Case Study: Vestas - Three-Phase Training Program

by Shannon McKenzie

Vestas is a leading international wind energy company headquartered in Denmark. For the past 30 years, Vestas has installed more than 46,000 turbines in 66 countries. The company's mission is to enable energy independence demanded by the world's largest and fastest-growing economies by building wind energy innovations as a natural alternative for finite fossil fuels.

IdeaLearning Group partnered with Vestas to develop a robust three-phase training program that focused on electrical safety and the control of hazardous energy. More than 20,000 people needed training with a tight timeframe for development. Our "train-the-trainer" program was designed to educate Vestas master instructors, who in turn trained their teams. We also designed an internal Vestas brand logo and templates, which are used throughout the company.

The training program included several goals: address identified behaviors; promote consistency and safety throughout the company internationally; highlight change management tools and strategies; and incorporate hierarchical technical components. Our learning curve was steep and our time was short, but we were determined to deliver a substantial program with measurable positive results.

Phase 1: Master Training Rollout

The purpose of the first phase was to partner with master trainers and subject matter experts during face-to-face work meetings in Germany to finalize content for the electrical safety and lockout tagout training program. IdeaLearning Group staff developed an instructional video and supporting materials that focused on simple, complex, and group lockouts. We also created a three-part energy control coordinator course that included eLearning, pre-work, a teacher's plan, and support materials with a focus on technical and soft skills development. The role of the energy control coordinator was a new one in Europe, and we worked carefully with Vestas in the US to define best practices and develop the materials outside the Unites States.

Phase 2: Global Rollout of Electrical Safety Training

During this phase, IdeaLearning Group finalized all electrical safety and lockout tagout materials for master trainers for the rollout of the seven-course series, which included a PowerPoints, teacher's plans, and participant guides. We also travelled to Denmark to facilitate the soft skills course for master trainers.

Phase 3: Global Refresher of Electrical Safety Training

IdeaLearning Group created eLearning modules to refresh technicians' knowledge on electrical safety and lockout tagout procedures.

As a result of partnering with IdeaLearning Group for the large-scale training program, the program manager for Vestas in Denmark called IdeaLearning Group "my go-to vendor" and continues to collaborate with our company on additional projects. "It's rare to find a stress-free, no-drama, let's-get-the-job-done vendor," he said. "IdeaLearning Group was extremely easy to collaborate with. They quickly got up to speed, and the creative juices started flowing. I knew I was in good hands, and I didn't need to check in constantly. I felt very confident we were dealing with absolute professionals. It literally went that well."

Creating a Productive Learning Environment

"Learning is experience, everything else is just information.” – Albert Einstein

 When we learn something new, it doesn't usually happen on purpose. In fact, learning is often a result of observation, experience, or failure. Organizations can't always plan for formal learning to take place. Employees must feel motivated and free to apply the information they're exposed to in order for true learning to occur. The best way to encourage learning is to set up an environment that actually supports it.

Brain-based research tells us that pre-exposure to information, also called "priming," makes subsequent learning proceed more quickly. At IdeaLearning Group, we recommend creating an environment at work that's conducive to formal and spontaneous learning by making sure relevant information is accessible, based in a context that makes sense, and also easy to share with peers.

Ready, Set, Learn

We call this first phase of learning "Ready, Set, Learn." When learners are immersed in a productive learning environment, they:

• Are armed with techniques and resources to maximize their efforts
• Understand the scope of their commitment
• Start with the same baseline knowledge
• Have the support and involvement of their managers
• Can draw a clear line between course objectives and their professional success

According to an article published by Training magazine, "A productive learning environment must address the physical, cognitive, and emotional elements in that environment." The article goes on to recommend, "Organizations also need to consider who is involved in employee training, as interaction and support are critical and play a direct role in learning uptake." You can give people a stack of information with instructions to learn it, but they will likely never absorb the information without the appropriate context and support.

Create A Culture of Learning

On his Brain Rules website, Dr. John Medina discusses our natural inclination to learn through exploring. "Babies are the model of how we learn—not by passive reaction to the environment but by active testing through observation, hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion," he says. "Babies methodically do experiments on objects, for example, to see what they will do." So when you're building a learning program for your organization, you can't expect to force learning, but you can create a culture that encourages learners to experiment and apply information.

Try these best practices for tapping into your organization's zest for learning:

• Engage your learners immediately. Use stories, scenarios, and examples that speak directly to your organization. Learners should understand what's in it for them right away.
• Make blended methods of learning easily accessible. (Go way beyond PowerPoint.) Create a learning library, and encourage staff to explore and experiment with the material.
• Appeal to a variety of senses. Use video, online learning, and audio along with traditional printed materials. Make it easy for learners to explore and share.

On his blog, informal learning expert Jay Cross sums it up this way: "Training is something that’s imposed on you; learning is something you choose. Knowledge workers thrive when given the freedom to decide how they will do what’s asked of them." We couldn't agree more.

