United Rentals Empowers Teams Across the Organization With Articulate 360

The Challenge

United Rentals needed scalable, interactive employee training

United Rentals’ robust employee training program prepares its employees with crucial knowledge about business and safety processes, compliance, company software, and more. Before the organization started using Articulate, just two employees created this training for the entire company. 

They relied on an alternative e-learning software solution to do so. It got the job done, says Robert Auchenpaugh, Operations Training Specialist, of the software—but limited interactivity caused low engagement. 

To improve training effectiveness, United Rentals began exploring alternative providers. They knew e-learning was more cost-effective than in-person training, but needed software that supported greater interactivity and engagement than their previous solution. They also needed to scale their training and remove organizational bottlenecks so teams across the company could create custom courses to help employees do their best work. They found Articulate to be an excellent match for their goals.

The Answer

With Articulate 360, United Rentals creates realistic hard and soft skills training

Today, United Rentals uses a combination of Storyline and Rise to create varied training types, from quick-hitting courses on organizational updates to complex safety and machinery simulations. “With Storyline, the potential for interaction is unlimited,” says Auchenpaugh. “No matter how complicated or simple, it can run the full gamut.”

One notable course, explains Auchenpaugh, prepares employees for new roles with extensive technical training on key software and other processes. “The feedback that we get is that it’s been incredibly helpful,” he says. 

Alongside hard skills, some United Rentals courses cover complex customer interactions. In one such course, Auchenpaugh built an interactive scenario that walks learners through a particular contract scenario, and the various responses for customers who have that contract. Learners progress through the scenario and earn points for completed correct actions. Then, they receive a final score and feedback customized to their successes and improvement opportunities. 

This approach was highly successful, says Auchenpaugh, enabling employees to experience the customer interaction without involving a real customer. “Doing a simulation, it gets them hands-on experience prior to having to be hands-on,” he says. “Whether it’s software or personal interaction things, it gives them the ability to practice…prior to being in that situation for the first time.”

One of the things Auchenpaugh appreciates most about Articulate is the vast amount of training it provides, noting the variety of options: webinars, on-demand training, and access to Articulate experts via the E-Learning Heroes community. “It is incredibly helpful to me to know that almost anything I have a question about, I can find that answer,” he says. “That’s one thing that, to me, is invaluable.”

Unlocking Human Potential

With Articulate, United Rentals has dramatically scaled access to effective training

Before switching to Articulate, just two individuals created training for the entire organization. Today, many teams create courses, scaling the breadth and depth of training and empowering employees across the organization to share their expertise.

Team members across departments build their own courses in Rise and Storyline, and thanks to the software’s intuitive nature and readily available training, employees can get up to speed quickly. “It’s opened up the breadth of what we’ve been able to provide for people,” he says.

It’s also proven to be highly cost-effective. “In an age where we’re trying to cut down on the amount of travel expenses, the ability to provide quality training right where [learners] are is massive,” says Auchenpaugh. “Without having Articulate tools, we’d be back to sending people all over the country, or world, to accommodate that training.” 

As more and more team members create their own courses, United Rentals’ culture of learning has steadily expanded. Course creators across departments meet regularly to discuss best practices, increasing consistency of training opportunities across the organization. This collaborative approach helps multiple teams create courses more quickly and easily, says Auchenpaugh. It is especially valuable for people who are just getting started creating training.

Auchenpaugh also appreciates Articulate’s focus on improvement and product development. He looks forward to what’s next: “Articulate has that idea of, We might be the best at what we do, but we can be better,” he says. “I’ve not worked with another software in any realm where I see that kind of commitment to making the product better and better.”

With Articulate 360, United Rentals scales training across the organization, empowering multiple teams to create their own training.