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Training for the Ages
Seeking input on how young workers view the company's existing training resources, Columbia Sportswear Co.'s training manager, Jennifer Webster, recently asked her department's summer intern to offer feedback on the company's learning portal "through her generation's eye." The intern was asked to answer key questions such as: Is this appealing? Would it draw you in? Do you find this to be a useful tool? What else can we do to make the learning more engaging to you? "We need her eye because we are trying to make this something great for all generations, but for her generation specifically," says Webster. "If we want to retain the younger generations, we need to recognize that we've got to have more variety to accommodate their learning styles." Yet at the same time, the Portland, Ore.-based outdoor-apparel maker (which has approximately 3,000 employees and had 2008 revenues of $1.3 billion) must ensure that its non-GenY employees are getting as much out of the training as the younger folks. The issue is of utmost concern to Cindy Imber, Columbia Sportswear's global HR application manager. In the spring of 2008, the company engaged in a massive employee-training effort as it replaced its legacy HRMS with PeopleSoft 9.0. Once the training was over, Imber made a point of following up with employees who had asked a lot of questions during the classroom session -- in other words, those workers who just generally "didn't seem to be getting it." More often than not, she says, they were baby boomers. "I would just stop by their offices and say, 'Hey, have you been getting into PeopleSoft? Have you run that report?' " she says. "We definitely ended up at (baby boomers') desks more often, doing some hands-on training, walking them through things that we might have covered in training, but making sure they had that comfort level." As employers are well aware, there are more generations currently in the workforce than ever before -- Generation Y, Generation X, baby boomers and the "Silent Generation" (aka traditionalists). Given such a vast range of ages, it's not surprising that preferences, familiarity and comfort levels with regard to technology vary widely. All this poses significant challenges for HR as it seeks to train employees in the latest workplace technologies. With so many different skill levels and attitudes toward technology, how can HR ensure it is meeting all employees' needs? If it caters too much to one group, does it run the risk of alienating other segments of the workforce? Does the answer lie in a tiered approach, wherein less techno-savvy employees are taught at a slower pace, while those for whom technology is second nature cover the ins and outs of a new system at the speed of light? "When you are approaching training people on a new technology, there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all," says Jo Renee Fine, director of training and content development at consulting firm Harris Rothenberg International in New York. "It does a disservice to both groups to force them to be in the same learning situation when it's either going to be too difficult for one group or it's going to be boring for another group."
"Short and To the Point" Avoiding such complications is relatively simple, says W. Stanton Smith, national director for cross-generational initiatives at the Greenville, S.C., office of New York-based consultancy Deloitte. The answer lies in finding out how different employees prefer to learn. While some people prefer reading an instruction manual, he says, others learn better when shown firsthand how something works. Still others would rather be given the opportunity to try it out themselves. While there are certainly exceptions, broad generational differences do exist that can be helpful in determining which approach is appropriate for a particular workforce, says Fine. For example, boomers and traditionalists tend to prefer traditional classroom instruction, complete with a live instructor and take-home materials for future reference. Generation X, meanwhile, has grown comfortable with self-directed learning programs, such as distance learning or online courses. And Generation Y prefers the least structured approach of all. Often, Gen Yers are content to simply "play" with the new technology and figure it out on their own, says Diane Thielfoldt, co-founder of The Learning Café, a Pleasant Hill, Calif.-based consulting and training firm specializing in generational workforce issues. Admittedly, organizations could achieve greater economies of scale and cost savings if they switched all their training over to Gen Y's preferred methods, says Thielfoldt. However, that would mean discounting other generations' learning preferences, resulting in a less-effective training program. "It's important to consider not just the generations, but their preferences for learning," says Thielfoldt. "Is your organization a group of action learners? Do they just dive in and learn things or would they much rather read the software manual? You need to be sensitive to how people want to take in that information and make sure that training is respectful of a diversity of learning styles within an organization." At Columbia Sportswear, nearly everyone who would be using the new system had no prior experience with PeopleSoft, Imber says. Recognizing that boomers prefer a more traditional approach, Imber and Webster opted to use classroom training to familiarize staff with PeopleSoft. Yet they also felt the need to cater to the preferences of Generation Y, which they did by keeping sessions "short and to the point," says Imber. The "average user" (who would not be doing data entry) was given two hours of "very high-level training," followed by access to a test environment where he or she could practice working with the software prior to the company going live with it, says Imber. This approach, which Webster dubs "boot-camp style," stands in stark contrast to that which Imber took at previous companies, where she would typically conduct a half-day overview followed by a full day of data-entry training. The Columbia Sportswear employees who would be doing data entry -- primarily Gen Yers -- were involved in the early testing of the system. "Before we had any formalized training or guides, we threw them in the deep end, figuring they'd play with the system and identify any questions or issues that would help us create the training," says Imber. "We got the group that was comfortable being let loose in a system without a lot of direction involved early on with the testing; everybody went to those short bursts of training; and then we conducted follow-up, especially with the group that wasn't involved in the testing early on." Webster and Imber also say that the importance of change management during major software upgrades cannot be overemphasized, especially for older generations. "Generations X and Y tend to be more enthusiastic about change; boomers and traditionalists, much less so," says Webster. "With boomers and traditionalists, you need to acknowledge that you're changing systems and processes that they pioneered, were responsible for and took pride in." The key to getting older employees excited about (or at least more accepting of) major changes is to involve them early on in the process and take the time to explain why the change is taking place and what the benefits are, says Webster. "They appreciate having lots of documentation that shows them how they fit into the new process," she says.
