The following is a list of frequently asked questions about the company and its product: Open eLMS.
tenders > company facts > social value > community benefits > overview
Question
Does Open eLMS typically provide community benefits to its clients?
Answer
Open eLMS are passionate about the power that education has to level the playing field and encourage social mobility. Open eLMS can contribute to this goal by offering the client a learning portal for the local community.
Open eLMS will freely set up and host a public facing portal where learning will be made available to encourage financial inclusion and teach life skills. This learning will either get people back to work or enable self-improvement.
People in the local community will be able to set up accounts for a variety of learning needs:
tenders > company facts > social value > employee benefits > profit share
Question
What socially aware characteristics are present in the business?
Answer
Open eLMS is a socially aware company, donating 20% of profits back to its employees and spending a significant amount of time each year on socially aware free projects. The company has issued a number of free courses to assist with social causes, the most recent being the Coronavirus Awareness course, now used globally to help combat the disease – and Black Lives Matter – see https://openelms.com/course-list/ – to increase awareness of this important issue in society and business.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > carbon offsetting
Question
How does Open eLMS manage/mitigate negative climate change impacts associated with the production, distribution, and disposal of the learning experience software?
Answer
Open eLMS commits, where possible, to use green energy providers. This does not leave a zero carbon footprint, as green energy is not used at all work locations due to lack of availability.
To this end, senior management contribute a proportion of their salary to carbon reduction projects through payroll giving. No analysis has been carried out to quantify this, but it is pretty certain that such offsetting activities would produce a new zero carbon footprint of the company as a whole. The company’s carbon footprint is audited annually and the carbon offset each year.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > carbon reduction
Question
Is Open eLMS a carbon dioxide reducing company?
Answer
Open eLMS is a net carbon reducer and to this end offset the carbon via donations to a tree planting scheme. The company has set up a scheme to plant trees to offset 5,000 Kg of carbon every month (far and above the 2,984 Kg emitted by the business in 2022).
This gives an estimate of Open eLMS a Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) of 24,192 Kg CO2e/y.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > carbon reduction
Question
What carbon reduction measures are in place which affect day to day operations?
Answer
All employees are aware of the need to reduce carbon consumption, to this end they undertake ISO 5001 training and attest to the company’s Environmental & Sustainability Policy (see Appendix for details).
Open eLMS is passionate about protecting the environment and adhering to its responsibilities to reversing climate change. In 2020, the company went paperless and continues to take measures to reduce its carbon footprint and work towards zero emissions (e.g. using a zero emissions energy supplier for gas and electricity). KPIs which have significantly reduced in the last year are:
Brochure expenditure
Stationary expenditure
Postage expenditure
Mileage expenditure
Face to face meetings
All suppliers are made aware of – and asked contractually to adhere to the company’s code of conduct.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > climate change
Question
Describe four ways in which climate change could be addressed through a contract with Open eLMS.
Answer
1. The Open eLMS Classroom service allows system users to conduct face to face training, toolbox talks, and presentations without needing to travel to a training centre, etc. This has huge benefits in reducing carbon emissions and energy costs surrounding running a training facility.
2. Open eLMS uses Azure Cloud with market leading carbon reduction policies (zero deforestation, 100% renewable energy by 2025, water positive and zero waste by 2030).
3. The company practices market leading environmental policy (including subsidising home working heating if using a totally green energy supplier).
4. Open eLMS are committed to reversing the effects of climate change, the company has set up a payroll giving scheme from which senior managers have committed up to 5% of their salary to carbon reduction charities.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > climate change
Question
What environmental/climate change measures are taken by Open eLMS Ltd.?
Answer
All employees undertake ISO 5001 / ISO 14001 training and attest to the company’s Environment Policy which detail the company’s ‘Energy Management Policy’.
Open eLMS is passionate about protecting the environment and adhering to its responsibilities to reversing climate change. In 2020 the company went paperless and continues to take measures to reduce its carbon footprint and work towards zero emissions (e.g. using a zero emissions energy supplier for gas and electricity). Key KPIs which have significantly reduced in the last year are:
Brochure expenditure
Stationary expenditure
Postage expenditure
Mileage expenditure
Face to face meetings
All suppliers are made aware of – and asked contractually to adhere to our code of conduct (available from the footer of Open eLMS’ website). This section of the code sets out Open eLMS’s environmental efforts.
