Taining Application

Cover Story for Technology Training (March 2000 Issue)

Summation written by Mark Barnett

Training Application

A little more than a year ago, three US West training colleagues saw a need to update the training for 13,000 employees scattered across the nation. At the time new employees had to find their way through reams of self-paced reading which was supplemented by 20% of online training.

In order to upgrade the technical training for their company, these three colleagues developed a Marketing Plan with the following objectives:

Marketing Plan for Upgraded Training Program

Significantly decrease training time

Significantly shorten new product training

Increase employee retention

Design with company’s culture in mind

Use staff members who understand training technology

Use outside development group only in areas which are mandatory

Align objectives for new training with overall business goals of company

Provide low ROI (return on investment)

Demonstrate savings on printing costs (transfer hard copy to web)

Propose/convince CEO support

Don’t promise increased sales

The investment budgeted for this marketing plan was $3 million. Half was to be spent on architecture (servers, support, infrastructure), and the other half on the development of the program. It was projected it would take one year to get the new training program off and running.

Training Outcomes

Training is the first look new hires get when they begin employment in the company. As such, the training they get makes a long-lasting impression upon them, and sets the stage for their future performance. This is important, because it directly impacts the bottom line for any company: profits. But it also plays a role in customer service and employee satisfaction.

One of the first outcomes the training team wanted to accomplish was to fix the training performance support tool. To do this, employees would have to have instant access to information about every product and service the company provides. As such, the training system was to be a hybrid--part training, part performance support, and part knowledge management.

The following chart demonstrates both the intended outcomes as well as the actual outcomes of the training colleagues' marketing plan:

INTENDED OUTCOMES	ACTUAL OUTCOMES
Improve new employee product training	Initial and follow-up training are now 100% web-based
Shorten time between hiring and 100% job performance	Length of new-hire training shortened by 30%
Shift focus from training to performance	Employees have instant access to information whenever they need it
Shorten time of new product training cycle	New product training shortened from weeks/months to 30 minutes
System pay for itself within one year	On track to pay for itself within the first year
Utilize the new training program for all employees	All 13,000 employees are currently using the new system
	Side Effect: Sales have risen significantly higher

Training Strengths and Weaknesses

Anytime a super-large company (1,000 employees or more) begins a new training program, it is like opening Pandora's box, "where you don't really know what you're getting into until you've opened the box." This is usually true no matter how much homework is done up front on the project. It takes months of research and preparation and an in-depth knowledge of technical and instructional issues. It requires flexibility and creativity. And when millions of dollars are riding on the project, it'd better be sure to deliver!

Strengths:

	Adequate resources were obtained before starting the project
	The creators/designers were prepared for the long haul of work required
	Marketing efforts were heavily invested inside the company at the top levels
	Key decision makers were involved early
	Business terms and corporate vocabulary were used to communicate goals of project
	Inside instructional technology staffers were used in the design
	The design made great use of technology, and placed all central training on the Web providing accessibility anywhere, anytime

Weaknesses

	Nothing was mentioned about random employee input during the design. This could have been a big item for consideration, because it is these employees who use the system everyday and possibly could've provide some big ideas in the programs development
	Nothing was mentioned about a beta test and the critique and evaluation provided by the employees along with their satisfaction level
	Preparation of the project was provided by only three people, and other key input ideas were not mentioned as being solicited or considered. A better way of preliminary design would be to aggressively pursue design ideas from a wide variety of resources, especially from the professional ranks
	Future technological issues and considerations were not built into the design (except for one -- live video-conferencing training). Since technology is in constant flux, a solid effort should've been included for the possible prevention of downtime.

The future goal of US West is to provide live Web-based training to replace all satellite training currently taking place.

Summary. It is easy to see how this project was so successful. Competition is big-time in the corporate world, and every company loves to be out in front when it comes to technology -- that is, if it helps make the company run more smoothly and efficiently. Having 13,000 employees to train and retrain, the plan was a direct hit because it supplied a large savings in labor over the long haul -- and labor is by far the largest expenditure a company has on their annual financial portfolio. By getting support at the top management level during the project's inception was the biggest key toward the success of this program. If the company itself supports its employees, how can it fail?

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