ALLTEL – Moving the Learning Online

ALLTEL wanted all its employees to know vital strategic company and industry information. But with far-flung employee populations, providing this information was a challenge. ALLTEL wanted the best and most cost-effective way to communicate with every employee, everywhere.

The Business Need

ALLTEL had previously reached 13,000 employees with a traditional paper-based Root Learning Map® application, but to reach the remaining 7,000 employees and all new hires, ALLTEL needed a more flexible format. A significant number of employees could not attend in-person sessions because they were geographically dispersed. The solution needed to provide valuable information to current employees as well as the 2,000 new hires ALLTEL employs every year.

In addition, although 170 facilitators had been trained during ALLTEL’s initial learning project with Root, it was difficult to continually take them away from their regular jobs. “We wanted to help employees understand the direction of the business, our strategies and challenges, and how we have to respond to stay competitive,” said Tara Green, Manager, ALLTEL Training and Employee Development. “We wanted to communicate our vision, mission, and operating principles to employees in remote locations and very small work groups. The solution had to take a minimum amount of time per employee and eliminate the need for travel or coordination of classroom facilities.”

The Solution

Root Learning developed a virtual electronic application – a Root Learning Map® platform – that transformed the images, data, and questions from the original, traditional module into a computer-based format. This was a nontraditional way for the whole company to attend a new type of training session through a virtual classroom. “We had great feedback on the group-based method,” said Green, “and we wanted to keep that feel and context as a tool.”

To keep the participants engaged, the electronic solution featured a “facilitator” onscreen. The electronic session kept the same discovery-based atmosphere but minimized logistical concerns regarding coordination of trainers and facilities. “Moving the learning online allowed us to create our own virtual classroom,” Green said.

Implementation

Through a learning management system, ALLTEL knew which employees had not been able to attend the original paper-based session. The goal was to bring the learning to those people and to all new employees within 120 days of employment. Using a roster/scheduling system, employees signed up for sessions that accommodated their own schedules.

Results

In a pre-assessment of employees’ knowledge of business and industry challenges, 85% said they knew “very little to some” about the company’s vision and mission.

After the experience, 80% said they knew “some to all” and 55% said they knew “a lot to all.” When asked if they had learned something that they could apply immediately, 78% responded positively. When asked about the concept of distance learning and electronic training sessions, 94% said it was just as effective, if not more effective than classroom work.

“Our biggest surprise was that we established a new way of learning,” Green said. “People like the image-based, data-added group discussion method of learning – with a ‘live’ group or virtually at a computer.”

These electronic learning solutions will be relevant indefinitely, with periodic updating. This will allow ALLTEL to extend the life of the project, making it extremely cost-effective, and continuing its investment in its people.

“Our biggest surprise was that we established a new way of learning.”

- Tara Green