The Open eLMS Classroom service allows system users to conduct face to face training, toolbox talks and presentations without needing to travel to a training centre etc. This has huge benefits in reducing carbon emissions and energy costs surrounding running a training facility.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > EMS training
Question
What internal EMS training is in place within Open eLMS?
Answer
All employees undertake ISO 5001/ ISO 14001 training and attest to the company’s Environment Policy which details the company’s ‘Energy Management Policy’.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > medium description
Question
What Social value is offered by Open eLMS?
Answer
Open eLMS is a socially aware company, donating 20% of profits back to its employees and spending a significant amount of time each year on socially aware free projects. The company has issued a number of free courses to assist with social causes, the most recent being the ‘Coronavirus Awareness’ course, now used globally to help combat the disease and ‘Black Lives Matter’ to increase awareness of this important issue in society and business. Open eLMS also maintains and runs the drugs training for free website for zero income to the company.
On many projects Open eLMS will offer to freely set up and host a customer facing portal where learning will be made available to encourage financial inclusion and teach life skills to enable people to either get back to work or for self-improvement. The elearning includes 25 courses covering:
* Universal Credit
* Debt Relief
* Tenant Housing
In 2020 the company went paperless and continues to take measures to reduce its carbon footprint. Key KPIs which have significantly reduced in the last year are:
Brochure expenditure (again paperless!)
Stationary expenditure
Postage expenditure
Mileage expenditure
Face to face meetings
All employees undertake ISO 5001/ ISO 14001 training and attest to the company’s Environment Policy which detail the company’s Energy Management Policy.
In addition, all suppliers are made aware of – and asked contractually to adhere to the company’s code of conduct which sets out Open eLMS’s environmental efforts.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > minimise impact
Question
How does Open eLMS minimise its environmental impact?
Answer
Open eLMS is passionate about protecting the environment and adhering to its responsibilities to reversing climate change. In 2020, the company went paperless and continues to take measures to reduce its carbon footprint. KPIs which have significantly reduced in the last year are: Brochure expenditure, Stationary expenditure, Postage expenditure, Mileage expenditure and Face to face meetings .
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > Open eLMS Classroom
Question
What are the Environmental Benefits of Open eLMS Classroom?
Answer
The Open eLMS Classroom service allows system users to conduct face to face training, toolbox talks and presentations without needing to travel to a training centre etc. This has huge benefits in reducing carbon emissions and energy costs surrounding running a training facility.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > supplier impact
Question
How does Open eLMS minimise the environmental impact of its suppliers
Answer
Open eLMS uses Azure Cloud with market-leading carbon reduction policies (zero deforestation, 100% renewable energy by 2025, water positive, and zero waste by 2030).
All suppliers are made aware of – and asked contractually to adhere to – the company’s code of conduct (a copy of which is on the company’s website – ‘https://openelms.com/code-of-conduct/’ ). Section 6.1 of the code sets out Open eLMS’s environmental efforts.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > sustainability training
Question
Do Open eLMS personnel undertake sustainability training?
Answer
All employees undertake ISO 5001/ ISO 14001 training and attest to the company’s ‘Environment Policy’ which detail the company’s ‘Energy Management Policy’.
Open eLMS is passionate about protecting the environment and adhering to its responsibilities to reversing climate change. In 2020 the company went paperless and continues to take measures to reduce its carbon footprint. Key KPIs which have significantly reduced in the last year are: Brochure expenditure, Stationary expenditure, Postage expenditure, Mileage expenditure and Face to face meetings.
All suppliers are made aware of – and asked contractually to adhere to the company’s code of conduct (available on the Open eLMS’ website).
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > sustainable hosting
Question
What sustainable hosting practices are in place (including power management commitments)?
Answer
Open eLMS does not host the Open eLMS service directly, instead it hosts the service on the cloud using Microsoft Azure. A 2018 study (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=56950) found that using this cloud platform can be up to 93 per cent more energy-efficient and up to 98 per cent more carbon efficient than on-premises solutions.
