They did not know where to start or which courses were best for their function and role.”

To overcome this, the tyre manufacturing company put in place a gamification strategy to motivate consistent participation and long-term engagement with a e-learning platform with a rewards system. Guevara explains: “We wanted them engaged in the long term – we knew that by giving rewards they would feel more motivated.”

In total, six different digital passports were created with five depending on roles and functions: managers, sales, digital, top managers and customer business solutions. The sixth was for digital champions who are not part of the digital team but have skills and help promote a digital culture in their own departments.

The digital passports initiative was backed by upper management which was crucial for Guevara. She said: “They helped us communicate, push and share benefits [of the initiative].”

Related interview: Michelin expert shares why it is important to understand your capabilities ahead of digital adoption initiatives

The first step of the campaign started in March and April 2022 and revolved around communication via emails, the internal communication channel, newsletter and regional townhalls. A digital registration form was then sent for employees to fill in and once completed, a list of relevant courses linking back to the e-learning platform was sent. The goal was to complete them and be awarded a digital passport by August 31, 2022.

Automation was leveraged to track the progress of the initiative. A dashboard was created and informed on the number of registered people and digital passports awarded. Digital passports were also sent automatically and could be shared in Michelin’s internal communication channel or externally on social media.

A digital award ceremony was conducted at the end of the campaign in September. Employees who completed a digital passport could win a trip to a digital transformation event happening in California.

It was revealed during that ceremony that compared to 2021, 21 times more courses were completed in 2022. More than 3,300 online courses were achieved in August with more than 800 people having registered for them throughout the campaign. In total, 52 percent of employees completed courses and were awarded a digital passport.

To watch more of PEX Live event sessions, take a look at PEX Network’s Replay service.

What do you think of Michelin Central America’s digital adoption initiative? Let us know in the comments below.