Karen Dias

At Transdev, innovation is at the core of what we do as a business. We are a mobility company that moves the world forward with innovative transport solutions.

Our workforce of 5600+ ‘Journey Makers’ in the ANZ region connect diverse communities across modes of transport such as buses, light rail, ferries, and heavy rail.

Over the past three years, Transdev has committed to creating a stronger future for this remote workforce by enabling best practices in People Technology by helping to keep all our teams connected – whether they are driving a bus or working in an office team.

A key principle that guides us in connecting our teams is technology that fits in with our employees’ everyday life.

A mobile app, mytransdev, connects our remote frontline workforce to all key Transdev news and key policies and information they need to know from their mobile device.

We were one of the first public transport operators to embed this tool in our workforce which helped connect more than 5000 of our frontline employees to Transdev on the go via their mobile.Even 4 years since implementation, we see average engagement rates of well over 80 percent as our employees not only check their roster or work-related information, but also share and post photos and updates with their teammates.

This app is now supported by a new people information platformwork@transdev– a central hub that was co-designed with business SMEs to fully digitise the employee experience.

The hub gives 24/7 access so that wherever they are, employees can check key employment information and also access our dynamic Learning Management System (LMS). This gives our people a chance to take control of their learning journey so they can complete training in their own time and pace  – from safety compliance courses to personal development micro-learning courses.

It represents an exciting milestone at Transdev, as we have digitised the employee experience providing our teams with access to a 24/7 secure digital hub and gateway to manage all their vital employee services and benefits from anywhere, at any time and on any device, including a mobile device.

Investing in our talent

As an organisation, we invest and prioritise building the capabilities and competencies of our people.

First and foremost, Transdev has made employee growth and learning a part of its strategic planning. By taking this top-down approach, the business understands the importance placed on training and the intrinsic training culture of Transdev. This cultural emphasis on learning and development allows employees to recognise learning and growth as integral to their work. Transdev's training strategy aims to enable, support, and facilitate the implementation of Transdev's strategic directions and priorities by providing robust training solutions to employees.

"A key principle that guides us in connecting our teams is technology that fits in with our employees’ everyday life"

With the majority of Transdev employees in the frontline, remote working customer-focused positions, serving communities across Australia and New Zealand, it is imperative that Transdev designs develop and delivers training solutions accessible to all employees.

Transdev's frontline remote workforce work a variety of shift patterns across multiple modes of transport.

They are not based in a typical office environment - their offices are buses, ferries and light rail vehicles crisscrossing our capital cities, delivering customers safely to their destinations. Transdev believes in delivering training programs that are flexible, aligned to the strategic direction of the business and can be easily accessed by employees, no matter their location.

This became particularly important during the pandemic in 2020-2021, with classroom delivery training ceasing.In 2020, Transdev invested in a new Learning Management System, which revolutionised the way training was delivered within Transdev. This online learning platform became a powerful tool for employees to ensure they remained skilled and compliant in their profession while maintaining an essential service to the Australian public and limiting their time within Transdev depot and office environments.

This online learning platform was piloted within Transdev's Sydney bus business in July 2021, with over 700 bus drivers completing their annual refresher training via the platform within four weeks, as opposed to the traditional face-to-face delivery method, which would have to be completed over several months.

This was a ground-breaking in our industry. The return on investment is on achieving this goal efficiently and more innovatively. Each employee has the flexibility to develop and execute their own customised learning program to address their individual challenges and opportunities presented in a rapidly evolving labour shortage marketplace.

Our Area Manager for Transdev's Sydney bus business, Misho Stojanoski, played an integral role in launching the learning platform into the business and immediately saw the benefits.

"The launch of the learning platform into Transdev during 2021 was welcomed by the business with great excitement. It is easy to use and intuitive for our users. Launched during COVID, it gave our employees a positive distraction from the daily challenges experienced operating in a frontline position during the pandemic. Not only was the business able to complete operational compliance training in a safe and timely manner via the platform, but it allowed our employees access to a suite of over 700 training courses on various topics from wellbeing, IT, customer service and safety at their fingertips and focus on their professional development based on their interest and needs".

Head of Learning, Capabilities and Training Standards, Kiersten Hocking, continues to see the benefits to the business, "This significant technological investment has allowed Transdev to revolutionise the way our employees learn. With a diverse workforce, this online platform allows the business to reach all employees, focusing on their development in a way that operationally aligns with the challenges of a business that operates 24/7".

The journey to make learning technology anintegral part at Transdev has been a challenging one especially given our remote and multigenerational workforce. However, it has been received with positivity by our remote working employees, and they are excited about its benefits on a daily basis.

Transdev remains committed and agile to making technology work for our people. We want to empower them along their journey at Transdev, wherever they happen to work.