{"id":2656,"date":"2021-06-28T08:52:44","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T07:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ltgplc.wpengine.com\/?p=2656"},"modified":"2021-06-28T08:52:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T07:52:44","slug":"behind-the-deal-why-ltg-acquired-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/news\/behind-the-deal-why-ltg-acquired-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Deal: Why LTG acquired Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Piers Lea, LTG\u2019s Chief Strategy Officer, and Tim Martin, LTG\u2019s Chief Innovation &amp; Product Officer, go \u2018behind the deal\u2019 on how the <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/news\/ltg-expands-mid-enterprise-learning-and-talent-software-offering-with-acquisition-of-bridge\/\"><em>acquisition of Bridge<\/em><\/a><em> expands LTG\u2019s performance and learning offering.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On February 26, 2021, LTG acquired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getbridge.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bridge<\/a>, a learning, performance and skills development platform for mid-enterprise organisations, from Instructure Inc.<\/p>\n<p>Bridge allows customers to create employee experiences at speed that drive compliance, productivity, and growth, and specialises in employee-centric experiences. The offering includes a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getbridge.com\/lms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">learning management system<\/a> in addition to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getbridge.com\/performance-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">performance<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getbridge.com\/employee-engagement-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">engagement<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getbridge.com\/career-development\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">career development<\/a> products \u2013 delivered to customers in a single, easy-to-use, SaaS-based platform.<\/p>\n<p>Here, we explain why LTG was so keen on this acquisition and give more insights into how the integration and market proposition are shaping up.<\/p>\n<h2>Why did LTG acquire Bridge?<\/h2>\n<p>Bridge is a perfect strategic fit with LTG\u2019s strategy. Bridge\u2019s offering of learning, performance and skills for the mid-market complements LTG\u2019s broader talent management offering. The cherry on top is that Bridge\u2019s design is entirely people-focused (as opposed to HR-focused)!<\/p>\n<p>The addition of Bridge continues LTG\u2019s strategy of combining a group of businesses that help customers solve the critical and fast-moving challenge that is facing leadership in the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>In our white paper, \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/news\/a-human-framework-for-reskilling-white-paper\/\">A Human Framework for Reskilling: How 5 Seismic Forces Are Driving the Reinvention of Learning &amp; Talent<\/a>\u2019, we describe these \u201cseismic forces\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The complexity of business and work<\/li>\n<li>The pace of change<\/li>\n<li>Unprecedented demographic shifts<\/li>\n<li>The need to compete through productivity<\/li>\n<li>Changing relationships to work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These drivers are being accelerated by the effects of COVID-19 and the requirement to deliver a great employee experience to a more remote workforce. These kinds of systems used to be just the domain of large enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>But no more&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Now, the fastest-growing market for learning and performance systems is in the mid-enterprise (sometimes defined as mid-market. For us, this means organisations with 1,000-5,000 people). Bridge provides LTG with the perfect platform for this market segment. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplefluent.com\/products\/learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PeopleFluent Learning<\/a> will continue to service larger-enterprise customers that demand tailored solutions to meet their unique needs, including complex configurations, integrations and security requirements.<\/p>\n<p>With its heritage in a business steeped in the education sector (via Instructure<sup>1<\/sup>), we like both the quality of the thought that\u2019s gone into designing an excellent user experience at the same time as holding true to principles of good learning design.<\/p>\n<p>The design team has taken great care to focus on the differences required for the workplace and, in particular, to give LTG a market-beating foundation for creating a measurable link to performance and engagement for this segment of the market. The Bridge method involves taking users on \u2018journeys\u2019 \u2013 a concept we\u2019ve always liked in the learning space, but which also works so well in enabling people to shape their own careers.<\/p>\n<h2>What makes Bridge special?<\/h2>\n<p>The system comes with several key benefits for the mid-enterprise market. It&#8217;s fast to deploy, completely user-focused in its design and \u2013 as already stated \u2013 combines learning with performance and engagement.<\/p>\n<p>Bridge is configurable enough to support a customer\u2019s career development and learning programmes (including compliance) without eroding usability. Being intuitive to use drives engagement and take-up. This is crucial in organisations with less well developed L&amp;D departments where learning is becoming increasingly learner-driven and woven into the day-to-day operations. This is sometimes described as enabling \u2018learning in the flow of work\u2019. The industry analyst who coined this term, <a href=\"https:\/\/joshbersin.com\/hr-technology-2021-a-definitive-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Bersin<\/a>, made the following assessment:<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Bridge now offers one of the most elegant end-to-end talent and learning platforms I&#8217;ve seen for mid-sized companies.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What makes the system special is the way it looks at the world of work through the lens of the employee.<\/p>\n<p>President of LTG\u2019s Learning &amp; Talent Solutions division, Stephen Bruce, says: \u201cAs an industry, we need to think about talent solutions through the lens of the employee and their unique needs, as compared to the needs of the organisation. This includes how employees join the company, acclimate themselves, connect with others, collaborate and develop their skills, get recognised and rewarded and, ultimately, are presented with new opportunities that advance their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He adds: \u201cI think Bridge (and its philosophy that \u201cPeople Matter Most\u201d) aligns clearly with the long-term vision that we have across all market segments: to provide solutions that are the next evolution of talent management, creating employee experiences that foster career development, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplefluent.com\/products\/talent-mobility-software\/internal-mobility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">internal mobility<\/a> and growth. This means not only covering all the transactional and compliance processes that have to be done by HR to meet organisational needs (because that\u2019s critical!) but also to present an employee destination that is tailored uniquely and differently for the people in the business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bridge manages to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the organisation by providing an all-in-one learning, performance and engagement platform:<\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2657 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Bridge-ecosystem.png\" alt=\"Diagram of the Bridge ecosystem\" width=\"789\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Bridge-ecosystem.png 789w, https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Bridge-ecosystem-300x148.png 300w, https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Bridge-ecosystem-768x380.png 768w, https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Bridge-ecosystem-200x99.png 200w, https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Bridge-ecosystem-500x247.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 789px) 100vw, 789px\" \/>\n<p>In addition to all this, Bridge brings 800 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getbridge.com\/customer-lms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new customers<\/a> and a hugely talented team to the LTG family.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Brussard, President of Bridge, says, \u201dThe LTG family is really the right home for the Bridge product. There are so many synergies (in fact, we were already <a href=\"https:\/\/rusticisoftware.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rustici<\/a> customers) across the portfolio that we will be able to realise quickly, and that\u2019s very exciting. I\u2019m also confident that our people-first approach to software development will bloom nicely in this environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We look forward to updating the market as we move forward with this very exciting acquisition.<\/p>\n<p><sup><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 Instructure, which brought Canvas, the successful education system to the market, created Bridge to focus on learning and performance in the workplace.<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Piers Lea, LTG\u2019s Chief Strategy Officer, and Tim Martin, LTG\u2019s Chief Innovation &#038; Product Officer, go \u2018behind the deal\u2019 on how the acquisition of Bridge expands LTG\u2019s performance and learning offering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}