This year marks a milestone for FLOWSPARKS in The Netherlands, as the company proudly celebrates its 30th anniversary. For three decades, FLOWSPARKS has been on an impressive journey of innovation and excellence in learning and development with our state-of-the-art SaaS e-Learning software.
Since its founding in 1993, FLOWSPARKS The Netherlands has closely followed the ever-changing landscape in technology and business, allowing us to continuously innovate to meet the growing needs of our (future) customers. FLOWSPARKS’ journey is one driven by evolution, innovation and delivering service excellence. This is the basis for our mission to deliver a high-quality learning experience using our SaaS e-Learning solution.
As a pioneer in e-Learning technology solutions, FLOWSPARKS has not only embraced the latest trends, but has also actively contributed to shaping the future of e-Learning technology. As a result, FLOWSPARKS has helped quite a few organizations develop effective and engaging e-Learning training. A key to FLOWSPARKS’ 30-year success is its strong focus on customer satisfaction.
By working closely with customers and understanding their unique needs, FLOWSPARKS Netherlands BV has delivered customized solutions that add value. In addition to building close relationships with major international organizations, FLOWSPARKS has also formed long-term international partnerships with software vendors such as Cornerstone, GuyKat and many more.
While FLOWSPARKS The Netherlands looks back on the past 30 years, it also looks forward to the future. With a strong foundation of experience and an ongoing drive for innovation, everyone is ready to help the company evolve with it: we welcome FLOWSPARKS Generation AI. The commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions remains, and FLOWSPARKS is determined to help organizations achieve their learning goals in the years to come thanks to new features and updates.
“My name is Mirjam Singstra and I have been working at the staatsloterij since 2009. In 2016 we merged with the ‘Lotto groep’ and continued under the name ‘Nederlandse Loterij’. I started as a trainer and coach for points of sale, but now I am also responsible for e-Learning, content, reporting and everything that comes with it.”
“My official title is ‘Retail and Sales Product Trainer’, but I like to call myself trainer/coach and recently also e-Learning specialist. I am part of the Rayon Managers. Here I coach Retail Service, these are the employees who are on the phone. In addition, I also coach the field staff, which are my direct colleagues who supervise our points of sale. For now, I am the sole author in FLOWSPARKS and manage all digital training for our 5,000 points of sale.”
“After the merger in 2016, the need for knowledge transfer to all our outlets arose. The challenge here: to be able to reach 5,000 points of sale as quickly and efficiently as possible and focus on the three pillars: knowledge, skills and behaviour.
In the past, we tried to reach our points of sale by sending newsletters and magazines, but it soon became clear that this lacked effectiveness. Therefore, we decided to partner with FLOWSPARKS. E-Learning soon proved to be the solution for us to reach all 18,000 retail employees as quickly and efficiently as possible.
In FLOWSPARKS I developed modules on gaming, terminal operation, and regulations. The latter is a very important one for the Nederlandse Loterij as it deals with issues (selling our products responsibly, etc.) that are mandated within the government.
Indeed, to the Chance Game Authorities we have to be able to demonstrate how we inform all retailers about the code of conduct. This is why I developed the ’18+ module’ which was made mandatory for all outlets. Once someone has passed this module with flying colors, he/she receives a certification that is valid for 18 months. If this certification expires, this person is not currently allowed to sell games of chance.
So a very important module that I report on weekly. I have to monitor this certification very strictly and for this I use the convenient reporting in FLOWSPARKS.”
“We offer all our content through FLOWSPARKS LMS, which we call our retail training platform. Thanks to an API link to SalesForce, all accounts are neatly created for each point of sale. Self-registration allows our retailers to log in to the training platform to track all e-Learning.”
Multilingualism in the tool is also a big advantage. More and more people within retail speak English, so we also decided to have some of our modules translated into English. Thanks to the easy DeepL API this was possible and made us able to train multiple employees at once.
“I have been working with FLOWSPARKS for many years and greatly appreciate its efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility. I use FLOWSPARKS as a means to quickly and efficiently transfer knowledge to our retailers and it is very well received. In addition, I appreciate the personal guidance I receive from my Customer Success Coach. This person is always thinking about possible Smart Templates and Formats we can use to achieve the right learning objectives.”
“I use different templates such as SMARTMAGAZINE and TASKSTEPS to create my content. In 2024 we will move to the ‘roadmap’ with the Nederlandse Loterij. Here I hope to be able to focus mainly on fun and involvement of all retailers.”
“Within Nederlandse Loterij, we find that the Blended approach doesn’t work for us. We want to be able to reach as many people as possible in as short a time as possible, and that is only possible through digital training. We have therefore gone fully digital and new training courses in the future will also be launched digitally.