Open eLMS selected this service over others largely due to its sustainable practices and commitments including:
Practising zero deforestation from new construction
A commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2025
Water positive by 2030
Zero waste by 2030
Within Open eLMS, the company uses Green energy suppliers (gas and electricity) where possible and offers subsidies for home workers where this is available.
tenders > company facts > social value > environmental benefits > sustainable software
Question
Why is Open eLMS Classroom intrinsically sustainable?
Answer
The Open eLMS Classroom service allows system users to conduct face to face training, toolbox talks, and presentations without needing to travel to a training centre, etc. This has huge benefits in reducing carbon emissions and energy costs surrounding running a training facility.
tenders > company facts > social value > equality and diversity > employee diversity
Question
How and why applicant and staff equality data is monitored and for which characteristics?
Answer
At Open eLMS, diversity is better than average for an IT company with nearly half of all workers identifying as coming from an ethnic minority and 2 senior managers being female. It is accepted though that more needs to be done.
Before every interview, an anonymised monitoring questionnaire is emailed to the candidate to record their personal characteristics. This data will be used to analyse objectively the fairness of the selection process. This form collects data on Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Age, Disability, and Religion. This form is also sent out to any staff who require it to update their information held on file.
The equality and diversity data is communicated to Open eLMS’s board annually via its managing director and part of the company’s annual report to shareholders. This information is designed to affect policy and drive change within the organisation.
tenders > company facts > social value > equality and diversity > policy
Question
How often is EDI monitored in Open eLMS Ltd.?
Answer
Open eLMS has an active ‘Equality and Diversity policy’ and monitors equality in the organisation on an annual basis which makes up part of the company’s annual report to shareholders.
tenders > company facts > social value > equality and diversity > supply chain
Question
How is ED&I is managed within Open eLMS’ supply chain, including contractual conditions with tier 1 suppliers?
Answer
All third party suppliers attest to Open eLMS’s ethical purchasing policy, which states that “Participants should be committed to a workplace free of harassment and unlawful discrimination. Companies shall not engage in discrimination or harassment based on race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, ethnicity or national origin, disability, pregnancy, religion, political affiliation, union membership, covered veteran status, protected genetic information or marital status in hiring and employment practices such as wages, promotions, rewards, and access to training. Workers shall be provided with reasonable accommodation for religious practices. In addition, workers or potential workers should not be subjected to medical tests, including pregnancy or virginity tests, or physical exams that could be used in a discriminatory way”.
Open eLMS visits every supplier where reasonably practicable, if this is not possible, it seeks references as to the working conditions and its commitment to sustainability, ED&I, etc.
A copy of this document can be found in Appendix 2. Please note Open eLMS only employs one subcontractor from a long standing and trusted supplier. The supplier is signed up to the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct in the company’s Ethical Purchasing Policy. This is embedded into the contract with the company – Cubet (https://cubettech.com).
Open eLMS are aligned to the SUSTAIN Supply Chain Code of Conduct and would be willing to attest to this document as part of any contractual obligation.
tenders > company facts > social value > fair work practices > measures taken
Question
How does Open eLMS commit to fair work practices for workers (including any agency or subcontractor workers) engaged in the delivery of a contract?
Answer
Simply put, at Open eLMS we are not in business to make a profit, instead we aim to make a difference. Our core values of honesty, fairness, and inclusion are inherent in what we supply and how we treat people (clients and employees).
Open eLMS walks the walk – we are committed to the fair working practices outlined within our code of conduct (linked from the company’s website at ‘https://www.e-learningwmb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/eLearningWMBLU20210701CodeofConduct.pptx.pdf’.)
Material difference made by the company include:
Sustainability commitments (reducing carbon footprint through internal measures, subsidising green energy for employees, company scheme donating to related charities, etc.)
Donations to local charities through sponsorship
Suppliers are paid on the day of receiving invoices
Generous bonus scheme and well above living wage for all employees
Sizeable share ownership amongst most staff
These are real measures which demonstrate our commitment to fair working practices.
Regarding suppliers, Open eLMS only employs one subcontractor from a long standing and trusted supplier. The supplier is signed up to the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct and the company’s ‘Ethical Purchasing Policy’.
