90% activation, zero mandate: How Continental Barum trains its teams with TalentCards
About Continental Barum
Continental Barum is the Continental Group’s largest tire plant, based in Otrokovice in the Czech Republic and employing 5,000 people. Part of the 150-year-old German engineering company behind some of the world’s best-known tire brands, it sells Continental Group tires across the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Head of Sales for Retail and Service Networks, Magda Nagy, shares how ContiEdu, Continental Barum’s mobile learning program, built on TalentCards and delivered in partnership with Epignosis partner Martin Straka, has grown from a post-COVID experiment into a long-term learning and communication channel used by around 500 employees and business partners. Within Continental Barum’s internal employee group, 90% of invited employees activated their accounts and started using ContiEdu voluntarily.
The problem
A post-COVID mindset shift broke the classroom model
Continental Barum had trained its salespeople and business partners primarily through in-person sessions, supplemented with e-learning courses and on-site training at partner locations. COVID forced everything online. But the real surprise came afterwards.
“We thought that after COVID people would start travelling to training sessions again— and they didn’t. There was a change in people’s mindset. They still want to learn, but they don’t want to sit in one place for an entire day. They want to consume the content when they decide they have time for it.”
Magda Nagy
The traditional LMS wasn’t the answer
For internal mandatory training like fire safety, occupational health and safety, Continental Barum uses a traditional LMS. But Magda saw the limits of that format when it came to product knowledge and sales training.
“Traditional LMS courses were mandatory courses that really weren’t designed in a way that made them enjoyable. They were long — anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour. It turns into simply clicking through the course as quickly as possible, with the correct test answers saved somewhere so they don’t have to repeat it.”
Magda explained
Reaching people wherever they work
Continental Barum’s training audience is a mix of salespeople, service advisors and sales representatives who usually have access to a company computer or device, and service mechanics who often do not. The company needed a way to reach both groups on equal footing — and nearly everyone, in both groups, already had a smartphone in their pocket.
“That was actually one of the ideas behind ContiEdu — how to get content to people who don’t have a company device . Because practically everyone has a mobile phone.”
said Magda
Why TalentCards
Choosing TalentCards, with the right partner
Continental Barum didn’t choose TalentCards in isolation. The company turned to Martin Straka, an Epignosis partner working with organizations across the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to research and compare the microlearning platforms available.
“The specific platform was recommended to us by Martin Straka. We approached him because, after COVID, we wanted to find a new way of approaching learning. Martin did some research and compared the solutions available on the market. TalentCards came out as the best option based on our requirements: the number of people we expected to involve, our expectations regarding content, graphics and interactivity, and the operational efficiency of the different microlearning tools.”
said Magda
Content that lives on the phone, not at a desk
The team wanted training that would meet people where they already were, in short moments, on their own time.
“We wanted to be as close as possible to our customers and employees, ideally right there in their pocket, on their mobile phone. With TalentCards, we can be.”
said Magda
The result was a Duolingo-style learning experience delivered through TalentCards: simple pieces of information available whenever people needed them, in microlearning courses designed to be completed in a few minutes.
“TalentCards is like Duolingo, but for tires. It’s quick learning that takes up to five minutes — something you can do during your lunch break.”
Flexibility that keeps up with the business
Beyond ease of use, what has made TalentCards a reliable channel for Continental Barum is how quickly the team can push new information out into the field.
“TalentCards is a very flexible tool. Whenever we need to deliver information to customers or employees, we can use TalentCards because we know we can get that information onto their mobile phones within a week. It doesn’t require complicated planning, data filtering or complicated targeting. That flexibility is probably one of the biggest advantages.”
said Magda
Rolling out ContiEdu via TalentCards
A partner who takes course production off your desk
One of the reasons ContiEdu has scaled to over 150 courses in three years is that Continental Barum doesn’t build the courses in-house. Magda’s team defines what needs to be taught and gathers the source material. Martin Straka turns that raw content into structured, engaging card sets.
“Creating the content is simple. First, we need to know what we want to include in the course. Ideally, we gather all the source materials and then share them with Martin Straka. Martin takes those materials and turns them into a meaningful learning course. He takes care of the whole process. We simply need to tell him what we want, what our priority is, and provide the factual content so that he knows what to work from.”
said Magda
The results
Voluntary engagement, backed by numbers
The most striking thing about ContiEdu’s numbers is what sits underneath them: participation is completely voluntary. Employees and partners are choosing to learn, and the results reflect that choice:
After the first year, Magda’s team surveyed ContiEdu users. Across every indicator, more than 90% of respondents gave positive answers.
- 100% would recommend ContiEdu to colleagues.
- 98% appreciate mobile access.
- 98% take part in some, or all of the learning challenges.
- 96% consider the content useful and report the courses help them.
- 95% find the app easy to navigate.
- 89% consider the course length ideal.
- Not one learner said they wanted shorter courses.
“By educating our customers and employees, we are giving them sales arguments and making their job easier when they are selling to customers.”
said Magda
An employee group that keeps coming back
Among Continental Barum’s internal employees, ContiEdu achieved a 90% activation rate. Approximately 48% of activated users return to ContiEdu and study at least once every month, 41% of activated users complete at least three new courses every month, all without any obligation to do so.
“This is without their managers pushing them, telling them to do it, or saying that it is mandatory, because it simply isn’t mandatory. These figures clearly show that employees like TalentCards, that they spend time using it, and that they are genuinely learning through ContiEdu.”
The future
Three years in, ContiEdu has evolved from a post-COVID experiment into a long-term mobile learning and communication channel at Continental Barum: 500 users, more than 150 courses, and voluntary engagement that has held up over time.
Magda’s team, in partnership with Martin, continues to add courses, run challenges, and gather learner feedback to shape what comes next.
About the Partner
ContiEdu is delivered in partnership with Martin Straka, an official Epignosis partner supporting organizations in Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Martin Straka is an independent e-learning and microlearning expert helping organizations design, implement, and operate practical digital learning solutions. He supports clients from learning solution and platform selection, through content design and production, to long-term administration and development of mobile learning programs.
Magda Nagy
Head of Sales, Retail and Service Networks — Continental Barum
Martin Straka
Independent E-learning & Microlearning Expert | TalentCards Partner
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