E-LEARNING IS A TECHNOLOGY MANY ORGANISATIONS HAVE BEEN KEEN TO TAKE UP, WITH
VARYING OUTCOMES, AFTER YEARS OF PROMISE, CAN E-LEARNING FINALLY DELIVER WHAT IT
HAS BEEN CLAIMING FOR SO LONG? CM GROUP, WHICH PROVIDES ORANGE WITH ITS
E-LEARNING PACKAGE, HOPES SO.
Orange had been using externally produced e-learning for many years, but was
only too aware of the historic limitations. Karen says, "We always thought that
there should be great opportunities for integrating e-learning into our wider
training strategies, but felt that these were inherently limited due to cost,
quality and timescale constraints. I wanted to find a solution that could cope
with a range of requirements, which included training for office personnel,
technical staff and our sales teams. I wanted e-learning for wide distribution
training, but also to be flexible enough to become a much more focused tool
within our overall training and staff development strategy."
Karen was also determined to achieve a solution that provided excellent value
for money and a readily justifiable return on investment (ROI).
What she came up with was a new
product called Luminosity from British company CM Group. Karen explains:
"Luminosity is a rapid e-learning development platform that was quick and simple
for us to use. It is designed for larger organisations that want to easily
create their own e-learning courses. We first got involved with CM Group during
the Beta test phase of the product's launch and were pleased with its
flexibility and responsiveness. For us, an advantage to working with CM was that
they produce e-learning for some of the largest companies in the world and are
experienced in all the pitfalls and best practices of developing and
implementing effective e-learning strategies. It's good to deal with people who
have been there, done it and been able to build in that experience into their
product. It's also useful to know that they are on hand to help out on the wider
issues, not just the software."
"Every organisation, including smaller ones, should be seriously re-evaluating
its approach to harnessing e-learning"
Orange has since been using Luminosity in earnest to enable its own staff to
collaborate and internally develop high-quality, engaging e-learning for a wide
range of audiences. Karen has been impressed by the ease and speed of creating
and then updating e-learning courses and says, "Given the comparatively high
cost of getting e-learning developed externally, the ROI equation means that our
investment in Luminosity will pay for itself in months rather than years and
will enable a better focused and more agile approach to our training needs."
Luminosity outputs materials to any SCORM-compliant learning management system
(LMS) or SharePoint portal. It can also deliver to mobile devices, an area of
particular interest to Orange. Karen says that e-learning does not suit every
learning style and situation, so does not want it to totally replace
classroom-based training. However, she does believe that it can provide a highly
effective training solution when it is combined with more traditional training
methods. For certain key areas, she is certain that e-learning is the best route
available. Orange will also be exploring the use of the platform for generating
internal communications such as interactive corporate updates rather than
relying on static slide decks.
Karen says, "We're now able to use e-learning for areas where it just wasn't
practical before, for example, training our sales staff on tariffs, products and
offers where the details can change right up to the last minute before launch.
Now we can easily guide staff through changes in processes, products and
personnel, and it's simple to keep our materials up to date ourselves. Every
organisation, including smaller ones, should be seriously re-evaluating its
approach to harnessing e-learning. It may not be the answer to all today's staff
development needs, but with recent advances, it finally looks set to take its
rightful place as an essential and cost-effective component in the overall
strategy."
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Article extracted from the
HR
DIRECTOR November 2008 issue 52
With the current economic challenges, boardrooms across the country are
re-examining their approach to many of their most basic business functions to
make sure that they are staying competitive in a difficult climate. What
contributions can technology bring to staff development, and what is Orange's
experiences with e-learning? Traditionally, staff training and development is
one of those optional spend areas that comes under the microscope when belts
need tightening. It is a brave HR professional who refuses to budge when under
co-ordinated attack from both the CEO and finance director. But organisations
now recognise that well-trained staff who are familiar with the latest company
products, services, corporate policies and the ever-changing compliance and
legislative environment are more than ever critical to the success of their
organisation and how well they can serve the customers who rely on them.
"The challenge for successful HR functions is not only to find what combination
of staff development methods works the best, but also what provides their
organisation with the best value-for-money solution"
So the challenge for successful HR functions is not only to find what
combination of staff development methods works the best, but also what provides
their organisation with the best value-for-money solution. It is not enough to
be driven by cost; companies need to know that they are selecting the best
learning experience for their staff. The latest technologies can reduce overall
spend but also actually increase the effectiveness of the training mix.
The advantages of e-learning as part of a training strategy have long been
recognised but are worth recapping. E-learning:
- Enables mass training over shorter time periods
- Provides a consistent delivery message and quality
- Saves on skilled training delivery resources and classroom infrastructure
- Entails less time away from the job for attendees
- Leads to lower travel and subsistence expenses (ensuring a lower carbon
footprint!)
- Makes it easier to organise attendance and co-ordinate diaries
- Makes it easier to track attendance and assessment results.
So, with all those advantages, what has held people back from adopting
e-learning? The main problem seems to be the length of time it takes to develop
the courses. This, in turn, adds to the overall expense. Also, creating
high-quality, relevant and compelling e-learning that provides an excellent
learning experience is no easy task. Then, there is the big problem of keeping
courses up to date. In the past, this has been costly and has sometimes put
companies at the mercy of e-learning suppliers. The result? Materials become out
of date, losing relevance and therefore credibility with the intended audience.
So if these challenges have inhibited the adoption of e-learning, what is so
different now?
Orange is a telecoms company, but in many ways it is typical of many of today's
people-centred organisations. It needs to ensure that its workforce is
well-trained so that it can succeed in a competitive environment. Orange is a
large organisation that employs over 12,000 people across the country.
It has five major offices, multiple
smaller offices and over 350 retail outlets. Orange is the number one UK mobile
operator in terms of pay monthly revenue and has over a million broadband
customers, making it one of the leading mobile operators in the country.
Against this background, Karen Gusterson, head of managed services for Orange,
faced a particular set of problems that she wanted to tackle head-on. Orange's
overall training and development strategy is based on providing the most
suitable training possible for staff. But with the rapid rate of change in the
organisation, keeping materials relevant and up to date is a headache. Karen
wanted to focus training more tightly making it more applicable to individuals
within the company.