Notes and news

Citation

Pollitt, D. (2016), "Notes and news", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 48 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-04-2016-0026

Notes and news

Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 48, Issue 6.

Orthodontics specialist smiles at online-learning success

A medical-device company has seen the effectiveness of its online-learning materials improve since it began using a new e-learning platform.

When Align Technology wanted to continue to develop the clinical knowledge of its teams throughout Europe, it realized that it needed a blend of classroom-delivered and online-delivered learning materials. That led it to look for an up-to-date online-learning authoring environment, allied to a learning-management system (LMS). It had already developed some online-learning materials but its sales training team recognized that these were one-dimensional and unsuited to the job in hand.

Rob MacDonald, a clinical-sales trainer based at Align Technology’s European headquarters in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, explained: “We had developed a diploma program and, to deliver this effectively, we needed learning materials that were highly interactive when delivered online – especially where this involved learners in working through various scenarios online.”

“We knew that, if it could not deliver this high degree of engaging interaction in our online learning materials, the diploma program would not qualify for accreditation from independent bodies. This was an important consideration, so we embarked on some rigorous research into the suitable products on the market.”

The company engaged Create eLearning. Within six months Align Technology’s 45 or so online courses had been produced – and published – in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Create eLearning created all the online-learning materials to a brief of various scripts, PowerPoint presentations and other materials provided by Align Technology. Moreover, Create eLearning uploaded the new online-learning materials to the Cloud, where they are hosted by Align Technology’s main LMS, which is operated from the company’s California headquarters.

Rob MacDonald said: “There are no compatibility problems between the two LMS platforms. It all works smoothly.”

“Our 450 or so employees throughout the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, eastern Europe and the Nordic countries have access to these up-to-date, interactive online learning materials. They can access the learning materials using any delivery device – from a mobile telephone to a desktop computer – and their results are seamlessly uploaded to the company’s main LMS for recording and analysis.”

“Since the new online-learning materials were introduced, we have seen a distinct improvement in usage rates and in learner achievement.”

The previous online-learning materials had seen candidates struggle to achieve the 80 percent required pass mark in assessments. With the newer online-learning materials, learners are now consistently achieving scores of 85-90 percent in all assessments.

“There is no doubt that Create eLearning’s ability to make the online-learning materials available in a range of local languages, as well as being able to inject greater interactivity into these materials, has made an enormous difference to the learners’ performance. Moreover, we have noticed that, while only 75 percent of learners used to access the old online-learning materials, these days all of the learners access the new online-learning materials.”

These learners comprise Align Technology sales staff from each of the countries in Europe where the company is active, along with other Align Technology employees from such business functions as customer care and marketing. In addition, the online-learning materials are accessed by a number of dentists and orthodontists whose role is to support Align Technology’s customers.

Weetabix gets apprentices off to a great start

Weetabix Food Company has launched an engineering and manufacturing apprenticeship scheme at Tresham College of Further and Higher Education, UK.

The scheme will take on four people this year – two apprentices in manufacturing and two in engineering. The intake will rise to eight a year from 2017.

Weetabix will enlist the help of dedicated mentors in its organization who will provide practical tutoring in manufacturing, engineering and leadership.

Alex Cosgrove, Weetabix head of UK manufacturing, commented: “We are really excited about the new program. Manufacturing is what this country was built and measured on. This is particularly true in Northamptonshire, which remains one of the biggest innovation hubs for food manufacturing. At Weetabix we are passionate about developing our people to be the best they can be because our people really make the difference. Tresham College is a big part of our apprenticeship drive and the program will help us to grow new and existing talent in our organization to ensure we will house the experts and leaders of the future.”

David Higham, vice-principal for business development and customer services at Tresham College, said: “We are delighted to be able to re-establish and develop a lasting partnership with such a well-known business in the area. By supporting the apprenticeship scheme at Tresham, Weetabix has recognized the need for employers, large and small, to invest in the next generation of their workforce, bringing new skills and a fresh insight to their business.”

Stuart Branch, Weetabix group HR director, commented: “We are committed to retaining our values as a great place to work and at the heart of that commitment is our dedication to have the most highly trained, knowledgeable and passionate team members to propel the vision and performance of our business. Operations remain the engine-room of the organization and something that we are world leaders in, which is why continuing our strong manufacturing, leadership and engineering development programs is of paramount importance to us.”

The Weetabix engineering apprenticeship is open to applicants who are enthusiastic about engineering and qualified to NVQ level 2 in engineering. The Weetabix manufacturing program is open to anyone with an interest in learning the basics of leadership and business improvement, particularly those who wish to pursue a career in people management. All applicants must have a minimum of five GCSEs at grade C or above, or equivalent, including English and mathematics.

Successful applicants receive a salary, with apprentices training at Weetabix’s Burton Latimer or Corby facilities for four days a week and spending a minimum of one day a week furthering their practical education at Tresham College.

In addition to its support of the four successful apprentices, Weetabix will also provide £500 worth of educational sponsorship to other young engineers and manufacturing managers who are starting their career development and training. Successful applicants will be provided with funding to purchase tools or study aids for their courses, receive guaranteed work-experience placements at Weetabix and be fast-tracked to interview stage for the apprenticeship course the following year.

