APAC Singapore Business Awards 2018

8 APAC / 2018 Singapore Business Awards , ASB18002 Best Corporate Training Organisation 2018 Cegos Group is a global a training company drawing on over 90 years’ experience to provide clients with innovative solutions that meet their needs. We caught up with Jeremy Blain, Managing Partner and Regional Managing Director for Cegos Asia Pacific, to talk us through the group’s work in the region. Created in 1926, the Cegos Group is a worldwide leader in training and development. The Group now runs its own operations in 11 European, Asian and Latin American countries. It is also active in over 50 countries through its network of partners and distributors, which are all leading training providers and top-tier technology experts. With 1,000 employees and more than 3,000 partner consultants, the Group trains 250,000 people around the globe every year and generates sales of over $230 million USD. Cegos deploys a global offering, including turnkey and tailored training and development, operational consultancy, Managed Training Services and international training projects. Its “blended learning” approach aims to provide the most suitable and competitive learner experience, by combining multiple learning formats (classroom training, e-learning modules, videoconferences, webcasts, e-training programmes and more). Specifically in the Asia Pacific region, the firm offers a wide range of services and is constantly adapting. The group’s Asia Pacific division is one of the leading digital transformation companies working in the region today, enabling organisations everywhere to integrate and utilise appropriate technologies driving greater human capital development, internal and external communication and closer collaboration. Jeremy discusses the work the group undertakes in the region in more detail. “Across APAC, while we are whole-heartedly embracing the digital era, the human touch remains the important thread that binds all our learning together. As such, our multi-format solutions are built to develop and grow Managers and their teams through a suite of smart skills, delivered traditionally (any form of face to face), blended (using 70:20:10 methodology to ensure learning is applied and impacts business results) and a full service digital offer from transformation consulting through to eLearning, mobile and APP based solutions. All while remaining connected to the person and backed up by our strong pedagogical heritage.” This client focused approach would be impossible without a strong workforce of dedicated and professional staff, and as such Jeremy is eager to highlight the firm’s dedication to providing staff with a supportive working environment. “At Cegos, we are very much of the philosophy ‘think like a start-up, act like a corporate’, and therefore we have pioneered a different structural business model here in APAC versus most of our traditional businesses. We have a flat hierarchical structure, we have low permanent staffing versus a higher sourcing through the gig economy, which suits us perfectly and helps us use expert talent across all parts of our internal and external footprint to service our customers better. That means we can be more responsive and, above all, be more flexible to changing needs and challenges that our customers come to us with. It ensures we are agile, backed up by strong processes and systems that certify we are not only able to make bold promises but keep them! That is what our customers really value us for. “In Singapore, we were recently voted as an employer of choice, not just in our industry but across vertical sectors. This was voted for by our staff and our third party partners, collaborators we work with and customers who experience our exceptional service ethic. It is testimony to the collaborative, connected and supportive internal culture we offer our staff.” In his concluding comments Jeremy outlines the group’s ongoing focus on combining technological innovation with exceptional people based service. “Looking to the future, our Asia business is evolving to be a second digital hub for Cegos Group. This is driven largely by the expansion of our digital solutions offering across the region and our access to expert resources. As one of the few digital learning solutions providers with a strong training / human heritage, it helps us drive singular solutions that blend the convenience and on- demand nature of digital, with the engagement and learner centricity we know from our training heritage. The most important piece of the puzzle for in transforming learning for the digital era is the human touch, and providing this remains our ongoing focus because, at Cegos, we truly believe that it is more important than ever.”