Using market research to launch flexible, accessible corporate training

Today’s fast-changing business environment has created a rising demand for education that offers just-in-time skill development so professionals can grow and make an immediate impact in their careers. In
2018, Athabasca University (AU) considered this shift and saw an opportunity to launch an innovative, digital micro-learning department founded on three guiding principles: just-in-time, just-enough, and just-for-me.
Facing the tight budget and timelines familiar to anyone who has attempted to launch a new initiative at a Canadian institution, a team within AU saw the potential to reach a different group of learners. They had the vision to turn the opportunity into a tangible offering, but the execution would need to be right the first time. With this in mind, halfway between Edmonton and Banff, inaugural AU PowerED™ director Jessica Scotmade a phone call to Academica Group.

Academica researchers and the AU team put their heads together to narrow down the list of questions that would need to be answered before the university could safely and confidently launch its new programming.
Those questions were: What other schools are we up against? Who would be our best audience and what are their needs? What courses both match AU’s strengths and meet professionals’ needs?
Academica first embarked on an environmental scan to provide a better understanding of the landscape of non-credit education and corporate training in Canada and the United States. Academica and AU then collaborated to survey AU’s enthusiastic alumni to identify topics of interest or need, the barriers that alumni faced when trying to pursue further education, and the incentives and marketing that could help alumni overcome these barriers. Finally, Academica and AU reached to trainers and human resources managers from across Canada to better understand corporate needs, preferences, and barriers when it came to professional development.