Transcript Perspectives 2004

Learning: Re-Imagined
Engaging/Maintaining C-Level Support
for e-Learning
Francis Pring-Mill, Sierra Systems
Agenda
• The C-level perspective
• Our SkillSoft implementation
• Engaging support
• Maintaining support
• Measures of success
• Lessons learned
• Questions
The C-level perspective
• Employee development is a means to a business end
• What is the investment?
• What is the return?
• How long do I have to wait?
• How will I measure success?
• Who is Sierra and what business are we in?
Who is Sierra?
Our SkillSoft implementation
• Sierra Systems
• Management consulting, systems integration, managed
services
• 1,000+ staff, 12 locations, North America
• Primarily project work, i.e., temporary teams of consultants
• Pre-SkillSoft
• Individual e-learning courses purchased from a variety of
vendors
• SkillSoft Pilot
• June 2003-May 2006, 250 users, MML bundle
• SkillSoft Company-Wide
• June 2006, all employees, SkillChoice Complete
“Means to a business end”
• For professional services firms…
• “The purpose of employee development is to
increase the competence and know-how of our
consultants because this is what we sell to our
clients.”
• Client receives better service
• Sierra Systems gains a more valuable asset
• Consultant can command higher rates
• Consultant’s salary can increase
• Consultant’s job satisfaction increases
• Sierra Systems’ retention increases
What is the investment?
• Value of consultant to client = knowledge + skills +
experience
• On-the-job learning produces all three
• And we get paid
• Anything less represents “lost billable time”
• Only experience produces experience, but education
can provide knowledge and skills
• We typically do not get paid
• Alternatives include e-learning and instructor-led
• What is the best investment?
Feature comparison
FEATURES
Access to course(s)
E-LEARNING
Unlimited
INSTRUCTOR-LED
Once
Time of day
Learners pick from
24x7x365
Scheduled
Time to learning
(/productivity)
Immediate
Scheduled
Ease of scheduling
Accommodating
personal work/life
schedule
100%
Committed full-time
(including travel)
Self-paced
Skip content learners Yes. Based on
already know?
answers to preassessment quiz.
Speed of class
No. Proceed at
speed of slowest
learner.
Feature comparison
FEATURES
Consistency
E-LEARNING
Same every time
INSTRUCTOR-LED
Can vary
Interruptibility
Pick up & put down
whenever means can
use small time
chunks during day or
bench time between
projects
Yes. Can expand
knowledge in
advance of pressing
project need.
Not requiring group
work. Many
technology topics,
business analysis,
mgmt consulting.
Not interruptible.
Cannot multi-task on
other things.
Expand knowledge
on non just-in-time
topics?
Type of topic best
suited
Not so easy. Cost
means typically used
only to meet just-intime requirement.
Business skills,
topics requiring faceto-face interactions
(group workshops,
role plays)
Feature comparison
FEATURES
Expectations
INSTRUCTOR-LED
Still appropriate for
certain topics
Travel time
E-LEARNING
Access to e-learning
resources is
expected, especially
by Gen Y
None
Travel cost
None
Depends (airfare,
hotel, expenses)
Course cost
Annual seat to 3,500 Depends – can be
courses costs less
significant
than a single 1-day
instructor-led course
Yes
No
New courses at no
additional cost?
No. of learners
Unlimited
Depends (1/2 day
each way)
One classroom at a
time
Engaging C-level support
• Assuming all else is equal, e-learning is clearly an
appealing investment
• In particular, e-learning
• Can be used for reference while on-the-job
• Enables value to be created during the natural pockets of
lost billable time, i.e., time between projects
• Is well-suited to self-study topics like technical certifications
• Makes it easy for people to choose to spend personal time
on learning
• This is the “e-learning promise”
What we did
• Ran a two-week evaluation with team of 31
consultants (Feb. 2003)
• Online orientations, then unlimited access to courses
(some assigned, some self-selected)
• Conducted survey, produced report
• Ran a pilot with 250 users (June 2003-May 2006)
• Paid for by business units
• Conducted survey, produced report referencing our results
and industry research
• Went company-wide (June 2006)
• Paid corporately
• Now an employee “benefit”
Maintaining C-level support
• Are we delivering on the promise?
• Measures of success
• How much is e-learning being used and what for?
• How is it helping us deliver a better service to our clients?
• How is it helping the value of our consultants increase?
• How are we achieving the above in a cost-effective way?
• Any other benefits?
• How are we sustaining success?
How much is e-learning being used?
• Quarterly measures, by business unit
• Course usage statistics
• Users as a percentage of headcount
• Number of courses accessed, distinct courses accessed,
course completions
• Total course time, average time per user
• Books24x7 usage statistics
• Users as a percentage of headcount
• Number of sessions, HTML pages read
• Total Books24x7 time, average time per user
• Comments
• More is better, but what matters is business value created…
What is e-learning being used for?
MEASURES
• Quarterly program reviews
• Top ten courses
• Top ten book categories
• Course evaluation feedback
• Statistics
• Free format comments
• Feedback from follow-up with power users
(identified through usage stats)
What is e-learning being used for?