Not Nitwits While Columbia took a multi-pronged/multi-generational approach to training, Herndon, Va.-based DLT > Solutions Inc. tailored all of its programs to accommodate the preferences of Generation Y, which makes up more than half of its 500-employee workforce. The result has been shorter training sessions that "get right to the point," says Vice President of Human Resources Chris Laggini. "Their attention span is very short, which probably comes from all the gaming they do," he says. "They like to get quick bursts of information that are very concise, and then move on." Consequently, < DLT >'s "Introduction to Sales Training" course is taught in four modules over a four-day period, says Laggini. Just four hours long, each module consists of a combination of Web-based, lecture and role-playing formats. After each module, the sales associates return to their desks and conduct out-bound marketing calls, immediately putting to use the sales technique and product knowledge they've just learned. This enables them to come to the next session armed with questions that are based on real-world experience, he says. Much of the required course work is available throughout the year via a SharePoint collaborative Web site that includes all of < DLT >'s training modules, as well as discussion boards, training surveys, a "toolbox" and links to other Web-based training materials. These features give older employees the opportunity to revisit a subject should they have difficulty absorbing the information in the fast-paced Gen Y-oriented format. So far, Laggini says, older workers haven't had trouble using the site. In fact, most employees have expressed appreciation for the shorter, faster-paced training sessions, which Laggini (a boomer himself) says move quickly and are "hardly ever boring." "Most of our people, even the older folks, like the training delivered this way," he says. "It's been a welcome change that this generation has brought to the company." < DLT's experience with older employees may be telling. While Gen Yers are assumed to be far more comfortable with technology than their more seasoned colleagues, older generations are hardly technological nitwits. In fact, quite the opposite is true, says Simma Lieberman, an Albany, Calif.-based consultant, speaker and author who specializes in diversity. She says many older employees have a great appreciation for technology because, unlike Gen Y, they know what it's like not to have it. "To assume that someone is a beginner just because they're older is insulting," she says. "Would you say that Steve Jobs doesn't know anything? What about Bill Gates? They're baby boomers. People tend to forget that." Not only have older generations adapted to new technologies, they've actually become the fastest-growing group of users on social-networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, according to a number of recent surveys. According to comScore Inc. in Reston, Va., the majority of Twitter users worldwide are 35 and older, the average age of a LinkedIn user is 40 and the fastest-growing group of Facebook users falls into the 35- to 54-year-old range. New York-based Accenture, meanwhile, reports a 67-percent increase in baby boomers reading blogs or listening to podcasts. Given all this, it would be inappropriate for companies that take a tiered approach to learning to assign workers to learning groups based on their age, says Lieberman, even though older employees are more likely to fall into a "beginner" classification than their younger counterparts. Branding groups as "beginner," "intermediate" and "advanced" can also be problematic because some employees will opt for a higher-level group to avoid appearing ignorant. "It puts people in an awkward position because it's hard to admit they're not an expert at PowerPoint, Excel or the whole Office suite of software," says Thielfoldt. "You need to create a safe place for people to get the information they need without feeling inadequate." Lieberman suggests that, rather than branding groups "beginner" etc., HR should guide employees into groups through a series of directives: If you know A, B and C, sign up for Class One. If you know D, E and F, sign up for Class Two, etc.
Getting Aggressive Regardless of their method of training, it's crucial that employers communicate frequently and consistently in order for workers of all ages to know what's expected of them -- and when. This approach has proven successful time and again for Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Caremark. With 7,000 stores and more than 200,000 associates across the United States, the drug-store chain has no shortage of employees from each generation. Yet, Vice President of Human Resources Lisa Bisaccia says she has not experienced any "age-based differences in adapting or adopting" new technologies rolled out by the company. Depending on the application, employees learn new technologies through a combination of Web-based training tools, hands-on demonstrations, and instructional packages built into the application. Recent introductions include MyLife, a Web-based self-service interactive tool that lets employees keep up-to-date on company news and manage their own health and retirement benefits, and a new pharmacy system being rolled out this year. The company's approach to training its generationally diverse workforce has proven so effective that Bisaccia reports "an excellent track record at rolling out and getting good adoption of new technology with very few hiccups." Bisaccia credits an aggressive communication and change-management process for helping employees prepare themselves -- through a series of self-paced training opportunities -- for a number of launches in recent years. The secret, she says, lies in preparing employees far in advance. "They have enough notice going into it as far as when the technology is going to be live that they have enough time to learn it at their own pace and get any reinforcement that they need from us in the form of coaching or additional training," says Bisaccia. "We are firm believers that you can't prepare people enough and you need to enlist all of your leadership team, down to the first-line supervisor, to cascade out the news that change is coming, change is good and here's what we expect of you, so that everyone is prepared."
September 16, 2009 Copyright 2009© LRP Publications |
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