Lähitaksi is a taxi dispatch center founded by drivers in 1965. Its approximately 1400 cars and over 3000 drivers take customers in Finland to their destinations every day of the year. Lähitaksi makes use of Vuolearning’s learning platform in training their drivers. The platform has made training their large and diverse driver group easy.
E-learning platform brings meaning and enthusiasm to learning
“There is no legal definition for the kind of training a taxi driver needs, which means our customers define our training needs. We conducted customer research into what constitutes a good taxi driver. The most important criterion was local knowledge, so that is why we decided to focus our concentration on training first,” says Lähitaksi training coordinator Tanja Tervalahti.
Local knowledge training started in a traditional way, by teaching the drivers in a classroom, led by a teacher. It was soon found, however, that more meaningfulness, gamification, and elements that pull the drivers in and make them enthusiastic about learning were needed. These were some of the elements sought by moving the training online.
These days, Lähitaksi trains their drivers by making use of an e-learning platform e.g. the previously mentioned local knowledge, device training, and Kela’s taxi transport practices. Some of the organization’s training is still conducted in person, but in order to save time and streamline training processes, themes that can be studied independently online have been identified from among the courses. Good quality learning results are achieved by combining in-person teaching and e-learning.
Once the training materials have been implemented onto the Vuolearning platform, the drivers can study them when and where it best suits them. Training is compelling and, for example, it is easy to train in local knowledge while waiting for customers at a taxi stand.
Ease of use and willingness to serve are Vuolearning’s aces in the hole
Tervalahti tells that Lähitaksi looked into a few different service providers when choosing an e-learning platform. They ended up with Vuolearning due to its ease of use, updateability, and expertise.
Tervalahti was impressed with the system’s ease of use from the first touch and has felt it effortless to operate. It is amazing that there is no need for long manuals or training to begin using the platform and implementing it is easily accessible:
“Ease of use is definitely Vuolearning’s ace in the hole. Anybody can easily use it and create courses without long introductory training.”
The taxi business and the world, in general, are in constant flux, so it is critical to be able to make even small changes to the materials quickly and smoothly, without further expenses. Lähitaksi found it vital that the materials are effortless to edit and that those edits can be done in-house without having to rely on an external service provider or system to implement updates. The materials are easily modified, and updates become seamlessly visible to the users on the Vuolearning platform.
In addition to the ease of use and updateability, Tervalahti values Vuolearning’s expertise and willingness to serve. She says Vuolearning’s customer representative understood Lähitaksi’s needs from the first meeting and could describe how the platform might best serve their needs.
After implementing the platform, Tervalahti has been impressed with Vuolearning’s way of developing the platform together with customers. New features are constantly introduced to the platform and customer requests are reacted to briskly.
“It feels that you want to genuinely listen to your customers and provide a learning platform that corresponds to their needs. Each customer is important to you,” describes Tervalahti.
The selection also emphasized Vuolearning’s domesticity. A Finnish learning platform ended up as Lähitaksi’s choice, as having a user-interface and customer support in Finnish make everyday use of the platform easier.
Training a large and diverse target group is easily achieved
A large and diverse target group strongly determines Lähitaksi’s training activities and needs. The fact that even thousands of users have taken part in one course paints a vivid picture of the size of the target group. Even so, Tervalahti says user administration is smooth:
“Our courses have drivers from all over Finland, meaning the target group is massive. However, administrating the users has been easy on the Vuolearning platform for example with groups.”
In addition to the size of the target group, its attributes also vary wildly, which has to be taken into account in training and platform selection. The age distribution of the drivers ranges from students to people nearing retirement age, which means their digital skills and capabilities vary greatly. It was important for Lähitaksi to find a platform that could be easily used by both skilled and beginner smart device users, both on computers and mobile devices.
Tervalahti states the Vuolearning platform proved a splendid choice for many kinds of learners. Even beginners in digital device use are now fluent users and have made it easy to use the platform. Adopting the e-learning platform has encouraged many drivers to explore other digital systems as well due to such a positive experience with one system.
In addition to digital skills, the drivers’ language skills also vary greatly. That is why Tervalahti emphasizes the importance of clear language. In addition to clear language, it has been possible to support the understandability of the text with visual material such as images and videos, as well as activating assignments.
It pays to invest in training practices
Lähitaksi has noticed that meticulously produced training materials and courses breed good-quality learning results and positive feedback from the drivers. When training and its methods are built with the learners’ needs in mind, the learners are happy to study the courses.
Thoughtful work leads to a training ensemble that serves both the drivers and the customers. Additionally, further development of the courses continues based on feedback and past experiences.
“When it comes to training, Vuolearning will continue to ride along with Lähitaksi,” summarizes Tervalahti.