4flow needed a way to identify employees with critical, often hidden, company-specific knowledge. The goal: Implement a badge system to successfully identify these skill owners, reward them, and encourage a culture of continuous learning and collaboration.
4flow mapped company-specific skills into structured, three-level learning paths and translated them into digital badges. Using Virtualbadge.io, employees could easily identify their own skills and request badges through a gamified, intuitive platform – directly accessible from Microsoft Teams.
More than 55% active users
Out of the hundreds of employees with access to the Skills dashboard, more half are regular users;
More than 7,500 skill badges rewarded
To more than +600 employees
Increased transparency on an ever-growing skill database
More then 110 skills have already been mapped – from soft-skills (such as conducting showcases), to company specific skills (such as Transport Optimization) and language skills. This gained visibility now supports strategic decisions on multiple areas of the company.
4flow is a large organization with a workforce of several hundred employees, operating in a fast-paced Supply Chain and Logistics industries. With a strong emphasis on operational excellence and internal knowledge, the company sought to transform the way skills were tracked, validated, and shared across teams.
To bring their internal skill recognition to life, 4flow implemented a structured digital badge system with a clear progression model. Skills from the initial rollout—referred to as the “first wave”—were categorized into three levels:
These badges represented a mix of company-specific competencies (such as experience with key logistics clients) as well as broader hard and soft skills, ensuring a balanced and relevant skills framework from the start.
A key feature of the system was its sequential structure: employees could only request a Level 2 skill after earning the corresponding Level 1 badge, and likewise for Level 3. This created a natural learning path and encouraged continuous engagement with the platform—transforming skills development into an ongoing, structured journey.
One of 4flow’s key successes was ensuring that employees could engage with the badge system effortlessly—within the tools they already used every day. By integrating Virtualbadge.io directly into Microsoft Teams, employees could manage their skills, request new skill badges, and explore the skill gallery without ever needing to open a separate website or install a new app.
To further streamline adoption, 4flow automated their internal team structure within Virtualbadge.io. This meant that as employees moved between teams—or when new hires joined or others exited—the system automatically assigned them to the correct supervisor. No manual updates were required from HR – and no administrative overhead!
With the new system in place, 4flow employees can easily take the lead on their development journeys, requesting badges as soon as they feel prepared. This puts ownership of growth directly in the hands of the workforce—making learning feel both accessible and empowering!
Each badge request is automatically routed to the employee’s direct supervisor, who can approve or decline it based on the defined skill criteria for earning the badge. This creates a consistent and transparent validation process—while also helping supervisors identify learning gaps within their teams and actively support individual development journeys.
In addition, employees can propose new skills to be added—fueling the continuous evolution of 4flow’s internal skill database and reinforcing a culture of shared knowledge and proactive development.
From the perspective of 4flow’s management team, implementing digital badges has brought visibility into its knowledge landscape and improved information flow for strategic decisions inthree main areas:
By implementing digital badges, 4flow created a transparent, structured skills framework that is fully embedded in daily workflows. For learners, this system fosters a continuous learning culture by clearly mapping out development paths and maintaining motivation through visible progress and recognition.
From a managerial perspective, digital badges provide enhanced transparency into workforce capabilities. Leadership can now make data-driven strategic decisions by quickly identifying skill gaps and monitoring expertise distribution across locations.
If you’re looking to create a similar success story in your organization, get in touch with us to explore how digital badges can work for you.
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