Bear Creek tracks increased sales to e-learning

Bear Creek Corp., whose retail operations include the Jackson & Perkins catalog and the Harry and David stores and catalog, is realizing "a great increase" in sales directly related to the results of an employee web-based e-learning program, Gus Strand, director of the company’s training academy, tells InternetRetailer.com.

Bear Creek, which ran a 60-day pilot e-learning program earlier this year, says it expects its e-learning program to also lead to a 20% reduction in the cost of training materials and travel. The system enables the company to reach employees at their place of work and supplement classroom courses it offers at its Bear Creek Academy at company headquarters in Medford, OR. It uses the e-learning system to train and test employees in the use of computer applications that support such tasks as order processing and record keeping.

"E-learning has helped our training organization maintain and exceed historical levels of service," he says, even though the Bear Creek Academy staff has been reduced. The academy staff serves 2,500 full-time and more than 6,000 seasonal employees.

Bear Creek uses web-based e-learning content from Element K and MindLeaders on top of Element K’s KnowledgeHub learning management system. The KnowledgeHub system provides for the online distribution of course content as well as the ability to access and track e-learning records with a browser.