INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
By: Madeline Bayliss
The cost of training is in the rounding error of the cost of the problem.
The "problem" for Don Deieso is compliance: government regulations, labor laws, company policies and processes. The solution has been the online learning programs developed by EduNeering. Mr. Deieso is president and CEO of this Princeton-headquartered company.
Online learning has been around for more than 20 years, as has EduNeering. As the Gartner research organization has noted, Web-enablement in the last 10 years has extended the capabilities to include Internet/intranet access, virtual and long-distance learning, and simulation. Education has been cited in many surveys as the primary use of the Web, by a large margin over business applications.
For Mr. Deieso, the two are not separate training is the business of business. "A worker can’t do what a worker doesn’t know," he said.
"Workers are at the center of any company initiative. The human asset is essential to the success, especially with the emphasis on quality," said Mr. Deieso. "There is no difference between quality and quality assurance."
EduNeering has a specific focus on delivering online learning solutions for compliance and risk management, especially for regulated industries. In these environments, being cost effective takes on added meaning and consequence.
Cost is not just the expense of training, but also the cost of non-compliance. These costs can be direct defect and safety costs, penalties, fines and liabilities.
On the savings side, take the case of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., the largest provider of integrated communications solutions and printing services, and an EduNeering client. By the end of 2001, eight R.R. Donnelley facilities had reached one million hours without a day-away case, two had operated for more than two years without a day-away case, and one had operated more than six years without a day-away case. In 2002, four more R.R. Donnelley sites reached the one-million-hour mark.
Workers’ compensation cost reductions were well in excess of $5 million.
In these times, when compliance translates into public trust and reputation, companies also are looking to have preventive damage control.
"One goal a number of our clients have is to never have their CEO appear in the wrong column of the Wall Street Journal," said Mr. Deieso, referring to the regular front-page column featuring problem situations.
He reflected on employment law precedents. "To protect itself from punitive damages stemming from the behavior of a rogue employee, a company has to demonstrate that it has done everything reasonable to control behavior and that it is an isolated case.
"The company must have clear policies stating its intent to comply and must demonstrate that it has communicated and trained its personnel."
Where does technology make a difference?
In both the expense and the effective aspects of training, claimed Mr. Deieso.
"Online training can reduce expenses by 50 percent and it could be as high as 75 percent," he said.
He noted that while the travel aspect of traditional training is a large factor, other significant costs involve the redundant preparation and production of material, the time away from work and the immediate availability of training for new hires or new situations.
Being effective means achieving the results desired: competency, performance, compliance and risk management.
Mr. Deieso cited various advantages of the online approach compared to traditional classroom instruction.
"Online learning gives you the ease of JIT (just in time) learning. Workers can access it anytime, anywhere in the world where there is a connection, including home and the workplace for flexibility."
He shared the program of one company that changed its new-hire introduction week to blending half-hour sessions before and after work in the first week with being on the job during the day to see first-hand some of the areas the training had covered online.
In another case, a major organization already had invested in a 70-custom-course series covering ethics and all its quality standards for production at a zero-defect level. The material was distributed in binders. Not until it was converted to an online format did it "move into the minds and hearts of the employees," said Mr. Deieso.
"Adult learning has to be well-structured," he explained. "It has to employ multimedia to engage multiple senses in order to increase understanding and retention. Usually, it is impossible to demonstrate competency and complete a test without paying attention."
For online programs, measuring that competence with clear metrics is a big difference. "It has been shown that there is a 70 percent difference in retention with online testing," he said.
Mr. Deieso mentioned that programs can be readily adapted to the educational/training level of different employees, but in a structured, consistent manner. Cultural and language differences can be incorporated. He noted the transformation of some work forces with English as a second language presents a new requirement for training. The global mergers occurring in some industries also place demands on consistency in the face of significant diversity.
Regardless of the customization, the bottom line is whether all employees have command of what they need to know to do their jobs.
Technology can help here in a different way as well. By linking a worker’s achievement level as measured by the online testing to a worker identification system used to access critical equipment or processes, a company can prevent an unqualified worker from risking operations.
Mr. Deieso remarked about the Firestone faulty tire accidents and resulting recall and impact on the company overall. That situation was attributed in part to replacement workers used during a strike that some believed were not qualified to make the product.
"Product liability," he said, "is an unacceptable consequence, one that can be mitigated with the systematic training and qualification that online training can enable."
Technology facilitates government recognition for positive developments as well. Because of the online training program, two facilities of R.R. Donnelley became Star-certified sites under OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program in 2001. Star certification under the OSHA program recognizes the facilities for their exceptionally successful safety and health programs, including having an effective training program.
"A workforce that keeps up with changes and maintains quality is a competitive advantage," said Mr. Deieso.
What’s next in technology, in Mr. Deieso’s view?
"Wireless technology. I believe it will have a huge impact on the ability to train. It will make knowledge transfer very broad and reach across supply chains. It will put those inspecting and those that have to comply on equal footing and working together for quality. Technology will allow us to embrace a universe of learners."

