CASE STUDY – Unum

How Unum moved from compliance course completion to measurable readiness with zero downtime

Compliance readiness isn't proved by training completion — it's proven by what people actually retain and can demonstrate. Unum partnered with Cognexo to move from annual refresher cycles to continuous, measurable compliance readiness across their workforce.

Sector: Financial Services · Compliance Readiness & Onboarding

At a Glance

  • Measurable reduction in reliance on mandatory annual refresher training
  • Real-time compliance audit trail ready for regulatory review
  • Knowledge gaps identified and closed over a short period of time
  • Improved new hire engagement with early intervention capability built in

Products used: Cognexo Survey, Cognexo Develop
Readiness signals addressed: Capability · Confidence

Background

Unum is a leading UK-based employee benefits provider operating in a highly regulated insurance environment. With a commitment to compliance, customer outcomes, and employee experience, Unum recognized that traditional onboarding and training approaches were no longer sufficient. They needed to embed learning and engagement into the flow of work to truly support new employees and drive better business outcomes.

To elevate their onboarding and compliance readiness, Unum partnered with Cognexo to deliver a dual solution: develop engaging onboarding journeys as well as robust and auditable compliance readiness programmes.

The Challenge

Unum faced two critical challenges. Their goals were clear:

  • Raising compliance standards

Amid growing regulatory requirements, Unum needed to go beyond tick-box training. They required a solution that could demonstrate evidence-based compliance readiness — proving not just participation, but actual understanding and knowledge retention.

  • Closing onboarding engagement gaps

Like many organisations, Unum saw that traditional onboarding lacked the personalization and timing needed to support new hires effectively. Engagement levels varied and without real-time feedback, there was little visibility into new hire sentiment or learning effectiveness.

The Goals

Unum's goals were clear:

  • Streamline internal communications across the onboarding journey
  • Embed compliance and training into day-to-day workflows
  • Improve in-role competency and customer outcomes by increasing knowledge retention
  • Surface disengaged employees early to enable targeted support

The Solution

Unum utilizes Cognexo Survey and Cognexo Develop to deliver insights, engagement, and knowledge reinforcement across their workforce. Cognexo delivered an integrated approach - combining Survey for onboarding engagement tracking and Develop for embedding compliance learning and building in-role knowledge over time.

Cognexo Survey — Confidence & Adoption Readiness

Unum uses Cognexo Survey to gather and act on real-time onboarding sentiment, ensuring that every new hire feels heard, supported, and engaged.

  • Milestone-based feedback: Surveys are automatically triggered at critical points – Day 7, Day 30, Day 90 - allowing Unum to monitor the evolving experience of new starters.
  • Real-time alerts and tagging: Low engagement scores or flagged responses automatically alert managers, prompting timely check-ins and personalized support.
  • Early intervention to prevent disengagement: By capturing real-time sentiment, Unum can address concerns before they become retention risks - improving both short-term satisfaction and long-term retention.
  • Experience iteration: Feedback from Cognexo Survey helps Unum continuously refine their onboarding process, making it more relevant, responsive, and aligned to new employee needs.

Cognexo Develop — Capability & Compliance Readiness

Cognexo Develop underpins Unum's shift from classroom-focused compliance training to continuous, embedded learning.

  • Content in the flow of work: Rather than long, annual refresher courses, employees receive short, targeted question-based learning delivered through communications, with embedded follow-up questions to confirm understanding.
  • Knowledge retention and competency building: This approach reinforces key regulatory and role-specific information over time, increasing in-role competency and improving customer outcomes.
  • Evidence-based compliance readiness: Cognexo tracks not just course completion, but competence - allowing Unum to demonstrate to regulators that knowledge has been retained, not just delivered.
  • Compliance mapping and gap analysis: Cognexo Develop enables Unum to spot learning gaps, track compliance trends, and provide targeted upskilling where needed.

The Results

Unum's partnership with Cognexo has delivered measurable improvements across both compliance and onboarding.

  • Improved compliance competence: Cognexo Develop gives Unum a clear audit trail of regulatory awareness and knowledge retention — ready for review through real-time dashboards.
  • Higher new hire engagement: Real-time feedback loops keep new starters supported, engaged, and less likely to disengage or leave early.
  • More efficient learning delivery: Training is no longer seen as disruptive - it's built into the rhythm of daily work, improving adoption and relevance.
  • Improved in-role performance: Knowledge is retained longer, competency increases, and both employee confidence and customer outcomes are stronger.

What Our Clients Say about Cognexo

"Reactive workflows within Cognexo enable the team to respond to a new starter in real time, and the ability to make a new starter feel heard and supported. It also allows for us to refine our processes taking out any ambiguity. By reacting to the feedback responses that we receive we are able to address any concerns and make for a positive and engaged onboarding experience for our workforce. We are hoping that this proactive approach serves as one of our avenues to positively support a new starter setting the stage for success."

Unum UK

"Using Cognexo's solution, we have been able to enhance new joiners' onboarding experience as well as develop a daily learning habit across our employee base. We have been able to demonstrate ROI and ROT by reducing reliance on mandatory annual refresher training. Coupled with the fact that we can now identify knowledge gaps and close them over a relatively short period of time, Cognexo has really helped enhance our talent development approach and promote a learning culture."

Jen French, Head of Talent Development — Unum

See the platform working.

The best way to understand what Cognexo can do for your organisation is to see it in action. Our product team will walk you through a live demo — tailored to your organisation's size, sector, and specific readiness challenges.