In front of the computer screen, Mr. Terence Yeung is conducting a training course for the middle and senior executives of a company in a virtual environment. This is the new normal of online training for eTACSEN since 2020. It represents an important transition for eTACSEN from traditional training to blended training, an approach that combines both online and offline training.“Things are changing very rapidly. We must proceed with innovative ideas to cope with the changes,” says Mr. Terence Yeung, Founder, and CEO of eTACSEN.

As people attribute the growth of online training to COVID-19, Terence began to study the blended training mode back some 10 years ago. “The reason is simple. In this digital age, how people access information has fundamentally changed, so has the learning approach. The way to provide training for businesses now cannot be the same as before. With the rise of low-cost and learning-on-demand digital learning, the traditional classroom training for the masses is expected to decrease though we believe the overall training demand will increase. It is estimated that future classroom training will be reserved for skills practice and experiential activities, while online formats will be used for theories/concepts learning. It is possible that the classroom training will be mainly used for elites in the organization, such as executives and high-potential talents, regarding topics that require real-time interpersonal interaction to obtain higher returns on training investments. While COVID-19 accelerated the speed of change for sure last year, the trend for our clients’ change in preference for blended training approach has been obvious even without COVID-19,” Yeung explained.

In response to such momentum, Terence rode the wave with his team. At the beginning of the year 2020, the company launched a new corporate brand, adding an “e” before the original “TACSEN” (the Chinese translation of the name was changed from “得信” to “依得信”). On top of that, the company has established strategic cooperation with Skillsoft, the world's leading digital learning solution provider. The “e” represents the company’s digital initiatives to provide a holistic learning journey combining online and offline experiences. As a strong believer in their mission-“Your Partner for Results,” Terence and his team will continue to commit to providing superior quality and performance-driven services in partnership with their clients.

“Compared with many of our counterparts, our business was less impacted by COVID-19. I believe the reason is that we started to explore our way of digital transformation early,” says Yeung. Since 2017, eTACSEN has been identifying potential partnerships and ways to augment its services to clients. Online post-training follow-up and reinforcement was one good example.

“We don't just offer training courses. We offer practical solutions to ensure a smooth implementation for business results. To help our clients obtain maximum returns, we deep dive to understand the real needs of our clients and tailor our top-notch solutions to help them succeed. eTACSEN will remain committed to its mission of “Your Partner for Results” no matter how the business environment changes.” says Yeung.

The Original Intention:

Born and educated in Hong Kong, Yeung started his career with retailer Giordano which brought him in closer contact with client behavior and the fine art of managing client expectations.

From those early days, Yeung envisioned a future where he could take his experience and knowledge and make it part and parcel of other people's lives. “I want to see results, bring tangible, visible, accountable results to companies hiring us and that thinking has been our driving force, from day one.”

eTACSEN's work has found wide acceptance in Hong Kong, since its inception in 2002 and the company opened in Guangzhou in 2003 and in Macau in 2019. The commitment to fulfilling its mission of “Your Partner for Results” has won eTACSEN many awards in the training industry. It was recognized as The Hong Kong’s Most Valuable Company (2012), The Most Reliable Training Corporate Training Service (2013), and ranked Top 7 in China Training Industry (2017), and Talent Development Leader of The Year (2018), and more.

The Stage of Productization:

With the extensive experience of serving well-known companies at home and abroad, eTACSEN has identified a well-established and effective corporate training product development path, which combines Western management concepts and best practices with corporate management practices in Greater China. Starting in 2014, eTACSEN officially entered the stage of productization.The company transitioned from customized design to the stage of productization and has since introduced Wiley products: The Leadership Challenge ®, Everything DiSC®, and the Five Behaviors®. Proprietary programs, such as Change Enablement ^TM, Management Training Program, were also productized.

Mr. Terence Yeung was speaking at the Schneider Electric Global Supply Chain Leadership Forum China

“I always believe that training shouldn't just be a short-term benefit provided by the employer for its employees. It should be a tool that can truly improve the capabilities of employees. With this goal in mind, it’s necessary to render each course practical!” says Yeung.

In 2018, eTACSEN co-hosted the "Great Leadership Creates Great Workplaces" Forum with Wiley in Hong Kong. Barry Posner, one of the co-authors of the best-selling book The Leadership Challenge, was invited. The event attracted more than 300 business executives from the Greater China region.

FUTURE VISION

eTACSEN is committed to becoming a comprehensive learning solution provider in the next 10 years. Mr. Terence Yeung believes that the blended learning model combining online and offline approaches will be a comprehensive, well-designed, and effective means to help clients acquire the skills needed to succeed at the employee, team, and organizational levels. He also pointed out that, corporate training should aim to boost the performance of the company, and the solutions provided need to evolve with the company's ever-changing business goals.

“Looking forward, we will pay more attention to mobility and socialization in our solutions to provide a better learning experience for all learners. Beyond that, training programs need to be tightly integrated with the business of our clients. We will commit to developing more “Project-Based” programs with the following characteristics:

• Require cross-team learning and collaboration;
• Tie with projects that add real business value to the company, not simply “training homework”;
• Training programs that support learners to better deliver values via the above projects;
• Blended approach – key concepts via online, practice, and experiential learning via offline;
• A digital project management tool that supports project implementation;
• Regular coaching and milestone review to ensure successful value delivery.”

“We need to ensure that eTACSEN remains “Your Partner for Results” despite the world, technology, working habits change. Delivering real value to our clients has always been our core mission,” concludes Yeung.