CASE STUDY

Jenny Stoppard was excited about her new position as vice president of human resources at Flotation Ltd., a manufacturer of life jackets and other flotation devices. However, she knew she had her work cut out for her. The president of the company had clearly stated that one of her first tasks was to take a close look at the training function. Although Flotation Ltd. had a reputation as a company with a well-trained workforce, the president now wanted to see some hard evidence to back up the company's training investment. The president wanted to increase productivity per person by 50 percent over the next three years, and Jenny was expected to spearhead the effort. Sam was the company's veteran trainer and was liked by everybody in the organization. For 25 years he had been training employees at Flotation Ltd. He was only two years away from retirement and was not likely to respond favourably to Jenny and her new mandate. The president introduced Jenny to Sam as his new boss and the key player in the drive to increase the company's competitiveness. He also asked Sam to do everything in his power to cooperate with her. Jenny had to revamp the training function and she had to deal with Sam, who was pretty much set in his ways. How was she going to achieve the president's goals and at the same time get Sam on board? After thinking about her situation for several days, Jenny came across an article on e-learning and how it has saved some companies millions of dollars a year in training costs. Suddenly, she had an idea. "Why not convert some of Sam's training courses to e-learning programs on the company's website?" she thought to herself. "This would certainly be a whole new approach and I could save the company money and get Sam involved, since he would be responsible for preparing his course material for the program. Surely Sam would be excited to know that his training courses would continue even after he has retired." Both the president and Sam were very excited about the potential of e-learning at Flotation Ltd. Jenny was given the go-ahead to begin designing the first course. Jenny and Sam decided that the first course would be Sam's sales training program, which was one of his best. It would be especially useful for the company's sales staff who would be able to take the program while they were on the road selling. The first thing Jenny did was arrange for Sam to be videotaped delivering the course. Then she had Sam prepare some text material and additional information about some of the key learning points. With the help of the IT people, the video and text were placed on the company's website. The program was designed so that employees could watch the video of Sam, and at certain points during the video they could click on an icon for more information. The video would then stop, and the additional information would appear on the screen. After reading the material they could return to the video. When the program was set up and ready to go, the sales staff received a memo telling them about the company's first e-learning program and how to access it on the company's website. The memo was titled "Learn how to improve your sales skills on the road" and "Attend Sam's best training program anytime and anywhere." Everybody was very excited about this new approach to training, and Sam was thrilled to know that he was the main attraction. However, although the program was launched with much fanfare, the results were less than glowing. In fact, after the first six months very few of the sales staff had taken the course. Many said that they did not have time to take it. Of those who did, fewer than half actually completed it. When asked about the program, some of the sales staff said that it was not very interesting. Some said they would rather attend a live version of the course in the classroom, and others said they didn't see the advantage of taking an e-learning course. Some thought it was just a big waste of the company's time and money. The president asked to see Jenny to find out how things were going and if they were on track for achieving the company's productivity goals. Jenny did not know what she would tell him. Sam tried to console her by telling her that it had only been six months and the sales staff just needed a little more time to get used to e-learning. Jenny wasn't so sure. She wondered if the e-learning strategy was a good idea or just a big mistake. Questions 1. Do you think e-learning was a good idea for Flotation Ltd.? Could e-learning help the company realize the president's productivity goals? 2. Comment on the e-learning program that Jenny and Sam designed. What are the indicators that suggest it has not been a success? Is it possible there are other indicators that might indicate that it is more effective than it appears? 3. If you were Jenny, what would you tell the president, and what would you do about e-learning at Flotation Ltd.? Should Jenny give up on e-learning or wait another six months before making a decision? 4. What do you think are the main reasons for the negative reaction to the e-learning program? What are the most important things that need to be changed to improve the program? What changes would you make if you hadtoredesignit?