IBM > Case Studies > CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V.: Leveraging Social Business and Analytics for Employee Expertise Development

CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V.: Leveraging Social Business and Analytics for Employee Expertise Development

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Cybersecurity & Privacy - Identity & Authentication Management

Applicable Industries

Cement
Education

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Services

Training

About The Customer

CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V. is a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and related building materials. The company is headquartered in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, and employs more than 44,000 people in over 50 countries. In 2012, CEMEX earned revenues exceeding USD15 billion and held assets of more than USD49 billion. The company recognized the potential of its high-profile social business platform as a tool for employee skill development and sought to capitalize on the information-sharing that employees had already developed.

The Challenge

CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and related building materials, recognized the potential of its high-profile social business platform as a tool for employee skill development. The company, which employs over 44,000 people in more than 50 countries, saw that its employees were using the platform to share and develop their expertise. However, the challenge was to structure and accelerate this organic collaboration and content creation to fully capitalize on the information-sharing that employees had already developed. The company needed a solution that could identify areas of expertise across the organization and analyze gaps in expertise to define personalized skill development plans.

The Solution

CEMEX implemented a solution that combined IBM® Connections and IBM Research. The solution uses content analytics to identify areas of expertise across the organization by analyzing each employee’s patterns of social media content creation and consumption. Predictive models were used to analyze gaps in expertise, which helped define personalized skill development plans to accelerate employee learning in specific subject areas. The solution also combined analytics with social business software to precisely measure learner expertise level and use personalized recommendations to accelerate employee learning. Intuitive visualizations were used to deliver feedback to motivate and empower learners to assess and advance their expertise independently. Additionally, content analytics enabled CEMEX to measure employee progress and express the value of expertise development as a learning ROI.

Operational Impact

The implementation of the solution has significantly improved CEMEX's ability to identify and disseminate subject expertise across the organization. By leveraging existing employee-created content, the company has been able to reduce the need for additional resources to develop, deliver, and support separate curricula. The solution's precise measurement of learner expertise level and use of personalized recommendations have accelerated employee learning. The intuitive visualizations have motivated and empowered learners to assess and advance their expertise independently. Furthermore, the ability to measure employee progress and express the value of expertise development as a learning ROI has encouraged employees to advance their skills, keeping the company competitive.

Quantitative Benefit

The solution enables CEMEX to identify subject expertise in the organization, thus improving the company’s ability to disseminate it across the workplace.
By automatically deriving learning topics from existing employee-created content, CEMEX reduces the need to allocate additional resources to develop, deliver and support separate curricula.
The solution precisely measures learner expertise level and uses personalized recommendations to accelerate employee learning.