COURSES
BOOKS CATEGORIES
• Core Concepts in Business
Analysis
• .NET Framework
• Enterprise Analysis and
Making a Business Case
• Communications/Negotiations
• Introduction to Project
Management
• Analyzing Requirements
Using Models
• Best Practices
• Career Development
• Coaching/Mentoring
• Brand Management
• Eliciting Requirements
• Change Management
• ITIL V3 – ITIL and the
Service Life Cycle
• Business Analyst
Course evaluation feedback (stats)
• “I will be able to apply the knowledge and/or skills
gained from this course to help me perform my job
better.”
• Agree 56%, Strongly Agree 18%. 74%
• “The course content was organized in a way that
allowed me to meet the learning objectives.”
• Agree 64%, Strongly Agree 15%. 79%
• “I would recommend this course to other employees
in my organization.”
• Agree 54%, Strongly Agree 13%. 67%
How are we delivering a better service?
• “The true power of SkillSoft didn’t dawn on me until
I watched a developer using the Books24x7 as a
cookbook to install and use some new software.”
• “(1) Not having to read, or browse, a whole book
only to find it doesn’t have what I want. (2) Being
able to find if anything has been written on a given
topic. (3) Getting nuggets of specific information
relevant to the task at hand.”
• “My present assignment came as a result of a
successful interview… in part due to my having
access to metadata books on the SkillSoft site. Even
if I had used it that one time it…” (the assignment)
“…paid for years of access.”
How is consultant value increasing?
• “I can decide when to take the course. I can take
certain sections more than once. I can print relevant
course information. It gives me feedback right away
after an assessment.”
• “I like that I can go back to a course even when I’ve
completed it. I can use small chunks of time for
learning, e.g., 20 minutes at a time.”
• “I liked that on Saturday night when I couldn’t sleep
I was able to learn something through the wee hours
of the morning. It’s kind of addictive. I wanted to
take so many courses.”
Where is the cost-effectiveness?
MEASURES
• Cost savings over instructor-led training
• Assume we might have purchased only half the courses
• Assume only half the time is “lost billable time”
• Estimate cost “savings”
• Cost savings on learning for certifications, e.g., PMP,
Oracle, Microsoft, Java
• Cost savings on reference books, e.g., PMBOK,
Oracle
• Cost savings on maintaining PDUs
Where is the cost-effectiveness?
MEASURES
• SkillSoft’s ROI calculator: user survey questions ask
1. Estimate of personal Productivity Gain
• What skill were you seeking?
• What percentage of your job requires this skill?
• How much of a skill increase did you experience?
2. Estimate of alternative training costs*
• Assume only one quarter of licenses experienced similar
result, then
• Estimated Enterprise-Wide ROI = Productivity Gain + Cost
Displacement* per respondent x No. of licenses divided by 4
Where is the cost-effectiveness?
• “Amazing. I found about four books that would have
been valuable to projects over the past year that are
not locally available. I showed this product to three
of our Technical Architects and they all found
materials that would be immediately of great use.
One of the architects recently spent $125 on a book
that was online. This is a phenomenal resource.”
• “This gives me access to current information which is
more valuable than having a book in my office which
is quietly becoming obsolete without me knowing it.”
Any other benefits?
• Visible investment in employee’s career development
• Promotes retention (ever-present challenge in
professional services industry)
• Recruiting tool
• Meeting expectations of current generation of
workers
Maintaining C-level support
• Are we delivering on the promise?
• Measures of success
• How much is e-learning being used and what for?
• How is it helping us deliver a better service to our clients?
• How is it helping the value of our consultants increase?
• How are we achieving the above in a cost-effective way?
• Any other benefits?
• How are we sustaining success?
How are we sustaining success?
• Building e-learning into the fabric of the enterprise
CORPORATE “PUSH”
1. Mappings of e-learning resources
• Core competencies for all consultants
• Job families: role > level > responsibilities/activities >skills
> e-learning resources
• Tools for career development planning
2. Sierra corporate folders by topic for Books24x7
3. Education request process promotes SkillSoft as
first stop when shopping
How are we sustaining success?
CORPORATE “PUSH”
4. Ongoing communication plan
• CEO messages, business unit leader messages
• Articles, especially with user testimonials
• Periodic company-wide e-mails
• Leader’s Guide equips management with FAQs in advance
5. SkillPort 7.0 has created re-branding opportunity
• Webinars
• Posters
• Contests
How are we sustaining success?
• New marketing theme as of April 14, 2009
How are we sustaining success?
BUSINESS UNIT “PULL”
Use of e-learning resources by:
1. Location-based PMP study groups
2. Junior Business Analyst Study Group
3. Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings
4. Internal “certification programs,” e.g., for Sierra
managed services solutions
Lessons learned
• What engages C-level support is the promise
• Supported by evidence: best is your own
• Next best is information for your industry, next best is
research reports on general trends
• What maintains C-level support is business results
• Business units must champion the value
• Corporate can “push” but the business must “pull”
• Make the most of the intangible results
• It’s more than usage statistics
• Two anecdotes do not make a dataset, but comments from
an outspoken respected business champion carry weight
Lessons learned
• You’re never done marketing
• User community
• Middle management – need special attention
• C-level
• Be proactive
• Act on the feedback you receive
• Art and science
Questions