Case Study 1: Reducing the costs of live training

Scenario: Approximately once per quarter, CompanyX sponsors a training seminar for all new salespersons at their corporate headquarters. The seminar lasts a full week, during which members of the senior corporate staff outline sales and other corporate policies, present case studies, and describe in full detail the company's extensive product line.

CompanyX is certain that this training is an essential introduction for new hires to their corporate culture, but the expense of the event is high, and (depending on their date of hire) some new salespersons are on the job for many weeks or months before the next training session is available. Because of the extent of CompanyX's product line, the company has received many complaints that the differences between products are difficult to remember after only a week of training.

The human resources staff has been given the task of reducing the time and financial cost of the seminars, but to do so while providing a training scenario that will allow new salespeople to more effectively retain information about the product line.

Solution: CompanyX is faced with two separate problems. First, it must reduce the cost of the seminars. Given that the seminars are recognized as an important part of the corporate culture, and the first opportunity for new hires to meet some of the more senior members of the company, the seminars should not be eliminated. They could, however, be streamlined.

The training staff decides that much of the introductory information about corporate policies can be presented in an online environment. New hires will be directed to the online information and asked to take a simple evaluation to confirm their understanding of the most important points. The time at the seminar for dealing with those issues will then concentrate only on more complex issues, answering questions, and generally summarizing the philosophies involved.

Likewise, the training staff decides that, of the five case studies typically presented at the seminar, the first two will be presented online. This will allow new hires to "get the feel" of how the case studies are solved, and examine the solutions in depth if necessary, ensuring all new hires arrive at the seminar with a basic understanding of the solution process. The remaining three case studies are presented at the seminar, so that the dynamic of solving the problems as a group remains intact.

Between these two improvements, CompanyX is able to reduce two days of seminar material to one.

The second problem CompanyX is faced with is that the information on their extensive product line is complex and difficult for new hires to retain, even after a multi-day introduction. This is likely due to a lack of follow-up information; the employees need to be given ongoing access to the training information even after the seminar is over, so that they may review it as necessary.

The training staff decides that an online resource in which the details of each product is described would effectively allow salespersons to review those details as needed. The resource will be organized to be searchable, so that products with specific features can be easily found, and will include notes and Q&A by the corporate staff wherever specific additional information proves to be needed.

Because the information presented about the company's product line no longer needs to be completely inclusive (every detail about every model), the time spent at the seminar can be reduced from three days to two, thus reducing the full five day seminar to a more managable three days.

As an added bonus, the presentation of much of the introductory material online allows new salespersons to view it within the first few days of being hired, instead of having to wait for the next available seminar. This gives new hires a better opportunity to absorb the material before the seminar actually takes place, strenghening their ability to participate in the seminar when it occurs.