Friday, July 18, 2008

Technology and management help carve out training time

By Bridget Botelho, Special to Mass High Tech

It’s a decades-old challenge. Managers set up training programs, and employees say they are too busy to attend. Yes, employee learning and development programs can work in companies that implement new learning technologies along with some good old-fashioned encouragement and rewards.

To make learning more convenient for busy employees, the traditional classroom has morphed into new platforms that better fit into daily work cycles, said John Ambrose senior vice president of strategy and corporate development at Nashua, N.H.-based SkillSoft PLC (Nasdaq: SKIL), which provides learning and performance support products.

“We are living in the greatest time in history to be a learner, because technology has made it so easy to learn,” Ambrose said. “The days when an employee would sheepishly approach a manager to ask for time off for a training session are dwindling. (Classroom learning) is still right in some instances, but now employees can learn new programming skills or management techniques online and in separate pieces when they have time.”

IBM Corp., for instance, offers online courses and podcasts, and embeds reference materials into different portals within the company’s internal website, so learning is part of the normal information environment, Ambrose said.

Providence, R.I.-based Gilbane Building Co. has developed a training program called Gilbane University with more than 500 in-house and online courses that encourage both local and remote employees to keep learning.

The top executives at Gilbane encourage education and training not only through their words, but by putting a lot of weight on learning when it comes to promotions, said Gilbane’s vice president and director of learning, Diane Fasching. 
“We make the case for an educated workforce, and it is constantly mentioned by our top people here,” said Fasching, who has also served as the education and training manager for North Kingstown, R.I.-based Brown & Sharpe and Texas Instruments in Attleboro.

Gilbane has ranked as one of the world’s top training organizations for the past five years, including best in class for construction, in Training Magazine’s Training Top 125.

“The message and the philosophy here about learning are constant; part of our employees’ jobs is learning, and they are being paid to learn,” Fasching said. Gilbane’s learning management system is based on Knowledge Planet by mZinga Inc. of Burlington. Gilbane also uses tools such as iLinc Communications Inc.’s iLinc web conferencing technology, Trivantis Corp.‘s Lectora e-learning software and online courses from SkillSoft.

Similarly, the Atlanta-based cable television and communications company Cox Communications offers both on-site and online classes through Cox University to help employees learn new skills during the workday, said SueAnn Tortolano, a Cox business sales support supervisor in Cox’s Rhode Island operations.

Tortolano started at Cox as a call center representative 10 years ago and was able to move up the corporate ladder because the training and development programs she took at Cox, she said.

Cox’s vice president of human resources Kathy Gillis said employee learning programs and training helps Cox retain good employees.

Creating this type of culture of continuous learning can be a challenge, especially where employees are flat out busy with their everyday tasks. Because of this, employers have to invest in the most engaging programs available and encourage learning through job advancements and other rewards, Ambrose said.

“Many small and midsize, and even large, companies have the flawed idea that if they set up an education system and set it aside somewhere, people will use it,” Ambrose said. “No amount of marketing or incentives will make employees participate in training if it is sub-par. (The training program) has to be engaging, and a company has to make sure the learning investment is the right technology, the right content, and there has to be a culture of learning.”
The most popular employee development programs today involve management and leadership skills, more than technical skills, according to Richard G. Weissman, director of the program and an assistant professor at Beverly-based Endicott College’s Center for Leadership and Online Programs.

The center has been providing lectures, training seminars, and management development workshops since 1988, and the group does a lot of work for growing companies and nonprofits, Weissman said.

“We are seeing some aggressive sponsorship for employee development, mostly for leadership and customer service skills,” Weissman said. “Management sees the value in this, and asks or requires that employees attend the programs.”
Gilbane, for instance, requires employees to participate in at least 30 hours of training per year and encourages more, Fasching said.

Companies that do not require training encourage employees to learn by setting up fun competitions among employees, and through rewards or giveaways of items like T-shirts, mugs and other trinkets, Ambrose said.
“You would be surprised what people will do for a Frisbee,” Ambrose said.

Ambrose said companies with successful training programs often link learning to employee performance plans. “Most companies have a formal review process, and a manager can suggest various methods of learning during review times without mandating it, but recommending ways their employees can develop their careers further,” Ambrose said. “When discussing their goals, management can make suggestions for ways to develop the skills to achieve those goals.”

 

Bridget Botelho is a freelance writer in North Providence, R.I.