5 reasons Softcat use inrehearsal to support skill growth

Softcat is growing rapidly, with constantly shifting needs across the business.

This means the L&D team can’t always offer full, bespoke, in-person workshops every time a new need arises.

Instead, they were looking for a content partner that could offer practical expert insight — in formats that fit their culture, and through a growing library that could respond to emerging skill needs.

They found that with inrehearsal, and we spoke with Daryl Wood (L&D Manager at Softcat) to understand what that partnership has enabled their L&D team to do.

1. inrehearsal helps Softcat align learning to real skills

A big focus for Softcat is making sure learning connects directly to the skills people actually need in their roles — now and as they progress.

“We’re looking at what skills people need to develop throughout their career, what capabilities they need to get from the role they’re in now to the role they want to be in next year.”

As part of that work, the team maps which learning is available to support each skill area — and where inrehearsal fits into that picture.

“We can align some of the inrehearsal videos and boxsets to say: if you’re looking to top up on this capability, check out this boxset, check out this podcast, and then people can be doing those little bits throughout the year to continuously push their skills.”

2. The coaching-style videos really resonate

Coaching has always been really popular in our business, so seeing a lot of the video format that inrehearsal use, with that one-on-one dynamic, it’s something that landed really well with our audiences.”

When Daryl recommends content to employees, it’s often because someone has a real challenge they’re trying to work through — and wants to solve it with expert support.

Because inrehearsal content is broken down into clear, usable ideas, people can watch something and immediately apply it — without having to carve out lots of time.

“They’re able to immediately take those tips and apply them because they’re broken down in a way that’s useful.”

3. There’s always new and interesting content (on emerging, human skills)

Softcat also value the addition of fresh, topical content to the inrehearsal library, which happens every month.

“It’s almost like you can read my mind sometimes. We’ll think, ‘we need something around design thinking’ — and a design thinking boxset has just been released.

“Or maybe we’re really focusing on high-performing teams, and here’s the high-performing teams boxset.”

4. Employees are getting expertise on tap

“It’s giving people expertise, on tap, as and when they need it. These are brilliant trainers, who are experts in their field, who are able to articulate their points in a way that lands with the person watching it.”

Because the content is broken down clearly, people can apply what they’ve learned immediately — without having to carve out lots of time.

“And the bite-sized format meant that we could use those little snippets that were most impactful, and people could fit it into their day.”

5. It’s not cheesy, meaning it feels relatable

Given that they can’t create those bespoke, in-person workshops for every situation, Softcat were looking for learning content that still felt human.

“Something that still felt quite personable, and wasn’t this cheesy animation that we saw in a lot of places.”

They were also clear about tone — wanting “something that felt like it still had that more grown-up tone to it.”

Looking for expert-led learning that supports real skill growth — without the cheesy stuff? We’d love to talk.