Ikea puts the web to work in delivering e-learning to U.S. store managers
Home furnishing giant Ikea’s customer-facing web presence is truly global, with country sites in more than a dozen languages. But at Ikea’s U.S. operation, the web also plays a key role outside of sales in improving store managers’ skills through an e-learning system from online training services provider Element K LLC, says Jeff Wilson, learning and development manager for Ikea’s U.S. operation.
Of Ikea’s nearly 8,000 workers in the U.S., about 2,500 are managers, says Wilson. Ikea has offered online training to U.S. managers for the past three years, using two off-the-shelf, web-based training packages from Element K, one that trains managers in the use of various Microsoft desktop applications such as Excel and another that offers training in basic management skills. Wilson says this replaces a training system in which Ikea sent managers off site to local technology vendors to learn desktop skills and to store classrooms for what he describes as “Management 101.” Ikea augments that with an internally-developed online training program built specifically around managing at Ikea, which resides on the company’s own servers. Unlike the online training it offers from Element K, Ikea requires managers to complete this training, which takes about 20 hours spread over 16 modules.
Wilson says the company has realized benefits through the convenience afforded by online training. “When we have new managers and new stores coming in, we can’t wait to hold a class. The manager needs to have a skill at that time. When we listed the basic training we wanted our managers to have, it was pretty easy to go with Element K because we didn’t have to develop that content. And the timeliness of the training really meets our needs much better than classroom training on most issues,” he adds.
Wilson adds that another plus Ikea U.S. gets from its online manager training is that the format has led more managers to take skills classes than was the case when training was offline. Because Ikea doesn’t have a rigid set of prerequisites for manager positions, the need and focus of training required by managers varies. Ikea makes nearly 40 training modules available online. Some 300 to 400 managers per year take the desktop application program, and about 500 managers per year take the management training programs.
“We wouldn’t otherwise get people to sign up for that many sessions on that many topics because that could require time away from the store and travel time and expense,” Wilson explains. “We haven’t looked at any savings between online and classroom training, but the real benefit to us is that more managers are taking these programs than we would ever see in the classroom. It’s a vehicle for our managers to get whatever they need in the way of training whenever they need it.”
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