Commentary--In any economic situation, good or bad, employee development and skills building remain essential requirements for success. Recognizing that corporate productivity is directly impacted by employee capability, CEOs will attest that the workforce is the organization's number one asset. Workforce development, a.k.a. employee training, however, often gets the short shrift. One reason is that as much as 50 percent of the training budget often goes to travel-related expenses for trainers and trainees. Furthermore, today's uncertain economic times have caused reductions in travel budgets for many large organizations, with employee training getting caught in the crunch. It is for this reason that live e-learning is gaining ground as a cost-saving alternative. Such technologies have continued to improve over the past several years, with some coming close to matching the traditional classroom experience and, in some ways, delivering unexpected benefits. As a result, more organizations are implementing live e-learning to expand the reach of training objectives, without driving up costs.
As is the case with most things, support at the upper levels of management can ultimately mean the difference between the long-term success and failure of e-learning. HR professionals need to "influence the influencers" to take an active role in e-learning's acceptance and integration into the workplace.
CEO as change agent
Today's best live e-learning environments provide an engaging user experience combined with a low learning curve. Participants are able to dynamically interact via two-way "voice over internet," shareable whiteboards, instant messaging and real-time polling and testing. With some solutions, classroom participants may even be able to virtually "raise their hands" to ask or answer questions, or express their agreement or confusion with a discussion point, using emotion indicators that are akin to online body language for instructors to read.
Despite efforts made to simulate the real classroom, e-learning still faces an adoption barrier without the appropriate management push. According to Forrester Research, "users are often unfamiliar with e-learning, distrust the different format and wonder if e-learning is a valid learning approach. E-learning support from top management will get people engaged and is vital for success."
Like any initiative that attempts to alter the standard way of doing things, senior management support is required to effect lasting change. Even the best e-learning technology risks failure if it is not regularly integrated into the business routine, and if there is no real or sustainable executive-level commitment. It is not enough to get the CEO to simply "rubber stamp" a technology purchase; he or she must also be willing to serve as a change agent, promoting e-learning's use as a standard business practice.
Senior managers can serve as role models by integrating similar technologies into their business communications. Live Web conferencing, a close cousin to live e-learning, can be adopted by senior managers for use within their own meetings, or as a medium for building rapport with a geographically dispersed workforce (think "brown bag lunch," with the CEO covering a specific topic). Employees who witness such adoption from the top-down are more willing to take the leap themselves.
Garner support through ROI
How is it possible to get a senior manager to cross the chasm between simply endorsing e-learning and becoming a change agent, especially if they've never been an "e-student"? Forrester Research has stated that "since top management as a group is one of the lightest users of e-learning, a strong business case with demonstrated ROI is critical to gain support."
Studies abound that validate the productivity and cost-saving benefits of live e-learning. One such case is T-Mobile, one of the fastest growing nationwide wireless carriers with over eight million customers. As the company expanded, T-Mobile determined that it was no longer cost-effective for its instructors (or worse, its employees) to go on the road. By moving to a virtual classroom environment, students from several locations could easily participate in a single session online, eliminating the need for instructors to move around to different locations. With live e-learning in place, T-Mobile achieved a remarkable 1,000 percent ROI in the first 18 months. E-learning not only drastically reduced travel expenses, but also increased productivity, since training was broken into convenient half-day sessions instead of the full, consecutive days that were previously required since instructors were waiting on-site. Employees could train for just part of the day, without being taken completely from their jobs for days at a time.
Such success stories are powerful tools in convincing senior managers to get on board with live e-learning initiatives. E-learning test pilots in your own organization can build even greater affinity, as tangible benefits are revealed.
On the flip side, however, implementations that are rife with frustrations or are slow to deliver benefits can derail larger initiatives and weaken management support. The ideal live e-learning environment creates a virtual classroom with the look and feel of the physical classroom. This ensures that participants can easily get up to speed so that results are more quickly realized.
In evaluating live e-learning technologies, look for:
* An interface and feature set designed for the best user experience;
* Easy deployment and scalability for future needs;
* Business-class VOIP and the ability to keep presentation aspects "in sync";
* Affordable flat rates that encourage usage, instead of per-minute charges that can quickly accrue;
* Simultaneous support for users, regardless of desktop platforms or connection speeds;
* Strong vendor technical support;
* Customer references.
The "WIFM" Factor ("What's In it For Me?") Think about the last time that your organization rolled out a new technology. While a few propeller heads in the office might have been giddy with excitement, the majority of workers probably thought, "What's In it For Me?" Too often, companies make significant technology investments without fully communicating the "WIFM" to affected levels of the workforce. Even if you have achieved the buy-in of top management, employees still need to understand how e-learning can help meet the company's business objectives, as well as how they specifically will benefit.
From the worker's perspective, increased access to better quality training is a compelling proposition. This is especially true for employees who survived downsizing but have had to take on more responsibilities, often without being adequately prepared. Live e-learning enables organizations to effectively "syndicate" their best instructors, sharing them across a much broader audience than face-to-face training can allow.
Internal awareness campaigns have greatest impact when one or more senior managers sit at the helm, acting as purveyors of information and encouraging adoption. Outreach efforts need to begin at the start of an e-learning deployment, and continue as new training classes are delivered.
Conclusion
Live e-learning initiatives do not stop at the technology's selection and implementation; rather, this is only the beginning. HR executives must create an atmosphere that fosters e-learning, launch programs that promote usage, and clearly communicate the benefits. Developing champions at the top level, and at every level and department within the organization, will help to ensure success.
biography
Rajeev Arora is vice president of Strategy and Business Development at Elluminate, Inc., a provider of live e-learning and Web conferencing solutions.
