eLearning on the EnterpriseTrends & Best Practices

Athanasios PapagelisCTO & Co-founder

Facts

• People is the only long-term competitive advantage of modern enterprises• Our world is ever evolving and with it existing

knowledge quickly becomes outdated• We are all in a relentless pursuit of new skills to

retain and improve our position• In this environment, continuous investment in

people is essential for prosperity

Why eLearning?

• Learning is HARD!– Time consuming, long-term outcome, non-predictable

results, expensive, …

• eLearning brings a promise:– Reduce costs (divide initial cost with each learner)– Align training with business needs– Standardization of goals– Personalization of delivery– Flexibility (in terms of time and place)– Assessment and ROI calculations

Building blocks

How do we learn in an enterprise environment?

• Informal Learning– Each working day is a training process

• meetings, small-talks, observation– No formal assessment– Easy, natural but incomplete

• Formal Learning– Learning has a clear start and end point– The outcome of the learning process is assessed– Hard but complete

• eLearning is somewhere between– Under conditions can offer the best of formal and

informal learning

How eLearning is used in an Enterprise environment?

• Assess employees• Continuous education for employees• Regular evaluation of employee skills– Legally required in many countries

• Match business needs with suitable employees

• Training and support for customers• ROI reports on learning

Extreme views on eLearning

V It reduces the cost of the learning process

X People prefer more personal forms of trainings

V It gives me an overview of the skills and weaknesses of

employees

X It has a large initial cost and is difficult to maintain

Preconditions for successful deployment

• Real problem• Is there is a traditional sub-optimal learning process?• Is there a large volume of new employees that need

induction?

• Do you have a geographically dispersed structure?• Appropriate audience

• Do employees know how to turn-on the pc?• Right size

• Do you have more than 50 employees? eLearning can be used everywhere but its value increases with size.

Best practices

• You need internal champions• Offer “positive” motives• Ensure support from the management• Make it fun! Use multimedia• Make it social! Let people communicate• Make it blended! You need both traditional and

online learning. You cannot teach everything online.

Possible problems

• Resistance to change• Underestimation of initial cost• eLearning is a paradigm shift

• Direct usage of methods that work in the traditional classroom do not work on eLearning

• Manage expectations of all stakeholders• Management, Trainers, Trainees

• Technological risk• Bad choice of tools• Interconnection with other business tools ?

Don’t over do it!

What happens in the world

• eLearning is used mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries– ~50% of the market is in USA– Strong interest from Australia / Canada

• Europe is lagging far behind– Probably due to cultural reasons

• Growing interest from India and Latin America– Extremely cost sensitive markets

Case study - 1

• Plaisio Computers– 28 Computer Megastores in Greece and Bulgaria– More than 1500 Employees

• eFront is used as an evaluation and communication tool

• Plaisio fulfils all needed characteristics to make eLearning successful– Right size– Continuous need for training– High rate of new employees– Traditional training process– Technical-savvy employees

Case study - 2

• KPObv– Extract, process and export oil and gas – >4000 employees, >$600Μ turnover

• Problem: – Widely dispersed employees and partners. – Significant training needs around skills, safety etc

• Initial solution desired– Internal use

• Final solution implemented– commercial LMS – eFront was selected after a cost/effective analysis and due to

customization flexibility to further satisfy 100% of the company needs

Case study – 3Α

• Χstrata– Global mining group– $30B turnover– Tens of thousands of employees

Case study – 3Β

• In Australia it is mandatory to possess specific "skills" to work with specific machines

• These "skills" are recorded on cards, which allow the skilled worker to work with the machine

• Automating the certification process for skills can produce important savings

Australia's mining boom is suffering from skilled labor shortages, which is fuelling wage and price inflation.http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/not-enough-to-tackle-skills-shortages-20110510-1eh8i.html

The big picture LMS users – breakdown by industry

Source: eLearningGuild

The big pictureWhy companies use an LMS?

Source: eLearningGuild

The big picture Initial LMS cost for bigger corporations (acquire, install, customize) > 5000 learners

Source: eLearningGuild

The big picture: eLearning Trends

• Mobile learning• Social learning• Personalization• Talent Management • Rapid eLearning• Precise eLearning ROI measurement• Serious games• Simplicity