The subcontractor deals with development systems only and has no access to any Personally Identifiable Information as controlled by the company’s password management system and ‘Password Policy’.
Both the ‘Ethical Purchasing Policy’ and ‘Password Policy’ are included in the appendices of this document.
Open eLMS is aligned to the ‘SUSTAIN Supply Chain Code of Conduct’ and would be willing to attest to this document as part of any contractual obligation.
tenders > company facts > social value > financial inclusion > free learning
Question
What financial inclusion are available to a typical project?
Answer
Learning is available from Open eLMS which will tell customers where they can get social assistance when needed. The elearning includes:
Universal Credit Series (What is Universal Credit, Universal Credit – Money Management and Responsibilities, Universal Credit – Working, Universal Credit – Self Employment, Universal Credit – Housing, Universal Credit – Children and Childcare, Universal Credit – Health Conditions and Disabilities)
Debt Relief Series (Introduction to Debt: StepChange Debt Charity, About Debt: StepChange Debt Charity, Referring a Tenant: StepChange Debt Charity, Housing Debt Case Studies: StepChange Debt Charity)
Tenant Housing Training (Home Ownership, Welfare Reform Tenants)
tenders > company facts > social value > quality jobs > structure and training
Question
How does Open eLMS create of quality jobs with excellent training opportunities?
Answer
Open eLMS believes in empowering its employees to be the best that they can be. The company has an internal training portal where employees are encouraged to improve their knowledge and learn new skills (internl LMS at https://lms.e-learningwmb.co.uk/internaltraining/login).
Open eLMS has a flat management structure which empowers all employees to make decisions and have ownership for their product areas. True to the ergonomics principles the company has been founded on, there are no cogs in wheels at Open eLMS – everyone is an integral machine in their own right!
tenders > company facts > social value > reskilling > back to work
Question
What back to work training is available from Open eLMS?
Answer
Job hunting series includes ‘Preparing for a job interview’ and ‘Writing a CV’ and more – specifically learning programmes on:
Advertising and Media
Creative Content
Digital Marketing
e-Learning Creation
Junior Journalist
Sales Practitioner
Team Leader/ Supervisor
tenders > company facts > social value > reskilling > free learning
Question
What are the benefits of Open eLMS offering free learning?
Answer
Open eLMS believe that good quality learning can deliver real benefits in changing people’s lives. Schools and colleges have been hit hard by the pandemic, with the private sector generally being more successful with greater resources at their disposal. To this end Open eLMS welcomes opportunities such as this one provided by the client to provide all its services and learning content free of charge. It is hoped that this will narrow the education gap in secondary education and allow all students to achieve their full potential.
tenders > company facts > social value > reskilling > TOMS framework
Question
How does Open eLMS measure using the TOMS Framework Value?
Answer
The amount of training provided can have a real effect on lives, from increasing social mobility through improved education, to helping people getting on the employment ladder.
The amount of free training to the average client is approximately 200 hours, should for example 1,000 of the client’s customers take up this offer then the potential for social value is immense, TOMS Framework value calculates this as a £21,144,542 target contribution to social & local economic value.
tenders > company facts > social value > social benefits > social learning
Question
How is social inclusion increased through using Open eLMS?
Answer
Open eLMS brings people together by allowing learners to post blogs which can be shared amongst the user groups. Ideas can also be raised on public forums and customers and staff can communicate through Zoom or Teams.
tenders > company facts > social value > social enterprise > employee ownership
Question
Do employees own the business?
Answer
Open eLMS is run for the benefit of its employees, where half the staff have significant shares in the business and all staff share in the profits of the business. Outside these numeration schemes, ALL staff get paid well in excess of the UK National Living Wage rates. This leads to high staff retention rates of good employees, with most employees having worked for the company in excess of 5 years.
tenders > company facts > social value > wellbeing > employees/subcontractors
Question
How does Open eLMS protect the wellbeing of its employees and subcontractors?
Answer
Open eLMS provides support for the mental well being for its staff and clients. The company provides a free course on Mental Wellbeing and Mindfulness (avaiable at https://openelms.com/portfolio/mental-wellbeing-and-mindfulness/).