How VTNZ built a scalable leadership onboarding programme with Totara Workspaces

Vehicle Testing New Zealand (VTNZ), powered by DEKRA, is one of New Zealand’s leading vehicle inspection and driver services organisations, employing approximately 1,200 people across more than 80 locations nationwide.

VTNZ provides vehicle inspection services, driver licensing and testing, and motor vehicle registration services. To improve leadership consistency and onboarding effectiveness across its branch network, VTNZ partnered with Synapsys to redesign branch manager development using Totara.

The Challenge

VTNZ identified a growing need to improve consistency, capability, and operational readiness across its branch manager network. Branch managers operate in complex customer-facing environments requiring strong leadership, operational management, health and safety awareness, HR capability, and customer service skills. However, onboarding and leadership development processes varied significantly across the organisation.

Historically, onboarding was largely delivered through short in-person induction sessions at support office, where new managers spent several days meeting different department leaders before returning to their branches. While valuable, the process lacked structure, continuity, visibility, and ongoing support. Learning experiences differed between managers, critical information was sometimes missed, and there was limited ability to track progress, reinforce learning, or provide consistent guidance over time.

As the business evolved, VTNZ recognised that inconsistent onboarding was contributing to broader operational challenges. Managers were not always clear on processes, support pathways, or expectations. This created inconsistencies in customer interactions, operational practices, health and safety engagement, and HR-related conversations across the branch network. Support office teams also lacked a central framework for delivering, managing, and measuring onboarding consistently.

At the same time, the organisation needed to deliver a scalable solution within tight budget constraints. Organisational development responsibilities had recently shifted internally, with limited additional funding available for new systems or large-scale programme development. VTNZ therefore needed a practical, cost-effective approach that could leverage existing platforms while creating a significantly more structured and engaging learning experience.

The intended outcome was not simply to digitise induction content. VTNZ wanted to create a blended leadership onboarding ecosystem that:

• Delivered a consistent experience for all new branch managers.
• Combined formal learning with mentoring, coaching, collaboration, and operational support.
• Improved visibility and accountability across the onboarding journey.
• Strengthened relationships between support office and the branch network.
• Accelerated manager confidence and operational readiness.
• Created a scalable model that could evolve over time and expand into additional leadership cohorts.

The Solution

VTNZ partnered with Synapsys to redesign branch manager onboarding around a blended learning and operational enablement model built on Totara.

Rather than using Totara Workspaces simply as a communication or document-sharing tool, VTNZ embedded Workspaces at the centre of an end-to-end onboarding and leadership development ecosystem. The solution combined social learning, structured onboarding, mentoring, operational guidance, webinars, face-to-face workshops, reporting, and collaboration into a single connected learner experience.

The programme was designed around the real operational journey of a branch manager. New managers begin their onboarding at support office, where they receive system access, complete induction activities, and begin working through the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to Being a Branch Manager”—a practical operational guide developed specifically for the programme. From there, learning continues through a structured 18-month journey supported by mentors, scheduled coaching check-ins, operational activities, webinars, and face-to-face learning sessions.

Totara Workspaces became the anchor point connecting all aspects of the programme. VTNZ used Totara to:

• Manage onboarding pathways and learning activities.
• Host operational resources and the latest programme documentation.
• Hold the most up-to-date version of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to Being a Branch Manager.”
• Provide access to webinars and learning materials.
• Support collaboration and social learning between managers.
• Coordinate and track face-to-face learning activities.
• Manage attendance, reporting, badges, and certificates.
• Streamline communication and operational support.
• Improve visibility of onboarding progress and engagement.

A key differentiator was the integration of learning with operational support and mentoring. Each new branch manager was paired with a trained mentor and followed a structured coaching and check-in framework designed to reinforce learning in real operational contexts. The programme also introduced a “three Es and an S” development approach focused on exposure, experience, education, and support.

The solution was implemented incrementally and iteratively. VTNZ initially launched onboarding guides and Workspaces for branch managers before progressively expanding webinars, face-to-face programmes, and operational learning resources over time. The onboarding guide itself has already evolved through multiple iterations based on learner feedback and operational experience, demonstrating the programme’s continuous improvement approach.

Importantly, the programme also created stronger collaboration between support office functions and the branch network. Subject matter experts from HR, health and safety, operations, and other business areas contributed directly to programme content, webinars, and onboarding activities. This improved organisational alignment and created stronger relationships between operational teams and newly appointed managers.

Synapsys supported VTNZ throughout the programme by providing strategic guidance, platform expertise, best-practice recommendations, and technical support. This included helping VTNZ identify new opportunities within Totara, supporting the rollout of Workspaces, advising on blended learning design, and ensuring the platform remained stable and scalable as the programme evolved.

The result is a highly practical and scalable blended learning model that uses Totara not simply as a learning platform, but as an operational capability and leadership enablement ecosystem.

The Results

Although the programme is still progressing through its first full 18-month onboarding cycle, VTNZ has already seen significant operational and organisational benefits.

The programme was designed and rolled out incrementally in under 12 months despite tight budget constraints, leveraging existing Totara capability to create a scalable blended learning ecosystem without requiring major additional investment.

To date, approximately 30% of VTNZ’s branch manager population has participated in the programme, with onboarding now delivered through a structured and consistent framework rather than informal or highly variable local processes.

The most significant improvement has been increased consistency and clarity for new managers. Managers now have:

• A clearly defined onboarding pathway.
• Structured coaching and mentoring.
• Access to operational guidance and resources.
• Visibility of expectations and required activities.
• Centralised access to learning and support materials.

Feedback from both learners and mentors has been highly positive, with one manager commenting that the programme made them more confident from the first day.

Mentors report that the programme provides a much clearer and more consistent framework for supporting new managers, helping ensure important operational and leadership activities are not missed. New branch managers have responded positively to the structured learning journey, practical guidance materials, and ongoing support model.

The programme has also improved organisational engagement and collaboration. Support office teams are now more closely connected with branch managers through webinars, workshops, mentoring, and Totara Workspaces. VTNZ identified stronger engagement between operational teams and support functions, particularly in areas such as health and safety, where direct relationships established through the programme have improved communication and proactive support.

Operational efficiency has improved through reduced manual administration and better access to information. Totara now manages onboarding workflows, reporting, attendance tracking, learning records, and access to resources that were previously managed manually or inconsistently. Managers are able to find the information and support they need more quickly, reducing time spent searching for guidance or escalating avoidable issues.

The programme is already expanding beyond branch managers into additional leadership cohorts, including area managers and assistant branch managers. This expansion demonstrates both organisational confidence in the model and the scalability of the Totara-based approach.

Most importantly, VTNZ has established a sustainable operational capability framework that connects learning directly to leadership performance, operational consistency, and business support—creating a model that is highly transferable to other organisations seeking to modernise onboarding and workforce development using Totara.