Virtual learning takes off at Xerox Europe

Citation

(2002), "Virtual learning takes off at Xerox Europe", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 26 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.2002.00326fab.010

Virtual learning takes off at Xerox Europe

Virtual learning takes off at Xerox Europe

Business, management and professional training are being provided to more than 1,800 customer service representatives at the Dublin-based Xerox European Business Services Centre (EBSC).

The call centre and customer support function within EBSC is multilingual and covers 20 countries across Europe. Employees handle more than 50,000 calls a day.

The design of the training had to fulfil a number of criteria:

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  localized content – that is, English rather than American text and audio content;

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  accessibility – providing training at users' desks and within Xerox Europe's dedicated learning centre;

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  easy implementation – ensuring that training is put in place without causing any major software problems;

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  repeatability and consistency – enabling users to go back and repeat any areas they have not yet grasped and ensuring consistency in delivery;

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  built-in assessment, evaluation and measurement – enabling users to assess their level of knowledge before, during and after training – and allowing Xerox Europe effectively to measure and evaluate the training;

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  ongoing support and customer service – providing regular ongoing contact to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

Xerox Europe selected SkillSoft training modules across five curricula – communication, customer service, human resources, personal development and teambuilding, as follows:

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  interpersonal-communication skills – communicating to develop relationships, communicating to increase understanding and influence, handling tough situations, communicating better with your team;

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  powerful presentation skills – planning your presentation, delivering your presentation, presenting with confidence and impact;

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  professional telephone skills – handling calls with confidence and professionalism, turning difficult callers into delighted customers, how to excel at customer service, fundamentals of exceptional customer service, the voice of the customer, conflict and confrontation, overcoming challenging service situations, managing a customer service-orientated culture, establishing the team's desired performance, exceeding customer expectations, customer service strategy, improving the customer-service process;

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  managing diversity – management skills for the multicultural workforce;

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  taking control of the work day – analyzing use of time, setting goals and prioritizing, major time-management challenges;

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  how to lead a team – foundations for building effective teams, team facilitation and decision making, team accountability and team conflict, team leadership.

Christine Hegarty, distance learning and educational specialist at Xerox Europe, said: "Having looked at a number of technology-based training providers, we chose SkillSoft because of its specific Web offering. The quality, breadth and depth of the course material suited our needs. The training allows us to equip our customer-service staff with the skills needed to deliver first-class support and ensure a consistent level of professionalism across the operation.

"People learn best by doing. Soft-skills training also needs to involve people. Expressive photography and audio are used within role-play situations to simulate personal interaction. Learners have to read, listen, observe, respond and react."

As well as fulfilling Xerox Europe's general training needs, the training had additional features that appealed. One is the search and learn facility.

Christine Hegarty explained: "In a European call centre like ours, the variety of calls we receive is enormous. If staff have something specific they need speedy training on they can type in the subject and within five seconds a list of 5-10 minute instructions on that topic will appear. They can then do the training in a matter of minutes and be back on the job ready to make use of their new knowledge. Another useful function is the provision of online job aids, which people can use to refresh existing knowledge, to support the training itself or as a quick reference guide afterwards."

Although it is still early days, the results are encouraging. Within the first four months, among a sample of around 100 users, 440 training hours were completed and almost 400 courses were accessed – an average of four per user. The average level of knowledge transfer was 66 per cent. That means the average difference in scores between pre-assessment (taken at the beginning of a lesson/course) and mastery (taken at the end of a lesson or course) was 66 per cent.

Xerox Europe is a keen advocate of distance learning techniques – with a mission to have 50 per cent of all European training delivered using technology-based training in the next 12 months.

The company has established a virtual learning environment – a common portal through which all employees can gain access to technology based learning resources. The virtual learning environment integrates information into a single source. It works as a component of a larger programme established to provide learning solutions related to challenges faced by employees and the Xerox business, both locally and globally.