Do you have a hobby? In your down time, do you read books or magazines about this hobby? For example, maybe you enjoy golf and you subscribe to magazines on how to improve your game. This demonstrates your commitment to becoming a competent golfer. You spend your weekends learning more about the game, and learning more about how to improve your game.
Now ask yourself, how committed are you to your profession? Do you spend time improving your skills as an instructional designer, trainer, or learning manager? Are you committed to “raising your game” and in doing so raising the game of the audience for whom you’re developing curriculum? How well do you know your audience, what do they need to boost their performance, and how do they like to learn?
The questions I just posed are the exact ones that a senior executive of our company asks our sales associates in the first week of new hire sales training. Although his questions focus on “selling” and “understanding the prospect,” they also apply to the learning and performance field.
Unfortunately, it is too easy to get caught up in keeping current with technology and the latest delivery methods — e-Learning, m-Learning, blogging ... the list goes on and on. This information is readily accessible online, in books, at conferences; simply turn on your computer and it is at your fingertips.
Information on your audience isn’t so easy to access. It takes true commitment to understand for whom you’re developing, what their development needs are, and how they like to learn and receive information. You don’t find this data online, in books, or at a conference. Uncovering this information involves real commitment and dedication to building a relationship with your audience.
Once you do, you’ll see that maybe they already spend forty plus hours on the computer, and the last thing they want to do is view the latest e-Learning you’ve developed — no matter how visually exciting and interactive it may be! Perhaps your audience spends a good chunk of their week commuting to work, or to a client’s office. Maybe they’d rather receive training via an audio course — a CD or MP3 file (notice I didn’t say iPod). How well do you know your audience? Do they view you as a performance partner?
Unfortunately, it’s easy to lose your focus on your audience’s needs, and it’s easy to hook into keeping up with the latest trends. In this case study, we’ll provide a glimpse of how our Sales Learning & Performance team at ADP used a blend of new and old technologies and methodologies to better address the development needs of our audience.
Focus on performance development
The first step in understanding our audience was to spend time building relationships with them. By aligning a trainer and an instructional designer with each business unit, we were able to gain key insights into the typical sales associate’s day.
What we found was that they have minimal time to spend in front of a computer “getting through” e-Learning. These folks are on tight deadlines, and actively out in the field calling on clients and prospects. They were looking for training that was relevant and “just-in-time” that could be quickly accessed for a performance boost. They wanted something that they could grab on the go — on the way to a client call, or while waiting in the airport for their flight. They wanted something that they could fit into their busy day, such as a quick ten-minute learning event they could take between meetings. They wanted us to capture those one-on-one conversations at the water cooler about the latest technique to position their solution against the competition.
Based on the insight this collaboration with our audience provided, a unique competency program, iCUE, was born. Figure 1 illustrates our vision of the design approach to learning that is behind iCUE.
Figure 1 The design approach to iCUE blends events and technologies to support business performance.
Blurring the boundaries
iCUE is an acronym for “Individual Competency, Unparalleled Excellence.” Created with the unique needs of our audience in mind, the iCUE program is dedicated to driving the performance and development of the ADP National Account Services (NAS) sales associate.
The program has two goals. First, the program is to assist in sales associates’ development. Second, it is to ensure that their competence, confidence, and credibility are at the highest achievable levels. The key component of the program was to build in one-on-one development opportunities for the associates with their sales managers. In the sales environment, placing so much emphasis on “managing to the number” means that individual development opportunities are often overlooked. The foundation of the iCUE program was the development tools provided to the associates and to their management teams. These tools offered management the guidance they needed in order to have productive development conversations with their associates.
We offer the iCUE program annually, and we update the content at the beginning of each fiscal year. The program has three topic areas — Product, Process, and Tools. Each year the program highlights a different product, a different stage of the sales process, and a different sales tool. The three main phases of the program step associates through measurement of their knowledge and skills, provide opportunities to learn and practice, and pull it all together in a final performance and evaluation. (See Figure 2.)
Figure 2 The iCUE program involves three phases that help sales associates
improve their performance.
