Dutch startup 5miles prepares professionals and businesses for a changing world

Technology-driven start-ups increasingly disrupt existing business models. Traditional companies are often not agile enough to react to this. Their employees lack the skills to gather new insights from data or develop new business opportunities.

The Dutch startup 5miles helps solve this problem by offering daily micro-learning opportunities to professionals so they can develop their analysis-, business-, and presentation skills. “Within KPMG, we strive to offer our employees the best Development Experience,” said Alex Baggerman, Head of People Development and Reward at KPMG.

“Additionally, our professionals must be given the opportunity to continuously improve their data, analytical and presentation skills. In 5miles we found a partner that helps our organisation meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. 5miles also provides a personal learning experience because the program adapts to the knowledge level and learning tempo of each employee. This makes the learning method of 5miles effective.”

Respond to disruption

Chris van Voorden, one of the two co-founders of 5miles, said, “Traditional companies continue to be challenged by the speed and extent of technological change. If their employees have the right skills, they can become more resilient in the face of these challenges. That’s why we launched 5miles – a learning platform which gives professionals the skills they need today, in just five minutes a day. Through this, they future-proof their skills to maximise their potential, and empower their organisation to profit from new insights and innovations. With 5miles, we ensure businesses with a rich history are better prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.”

Saving time

Thanks to 5miles, professionals save on an average, two hours a week because they are more efficient. In addition, they are able to make higher quality analyses and presentations, which leads to better decisions.

Professionals are taught how to work with data today, as well as tomorrow – they will be able to work with big data and in the future, with AI-driven decision-making. It is crucial for corporates to help their employees develop these skills, if they are to sustain their advantage in the market.

Learning with impact

The way in which learning is organised within your traditional large organisation is often inadequate, says Van Voorden. “Day-long courses have little effect: people often only remember 20 percent of what is taught each day. This is why we came up with a low-key learning solution. As the challenges (which are based on real situations) are repeated, the learning result from 5miles is significantly higher than from traditional trainings, such as classroom courses and online videos. Employees are also more likely to do the training, because the time commitment is less intimidating.”

Make training fun again

Van Voorden notes that training is often perceived as obligatory. “This creates resistance to learning, similar to how children experience school. Budgets for learning are also often not fully spent. That is such a shame, it means that there is so much lost potential – both for the employee and the organisation. Employees enjoy our challenges, which makes our learning methodology more effective – it leads to results.”