Of course our 9 Rayon Managers will support the various new stores at the opening, but we do expect these employees to go through all the knowledge beforehand via e-Learning. That way we can build on what they already learned on site.”
“I have full confidence in a continued successful cooperation with FLOWSPARKS. The communication is going very well and I am convinced that we will realize great things in the future. I see the endless possibilities of FLOWSPARKS as a great advantage.”
“FLOWSPARKS stands for Flexible Learning in an Online World, and they live up to that. The flexibility shown by Customer Success Coaches, the continuous developments the product undergoes, makes it a pleasure to work with the tool. What wasn’t possible today will be tested tomorrow. I am enormously looking forward to what FLOWSPARKS Generation AI still has in store for us, I am already excited about the automatic translations that we can definitely use now for our English-speaking colleagues.”
“My name is Marlène Wolf-Berijk and I am the International Education Manager at Mediq. In this I am responsible for development and education of individual employees & teams at Mediq. My introduction to FLOWSPARKS (formerly U&I Learning) occurred while setting up a training institute for clients, focused on wound care and incontinence. After five years of successful use for clients, we decided to implement FLOWSPARKS internally as well. With a background as an operating assistant and a long history at Mediq, I am now responsible for L&D of employees in the Netherlands and Belgium, including compliance training through FLOWSPARKS for the 13 countries in which our company is represented.”
Mediq is the market leader in healthcare. Every day, millions of patients and healthcare professionals who care for them rely on the delivery of our medical devices and innovative healthcare solutions. With these, we support people in their homes and relieve the burden on healthcare workers. So people can feel less like patients. And more human.
“About ten years ago, Mediq made the switch from classroom training to blended learning to meet the increasing demand in the market. In order to provide even more quality training, e-Learning as a preparation for classroom lessons is important. After a careful selection process, we chose U&I Learning, now known as FLOWSPARKS. FLOWSPARKS is considered not only as a supplier, but as a learning partner, thanks to the pleasant cooperation with the FLOWSPARKS colleagues, several Learning Developers, animators and last but not least the quick response of the support department in case of breakdowns or problems.”
“At the start, FLOWSPARKS created e-Learning, but now we have multiple authoring licenses in different countries. This allows employees to create their own content in different formats, such as SMARTMAGAZINES and STORYWISE. Customer Success Coaches facilitate the process, especially for colleagues in the Netherlands, where employees can create their own short modules. The content mix ranges from FLOWSPARKS-created e-Learning with animations to self-created content. We have a total of 20 authors spread across different countries. The flexibility of FLOWSPARKS allows us to work budget-driven and consult transparently for optimal results.”
“Our e-Learning covers various topics, from product-oriented training for customers to internal training on compliance. But various leadership programs are also an integral part of our Mediq Academy. Specific learning paths per team are directly linked to FLOWSPARKS through our human resources system. We use TASKSTEPS for training on system usage and the FLOWSPARKS LMS for classroom training registrations. We even integrate e-Learning from other companies, such as disease learning e-Learnings for nurses.”
“My preference is several learning formats from FLOWSPARKS, including THEBIGGERPICTURE for a holistic approach, ONTHESPOT for short training sessions, STORYWISE for engagement on dilemmas, and SMARTMAGAZINE as a simple tool for content creation.”
FLOWSPARKS is considered not only as a supplier, but as a learning partner. This is due to the pleasant cooperation with our permanent account manager Olaf, several Learning Developers and animators. We also can’t ignore the quick response of the support department in case of breakdowns or problems.
“With 3500 users all using FLOWSPARKS, it is remarkable that each user can utilize the tool in their own language. Automatic translations, especially through the DeepL integration, are efficient, although we still need to make manual adjustments for specific languages.”
“Since this year, we switched to a new approach for translations. Before, we used a translation agency, which was costly. Now we use the DeepL integration a lot, which works well, except for the Finnish, Estonian and Latvian languages, where we still have to make manual adjustments. In some cases we still use a translation agency, but for English, German and Danish translations we rely on the DeepL integration.”
“I am looking forward to a further joint and partnership/future because I am happy with the pleasant cooperation!
We are increasingly focusing on microlearning, which we see as the future, along with the already known blended learning. For example, we are currently working on a blended learning program on “feedback”. This allows participants to prepare in FLOWSPARKS, with videos from another learning partner, before participating in the big training in December where feedback is practiced.”
“Blended learning is well received within Mediq because it ensures uniform prior knowledge and everyone participates in physical training at the same level. We believe in the future of microlearning because of people’s increasing speed and time constraints. The use of various formats, such as SMARTVIDEO, contributes to an interactive and engaging learning experience.”
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