Doing More with Less: How E-Learning Helps

in a Down EconomyLeslie Mariner, Vice President

Essential Learning

International Association of Jewish Vocational ServicesAnnual Conference

May 17, 2009

E-Learning

“Technology-enabled learning directly influences an organization’s performance, accountability, and effectiveness. Good training is critical to the health of your organization and correlates directly with your clients’ outcomes.”

Overview

Three themes we’ll discuss today:

• Industry economic climate

• Operational demands

• E-Learning technology

• E-Learning to meet strategic objectives

Down Economy

Factors impacting agencies include:

• Downsizing

• Shrinking revenue

• Clients’ stress increases demand for services

• Increased pressure on stressed staff resources

It’s Still the Economy!

The spiral continues:

• Turnover

• Decreased training resources

• Undertrained staff = disempowered clients

• Doing more with less requires more effective workforce training

“Train Pain”As resources and revenue have continued to shrink, agencies are under even more pressure than ever to show results.

• No decrease in training mandates - Regulatory and Compliance

• Multiple layers of accountability accreditation licensure continuing education requirements

Financial Crisis - Impact• Hiring, training, and replacing staff cost time

and money• As funding shrinks, staff time becomes a

premium• Regulatory and CE requirements remain high• The demand for evidence-based practices is

increasing• Training vs. reimbursable productivity• How to do more with less?

Survival in Tough Times

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein

• Flexibility allows for adaptability

• “Training as usual” and “business as usual”

Organizational Strategies

Organizations/Agencies that:

• Align their workforce with strategic initiatives

• Empower their workforce with resources

• Maximize their available resources

• Put their training where their mouth is!

… will thrive even during the toughest times.

What is E-Learning?• Digital knowledge and skills acquisition

• Multimedia content delivery

• Learning Management System (LMS)

• Blended approach

What is E-Learning?

More than just reading on-line

High Quality, interactive on-line coursesDeveloped by Instructional TechnologistsBased on adult learning principles & researchNOT – journal and research articlesNOT – just a power point with voice over

Learning Management System as a management tool

Multi-Media – Social Networking

E-Learning Retention and Results

E-learning over traditional classroom demonstrates

• up to 60% faster learning curve

• up to 50% higher content retention

• 56% greater gains in learning

• consistency of learning was up to 60% better

• training compression was up to 70% faster

Training the ‘Net Generation’

• Old model- recruit, train, supervise and retain

• New model - initiate, engage, collaborate and evolve

E-Learning 2.0 Education through Collaboration

Community Forums/Discussion Boards

Wikis

Blogs/Journals

Social Bookmarking

Social Networking

Learning Micro-Communities

SupervisionE-Learning enhances supervision by: • shifting content knowledge training to online

training• focusing supervision on skills training and

performance deficits • better skills development – better client

outcomes• using automated LMS to assign and track

trainings, which allows more face time with supervisees

LMS TechnologyA Learning Management System (LMS) is a training tool

that:• Is evidence-based• Ties learning to employee performance

-pre/post test data analysis-item analysis

• Increases compliance with regulatory compliance and training requirements

-compliance training for risk management-sexual harassment, confidentiality, ethics,

etc.– Cross-walks

• Saves money and time by consolidating data

Analyze• 10 Question Pre-Test - Results by Question

% Answered Correctly

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

# 10

# 9

# 8

# 7

# 6

# 5

# 4

# 3

# 2

# 1

20%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

% Passed

100 Employees Surveyed

Item Analysis• Pre-Test results by question.

*Table retrieved from item analysis report.

