Video Arts, the learning content specialist, is providing 14 e-learning courses to Friends Life, a leading provider of pensions, investments and insurance.

The 14 courses cover leadership, management, customer service, communication, managing change and project management. They will be used as part of a new online learning library which Friends Life has created to improve the soft skills capabilities of 3,000 UK staff.

Martin Addison, CEO of Video Arts, said: “Online learning is a cost-effective way of providing quality training. Our e-learning courses provide an engaging and media-rich experience which caters for different learning preferences. By using these courses, Friends Life will be able to enhance its organisational capability and focus its face-to-face training on the areas where it will have the greatest impact.”

Managers at Friends Life can assign specific learning courses to particular individuals, to help them achieve their performance objectives. The courses will also be used to supplement mandatory training in areas such as customer service.

Jonathan Wright, Head of Organisational Development at Friends Life, said: “We have used Video Arts resources previously and we like their use of relevant and appropriate humour. Our colleagues now have a wealth of effective learning at their fingertips and they can choose not only what they want to learn but when and where they want to learn it.”

Friends Life plans to evaluate the success of its new online learning library using management information on which courses are being used and by whom.