Weetabix’s educational sponsorship is open to students undertaking relevant engineering courses who are aged 16 or below.

Shopping giant intu opens up apprenticeship opportunities

A developer, owner and manager of regional shopping centers in the UK is working with an apprenticeship and work-based training provider to introduce its first national apprenticeship scheme.

Following a successful pilot scheme in 2015, the company intu is teaming up with First4Skills to implement and execute the scheme. It will enable 20 apprentices to gain experience from within every area of the intu business in their first year, before moving on to a specialized field.

The program will guarantee each individual a full-time role with intu following the completion of their apprenticeship, which will range from two to four years depending on their chosen business area.

The program will be introduced in all of intu’s branded centers including: intu Trafford Centre, Greater Manchester; intu Lakeside, Thurrock, Essex; and intu Metrocentre, Tyne and Weir.

The scheme recruited five apprentices during its pilot year, including Adam Gillespie, aged 18, and 17-year-old Billy Wells.

Bernie Kingsley, HR director of intu, commented on the partnership with First4Skills and the experience of undertaking a new apprenticeship scheme: “We have worked closely with our national training partner to develop a high-quality apprenticeship program. In its first year the program will support 20 new apprentices, helping them to gain vital new experience, skills and qualifications in a range of business areas such as marketing, customer service and facilities management.”

“This new national apprenticeship program builds on the success of our pilot program launched last year. Recruiting the next generation of employees is something that we are taking very seriously with this new scheme and our long-term commitment to create new full-time roles for every apprentice who completes his or her training with us.”

Billy Wells commented: “I had a seasonal job that was coming to an end when I found out about this apprenticeship role at intu Lakeside. I have worked across several departments since I started, which is a really good way of finding out what you are good at. Every day is different but I have learned a lot and everyone has given me such a warm welcome. The health and safety side of the business has been the most interesting to me so far as there are so many different things the team does to keep everyone safe.”

Adam Gillespie said: “I was attending college full time before I started my apprenticeship at intu but I feel like I can learn so much more in a real-world environment like this. Everyone has been very welcoming and our mentors have given us so much support. I have worked in a few different departments since I started but business support is probably the area I have enjoyed the most as it has been really interesting to understand more about how the HR side of it works.”

Amanda Kerr, head of client services at First4Skills, commented: “The world behind the scenes of a shopping center is an area that is often a mystery and many people are not aware of the multitude of job roles and career opportunities available. This apprenticeship program is a fantastic opportunity for people to embark on their career journey. Intu is a forward-thinking company that really values its employees with lots of opportunities to grow and develop while gaining nationally recognized qualifications.”

BMW selects training partner

BMW Group Northern Europe has awarded Raytheon Professional Services a three-year contract to provide training for BMW and Mini dealers in the Nordic markets and Baltic states. The contract includes an option for two additional years.

Raytheon will provide training delivery, training administration and management, deployment and local-adaptation services. The countries covered are Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Raytheon Professional Services will use both in-country and virtual teams. RPS currently has offices in France, Germany, Sweden and the UK, and a customer-service center in Barcelona, Spain. Additional teams of learning experts are located across Europe, with some in countries covered by the contract.

“Our goal at BMW is to provide our dealers with high-quality, premium training that helps to drive competitive advantage,” said Andreas Rönnqvist, qualification-cluster manager, BMW Group Northern Europe. “RPS’ decades of experience in the automotive industry, advanced technology solutions and flexibility positions it well to help BMW to move to ever-more-efficient and innovative training.”

Training will be delivered primarily to BMW technicians, body repairers, service and parts advisors, sales consultants and dealership managers. Training areas will range from certification training and product training to sales-launch training and dealer coaching.

“BMW Northern Europe wanted a training partner with a strong European footprint, who can build on its current training system, introduce the right innovations and ensure a consistent and efficient approach across the region. RPS is the perfect fit,” said Mark Oliver, managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Raytheon Professional Services.

Stage is set at Palladium

A major hotel group will adopt a unified talent-management system from Cornerstone to better recruit, train and manage its global workforce.

“Palladium Hotel Group has big plans for growth, and Cornerstone is essential to ensuring better and faster decision making in relation to our most important asset, our employees,” said Raul Benito, corporate director of human resources and organization, Palladium Hotel Group. “With Cornerstone, Palladium will standardize processes, develop models based on best practices, improve productivity, detect training needs and enable better talent assessment, ultimately improving our strong commitment to internal promotion of the best talent.”

Palladium needed a single database and organizational structure that would unify the data and reporting model for efficient HR decision making, while also providing tools that would promote employee engagement and professional development. To do this, Palladium will employ Cornerstone Recruiting, Cornerstone On-boarding, Cornerstone Learning, Cornerstone Connect and Cornerstone Performance.

Employees will have instant access to critical training and development resources and will be able to collaborate with colleagues to share best practices. This will allow employees to take command of their professional development and, the company hopes, will help to build a culture with greater employee engagement and higher motivation levels.

