Few companies skyrocket the way Airbnb has. Going from three airbeds in a living room to over 150 million users in over 6 millions homes, yurts, boats and more in 65,000 cities across the globe doesn’t happen by accident — it requires adapting at lightning speed.
That kind of growth is bound to cause some growing pains. In the midst of all Airbnb’s development (in the past three years alone, they’ve tripled their sales AND their headcount), learning wasn’t being prioritized by employees, managers were unprepared for their new roles, and skill gaps were turning into chasms.
Change was needed and it was needed fast. The challenges for Airbnb’s learning leaders were three-fold: ensuring that all employees have the right skills to pursue new markets, addressing the company’s challenges, and leading the organization into the future.
To that end, Airbnb has replaced the term “human resources” with “employee experience” to better reflect the role that function serves in the organization. And they got to work creating an “anytime, anywhere” learning model.
Top considerations included a platform that empowers business functions, teams, and employees to curate content and create their own curriculums and learning groups. Airbnb also sought to leverage the tremendous amount of subject matter expertise already present across the company through a platform that could connect experts to other employees.
They ultimately chose Degreed, and two years in, usage is at an all-time high. In the first year alone, adoption and active usage are averaging 9x what it was for the LMS it replaced, with more than 25,000 learning objects consumed. And the top learning program at Airbnb, Data University, is powered by Degreed.
Want more details? Our latest success story is 5 juicy pages on strategy, ecosystem, and a deep dive on their manager program and what Data University offers. Download it here.
Airbnb’s story is just one of many that will be featured at our annual barnburner: Degreed LENS 2019. But don’t take our word for it, Barry Murphy, Global Learning Lead at Airbnb said it was, “One of the best events I’ve been to. Loved it.” It all goes down October 9-10, at the JW Marriot in Austin, TX. The insight — and BBQ — will be waiting.
The post Case Study: How Airbnb Improved Leadership and Data Fluency Skills to Launch Into Hypergrowth appeared first on Degreed Blog.