Case Study Commonwealth of Virginia

Case Study

Commonwealth of Virginia

Overview

Virginia's state agencies, colleges and universities offer employment and development opportunities to over 120,000 employees in hundreds of traditional and emerging career fields.

Challenge

With more than 230 government agencies across Virginia, the state was paying higher costs for training because the agencies didn't coordinate the way they purchased learning content or software. In one case, two agencies were unknowingly paying full price for the same training system, and when an initiative was handed down by the governor, many agencies would duplicate training efforts without knowing it.

"When you have hundreds of thousands of employees, all of these challenges grow in complexity," said Belchior Mira, chief information technology officer for the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management. "It's not enough to just automate the purchase and delivery of learning in a coordinated way; although that can spell savings. Virginia's goal was to create a singular approach to sharing knowledge and developing employees' careers."

Solution

In the spring of 2004, eight Virginia agencies came together with the intent to purchase technology for managing and developing knowledge. Representatives gathered requirements through surveys and focus groups aimed at potential users of the system. Other members of the group analyzed the findings and researched available solutions.

Virginia selected a learning management system (LMS) from Meridian Knowledge Solutions that allowed the agencies to build and deliver online and classroom training programs, enable conversations between employees and their supervisors, collect knowledge and chart career paths.

Organization At-a-Glance

Residents: ~8 million

Revenue: $17 billion in 2013

Employees: 120,000 in 95 counties

State employees dubbed the LMS the Commonwealth of Virginia Knowledge Center (CoVKC). It is accessible to any state employee via PC, laptop or mobile device.

Three of the eight Virginia government agencies that created the plan to buy the Meridian software began using the system in March 2005. By January 2006, 50,000 state employees were registered users of the system. Since that time, 93 other Virginia agencies -- including the Department of Corrections and its facilities, the departments of Education, Motor Vehicles, Taxation, Mental Health and its facilities, and the Virginia State Police -- have signed on to manage and deliver training and share knowledge via the CoVKC. The system has also grown to allow sharing with Virginia's business partners, including private employers, citizens and other government entities.

Results

Virginia has been able to trim its expenditures as more and more of the Old Dominion's agencies have adopted the LMS. For example, when one large agency moved from its LMS to the CoVKC, the commonwealth saved $139,000 per year in hosting fees and $725,000 per year by trimming five contractors from the budget. Two smaller agencies realized more than $17,000 in savings per year when they cut hosting fees for another LMS. The Virginia Department of Taxation reduced its hosting fees from $18,000 per year to less than $1,000.

In 2008, Virginia earned a spot as a finalist in the coveted National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) awards for its LMS initiative. Among the reasons Virginia earned this recognition was the fact that the CoVKC gathers a comprehensive set of training metrics, which any Virginia agency -- including the Governor's Office -- can access with the click of a mouse.

In a report by The Pew Center on the States titled "Government Performance Project: Grading the States," Virginia was the only state in the United States to receive an "A" for its training and development initiatives in 2008.

And, according to Governing magazine, "Virginia ... put together a knowledge transfer system that ... agencies could share. Each has software that allows it to map the specific skills and knowledge needed for various jobs and then tailor training programs to those specifications."

About Meridian

What is your next step with learning? Meridian Knowledge Solutions helps you create measurable value with your learning strategy. Meridian provides technology platforms that empower enterprises, governments, and member-based organizations to develop their people by delivering learning, assessing performance, and fostering collaboration. We've been making customers our partners since 1997. Contact us to learn more about how Meridian Knowledge Solutions can help your organization meet its learning objectives.

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