How Sandefjord Municipality Unified Training for 5,500 Employees with XtraMile

Sandefjord Municipality is a large Norwegian local authority with 5,500 employees across a wide range of roles, professional disciplines, and geographical locations. With increasing requirements for skills development and security training, it became clear that the municipality needed a more modern and efficient way to organize learning. 

Previously, three different training systems were in use, and much of the training was delivered in person and organized in silos. The municipality therefore needed a learning platform that could bring everything together—and make it possible to reach the entire organization in a simple and scalable way. They found this solution in XtraMile.

Results at a Glance

• Scalability: Efficient training for 5,500 employees
• Cost-effective: A competitively priced solution that frees up time and resources 
• Time savings: Significantly reduced manual follow-up and administration 
• Improved IT security maturity: Over 60% participation in security training programs 
• Mobile accessibility: Reaches employees in all roles—including those without a PC 
• Unified learning culture: One central hub for all training 

Challenges and Objectives 

For a long time, Sandefjord Municipality relied on an outdated and user-unfriendly platform. Course creation was cumbersome, follow-up required extensive manual effort, and completion rates for mandatory courses—especially in information security—were low. 

Training was often delivered face-to-face and fragmented across departments, making it difficult to reach the organization as a whole. For a municipality with a large geographical footprint and many employees without a dedicated PC workstation, this represented a significant barrier. 

Key challenges included:

• An outdated platform with poor usability
• Physical, silo-based training that could not be scaled
• Low completion rates for critical courses, particularly in IT security
• Inefficient course production and follow-up processes
• The need for modern authoring tools, digital instruction, and webinars 

The goal was clear: one modern learning platform that could consolidate all training, automate workflows, and make it easy to reach every employee. 

The Solution – An Intuitive Platform Enabling Large-Scale Training

A Smooth Start and Immediate Relief for Professional Teams 

Sandefjord Municipality implemented XtraMile in 2023, and the onboarding process was fast and seamless.

“There were no major challenges. The implementation was smooth,” says Line Røed.

“It was a huge relief to move to a platform that is easy to understand and well-structured”, adds Øyvind Rødland. 

Professional teams across the municipality quickly began using the system to create their own courses. This reduced the burden on HR and IT and made training a shared responsibility—rather than something handled by a single department. 

Marianne Bjørnø describes course creation as simple and intuitive:

“Courses are created by employees themselves. Our goal is not to have one administrator doing everything. Once a course is set up, it can easily be copied and adapted.”

XtraMile was perceived as inclusive and easy to adopt—an essential factor for a large organization with varying levels of digital competence. 

Automation That Makes Training Scalable 

With XtraMile, the municipality was able to automate the distribution of onboarding courses, leadership training, e-learning modules, and mandatory programs—unlocking an entirely new level of efficiency. 

A ten-month IT security campaign was rolled out to more than 6,600 users with excellent results. Completion rates for security training across the municipality quickly exceeded 60%, which is high for an organization of this size and diversity. 

“The biggest time savings come from automation. Without it, I would have had to travel around and run seminars,” says Rødland.

“This has significantly increased our maturity in information security and data protection.” 

 

Manager Engagement – The Key to High Participation 

The municipality also adopted XtraMile’s manager engagement features. Managers gain a clear overview of their employees’ training status and can follow up easily. This quickly led to increased engagement and higher participation across the organization. 


Microsoft Teams Integration – Reaching Employees Where They Are 

Seventy-five percent of employees do not work at a PC. For this group, the Microsoft Teams integration was critical. Course notifications are delivered directly to Teams on mobile devices, making training accessible to kindergarten staff, healthcare workers, cleaners, and others who do not actively use email. 

“We reach people far more effectively through Teams than through email,” says Bjørnø. 


Webinars Increase Accessibility 

Many courses that previously required physical attendance are now delivered as webinars. This reduces travel time, increases accessibility, and results in higher participation. 

“When employees don’t have to travel to attend seminars, training becomes much more accessible for everyone,” says Røed. 

Recordings are also made available afterward, allowing employees to complete training at a time that suits them.

Solution Summary

• Easy onboarding and an intuitive system for all users
• Automation that streamlines operations and follow-up
• Manager involvement that creates accountability and boosts participation
• Teams integration that reaches employees where they work
• Large-scale security training with high completion rates
• Transition from physical training to digital, accessible formats  

Results

XtraMile has enabled Sandefjord Municipality to consolidate all training into a single platform and reach the entire organization—without increasing resource usage. The municipality has saved significant time and costs, while gaining far better oversight and control.

Key outcomes:

• Scalability: Efficient training for 5,500 employees 
• Cost-effective: A competitively priced solution that frees up time and resources 
• Time savings: Significantly reduced manual follow-up and administration 
• Improved IT security maturity: Over 60% participation in security programs 
• Mobile accessibility: Reaches employees in all roles—including those without a PC 
• Unified learning culture: One central hub for all training 

By moving away from physical sessions and manual processes, the municipality has gained a solution that makes learning accessible to everyone—in a simple, efficient, and sustainable way. 

About Sandefjord Municipality

Sandefjord is one of Norway’s largest municipalities, with approximately 5,500 employees. A significant proportion of staff work in the field and therefore require mobile, flexible training solutions.