Birch – The revolutionary platform that’s transforming learning

For the last few years, we’ve been busy building and taking on board client feedback to make sure Birch is the best possible learning platform that it can be – we’re so proud of how it’s grown and want to share with you the new developments and the ways that it’s helping tackle business challenges.

We developed our learning platform Birch four years ago from a belief that a culture of learning is essential for any business.

To create this culture, you need to have a successful online learning strategy that can develop the talent of your team and increase productivity, reduce costs, transfer knowledge, increase motivation, and strengthen organisational culture.

We believed that Birch could do just that and in a way that hadn’t been done before. We wanted to create a truly revolutionary learning experience.

From delivering learning solutions for over 20 years, we’ve had the chance to hear from our clients – what they enjoyed, what was challenging, why they thought certain things, and much more. From this, we knew that humans are natural learners, but unnecessary complexity or rigid frameworks dampen our innate drive to learn something new. If it feels too hard. We give up.

Sadly, many organisational learning systems in the market fall into this trap. We wanted to come up with a solution – and so developed Birch. Like the tree it’s named after, Birch is adaptable, pioneering, and promises growth and renewal.

By removing complexity and embracing flexibility, Birch creates an innovative learning platform that puts the humans who use it at the heart of its design. It can be used however an organisation needs and it’s capable of evolving. Because it’s so easy and intuitive, Birch enables people to rediscover their own ‘natural’ talent for learning.

The impact of a global pandemic on online learning

The last four years have been full of change – across all areas but especially within online learning.

A global pandemic that came out of nowhere, had a huge impact on online learning. Remote work became crucial with businesses having to adapt quickly.

From a client perspective, client visits came to a complete stop and virtual meetings became the norm. Clients started using Birch’s Event Element to facilitate virtual meetings for their employees. It was always there, but clients started utilising it more than ever before. This has not changed with virtual meetings still being more common.

Like everyone, we were concerned. We wondered if training would be seen as a luxury in an environment where people were so uncertain about the future. Maybe everyone would be focused on just doing the basics to get the job done. But thankfully we were proven wrong – as many businesses began to prioritise upskilling and reskilling their employees to prepare them for the changes brought about by the pandemic.

What’s new with Birch?

Now, four years on here are some of the key changes we’ve made, based on our experiences, customer feedback, and general advances in technology.

What our customers are saying

We’ve grown our customer base over the years and have a wide range of customers – from some of the most respected companies in Australia, across industries including aviation, aged care, health, and government. Our customers really are at the heart of what we do and we’re proud to have partnered with them to deliver dynamic and effective learning solutions.

How Birch has streamlined processes and improved learning experiences for one of Australia’s largest providers of aged care services

Birch has significantly helped ECH to develop as a learning organisation. By providing a centralised platform for delivering and managing learning resources, such as courses, training materials, and on-the-job assessments, our staff now have increased access to quality learning as it’s required. The increased ability to track progress and performance has been crucial in ensuring that our people have the knowledge and skills to perform their jobs effectively.

Birch is easy to use and has allowed ECH to streamline old, clunky processes, considerably improving learner experiences.

The support provided by B Online has been exceptional from day one. During the rollout of Birch, B Online was incredibly responsive and took the time to understand our unique requirements. Since then, we have found B Online always available to answer questions and provide us with the guidance we need. Their commitment to providing great service, innovative solutions, and ongoing support has made them an invaluable partner.

Lauren Simpson 
Learning & Capability Manager, ECH 

What lies ahead for Birch?

Birch Learning Platform was built to be a powerful, interoperable enterprise solution that adapts and changes as our client’s learning needs change.

So, one of the aspects we’re most proud of is the involvement of our clients. Our clients feel a real ownership of Birch, as they have direct input into Birch’s future direction.

We’re also proud to have developed a product that truly considers and engages everyone in its design.

The learner who can view their compliance graph on the dashboard and compete with other fellow learners to be 100% compliant.

The managers who at a glance can view their team member’s progress, action approvals, and reviews with one click.

The trainers who can manage events seamlessly, and view future events via reporting, with direct access to all event details, such as managing waitlists.

The system administrators who have complete control of the configuration of Birch, without the need for external support from B Online Learning.

We are passionate about the future of Birch and are focusing our capabilities on being the easiest-to-use yet most powerful LMS in the market while continuing to partner with our clients to solve real learning challenges.

Thank you to all the Birch clients who have been with us along the way and have helped us grow and enhance Birch.

For those wanting to know more about how Birch can solve your business challenges, please get in touch with us today.