Conrad Treasury Brisbane prides itself on its delivery of 5 star hospitality and gaming services. Operating in both a highly competitive and strictly regulated industry, it is essential for staff to have access to solid training in the latest procedures and techniques. While Conrad Treasury has offered limited e-learning for a number of years, in the last eighteen months the organisation has started seriously implementing online learning as a genuine training solution for its 1800 round the clock staff.

Conrads provides employees with a 24/7 learning centre giving them access to computers for learning as well as programs that can be accessed from home.

Vicki Barlow, Human Resource Development and Process Manager at Conrad Treasury, talks to Jenny Macklin about the ins and outs of managing and implementing Conrad’s elearning venture.

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Jenny:  I'm speaking to Vicki Barlow the Human Resources & Process Manager at Conrad Treasury Casino in Brisbane. Hi Vicki, Welcome!

Vicki:  Hello!

Jenny: Why Did Conrads decide to use elearning?

Vicki: I guess the main impetus towards elearning was based on recognising that we had an opportunity to maximise some technologies we already had in place.  We had a training program in particular that we saw could really lend itself to that sort of medium, and that’s what we call our "Refresher Training Program" which is an annual review of mandatory training for our team members.  So, in the first instance it was about thinking about how we could streamline a process and gets some more value for money in what we are doing, and elearning seemed to present an option for us there.

Jenny: Do you use a 'learning management system'(LMS)?
 
Vicki: We do… I guess it depends on how you define an LMS. We actually use two systems - we have some proprietary products, that we have license to use through Skill Soft, and they sit within their own learning management system. But we also have some fully customised in-house products that are backed up by an Access database that talks to our HR information system.  So I guess we do use a 'learner management system' but on a couple of different levels.

Jenny:  Do you find that it’s a convenient way to manage learning?

Vicki: Yes, I guess so, it enables us to assist people in defining their own learning pathways and providing them feedback into how they are going achieving their goals.  So there is certainly value there, but we probably don't get maximum value from our LMS at this point in time.

Jenny:  How does Conrads encourage employees to take responsibility for their own learning?

Vicki:  One of our values as an organisation is actually taking personal responsibility and it’s also part of our service standards to have that accountability for what you are doing, and learning is part of that, and developing your professionalism. Within the process of professional development in the organisation, with regards to opportunities for promotion, I guess that is incentive in itself for people to take some responsibility and show that initiative towards pursuing their own development needs. But we also have a very good system of performance management which also incorporates the coaching and building development plans for team members, which also encourages them to furnish their need for learning, whether it be self-directed or supported by the company.

Jenny:  Have you found that elearning has changed the organisation's recruitment practices?  Do you look for people who are more self-motivated and ….who are computer literate, say?

Vicki:  No, not at this stage. The thing that comes to mind for the future for us is really looking at elearning as a means of.... Pre-employment testing, I guess, is one opportunity for using the elearning medium there, but it's certainly at this stage not incorporated as a criteria for employment. Unless it is a real requirement of a speciality role we're not necessarily looking for computer literacy amongst our new employees.

Jenny: Do the learners get time off from their usual duties to study?

Vicki:  Yes they do… when you talk about study are you talking about attending training programs offered by the organisation or more the elearning?

Jenny:  For the elearning.

Vicki: Yes we do. With the new program we have introduced, which is the "Refresher Training Program,” it is all done within work time. But that has always been our practice here - that people are provided with that training, or participate in training, in paid time. But with regards to some of the other learning products we have, our managers are moving towards recognising that for someone to come to our learning centre - which is where we have our computers, which is a dedicated space available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for our team members to come and do online learning - managers are recognising that that is just as valid a means of learning and development as if they were to come to one of our classroom based training programs.  More and more managers are now releasing their team members within work time to go and participate in online programs, just like they would release them to come to a classroom training program that we were offering.

Jenny:  Have you found that elearning has had any effect on Conrad’s organisational structure?

Vicki:  Not at this stage, no. I’d have to say early days in that regard and our elearning strategy – and we have offered elearning programs for the better part of five or six years now - it's really only in the last eighteen months that we have really embraced it as a strategy, where we are really focusing on using it as an alternative means of delivering training, giving people opportunities for development.  We’re not really seeing strategic impacts from that as yet.

Jenny: How about the culture of the organisation - have you noticed that that has changed at all?

Vicki: I would have to say yes. I think it’s probably been a combination of things. It’s the elearning combined with the fact we have been becoming more reliant on an employee self service system available through our intranet, where we’ve been encouraging people to move towards accessing information and communication, even down to where they get their payslips from a computer terminal. So there has been a couple of things working towards that cultural shift, not just elearning.

