Recruits see the crisp, new image of ntl

Revamped induction training helped a fast-growing company with a regional structure resulting from the rapid coming together of between 20 and 30 separate businesses to shift the focus to a national corporate culture that emphasises common best practice and drives quality through consistent messages.

Since its entry into the UK telephone and cable-television markets in 1993,ntl has grown into Britain’s largest cable company, with 13,000 employees. It updated its online induction programme to reflect the company’s modern values, culture and products, and the increasing expectations of its customers.

The company’s employees, or as it calls them, “associates”,obviously need to know about the range of products and services that their employer provides. In addition, they need to be up to date with its culture and operating procedures. This is where the induction programme comes in.

Some three years ago, ntl was using an induction programme that was, said ntl’s blended-learning manager, Dave Perring, “classic e-learning”. He added: “But our expectation of the learning experience – especially when that learning was delivered online – increased and we wanted e-learning materials that reflected these high expectations.”

This prompted ntl to begin revising the induction programme to, said Dave Perring, “show that we can deliver learning materials that meet our associates’ expectations of what a modern, interactive and engaging e-learning programme should be”.

All of ntl’s operations had to be incorporated into this new programme– named “The World of ntl”. Moreover, the programme had to be able to be launched from ntl’s SumTotal learning-management system.

“We began the tendering process in October 2003,” said Dave Perring. “We gave each vendor the same briefing and documentation and asked for their proposals in November. The following month, we awarded the contract to TATA Interactive Systems (TIS).

“TIS had come up with the most interesting designs,” he explained.“For one thing, the look and feel of the programme were modern to the point of being futuristic. It was also crisp and clean, reflecting ntl’s impact on the environment.”

Over the next four months, TIS developers created the graphics for the programme while ntl staff provided the script. However, said Dave Perring, in the end, TIS was able to add its experience and expertise to many areas of the programme-development process.

“The induction programme went live with a launch to the human-resources and learning and development communities within ntl,” Dave Perring explained. “After some very positive feedback, it was released throughout the business.”

The programme provides the structured, formal part of every new ntl employee’s introduction to the company. It is also available at any time as an online aide-memoireto any member of staff.

Dave Perring explained: “People tend to think of learning as a one-off event. We want to change that culture so that everyone sees learning as a constant and continual process. E-learning is more important than ever in helping to bring about this culture change because online learning materials are always available wherever there is a computer with a connection to the internet or an intranet.

“While we use instructor-led training to develop our staff’s behaviour and skills, we can make more efficient use of this form of training by keeping knowledge transfer out of the classroom and using e-learning to deliver it instead.”

This strategy is not only making ntl’s corporate training and learning more effective, but it is also making considerable cost savings per trainee.

“The induction course should have paid for itself once 300 or so people have completed it,” said Dave Perring. “Since 150 people completed the programme within two weeks of its launch – and we have several thousand people scheduled to complete the course over the next few months– you can see that this approach is highly cost-effective.

“In pure learning terms, the programme is highly polished, with a stunning, user interface,” Dave Perring commented. “It certainly complements ntl’s image as a professional and progressive organization for our new recruits. Moreover, at the end of the programme, the users receive an online test – so that we can measure their new level of knowledge objectively.”

The programme – described by Dave Perring as a “quantum leap”in terms of the user interface – encourages learning by exploration. The user interface is intuitive rather than taking the more traditional text-driven approach. However, if users need some on-screen prompting or help, they can get it from an avatar-type character, known as Nathaniel (“ntl”).

Users are initially confronted by a rich, virtual world, which sets out a series of ntl zones – each representing an aspect of the company’s operations. In each zone there are a number of screens with which they can interact. Typically, these screens will provide information under headings such as “Who we are”, “What we provide” and “What’s in it for me?”

“However, there is a diagrammatic plan of the programme as well as the intuitive interface,” Dave Perring said. “In producing this programme we have tried to cater for a range of individuals’ preferred learning styles so that it is effective at generating learning for a wide range of people from different backgrounds and with different interests and aptitudes.

“Moreover, since the users are responsible for finding their way through the programme – and finding all the information they need from it– it gives them a sense of adventure, which empowers them to succeed, and that really orientates them into the values, culture and business of ntl.”