Compliance under pressure: this is how Vallei and Veluwe Water Board tackles the Woo

The Valley and Veluwe Water Board has been providing clean and safe water for years. But with a growing organization and increasing tasks in the areas of sustainability and energy transition, a lot is changing. Not everyone knows each other yet, processes are becoming more complex and knowledge sharing is more important than ever. How do you make sure everyone stays hooked and prepared for what's coming?

Together with Roderick Moolenaars, Senior Policy Advisor for Legal Affairs, we will discuss how Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe is tackling this challenge and what role customized e-learning plays in it.

The challenge: awareness and compliance with the Open Government Act

As a government organization, Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe has to deal with the Open Government Act (Woo). This law requires all communication to be transparent and retrievable. This means that employees must be aware of what and how they communicate, and how information is properly archived.

Two major challenges played a role:

• Awareness: employees had to realize that everything they communicate can be retrieved. This realization was not yet widespread within the organization.
• Effective information management: properly archiving communications is crucial. How do you ensure that information is properly stored and easily retrievable?

An added complication is that employees are often under time pressure. It is tempting to respond quickly to an e-mail, when sometimes it is better to take some time to think and deliberate. Clear, factual and understandable communication is essential to prevent unclear information from leading to problems.

The solution: a customized e-learning in house style

To make employees aware of the Open Government Act and teach them how to manage information effectively, Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe went in search of a learning solution that fit their own work practices. The learning solution had to be not only strong in terms of content, but also recognizable and accessible to employees.

SkillsTown develops a customized e-learning that perfectly matches the experience of the water board. The training features familiar faces from the organization, so it is not a "standard YouTube experience. This ensures higher engagement and recognition. In addition, the information is communicated in a clear, understandable way so that employees know exactly what is expected of them.

The impact: awareness and transparency throughout the organization

SkillsTown's e-learning has an immediate noticeable impact within the organization among teams that have completed the module. Employees become aware of the consequences of their communications. They realize that anything they write or share can be formally retrieved. This realization causes them to be more aware and cautious in their communications.

In addition, information management improves. The training makes employees think more carefully about how they store documents and correspondence so that they can be easily retrieved. This contributes to transparent and efficient operations.

Developing the e-learning yourself also provides a valuable learning experience within the organization: "You don't learn that much from consuming, but when you develop an e-learning yourself, you learn an awful lot about where your organization stands. It's a warm process."

"A big advantage of SkillsTown's custom solution is its flexibility. We can continuously adapt the e-learning and keep it up-to-date, and changes are easy to make. Employees find the right information quickly and can also save it easily.

Roderick Moolenaars, Senior Policy Advisor for Legal Affairs

Unique to Valley and Veluwe Water Board: own faces, own impact

What makes this solution extra special is its recognizability. The e-learning contains not only the logo of Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe, but also faces of colleagues from their own organization. This increases involvement and ensures that employees experience the training as something of their own.

Another unique aspect is the internal ambassador role created. Employees who actively participate in the e-learning automatically grow into the role of ambassador for the subject. As a result, the message of the training is carried more widely and the implementation gets more impact within the organization.

The results: spike in awareness and deepening questions

Since rolling out the e-learning, there has been a marked increase in awareness around the Open Government Act. "Employees are asking questions about legal aspects more often, something that rarely happened before the training. Moreover, those questions are much more in-depth in nature."

Users experience the e-learning as accessible and enjoyable: the recognizable cases and the use of their own colleagues make the learning process approachable and relevant. The feeling that "the e-learning is really ours" contributes to higher engagement.

The organization also noticed that conversations about WOO requests were more substantive and better prepared, which had a direct effect on the quality of internal communication and filing. SkillsTown's ability to continually adapt and keep the e-learning up to date, therefore, proved hugely important for this continued learning effect.

A future-proof learning solution

Thanks to the collaboration with SkillsTown, Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe now has a sustainable, flexible and effective e-learning solution. Employees are more aware of the Open Government Act, communication is more transparent and information management has improved. A great example of how customization leads to lasting impact within the organization.