Palladium expects to be able to better identify high-performing internal candidates for career advancement and facilitate internal mobility. Implementing a strong internal-mobility program has proven to boost retention rates and improve employee satisfaction.

Through cloud-based technology, Palladium will be able to create a more streamlined and efficient system, allowing better insight into the needs of the organization and the strengths of its employees.

“One key objective for Palladium Hotel Group is to have all talent-management processes in one place in order to better drive the development of its employees,” said Vincent Belliveau, executive vice-president and general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Cornerstone OnDemand. “With our unified platform offering, we can support Palladium’s expansion policy through scaling and accelerating employee development in line with business priorities and growth.”

Part of the family-owned Grupo Empresas Matutes, Palladium has 11,000 employees. The firm manages 50 hotels in six countries, including Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico and Spain. There are four primary brands: Palladium Hotels & Resorts, Fiesta Hotels & Resorts, Ushuaïa Unexpected Hotels and Ayre Hoteles.

Marketing firm questions value of online courses

More and more budding entrepreneurs are turning to the internet to further their business skills, but a sales and marketing firm is unsure how far online programs can recreate the range of situations and challenges entrepreneurs need to prepare for.

Free courses on entrepreneurship are usually self-paced and therefore fail to mimic the time pressures that push entrepreneurs forward in their learning, says Pro UK Consultants. Without a time frame in which to develop their knowledge and skill, budding entrepreneurs are likely to become distracted and drift off course repeatedly, which only pushes their chance of gaining success back further.

Online courses can also have hundreds, if not thousands of students, meaning that it is rare for participants to have any one-on-one time with their course leader or instructor. Pro UK Consultants is concerned, therefore, that the courses fail to prepare entrepreneurs for industry-specific challenges.

While paid courses do offer the opportunity for more one-on-one interaction, Pro UK Consultants is still doubtful about the level of support and practical education these online programs really offer. The firm maintains that the only way to fully understand the demands and challenges of entrepreneurship is to experience it first-hand.

Learning entrepreneurship in a practical environment will help future entrepreneurs to feel comfortable in a business setting, improve their communication skills and present them with the opportunity to take real risks and think on their feet.

Based in Birmingham, Pro UK Consultants is responding to the increasing demand for more personal marketing solutions by focussing on the development of young entrepreneurs in the industry. Through workplace initiatives, optional workshops and travel and networking opportunities the firm is helping young people to gain the experiences needed to become successful and well-rounded entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, Chiron Marketing Solutions has released a guide to what it means to be a mentor in today’s competitive business environment.

The guide says that mentoring is a huge commitment, so those looking to share their knowledge and support with less experienced people should set clear boundaries from the outset. Being honest and clear about how many hours they will be available, the subject matter they can cover and their preferred method of contact will help mentors to identify suitable mentees and make clear exactly what they can expect from the experience.

Mentors should resist the urge to provide directional advice as this “could lead to a mentee reliving the mentor’s journey, rather than creating his or her own.”

Mentors do not need to have all the answers. By listening to their mentees and asking the right questions they will encourage critical thinking and support mentees in finding the answers more organically.

Sometimes people do not gel because of a personality clash or different working styles. This means that not all mentors and mentees part ways on the best terms. This can be avoided by setting expectations from the outset and being upfront about what can be gained from the experience.

When both parties understand each other, mentoring can lead to a long-lasting connection which empowers both mentor and mentee. The best mentoring relationships are give and take, meaning the mentor comes away having learnt just as much from the mentee.

Chiron Marketing Solutions believes that, no matter what the industry, all aspiring entrepreneurs can benefit from finding a mentor. Mentoring boosts leadership and ensures that industry secrets and successful practices are shared and used. Mentoring also offers real-time, work-based learning and allows young people to put theory into practice and face the impact their actions have head-on, helping them to become experienced, well-rounded business leaders.

Sales and marketing firm Penmex says that having the correct mindset can help an entrepreneur to seize every opportunity and become successful. While every entrepreneur experiences different challenges and environments, and each industry demands its own set of skills, there are some core thought processes that all entrepreneurs can benefit from. Mental skills such innovation, flexibility, collaboration and problem-solving are key to the entrepreneurial mindset and are transferable to almost any industry or sector.

However the firm stresses that these mental processes must be regularly put into action if they are to support an individual on his or her journey to success.

Penmex has sought advice from business experts on how people can begin to think like an entrepreneur.

Ammad Khan, the founder of Citrusbits, an app-development company in San Francisco, believes that it is vital for entrepreneurs to be future focussed and understand that success depends on flexibility. Working in the technology industry, Ammad Khan knows how quickly the tools and trends can change and believes that preparing for this change is the only way to avoid becoming derailed.

Wade Floyd, a multiple entrepreneur, believes that the one of the most important aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset is opportunity recognition. Success depends on being able to deliver something of value to consumers. The only way of achieving this is to watch the market, keep an eye on competitors and listen to the needs of consumers. This will open up possibilities and help an entrepreneur to build a business which has meaning.

A third entrepreneur, Mike Harriett, believes that the entrepreneurial mindset relies on balance. While it is important for entrepreneurs to accept risk, it is just as vital that they know when to reach out to experts for advice.