ASTD 2000 Excellence in Practice Page 2

ASTD 2000 Excellence in Practice ¨ Page 2

Business Literacy E-Learning Course

This program provides nine hours of interactive e-learning on “Business Literacy” skills to employees in 43 countries. The three-year project began with a survey of 100 key global managers asking them how Conoco University could help their employees improve their performance.

Analysis

The managers identified the need for improved employee business acumen so their units could reach Conoco's year 2003 goals. The project team involved 220 employees in global focus groups to discover exactly what business literacy meant to them and what they wanted to learn.

Design

From the information gleaned, exact learning outcomes at “knowledge” and “application” levels were identified. This information was sequenced into seven interactive modules. Each module was divided into very small "bite-sized" lessons. Each lesson followed a consistent, learner-centered structure designed to match the various learning styles of a global audience.

Development

After developing the first two sections, pilot sessions were held with three global business units to get input on how the course could be improved. The team listened to the suggestions and made significant changes.

Implementation

Well-orchestrated rollouts were held at twelve business units to create interest, gain management support, and promote usage. The course was then released to all employees using Conoco's intranet. Additionally, to overcome any bandwidth issues, CD's were given to every employee.

Evaluation

Approximately 96% of the managers reported noticeable improvements in employee performance after taking the course. Pre-and post-test scores showed significant knowledge improvement. Ninety-eight percent of those surveyed said they would take WBT again.

B. Two-Page Background

Scope Conoco's program is extensive e-learning program in that it presents basic “Business Literacy” skills to employees worldwide over the corporate intranet. The ambitious, three-year project represents the largest enterprise-wide training initiative ever implemented by Conoco University since it started in 1996.

Needs Analysis The project began with an electronic survey of 92 key global managers who identified the need for increased employee business acumen to help Conoco implement its aggressive year 2003 goals. Follow-up focus group meetings led to both instructional and non-instructional interventions being developed, including this e-learning project.

Working closely with 53 internal subject matter experts, exact learning outcomes were developed at both the “knowledge” and “application” levels using a detailed Context-Performance Matrix. This allowed us to provide facts and concepts as supportive material while emphasizing the key principles and procedures needed to change each employee's performance.

Using constructivist learning approaches, seven highly-interactive modules were developed to teach employees how Conoco operates, how Conoco measures success financially, how to set up and read financial reports, and how to make financial decisions.

Goals Changed The original purpose was to fill a need for business training emphasized by managers. Using knowledge gained during the focus groups and pilot sessions, the purpose changed in scope to also address the needs expressed by the employees themselves.

Instructional Approach The opening modules use two metaphors, both carefully selected and crafted for a diverse global audience. One module teaches the value chain by relating it to the fishing industry. In another module, the employees establish their own bike repair shop business, then correlate this to making financial decisions within their own Conoco division. To test “knowledge” objectives, an animated “Biz Quiz” provides a beat-the-clock game show. For “application” exercises, the “Dilemma Zone” presents authentic, job-related simulations.

Lesson Design Each lesson followed the ROPES communication model, which emphasizes the use of job-related exercises (Table 1).

Roll Out The project was rolled out in two phases. Initially, the course was implemented to selected global business units with the involvement of the human resources department and the business unit managers. Observations and eval-uations gleaned from these initial rollouts allowed fine-tuning for Phase Two, which saw the site opened for all employees worldwide.

Incentives In some cultures, employees are hesitant to risk failure and “loose face”. Thus the course allows employees to learn at their own pace and re-take modules as many times as needed to pass, then receive an individualized certificate. The e-learning can be tied to the individual employee’s Career Development goals. Individual units also implement their own awards, e.g., the Malaysia unit rewards employees with dress-down casual day. In Venezuela, upon completion, employees receive a commemorative gift. In North America, employees receive "Business Literacy" letter openers.

Technical Implementing global e-learning demanded close cooperation between the University and the Information Technology Management at Conoco headquarters and in each country. Technical adjustments, including programming changes, were made to match each business unit's servers. In each site, the goal was to minimize bandwidth concerns so the course would run quicker. The headquarters' IM manager consulted with each local programmer to solve local problems. As a result, technical problems were minimized.

Results A comparison of pre- and post-test scores shows significant knowledge improvement, and 98% of those surveyed said they would take an e-learning course again. Almost 82% of the employees predict that the training will allow them to improve performance. When unit managers ranked how well employees reached the learning objectives on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), the average score was 4.2. Additionally, about 96% of the managers surveyed report noticeable improvements in employee performance after taking the course. Content adjustments including the addition of case studies and Conoco statistics updates are made quarterly by the project manager.

Exemplify the Best Employees globally can now speak and better understand the same "financial" language. This results in improved performance and teamwork when planning and discussing projects, and in annual reports and technical areas. It serves as a just-in-time performance support tool for reference after employees complete the course, and becomes a key part in new hire orientation, including industry and Conoco-specific acronyms.

C. Documentation

1.  Describe the problem or need for which this practice is designed and implemented. How was the problem identified, and how was it determined that this practice is an appropriate response?

Our Mission

The Conoco University was formed to help our global corporation reach its new corporate mission (Figure 1).

Shortly after the Conoco University was formed, the university manager e-mailed electronic surveys to the 100 business unit managers globally asking this open-ended question: "How can the Corporate University improve the performance of your employees so the corporate goal can reach its stated mission?"

