Using Enterprise Social Networking in Training: Two Case Studies

Jim WallaceKris Felstehausen

Introduction

• Introductions

• Case Studies

– Hewlett-Packard Corporation

– “Company B” (a large benefits administration company in northern suburbs)

• Lessons Learned

• Q&A

Hewlett-Packard Case Study

Company Profile

• Large geographically dispersed organization

• Heavy dependence on technology

• Large number of virtual employees

• Large number of tech-savvy employees

• Significant number of younger employees who have grown up with social media

Goal

• Provide social business media (Jive software branded as “HP Connections”) to aid sales teams in finding information, locating experts to assist with their sales challenges, collaborating within their teams, and learning from the experiences of others.

• Speed adoption of enterprise social media for workplace collaboration

– Month 1: 400 users

– Month 4: 6,600 users

– Month 6: 13,000 users

– First year: 25,000 users

Problem

• 75,000 globally dispersed sales people, plus marketing and sales enablement

• Vendor-provided (Jive) training focused on capabilities and functionality of the tool, not on how to use it in your job

Approach

• Engage business social media and collaboration expert to model processes

• Change L&D behavior and work within the platform itself

• Adopt a three-pillar design

Approach

• Learn2Connect collaboration space:

• xxx

Approach

• Personal trainers

– Highly consultative

– Experts in the tool itself and learners’ business context

– Assist with formal training

– Create job aids and blog posts based on learners’ questions

– Respond to requests for assistance

Approach

• Leadership involvement

Approach

• Ongoing

– Gradually incorporating social media use into other classes

– TTT on teaching in a social media environment

Challenges

• Learn2Connect

– Marketing primarily interested in replicating their SharePoint folder structure in HP Connections

– “Hey, it works for us”

• Ongoing

– Teacher-centered training vs. student-centered training

– “Sage on the stage” vs. “guide on the side”

– Instructor fear of being asked questions about technology they don’t understand

Results

• After 1 year, there are 60,000 users (goal was 25,000)

• Learners have incorporated HP Connections as part of their daily operations to share documents, account plans, and sales strategies. They are responding to customers faster and more accurately as they are now connected with peers and subject matter experts.

• Over and over, learners expressed how they appreciated the way the program modeled the behavior. Because we were standing beside them sharing their experience they quickly grew confident in using HP Connections.

Results

• Users are more active than industry standard

• ASTD Excellence in Practice award

• Submitted for Brandon Hall Group award (Best Use of Social/Collaborative Learning)

Passive Users Active Contributors

Heavy Contributors

Industry 90% 9% 1%

HP 80% 16% 4%

“Company B” Case Study

Company Profile

• Large, global company

• Heavy dependence on technology

• Large numbers of virtual employees

• Large numbers of tech-savvy employees

• Significant numbers of younger employees who have grown up with social media

• Uses matrixed team structure

Social Media Background

• Company B has two main divisions: one large (~80% of total business); one small (remaining 20%)

• The social media tool (Jive branded as “Spark”) was implemented by the smaller division of the company without involvement by, or consultation with, the larger division

• Spark tool appeared on company intranet without announcement, communication, or training within the larger division

• Management within the larger division was not informed of the purpose or use of Spark; no requirements for use were mandated or suggested

Overview of Project to Incorporate Social Media

• A large curriculum (~4 weeks long) was being revised to enhance its effectiveness

• Audience for this curriculum was exempt, technical, younger, college graduates who needed to learn to test and configure a complex in-house system

• Audience was global (mostly US and India) and widely dispersed; many worked, and needed to attend training, virtually

• Our directive was to incorporate the use of the Spark social media site into this curriculum as we revised it

Goals for Using Social Media

• The directive to incorporate social media into this new curriculum came from the local Program Manager who hired Hudson to revise the curriculum (a grassroots effort)

• There was no higher management directive or support for this effort within either the L&D area or from the business sponsors of this training

• The Program Manager saw a natural fit between the use of social media in training and this particular curriculum and audience

Anticipated Benefits of Using Social Media

Because the audience was attending training virtually, and because many of the people hired into this job were more intellectual and introverted by nature, the following assumptions were made:

•Audience members would appreciate the ability to respond to conceptual or problem-solving questions via discussion posts on Spark rather than trying to verbally share their answers over the phone

•Discussions questions on Spark would encourage the class to engage in conceptual and problem-solving discussions that were not currently occurring because teachers lacked the skill to generate these types of discussion over the phone (they just lectured and demonstrated – they rarely asked questions or checked understanding)

How We Incorporated Social Media

• We planted conceptual and problem-solving questions within system/tool exercises, directing learners to post their answers to the questions on the social media site

• Students were encouraged to read each others’ answers and reply

• While debriefing exercises, teachers were directed to go onto the site and verbally review discussion posts with the class

• Example Question:

– While you were configuring the selection logic for this new transaction, there were several ways you could have constructed the formula. Post the formula you used and list some of the pros and cons of using this particular formula.

Company B Results: Signs of Failure

• First sign of failure was when presenting the social media strategy to business sponsors and lead SMEs during development kick-off

– We had to sell the idea HARD; there was no enthusiasm or buy-off from business sponsors or SMEs

• Second was when working with SMEs to develop the training; SMEs continued to express concern with the strategy and showed no enthusiasm

• Third was during the train-the-trainer for the pilot; teachers expressed doubts about the use of Spark and showed no interest or enthusiasm

• Final outcome: the use of social media during the pilot was not successful and we were directed to remove the program from the curriculum during pilot changes

Why Did It Fail?

• No company-wide business purpose for the social media site; in fact, today it is hardly even used

• No management buy-in or support for using the site in training

• No mandate or encouragement for teachers to use the site during training

• No technical support for using the site:

– Teachers had to set up their own group on the site and administer the group themselves

– There was no technical support for people using the site

– There was no ability to make changes to the site to accommodate training needs

Summary

Lessons Learned

• Business objectives (e.g. increased sales productivity and effectiveness) are essential for success.

• The use of social media collaboration in training should model the use of social media collaboration in daily workflow.

• Expertise in modeling processes and interactions is essential.

• Leadership support and involvement are vital.

• Instructor buy-in appears to be a widespread problem.

• Personal Trainers are a key factor for success.

Q & A

• Do you have any experiences using social media in training that you are willing to share?

• What questions do you have about these two case studies?