Tracking Trends in Adaptive Learning

Adaptive learning is a hot topic in the field of education and training, from children's classrooms to corporate learning programs. As data becomes more abundant and easier to aggregate, the possibilities are growing for truly customized learning.

The overall purpose of adaptive learning is to allow learners to explore at their own pace, giving those with greater knowledge or skills the ability to move faster and those with fewer skills to take their time. The belief is that personalizing content according to what each learner needs empowers learners to take control of their education and to increase their efficiency and breadth of knowledge.

According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the modern-day concept of adaptive learning evolved from psychologist B.F. Skinner's 1950s-era "teaching machine," which he developed while working at Harvard University. Students were given questions from a mechanical box, and they were rewarded with "fresh academic material" after answering a question correctly. Today, new technologies make it possible to track student progress to a previously unimaginable degree. Learning management systems track development of skills, provide tailored feedback, and make customized help available depending on how well they master the content. Adaptive learning is still evolving, especially in schools. But new technologies are making it possible to develop highly interactive, game-like interfaces—certainly a step up from Dr. Skinner's mechanical box!

At ILG, we're tracking the trends and tuning in to the amazing possibilities adaptive learning offers for business professionals. In a traditional face-to-face learning environment, everyone is exposed to the same content. It's not always clear to the instructor where people are on the knowledge spectrum. We believe the most powerful application of adaptive learning is a blended approach, combining classroom instruction and a robust elearning solution that offers a self-paced flow, a robust resource library, the ability to go down a custom path of discovery, and other engaging ways to explore material on demand. Students report feeling more motivated and challenged with this blended learning.

The market is reflecting the intense interest in the potential of adaptive learning. A new company called Knewton just raised $33 million in venture funding for its personalized learning platform. (Forbes magazine likens it to Pandora for the learning world; no two people see the same content, because no two people have exactly the same background.) The non-profit Next Generation Learning Challenges recently awarded more than $10 million in grants to 29 colleges and organizations to develop programs around technology that relates to adaptive learning.

Colleges, as well as businesses, are adding highly interactive elearning to their education programs that are inspired by the evolving technology made possible by adaptive learning principles.

Starting a New Business in a Bad Economy

by Shannon McKenzie

Starting a new business is kind of like having a baby. Is it ever the perfect time?

Like with starting a family, timing is only one of the many considerations when opening a company. After all, well over half of the companies on the Fortune 500 list in 2009 began during a recession or a bear market, according to a study by the nonprofit Kauffman Foundation.

But even if the economy is booming and all the stars are in alignment, new businesses might be doomed to fail without a plan, motivation, and follow-through.

When Jillian and I decided to launch IdeaLearning Group, we decided early on to carefully construct our business from the ground up. Here's our list of essentials from our experience in starting a thriving business:

Create a strong business partnership

Jillian and I are like two sides of the same entrepreneurial brain. Jillian wanted to start a company since childhood. She even wrote a business plan as a high school student. Both of us have worked at several start-ups, most of which didn't survive beyond the dot-com boom (and subsequent bust). We bring everything to the table that we learned from the failures of our past experiences, along with our complementary strengths and weaknesses. We regularly brainstorm together and ultimately improve upon our ideas as a result. Although we sometimes split our duties, we're both versatile enough so that we know everything about our business from the inside out. We know our success is mutually dependent, and it really works for us.

Write a real business plan

This is where a lot of companies skimp, unfortunately. We wanted to be very deliberate and up front about our goals and plans, and the best way to articulate these was to write them down. We formally hashed out our plan, which included plenty of back-and-forth about wording and concepts. Our business plan is a living document. Twice a year we return to it, which includes our marketing strategy, and revise it as needed. Scheduling time to refine our plan allows us to stay relevant and to provide what the market needs at the right time.

Know what you believe in

We both came from organizations that had strong brands, and so we already understood the importance of articulating your beliefs and creating a strong brand statement. We knew early on what we believed in: learning is experience, and everything else is just information. Employee development is most effective through custom learning solutions. (We also knew what we didn't believe in: creating generic, off-the-shelf courses.)

Market your brand according to your beliefs

Our marketing consists of doing great work, doing what we promise to do, and providing real value. Our logo exemplifies our belief in growth and learning through igniting new ideas. The colors reflect energy and excitement, which we agreed were important key concepts early on. The stick in the middle could be interpreted as a matchstick igniting or even a brainstorm bubble.

Know what you want to provide

The elearning/blended learning space is enormous, and the industry growth is expected to continue. A strong brand allows us to compete against small and large companies that create custom learning experiences. We decided to offer our local, national, and international clients a sophisticated "small business" style of service. That means creative, hands-on problem-solving, strong attention to detail, and personalized solutions.

Leverage contacts

Jillian and I both formed a big network of learning professionals at our previous jobs. When layoffs occur and companies close, people tend to scatter in many directions. We've kept in touch with our network throughout the transitions. In fact, many of our client relationships are with people we already know, as well as from our network referrals.

If you're searching for more ideas on how to improve a business you've already started, check out Fast Company's "7 Steps to Scoring New Business in a Bad Economy."