Getting value for money

Having available learning and access to knowledge at any time, anywhere and at less cost is a very attractive proposition. The evidence here is compelling. After the initial outlays, digital technology can provide major savings in how you share knowledge and engage learning. You only need to consider the savings you could make in travelling costs and reduced downtime on the job to see the potential.

There are many successes in the world of business. Examples include:

• IBM who saved US$200 million in one year with five times the training and at one-third of the cost

• CISCO Systems and Dell Computers which are close to doing 100 per cent of their training on-line

• National Australia Bank which is expected to save US$1 million in the next two years with a blended solution combining face-to-face and digital delivery

• Procter and Gamble which with collaboration technology has been able to secure a 50 per cent reduction in new product concept and development time.

Steven Melville, the managing director of Ingena, estimates that a large national or multinational organization can typically deliver anywhere from 50 per cent to 80 per cent of their learning in a digital manner, generating multimillion-dollar cost savings in only the first year. Such figures are no doubt impressive and we can expect to see many more businesses lining up to build a faster and more efficient digital system which can build talent, stimulate innovation and stronger partnerships with key parts of their business.

However, again a word of caution. Digital technology is only one part of the equation if you wish to grow your competitive advantage. You need to win over people s hearts and minds to digital technology as well. Delivery or accessibility does not necessarily mean that performance improves or better learning takes place. Just because someone has access to on-line or wireless learning does not mean they will use it. In many ways business must learn the lesson of focusing less on technology and more on human emotion if it wants to succeed.

This observation became clear to me recently when I helped a close friend do their first on-line e-learning programme at home. As a bystander I was curious about the quality of learning and its perceived value. First, being new to e-learning, my friend found the level of responsibility much higher than she had previously expected. She had to take extra time to discover how to use the system, as well as organizing her life so she could fit her course demands into her other interests in life. She also had to have the self-discipline to put aside time at home in her private time to tap into the service. She claimed that these demands were much higher than she would have encountered in the more traditional face-to-face learning situation. After a while, not surprisingly, she began to lose interest. She also claimed that the material and training on the e-learning package was at times a little silly, cold and impersonal. She began to miss the experience of face-to-face learning and eventually, when it came to the last assignment, she asked me to help her so that the experience could be completed quicker.

This story of my friend s experience raises a whole list of issues pertaining to learner initiative, motivation and assessment. In this case my friend did not find it a positive experience and was not keen to reenrol for anything else, even though the service was available free. If she chooses to do another e-learning course she should probably choose another provider. Of course, many of her reactions have a very strong parallel to those which are often experienced in any distance or external education programme such as a traditional correspondence course. However, without doubt, digital technology is placing new added pressures on the modern learner which cannot be ignored. I know there are better examples but, given the growth of e-learning, each business needs to be ready for the real possibility that e-learning may not always help your people or the business. We also need to remind ourselves that we are competing for people s attention, not because people are lazy or unmotivated, but because they are busy doing other things.

As a postscript to my friend s experience, when the course deadline had passed, we discovered that only 10 per cent of the thirty-five people who enrolled completed the scheduled learning on time. This low statistic does again raise issues regarding the perceived worth of the programme and what barriers or obstacles were experienced. With hindsight, there are many things that could have been done to help my friend. For example, starting the course with a face-to-face meeting, praising her more during her progress, coaching her on how best to handle the study and ensuring she had the basic computer literacy skills would have helped. As Colin Pitt from St George Bank says, some people love it and others do not like it too much, so you will need to have face-to-face learning as well.

Again remember the business needs to drive the agenda and do not be paralysed by the latest features, tools and content. Your attention needs to be firmly focused on how technology can lead to better knowledge sharing and business performance. As a rule of thumb, at least 50 per cent of the investment of any budget outlay should be spent on research, change management, education and communication. People often make the mistake of concentrating too much on the hardware and software and not enough on shaping a new attitude to doing business.

It is also worth noting that you may not have to spend a fortune to get a suitable system up and running. This is highly relevant for small to medium- sized organizations, particularly if the business has low staffing levels or there are already established protocols in how knowledge is shared. In some cases, the platform and infrastructure that drives your service might lie at a remote location and be managed by a third party. In the modern digital era there are increasing choices on how others can help you personalize your approach without you needing to invest in establishing and maintaining the service yourself. Examples could be learning management systems or hosting learning portals, automatic administration functions and more sophisticated infrastructure collaboration capabilities such as threaded discussions, chat rooms and file sharing. In this regard, a fee will be required and the pricing can vary from a monthly account to an annual payment but it may well be the most cost- and resource-effective way to proceed. Finally, if you know how the World Wide Web works, you will be aware that there is a gold mine of free resources and software available. With a little know-how and help you can make excellent savings.