The Gap is Identified

From the 92 returned questionnaires that listed 316 specific business-related concerns, it became obvious that our employees needed help on how to write a business plan, develop budgets, and understand Conoco financial statements accurately.

This lack of understanding basic business acumen kept many employees from seeking financial advice about their operations because they felt it would make them look "bad" in front of their peers.

My employees need to be challenged with what it takes to succeed in business and in their profession. If the Conoco University can develop a curriculum of business basics for this group, as well as a common set of terms, this will be helpful -- and should be pursued vigorously.

-- From a General Manager

Figure 2 - Sample Reply

The Need Became Obvious

Once the need for business literacy for an informed workplace was determined, the Conoco University manager, David Nelson, established a project team and named a seasoned staff employee consultant, Sandy Staton, as the Project Manager. The project manager e-mailed those people who mentioned business literacy specifically in the initial needs analysis and asked them to clarify their specific needs.

Their responses (See a sample in Figure 2) were collected electronically and a preliminary list of specific needs evolved.

This resulting list was further discussed in three Focus Groups consisting of 220 employees in two face-to-face business unit meetings and one global videoconference. The meetings involved supervisors, human resource representatives, line managers, line workers, and office staff. From this, both instructional and non-instructional interventions were devised.

To reach all the employees in 43 countries, one common resource was identified -- the corporate intranet. Therefore, a decision was made to provide the needed business literacy through e-learning so employees could take the training anywhere, anytime.

The e-learning course was specifically supported by incentive systems, including annual reviews and career development goals. Because e-learning has become such a powerful information resource, Conoco wanted to introduce this resource to all employees and build upon its capabilities for future courses.

Business Literacy E-Learning

Seven modules were developed:

Instructional Sections

(1) Value Added - Uses the fishing industry metaphor to teach the value chain and financial terms (Figure 3).

(2) Getting a Grip - Shows the employee processes and procedures how to set up a bike repair shop (Figure 4).

(3) How Conoco Makes Money - Connects the information learned in the first two sections to Conoco.

Support Sections

(4) About Business Literacy - Previews the program and explains its various sections.

(5) Making the Net Work for You - Explains how our intranet connects the employee for anytime training.

(6) The Dilemma Zone - Presents authentic simulations for the employees to start making business decisions with feedback.

(7)  Biz Quiz - An animated quiz game that tests employees on business literacy.

The Three Design Goals:

1.  Use cutting-edge technology to move all employees into the information age.

2.  Incorporate corporate-specific scenarios that enable the transfer of knowledge from the computer screen to authentic simulations that require keen cognitive strategies.

3.  Enable students to manipulate numbers, make business decisions, and evaluate results -- all in a fun, interactive, e-learning environment (See example in Figure 5).

How the Web Allowed the Project to Meet Its Goals

The e-learning solution used in this intervention met these goals in ten specific ways:

1.  Meet the need for interactivity. A Performance-Matrix is used that requires separate approaches to first teach the knowledge, then allow the learner to apply the knowledge, interactively.

2.  Allow audio to vary the learning techniques and to help those who can listen to English better than read it.

3.  Provide animation so learners can see processes unfold.

4.  Allow for self-paced learning, a requirement voiced repeatedly during the rollouts at the usability testing sessions.

5.  Hyperlink to "tell me more" sections. Using the hyperlinking capabilities of the intranet, learners can easily click "Tell Me More Icons" for more details or for remediation on key topics.

6.  Provide access. Since over 80% of employees have access to a computer, either on their desktop or in training rooms (even on oil platforms) or at home, the computer became the ideal choice for individualized instruction.

7.  Track progress. The registration system is designed to see what areas the learners took, how many learners, locations, and scores. The employees want anonymity, so scores are tracked but not the names. Certificates are printed by and for employee use after completion.

8.  Bookmark. If the employee has to leave the work area they can -- and return to the lesson exactly where they left off. Each employee has their own electronic point book which shows their status.

9.  Provide performance support. Using the index feature, employees can easily find specific information for use right on the job -- so the course is a job aid.

10. Allow one portal of entry. Employees can open the course from the corporate intranet and access everything they need at one time, including frequently asked questions.

2. Describe how this practice takes into account the best interest of both the organization and the employees targeted.

After reviewing all of the various employee demographics and work environments, the following plan was made on how to mesh divergent interests into usable solutions for our global Company.

1.  ORGANIZE A CONSISTENT APPROACH
No consistent training initiative was in place. Limited incentive systems, reward systems, feedback systems, environmental support, or expectation standards existed.

2.  SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE
Since employees work in 43 countries, it is important to build upon our diversity showing how everyone's job in every country contributes to the success of Conoco.

3.  SPECIALIZE TO OUR INDUSTRY
Off-the-shelf vendor programs were available, but presented different views and ideas than the corporation uses, further depolarizing business units. Our finished project presented authentic scenarios specific to our needs (Figure 6).

4.  OVERCOME DYSFUNCTIONAL PROCESSES
Employees tend to learn about how Conoco operates, how Business Units operate, and how employees communicate by literal "word of mouth" exchanges between line managers and their employees. This not only leads to individual units forming their own goals and operational processes, but also causes dysfunctional individual employees.