Maersk builds virtual classrooms for far-flung workforce

Training programs are one of the most powerful tools a manager has for building skills, improving safety and efficiency, and retaining valuable workers. But ocean shipping giant Maersk faces a challenge in that regard—it's tough to send an employee to a trade show, corporate retreat, or skill-building symposium if the worker's job requires him or her to be on a ship at sea.

The company announced a potential solution last month, unveiling a partnership with Cornerstone OnDemand, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based provider of cloud-based talent-management software solutions.

Maersk will use "Cornerstone Learning," a learning management system, and "Cornerstone Connect," a social collaboration application, to manage its training and compliance programs. Together, the two software tools will give Maersk employees access to training courses and enable them to collaborate with their peers through mobile, offline, and collaborative platforms. That flexibility is critical for a company with 89,000 employees scattered across 130 countries.

Maersk expects to use the platform to host blended-learning courses, award certifications, and ensure regulatory compliance via instructor-led training, e-learning, and virtual learning. The system can also facilitate knowledge sharing, as employees submit their own content, learn about best practices, and teach each other through instructional videos.