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Solaris Law Success Story
Discover how one legal firm gave their employees time back – without compromising on compliance.
Business size
~200 employees
Industry
Financial Services, Legal
The Challenge: Time-poor Teams, Time-heavy Training
Solaris Law, part of AZ Associates, specialises in debt collection for businesses and consumers. Operating in a heavily regulated environment, their teams, including a department of solicitors, must complete mandatory compliance training every year. But with caseloads mounting and training modules running up to two hours each, something had to give.
The team faced a common dilemma: how do you maintain rigorous compliance standards without pulling experienced staff away from billable work for training they've completed year after year?
"We work with colleagues across the organisation, from customer engagement, paralegal teams, support functions, and solicitors—everyone is incredibly busy with their day‑to‑day work. Expecting them to complete eLearning courses that take one to two hours isn’t always practical, so I’m focused on giving them time back wherever possible."
The Idea: What If We Flipped the Model?
After implementing Access LMS Evo, the Solaris Law team spotted an opportunity. Instead of requiring every employee to sit through full length courses annually, what if they tested knowledge first and only assigned full training to those who needed it?
Working with their existing Access eLearning content, they created bite size refresher courses. Each one contains the course summary, a recap video, and a targeted assessment. The result? A 20 minute module instead of a one to two hour course.
"When you've got people in the business that have been here for twenty years, they've probably done some form of this course every single year religiously. We're offering them a quick version that tests the knowledge."
How It Works
The approach is elegantly simple:
"If you've already done it in the last twelve months, you get a shorter version. If you fail that shorter version after two attempts, then we make you do the full course."
The Results: 199 out of 200
The pilot launched in January. By the second month, the results spoke for themselves:
- 199 out of 200 employees passed the bite size assessment
- Only 1 person needed to be enrolled in the full course
- Training time reduced from one to two hours to just 20 minutes for most staff
- Positive feedback from across the business on respecting employees' time
"We genuinely did get positive feedback from the business to say it was appreciated that we'd thought of ways to lower the amount of time spent on the modules."
Why It Works
The initiative succeeds because it respects both compliance requirements and employee intelligence. Experienced staff aren't forced to sit through content they've mastered, while the assessment ensures genuine knowledge gaps are caught and addressed.
Crucially, Access LMS Evo gave the team the flexibility to build this themselves. Using eCreator, they assembled the bite size courses from existing content, including summaries, handouts, and recap videos, without needing external development or additional costs.
"We didn't realise that actually, we've got the creative power to create our own shorter versions. You can usually have what you want. You just need to ask the right questions. We've made it work and it works perfect."
Beyond Bite Size: A Complete Compliance Transformation
The bite-size initiative is part of a broader transformation at Solaris Law. Since moving to Access LMS Evo, the team has:
Turned their compliance scores around—everyone now completes training within required timeframes
Automated weekly reporting that previously took hours of manual work every Thursday
Discovered cost savings through the content library, avoiding £300 per person external training
Empowered line managers to monitor team compliance through intuitive dashboards
"We've literally turned our compliance score around and now everyone is completing the learning within the timescale. The monthly reporting, the weekly reporting, the reminders... it's been really useful for getting people into the mentality of 'I do need to do this within the thirty days.'"
Advice for Other Organisations
For organisations considering a similar approach, the Solaris Law team recommends coming prepared, but also being open to what's possible:
"For new businesses with Access Learning, forget what you know about the learning world. We came thinking we had to do these mandatory one hour or two hour sessions. There's lots of flexibility for what you need as a business and for the users, which is really good."
— Chris Wilkinson, Learning & Development, Solaris Law
Access Learning Solutions Used
- Access LMS Evo: Learning Management System
- Access eLearning: GRC courses and Financial Services compliance content
- eCreator: To build bite-size refresher courses
- Customer Success Services: Dedicated support and onboarding