A chance encounter with some ACCA employees was the unexpected catalyst for Rochelle Francis to fulfil her dream of becoming a trainer and embark on an illustrious 12-year journey with ACCA. 

Rochelle’s devotion to learning not only propelled her into the role of e-learning designer, but it also helped her face crippling anxiety and go from strength to strength…

I always knew I wanted to go into training

But it was meeting three ACCA delegates whilst completing my learning and development diploma that set me on my way to becoming an e-learning designer. When I heard them talking about ACCA, I thought, this organisation sounds amazing! So I asked one of them, what do I need to do to work there? And he said, ‘Well, apply.’ And I did!

Eyes on the prize

I started as a Connect advisor in the customer service call centre in Glasgow, and later got the opportunity to do some outbound work and lead a fantastic team – I loved it. This spurred me on, so over the next two years, I kept an eye out for my next opportunity. When an operational trainer role came up, I didn’t hesitate to apply, and to my delight, I got it.

Bitten by the e-learning bug

Originally, I helped deliver inductions for new customer service employees. At that time, nearly all of our training was face-to-face, and e-learning was very much in its infancy. A lot of people thought it was a fad and that there was only so much that e-learning could do. However, we looked at our demand requests and how we could use digital learning to help more people at ACCA and we grabbed the opportunity to develop our e-learning offering with both hands. At first, it was just niche training tailored for customer service teams but gradually, we generated more demand and grew our e-learning offering. 

Fast forward a few years and we now design and deliver predominantly digital learning. It’s enabled us to create learning for everyone in customer services and share it with all ACCA employees globally; plus, it’s facilitated digital learning content for our students, members and future members. Our Certificate in Sustainability for Finance (accessible via the ACCA Learning platform) is a great example and includes external content that our members can buy and use. Everyone talks about sustainability but, in developing our course, we really got into the details. After that piece of work, I felt I truly understood how it affects the planet, how organisations can make sustainable choices and how we can have an individual impact. This was also my first learning design build that generated income for ACCA and I feel very proud of that. 

Embracing a growth mindset

Having been tasked with building some e-learning on the concept of having a ‘growth mindset’, I had to go away and learn all about it. And it was like somebody had turned on a light switch for me! A growth mindset is all about stepping out of your comfort zone. If you want to evolve and improve anything, you need to be a little bit scared because those fears are an opportunity to grow.

Since my early 20s, I’ve suffered quite badly with anxiety. Whenever I was in an environment that would trigger my anxiety, my knee-jerk reaction was, ‘Where's the exit? How do I get out of here?’ So, when I had to speak in front of senior people at stakeholder meetings, I would think, I can’t do that. But embracing a growth mindset was a massive turning point for me because it helped me to say, ‘I can’t do that…yet’. Over time, I became more comfortable speaking at those meetings and the more I did it, the fear just went away.

Shaking up the learning landscape

The learning landscape is ever-changing, so we’re always looking at how we can shape the experience and innovate to keep our learners engaged. As a team, we absolutely love an innovative challenge! We're all Disney-obsessed and call ourselves the 'ACCA Imagineers' (which is a Disney reference to those in the know). 

We’ve been levelling up our JavaScript skills to create highly interactive workbooks and video-based assessments so learners can now record their screens or themselves to show what they’ve learned. We’ve also brought our health and safety content in-house and used Power Automate to build a new hub with realistic, scenario-based courses tailored to employees’ roles.

Introducing gamification has revolutionised how we engage with our learners, starting with the launch of ACCA Arcade for employees, which comprises numerous games, including seasonal ones and also an escape room in September 2025. We’ve kept these fun so employees don’t feel like they’re learning. It also reflects the learning style and preferences of Gen Zers, who are fast becoming an essential and valued part of our workforce. 

Our monthly showcases with other design teams help us stay curious and push boundaries – we follow a structured process so that our learning solutions are reviewed collaboratively and every team member has input. I’m proud to be part of a team that’s setting a new standard for how digital learning is created and shared. Together, we’re shaping meaningful learning experiences that support ACCA’s strategic goals and help our learners thrive.

AI in learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) has landed in the learning space. For me, it’s a handy tool that helps me lift content and make it more engaging for people. We ran a ‘test and learn’ and used AI to create a course outline. Of course, we had to check the accuracy but it provided a first draft in seconds, which meant our time could be spent on adding value at the editing stage of the design process. 

The icing on the cake

Winning The Forum’s Individual Best Practice award in 2025 meant a great deal to me because it showed what’s possible when we innovate, collaborate and stay focused on creating meaningful learning experiences. I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together.

Never underestimate what’s around the corner

We have to keep up with what’s happening in the wider world because opportunities are everywhere. Take ChatGPT. It was sitting on the shelf for many years before someone noticed it and started talking about it on social media…and once that happened, it was everywhere! There may be many other things out in the world that could completely revolutionise what we do, but we don't even know that they’re there...yet!