Correct

Choice

A: 10-30 A: 70.0%

B: 40-60 B: 20.0%

C: 70-90 C: 10.0%

A: Gender-related issues A: 0.0%

B: Seductive Advances B: 40.0%

C: Bribery for sexual favors C: 10.0%

D: Coercion for sexual favors D: 30.0%

E: All of the above E: 20.0%

A: 10 A: 10.0%

B: 25 B: 40.0%

C: 65 C: 30.0%

D: 90 D: 20.0%

A: True A: 80.0%

B: False B: 20.0%

20.00%

20.00%

20.00%10Most people do not need training on sexual harassment issues. B 100

9

What percentage of all sexual harassment cases filed with the EEOC is filed by women? D 100

% Correct Distribution# Question ChoicesTimes Taken

What percentage of working women are sexually harassed? B 1007

8

20.00%

Which of the following types of behavior are forms of sexual

harassment?E 100

Improve• 10 Question Test - Results by Question

% Answered Correctly

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

# 10

# 9

# 8

# 7

# 6

# 5

# 4

# 3

# 2

# 1

Post-Test

Pre-Test 20%

90%

0%10%

20%

30%

40%50%

60%

70%

80%90%

100%

% Passed

100 Employees Surveyed

LMS TechnologyA Learning Management System (LMS) also :

• Rapidly assigns and tracks new mandates-warning alerts-survey tool

• Tracks and manages staff professional development- – career path hierarchy

• Puts your own training content “online” – • Share and standardizes training content

across agencies

E-Learning Facilitates Strategic initiatives

Examples

• Tennessee Managed Care – Agency Audit Compliance

• GA Paraprofessional Certification• Irwin Siegel Risk Management• AK Children’s Services Providers • Baseline Case Manager Assessment• AZ Behavioral Health Translator Training

Consumer Empowerment and Recovery

Community Access Sites:• Promote use of self recovery tools• Create opportunity for self education• Empower consumers and their families• Reduce demand on services and staff• Foster self-empowerment through social

networking

Social Networking Sites

Connecting individuals, organizations, and ideasExamples include:• An agency planning to train on “Trauma Informed

Care”

• Therapists can consult group forum to share ideas, experiences, outcomes etc.

• A “virtual group” for adolescents aging out of foster care and moving in to adult system

• CASRA Classroom

Benefits of E-learning Compared to Traditional Learning

• Time saved• Accessibility• Just in time• Unlimited learning options• Self-paced• Convenience• Effective for diverse learning styles• Easily customized• Lower costs• New skills and technology

E-Learning ROIE-Learning has been shown to:

Save Time• Yielded time savings of 35-45% over traditional

classroom instruction while obtaining equivalent or better gains in learning retention and transfer

 Save Money• E-learning can cut the travel and entertainment

cost associated with training from 50% - 80%• Off-the-shelf multimedia training savings in the

first year increase to an average of 45%

Potential Savings

Orientation/First year Training 8 new hires per month/48 hours of training

4,608 training hours @ $11/hr.

$50,688 60% of training shifted to online

2,765 hours reduced by 50%

$15,206 savings in paid training time

Ongoing Training150 employees – 24 hours of training3600 hours of paid

training @ $11 $39,600 in paid

training time

Shift 75% to online2,700 hours reduced by 50%$14,850 savings in paid

training time

Other Savings

• Travel time to attend training• Replacement costs

– Covering staff while they attend training

• Non-productive manager’s time– Chasing, documenting, teaching, scoring,

traveling, scheduling, compiling, etc.

• Clerical Support• CEU Reimbursement

Case StudyArchway Station, Inc. is a private nonprofit corporation

operating in Allegany County, Maryland whose CFO, Gil Frankenberry, noted that

“My agency certainly saved money by being able to train one or two or four or ten staff on one particular topic without paying an average of $50 to $200 per person to send someone to a full day training session. We figured we spent on average $125 per employee to send one person to a live training and we typically sent employees to two trainings a year, so this was costing us about $250 per employee per year. In one year we could spend up to $11,875 to send all of our 95 employees to live training. Now this cost is reduced by more than 40% by incorporating e-learning into our training program.”

E-Learning Technology Benefits

E-Learning and LMS technology give you:• Well-trained, empowered staff• Less time/Fewer resources spent on

training• Greater flexibility in training provided• More time for face-to-face attention• Enhanced training compliance• Decreased turnover

Conclusion

E-Learning benefits for IAJVS include:

• Existing IAJVS training needs

• Maximizing ROI of training dollars

• Management resource that will give you “more bang for your buck”

• Tightening linkages among IAJVS agencies and consumers with social networking