Whitbread e-learning initiatives set industry standard at awards ceremony

Whitbreadís new e-learning training programmes have won two of the top awards at this yearís Institute of IT Training Awards. The initiatives were praised for delivering innovative web-based training at both brand and corporate level to more than 25,000 staff across more than 2,000 sites in the UK.

Working with Creative Learning Media, the UKís leading provider of e-learning programmes for the food, hospitality and healthcare industries, the Brewers Fayre & Brewsters brands of Whitbread delivered food hygiene and health & safety training to almost 15,000 employees in their own workplace. This had a very direct impact on the brands, achieving completion rates of 92% - substantially above normal levels for traditional methods.

To launch the fully integrated corporate training programme, Whitbread partnered with e-learning strategists Leadent, delivering more than 35,000 courses in an 18 month period. In one survey, 97% of learners said they enjoyed the courses and the majority (87%) indicated that they prefer this way of learning to any other, including classroom (8%), workbooks (3%) and one-to-one training methods (2%).

Angie Risley, group human resources director at Whitbread, believes that the new-found success of e-learning reinforces the benefit of investing in remote access training to supplement traditional methods.

She comments:
ìFrequent team changes, 2,000 sites, seven different brands and a range of diverse groups of employees provided us with a unique challenge. We have delivered 35,000 courses in 18 months using e-learning. That is not something that could have been achieved with traditional classroom methods.

ìWe can now react far more quickly to changes in legislation or company policy, as we have the ability to update and deliver training programmes instantly. For example, after the recent amendments to the Disability Act, we were able to deliver training to all affected employees within six weeks. We believe our use of e-learning is at the forefront of the hospitality sector and possibly even UK business.î

The Institute of IT Training Awardsí judges were particularly impressed by Whitbreadís emphasis on balancing online learning with face-to-face tutorship, group training and active engagement.

ìE-learning stands up as a training method in its own right,î added Risley. ìHowever we have come to realise that striking a balance between learning for yourself and being taught is extremely important. Employees adapt their learning for their individual needs, so a ëone size fits allí approach would not have maximised their potential.î

Following the success of the partnerships with Leadent and Creative Learning Media, Whitbread is now considering the further development of its existing partnership with Ashridge Business School. Such a partnership will help Whitbread to develop its íadvanced learningí courses, designed to allow its more inquisitive employees to take their training to higher levels.