or years Circuit City used classroom training to get sales reps up to speed on new products and technology. But by the late 1990s, the classroom model wasn’t fulfilling the company’s increasing training needs, says Bill Cimino, director of public relations. "Associates would be out of the store for a week to train, and by the time they got back and started to feel good about what they’d learned, the technology would change again," he says. They needed a faster, more flexible solution, so the training department began exploring e-learning.

    In late 2000, with the help of DigitalThink, they rolled out a company-wide custom e-learning program, and within a year, Circuit City employees had completed more than 1 million courses. Cimino attributes the early huge success of the program to two significant factors: tracking and certification.

    To ensure that the training is effective, the training department tracks every user’s performance in the courses and on the floor. "We know, by associate, who takes what training, how much time they spend in a course, how they scored on the tests, and how they are performing on the job." DigitalThink and Circuit City’s training department use the data to evaluate course effectiveness and constantly improve the offerings. "E-learning has to be organic," Cimino says. "It has to grow with the company and change as employees’ needs change."

    To reinforce the training on the job, many of the new product courses feature "try it" exercises, in which associates are instructed to go into the store to identify certain features on a product or to demonstrate the product for a manager who then signs off on the lesson. "The ‘try it’ exercises are an example of our corporate culture," Cimino says. "This is not just a place to work, it’s a place to learn."

    To further tie training to performance, Circuit City rolled out an e-learning certification program in 2002. Product lines are now tied to specific certificate tracks, and in order to sell those products, associates must first complete the learning for that track and pass the certification exam, Cimino says. The more training they take, the more products they can sell. For example, if associates are trained on Sony’s new digital camera, they can work in that area of the store, but if they have the full technology certification, they can work anywhere and sell anything, he says. "It’s a win-win situation." Because associates work on commission, the more products they can sell, the more money they can make.

    The combination of tracking and certification is enough to induce most Circuit City associates to seek out training opportunities, he says, which is why the learning program is such a success. While Cimino won’t quote specific numbers, he says e-learning returned its investment within months of implementation and continues to add value every day.

Workforce, March 2003, pp. 60-62 -- Subscribe Now!