Phase One: Measure knowledge and skills
Phase One of the iCUE Program creates a starting point by providing a personalized map of the associate’s sales knowledge and skills at a specific time. This frame of reference helps both the sales director and the sales associate focus on those areas in need of development. The main component of this phase is a self-assessment that targets each of the three areas — Product, Process, and Tools. However, upon completing the assessment, associates do not receive a score, and no one tells them if they’ve passed or failed. This program is not about obtaining a “passing” score or getting that “A.” Instead, it is about gaining an understanding of their weak areas so that associates can focus on these specific areas during Phase Two.
Sales associates and sales directors receive the compiled assessment results and the individual results via a unique, personalized iCUE Results Package. This package consists of the iCUE Results Envelope and the iCUE Development Catalogue. In the iCUE Results Envelope, sales associates receive three individual results reports, along with their iCUE Development Planning Template. Sales directors also receive summary reports for their team. The three reports offer insight and recommend areas to focus on, based on the associate’s responses to the Product, Process, and Tools questions. Based on these results, the associates will work with their sales managers to complete their iCUE Development Plan for Phase Two of the program. (See Figure 3)
Figure 3 The iCUE Individualized Results Envelope summarizes recommended areas for action.
The iCUE Development Catalogue provides a detailed guide to completing the individual Development Plan Template, and identifying those learning events offered in Phase Two that meet the sales associate’s unique development needs. The guide provides instructions on how to use and interpret the self-assessment reports. In addition, it provides complete descriptions and schedules for upcoming learning events. (See Figure 4)
Figure 4 The iCUE Development Catalogue helps sales associates identify learning events that address their targeted areas.
Using the Results reports and Development Catalogue, the sales associates collaborate with their managers to identify learning and development opportunities that meet their needs, schedule these events in their Development Plans, and outline overall performance expectations. Phase One concludes with each associate completing an individual iCUE Development Plan. (See Figure 5)
Figure 5 Each associate completes an individual iCUE Development Plan.
Phase Two: Learn and practice
Phase Two of the iCUE program consists of three unique learning series: the “Call to Competency” interview series, the “Top Tips in 10” series, and the virtual learning “Smart” series.
Call to Competency series
The “Call to Competency” series comprises recorded interviews designed to highlight best practices, the latest sales techniques, competitive information, etc. A sales associate often receives some of the most valuable information during a brief conversation with another associate as they share sales stories and recent wins. These casual conversations can be the key to their success — and that’s what the “Call to Competency” series strives to capture. Sales associates may download each interview electronically as an audio file. The sales associates may listen to the interviews directly from our intranet Web site, or download the MP3 file to their computers for later listening and reference, or for transfer to an MP3 player or CD. Along with the audio file, each interview provides a “Listening Points and Planning” guide for the sales associate to download, which highlights key takeaways and action items from the interview.
Top Tips in 10 series
The “Top Tips in 10” series provides just-in-time learning — giving the sales associate just the top facts in quick 10-minute segments. Designed to address the “so what” of a topic, each unit in the series is available as an online e-Learning course, or an m-Learning audio course. Either option provides a quick reference takeaway with a synopsis of the top key facts presented. Visual learners may prefer the e-Learning option, which provides full visuals and audio. For the auditory learners, or those on the go, the full audio of each “Top Tips in 10” is available as an MP3 file.
No matter what the sales associate’s learning style and preference, a quick reference file is available in an Adobe PDF format. This document helps the sales associate to capture key takeaways, and to identify an action plan for putting these facts to work. All of the topics offered in this series provide quick knowledge boosters designed to aid in the associate’s sales performance.
Virtual learning “Smart” series
Microsoft Office Live Meeting delivers the virtual learning “Smart” series online. Each interactive session reinforces concepts introduced in the “Call to Competency” and “Top Tips in 10” series, builds upon these concepts, and provides opportunities to apply new skills and techniques. We deliver many of the sessions out in the regions, allowing for smaller classes and more interaction.
Participant guides accompany each session, along with a Listening Points and Planning document. These documents are available to download in Adobe PDF format prior to the online session. An NAS Sales Training Consultant hosts and facilitates the sessions. In addition, one or more experienced sales veterans will be online to share best practices and answer questions. We record each live session and make it available to view online via Microsoft Media Player. The audio from the session is also available as an MP3 file.
Phase Two concludes with each sales associate receiving a personalized “Performance Preparation Kit” which contains study materials to use to prepare for a presentation in Phase Three. The sales manager also receives a kit addressing the manager’s responsibilities in Phase Three, and overall expectations.
