Over the past four years, The Regence Group’s training department has migrated from exclusively classroom training to predominately Web-based, instructor-led offerings. This article describes the steps it took to get there and guidance for managers leading a new staff through this journey. 

The Regence Group is an affiliation of BlueCross/BlueShield health plans in the Pacific Northwest. In 2000, the training departments from the affiliated BC/BS plans formed a single department. As a manager in the department responsible for technology training for end-users, my role was to standardize a curriculum that could be used across an enterprise of approximately 7000 employees. To accomplish this, we had an automated training library that we were able to customize.

The staff trainers came from varied background. Some had started out as software trainers, others were documentation specialists, and some were responsible for performance support tools and computer-based training, which the company had been using for quite a while. One of the health plans before the affiliation used (and continues to use) mainframe-based training for its claims-processing systems. All the plans used some type of multimedia or CBT, typically delivered via CD-ROM.

To be sure, advances in technology were a driving force in the group’s evolution. In 2001, we made the switch from CD-ROMs to Web-based solutions. In 2002, we acquired Web conferencing capabilities. In 2003, we deployed a learning management system. As you can imagine, this progression created several issues for the customers, management, and our own staff.

For many reasons, use and acceptance of Web-based training was slow to take off.

• We didn’t have an enterprise license, and it was difficult to administer and track the licenses that we did have for the different offices.
  
• We continued to offer instructor-led classes in our larger offices.
  
• We wanted to limit the use of the Web-based training for those in outlying offices.
  
• Our supplier provided online mentoring as a value-added feature to supplement training, but our IT security department wasn’t comfortable with the technology they used and wouldn’t permit its use. (That has since changed).
  
• Supplier pricing models made some solutions unaffordable.  

From a manager’s perspective, I had to navigate the following issues:

• How could I boost the acceptance of the Web-based training? Our customers, the employees, preferred the social aspects of traditional classes—even though we had stopped serving muffins the previous year!
  
• How could I prove the ROI of the proposed e-learning tools and solutions? The numbers look great if learners take a whole library of classes, but in reality, few employees have time for more than a few classes. 
  
• How did I get the training staff to embrace online learning as an opportunity to develop their own skills rather than a threat to their jobs? 

Clearly, I didn’t have a map to guide me through this journey. Hopefully, this narrative account can become a map for managers who have to plot a route like this in their future.

Getting started

It’s important for managers to remember that people need time to cope with change. Equally important, people need the opportunity to experience and envision what the change will be like. I was fortunate. I had already completed a Master’s Degree program online, so I was very comfortable with distance learning. However, most of the folks in the training department and our customers needed the opportunity to gain the same sort of comfort level.

To get the training department’s feet wet (and gain confidence), I had the staff pilot a distance learning program. The goal was to supplement the online courses we owned in the topics that we knew best: Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. The plan was to combine the in-house developed solutions and off-the-shelf courseware with exercises and coaching.

Coaching took the form of teleconferences, as well as posting exercises and questions to a discussion database. Internal customers were quick to see the value-add, and qualitative feedback was positive. Many folks started to lean on the training staff as an internal help desk. As a bonus, training staff quickly got a feel for the learner’s experience while gaining self-assurance about their own e-learning abilities.

Some lessons learned during this initial foray in to distance learning were

·         the learner population was more comfortable with a course format than a modular, learning object format

·         learners tended to procrastinate and needed a deadline (the end of the session) to encourage them to budget their time for online courses

·         reliance on the Internet can put your journey on hiatus if tech snafus, such as a virus, blocks your path (the NIMDA virus surfaced during one of our sessions)

·         prior to the implementation of our LMS, the administrative process was burdensome for the staff. 

To create some early success, we provided incentives for learners to participate and complete the program, and the supplier provided us with some trinkets we could give away. We then let employees take a trial class to make sure the online format would suit their needs. Once they were ready, we asked participants to complete a learning agreement. Part of the agreement was that learners had to complete the program by a specified date, including filling out an evaluation form, in order to gain access to the supplier’s additional 200 or so classes. Finally, all employees needed to have their manager’s approval—and support—to take these courses during working hours. Combined, these efforts guaranteed some rather high completion rates! 

Moving on

We used the early success of the pilot program as a basis for our needs assessment in 2002 and our business case for continuing with online learning. For the assessment, we used a supplier’s survey, which we modified for our internal use. The assessment introduced the concept of alternative training delivery methods to many folks and helped ensure that our purchases were based on corporate needs.  It also helped the group increase buy-in from management.

The journey continued in 2002 with our first mandatory online course, which covered the company’s Code of Business Conduct. Senior leaders were now seeing the economic value of online learning, and the training staff had taken an interest in pursuing e-learning development on their own.

With some online development experience under their belts, the other major deliverable for the department in 2002 was an online presence on the corporate intranet. A concerted effort was made to make the site as user-friendly as possible.  In addition to information about each course, each staff member took accountability for developing some online tip sheets on a variety of topics. To determine the right topics for the tip sheets, we surveyed calls that came in to the support center, things people searched for on our text-based knowledgebase, and interviewed several stakeholders.

Web conferencing also made the scene in 2002. An increasing number of training staff, as well as the entire employee base, started to participate in free and low-cost Webinars that were being offered by suppliers and professional organizations. We saw the good, the bad, and the ugly—there was a wide gamut in quality among both the facilitators and the technology. We realized that just like the first time trainers stood in front of a group of people, there was a new skill set needed to deliver a successful Webinar. For example, there was a distinct difference between suppliers that used VOIP (Voice over IP, which is audio over the Internet) and those that used teleconferences. There also was a difference in the teleconference services available, such as moderators, the ability to mute all participants, and so forth. Because more staff attended this sort of event, we were able to discuss best practices and develop our own templates for delivering of Webinars. 

Indeed, Webinars are now a standard method for delivering training at The Regence Group, not just from the training department, but from a variety of operations groups, IT support groups, and so on. Our team set the pace by developing templates, which included registration confirmation notices, checklists for instructors, instructions for using the software, and follow-up letters. We teach courses for the entire corporation on how to use the Web conferencing tools, and the training department is currently offering small chunks of material from our software courses as Webinars. Additionally, we are able to use the LMS to track requests and schedule our online classes and Webinars.

Lessons learned

As the journey continues, I continue to reflect on the expedition The Regence Group has taken so far. Here are some lessons learned and advice to others trying to build a successful program.

·         Let the stakeholders build the program from the ground up. This will increase and speed buy-in.

·         Moving to e-learning isn’t about technology; it’s about process and culture. While new technology is appealing and a constant driver, be certain that there’s a real need in your organization to make the move to online.

·         Test your solutions thoroughly, and make sure that everyone is comfortable with the technology before you roll it out to your audience.  First impressions are hard to change.

·         Work with your supplier regarding licensing. Suppliers are typically quite flexible.  If you’re new to negotiations, talk to peers who have been through the process.  Some concerns we brought to the table were based on the unknown rather than actual issues. Also, we spent too much time worrying about who received licenses than how to get people to sign up for online learning.

·         We took a very deliberate, steady approach, while others would have preferred to move faster. Strike a balance between making decisions by committee and throwing out some prototypes for people to try.

·         Develop a learning culture in your organization. If people don’t want to take the time to learn, they won’t do it online.

Our journey continues for two reasons. New technology and advances in the infrastructure allow us to try new things regularly. More important, the training staff has a desire to experiment with new tools and solutions, which they use to continually reinvent processes, share lessons learned, and become even more efficient and effective.