Jenny: Do you think it has had an effect on employee morale or employee behaviour in any way?

Vicki:  Again, I would have to say yes. Part of our internal brand strategy is actually “surprising and delighting” our team members, making them feel really valued so that they then provide that same experience for our external customers. Obviously the internal brand links to the external brand there. A lot of the feedback we have received about these online programs we’re offering - particularly the programs people can access from home - is that they are very excited, they feel like they’ve been given something - and something that they really value, so I think it’s had a really positive impact in that regard.

Jenny: How does Conrads actually measure the success of the elearning programs?

Vicki:  At the moment, again, probably early days for a lot of formal measurement. With phase one of roll out of our refresher training programs, which only happened in July, where we invited six hundred of our team members to do their refresher training online, we measured that through a fairly formal process of gathering some written feedback from them at the end of the day. So we have that evaluation, that reaction level evaluation, just to follow the learning episode. We were asking them general satisfaction questions with regards to their elearning - which I would like to note had a 97% positive return rate, with people saying in answer to the question - “If given the option next year of doing this learning either via the computers or in the classroom which would you choose?” And 97% of our people said they would prefer the online experience - which is a thrilling result for us!  Initially we’re just looking at that reaction level feedback that we’re trying to gather in that sort of a forum, and the anecdotal information that we’re gathering from off the floor through managers and what have you, when they are hearing people talk about it and talking to their peers about it - which has really been positive all round .

Jenny:  What about in terms of return of investment? Would you say it has been a success in that area?

Vicky:  I would have to say yes. In our customised program we, in rough figures, invested about $20,000 in getting our products developed online. And again, just rough figures, but if you take into account the saving that we have already made and anticipate making next month when we roll out the refresher program for the rest of the business, taking into consideration  facilitator time with not having that face-to-face delivery, the fact that people can actually get through their refresher training quicker than if they were sitting in a classroom, the cost of general consumables - filing, admin, data entry - all those other bits and pieces - in the calculations we almost approximate that we would break even first year round and actually recoup that expense in savings first year round. We’re not anticipating any major redevelopment cost, so it's all just savings from here on in.

Jenny:  So what's the future for Conrads?

Vicki:  At this stage we are seeing how we go with our September roll out. We will be introducing the programs to a different demographic within the organisation, so it will be very interesting to see the feedback we have there - probably a higher population with a non-English speaking background, and also maybe some challenges within that group in regards to computer literacy. So we will be very closely measuring and evaluating that process and taking that into consideration. But we are really keen to explore what other options we have available to us, particularly in that we work in a highly regulated environment where there is a requirement for a great deal of competency based assessment and knowledge checking and updating of procedures and all that sort of thing. We really see this as being a great medium for getting out to the business changes in procedures - or when new techniques or new knowledge needs to be shared we see this as being a really great medium for doing that. I think in a lot of instances it’s about breaking the ice, once people go through the process once and they see that it’s not scary and it’s not hard, then they’re really so much more amenable to it down the track when you say - “Look, it’s online - jump online, have a read of the information, do your assessment and that’s all you need to do. You don't need to come and sit in the classroom.”  So, we’re really hoping that we can apply this to a lot of different things that we’re looking at for the future.

My experience is it doesn't have to be hard. When I think about three years ago, elearning was this absolute fantasy. It had been talked about. The organisation I worked in at the time was like - “Oh, wouldn't that be nice, but there is no way that will ever happen here!” And now to think how far we have come in the last two years in this organisation with it, and where it is taking us in the future - it is something that can be achievable at a reasonable cost. At the end of the day it’s about building a relationship with the provider, particularly when you don't really know what you’re looking for - we were going blind! But we built that relationship with someone and they really helped us through the process, and now we’re really in a position to make those decisions ourselves and choose our path, and you know, I think it’s a really good thing. At the end of the day the teams do like it and do enjoy something that's different.  That has been the best benefit. The learning outcomes speak for themselves – it’s not just about what they like, but the fact that those competencies and assessments that they’re doing - at least the learning assessments online - are showing a much more positive return rate than what they were when they were sitting in the classroom.

Jenny: Do you think you will put most of your learning/training online?

Vicki: I think we would always be quite judicious in our decisions in terms of…in my opinion there are some things that lend themselves a lot better to online training than others. I very much believe in the value of online learning, but I also believe in the value of facilitation and coaching in that learning process, so we would never say it’s the panacea for training. It's very much about - let’s see what benefit it can offer before we really go down that path.