Setting Up a Comprehensive eLearning Library for the State of California

Meet The Client: California State Government

Responsible for an economy that is larger than most countries, The California State Government employs over 212,000 full-time workers across more than 230 individual departments.

The Client’s Goals and Challenges

The state needed to consolidate all their professional learning materials in one comprehensive training library, to answer the following requirements and challenges:

The IT workforce within the administration suffered from considerable knowledge gaps. As such, the platform needed to include training materials that would be appropriate for professionals of different levels of expertise.
The cybersecurity measures within the state needed to be improved and thoroughly communicated to the employees of different specializations in different agencies.
The cybersecurity threats that the state government faces are continuously evolving, and the administration was looking for a sustainable way to alleviate them.
The library must incorporate state-mandated training for sexual harassment prevention and professional leadership development.
The cost of traditional face-to-face training classes is too high, while their availability in rural communities is too limited. These factors meant that the library must be made easily accessible to the employees in all parts of the state.

Our Solution

ETS delivered an all-inclusive on-demand library of eLearning resources to the state government. Our solution is fully consistent with the California Department of Technology 2020 strategic plan for digital government development and includes:

6,500 self-training materials
IT Bootcamps
Video lessons
eBooks and guides
Certification preparation exams
Mentoring opportunities

Accessible 24/7 from any PC or mobile device, the library enabled the State of California’s employees to expand their knowledge of:

Business and professional development
End user software and workforce productivity
Computer literacy
Cyber security
Software development
Web development

For training management and tracking purposes, each customer receives monthly employee training activity reports outlining course completion status and more.

A dedicated training consultant works with program customers to review program objectives, identify skill gaps, make training assignments, tailor reports, and manage overall customer success.

The Results

Since the beginning of the project in 2015, we have achieved the following results:

Average post-test score of 78% — almost twice as high as the average pre-test score of 39%
Achieved a 50% cost saving versus traditional IT classes, bringing the cost per employee down to $75 from $150
5,700 employees trained, with an average employee completing 2+ courses annually
64,000 training hours earned
2,717 Cyber Security training resources taken
ETS won an initial contract in 2015 and has since earned two subsequent program contract terms
The program has grown organically from an information technology-based solution to include CalHR Leadership CEU and Harassment Prevention training