Gestetner SA has launched an Internet-based product and core technology training and testing system aimed at its direct sales force and local dealerships.
The Gestetner sales force are given full access to the online training, allowing them to complete refresher training on existing products and being exposed to new products up to six weeks before they are locally launched.
"In South Africa benefits of supplying Web-based training will include the reduction of travel expenses for training sessions abroad and at the national head office. Logistical and financial constraints of distributing training CD-ROMs, which is how the NRG group operated previously, have been alleviated. Training can also be taken anytime, anywhere," says Anthony Ho, Product Support Manager at Gestetner.
The Web-based training is divided into two categories: Core Technology and Sales Training. Core Technology will benefit any new or existing staff member at Gestetner, regardless of their department or field of expertise.
"It will give all our employees a better understanding of the organisation and a basic grounding in the technology our group develops and supplies," says Ho.
Greg Fuller, multimedia sales and marketing trainer at NRG Office Solutions Division based in London, says: "Supplied with a username and password, regional sales teams only see information specific to their region, and the online package is further tailored to individual needs."
The training programme is a non-linear process that allows sales staff to only work through technologies with which they are unfamiliar, placing the freedom and flexibility of choice in their hands.
Fuller says research has shown that students generally retain only 10% of information from classroom tuition, while e-training, taken at a student`s own pace, delivers a 50% information retention rate.
Moving beyond simple and often bland text, Flash technology has been used to provide animation while keeping file sizes to a minimum. "We can provide our users with a high level of interactivity without encountering bandwidth limitations that would make the online training user unfriendly," says Fuller.
In total, the current courses available to the South Africa operation require roughly an hour to complete per module. "Thereafter they complete the online test, the results of which are fed through to a central database where they are analysed," he continues.
These results give NRG an indication of the level of understanding the regional sales teams have of the products, as well as allowing NRG to better tailor future courses to the needs of regional sales staff. "If results indicate staff are consistently encountering problems with a certain technology, we know to place more emphasis on that area in new courses we design." Once a test is successfully completed online the user never sees it again, but the product information does remain available.
NRG is currently investigating the addition of certification for its employees who successfully complete online tests, in recognition of their achievements.
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