As ABF re-engineered its sales training, the company made a large portion of the material from the instructor-led course available in a series of online modules that participants are required to complete prior to the instructor-led class. The online portion consists of basic product knowledge, general company information, and the basics of the technical systems ABF’s sales force is expected to use in the course of their daily responsibilities.
By moving that information to an online platform, time was made available in the instructor-led portion to be used for perfecting the skills that are more effectively trained in person. Additionally, these changes allowed the use of other training methods such as games, exercises, discussions, and additional role-plays that, although effective at improving retention, are more time consuming.
The results were better than expected from the sales training, so an effort to re-engineer ABF’s operations training was undertaken. Previously, there were three instructor-led courses that lasted four days each. The current format is a series of online modules to be completed in the first 30 days of employment, and two four-day instructor-led courses (now called Front-Line Management Training). In addition, where ABF historically used primarily a lecture presentation focused around a slideshow, the new format allows for an interactive training style that incorporates group work, role-plays, activities, and the hands-on use of computer applications during the classes.
Results
These changes have had several effects. The first result is supervisory personnel are spending less time away from their homes and local terminals for training. This alone has saved the company approximately $320,000 per year in direct training costs (addressing ABF’s goal of increased operating income). It also has enabled ABF to offer the online training immediately to new hires rather than forcing them to wait six months to a year before attending the instructor-led training (ILT) as had been done in the past. This allows new personnel to begin learning ABF’s systems immediately, as well as provides tenured employees a refresher course for their review. Based on anecdotal examples, ABF has seen improvements in productivity and damage claims as a result.
Finally, this approach has led to improved retention of the course content. Likely due to the more interactive style, post-test scores have improved from 81.2 percent prior to the change to 89.75 percent in the new format. This is creating a better-trained workforce that is able to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.
