As a regulated financial services organisation, keeping colleagues compliant while delivering an engaging learning experience is essential. But with its previous learning management system operating separately from its HR platform, many core processes relied on manual administration, taking valuable time away from the people and development team.

Following a review of more than 30 learning management systems, the Development Bank of Wales selected Kallidus Learn, integrated with IRIS Cascade, to automate learning administration, simplify compliance management and give managers greater visibility into workforce development.

Less than a year after implementation, the organisation is already seeing faster compliance completion, significant time savings and a more efficient learning experience across the business.

 

Business outcomes

  • HR administration time saved through automated onboarding of new starters
  • Faster compliance completion with significantly less manual chasing
  • Managers now have visibility of team learning and can assign development directly
  • Automated learning processes reduce administration and minimise the risk of missed training

 

The challenge

As a regulated organisation, learning plays a vital role in ensuring colleagues remain compliant while continuing to develop new skills. When Emma Scanlan joined the business as a People and Development Assistant, the Development Bank was already using IRIS Cascade to manage people and development payroll processes.

The team was very happy with Cascade and saw an opportunity to build on that strong foundation by introducing a learning management system that could integrate more closely with it.

Because the previous LMS couldn’t integrate with Cascade, almost every administrative task had to be completed manually. New starters had to be created individually, leavers removed manually and learning assigned colleague by colleague.

“We were manually putting in new starters, manually deleting leavers and managing everything ourselves. We wanted something that could integrate with Cascade because we knew it would improve our efficiency and productivity.”

As the contract approached renewal, the Development Bank of Wales launched a formal procurement exercise, evaluating more than 30 learning management systems before narrowing the shortlist to five.

For Emma, the requirements were clear. The new platform needed to integrate with Cascade, support the organisation’s FCA regulatory training requirements and provide a better experience for administrators, managers and colleagues alike.

“We just felt Kallidus would be the better fit. It had everything we wanted. It interacted with Cascade and supported our FCA regulatory training, which some of the other providers couldn’t.”

 

The solution

Working together, Kallidus, IRIS and the Development Bank of Wales implemented an integrated learning ecosystem that automated many of the organisation’s manual learning processes.

The project followed a structured implementation programme, with weekly meetings, shared action plans and clear ownership throughout.

Emma led the learning implementation, while colleagues managed the Cascade integration. Historic learning records were migrated from the previous LMS, colleague data feeds were configured and tested, and a pilot group was invited to explore the new platform before launch.

“We had weekly meetings and a Monday board, so we always knew exactly where we were, what we needed to do and what Kallidus needed to do. If we had any queries, they were answered very quickly. We could either email or comment on the Monday board,” said Emma.

The pilot produced consistently positive feedback. Colleagues found the platform much easier to navigate, while managers immediately recognised the value of having visibility across their teams.

“Managers were able to see their direct reports, what training they had outstanding and even issue learning themselves. We didn’t have that before.”

To ensure adoption, the organisation launched a comprehensive internal communications campaign, using newsletters, company-wide emails, support from senior leaders and regular updates ahead of go live.

“We got buy-in from the senior management team and worked closely with our communications team. Everyone knew what was happening and why.”

 

The business outcome

Almost immediately after launch, the Development Bank of Wales began seeing measurable improvements.

The Health and Safety team reported that mandatory learning was being completed much faster, with far less manual chasing required.

“Completion rates were a lot quicker. They weren’t needing to chase people as much anymore.”

Much of this improvement came from automation. Colleague records now flow automatically from IRIS Cascade into Kallidus each day, ensuring new starters, leavers and role changes are reflected automatically. Learning is assigned based on role, while managers receive reminders when training deadlines are approaching.

Since implementation, 17 new starters have been onboarded automatically through the integration. Combined with automated enrolment and user management, this has already saved approximately 17 hours of HR administration, while reducing the risk of manual errors and ensuring nothing is missed.

Emma says the biggest benefit goes beyond simply saving time.

“It probably saves me around half an hour every time we have a new starter or leaver. But if I’m on leave, nothing gets missed because the automation just keeps running.”

Managers now receive automated reminders when training deadlines approach, allowing them to take ownership of learning within their teams.

“It’s put more ownership on colleagues. Managers receive emails if someone hasn’t completed training, so they can follow it up themselves.”

The platform has also enabled the Development Bank of Wales to expand how learning is delivered. Alongside eLearning, the organisation now manages instructor-led training, PDFs, learning pathways and role-specific development programmes from a single platform.

 

Reporting has also become significantly easier. Rather than manually compiling data, the team can now access configurable reports to monitor compliance, instructor-led training and learning progress, with plans to expand reporting even further.

Nearly a year after implementation, Emma believes the biggest success has been creating a learning experience that’s both easier to manage and easier to engage with.

“Everything that could be thought of was thought of during implementation, which made the switch really easy. It has definitely improved our efficiencies.”

 

 

“It’s been fantastic to see the Development Bank’s journey with Kallidus, from the initial evaluation and selection process through to working closely with Emma and the team to get the most from the platform. Seeing how they’ve embraced Kallidus and the partnership with IRIS Cascade to streamline learning, improve efficiency and drive better learning outcomes has been a real highlight.” – Tom Green, Account Executive, Partnerships, Kallidus