In the article iPod as Teacher, the author tells us about the use of iPods for training new employees at Pal's Sudden Service. Pal's is a Tennessee-based regional burger chain. They have more than 650 employees who require 120 hours of on-the-job training before they can start working. Pal's was approached by TJ Schier, the founder of podTraining to try out iPods as an additional training tool. Shortly after, Pal's integrated 30GB iPods into their training process. The videos feature short bursts of information at four minutes or less on each subject. They have a four step training method: tell, show, practice, and coach. Regular training without the iPods was inconsistent from one restaurant to another because each location took a different approach to training their new employees. Employees are able to finish training in 13 days instead of the usual 3 weeks without the iPod. Since the introduction of the iPod in the training method, there has been a lower rate of mistakes and a double-digit growth in sales. Turnover averages 91% for employees and 4% for assistant managers. Pal's had expected to reach payback for the 200 iPods they bought within 12 -15 months but actually earned it all back within 6 months. Pal's has also implemented iPod training for managers to refresh them on strategic planning, sales projections, and expense projections. Pal's was the first organization to recieve the Tennessee Excellence Award twice .
I thought that this article was pretty interesting. I had never thought about using iPods to train new employees. I had heard of professors putting their lectures on iTunes as Podcasts so that their students could download them and listen to them on their iPods. I think the use of iPods for training is a great idea especially if it brings greater turnover rates for employees and the restaurant itself. It also seems like its a good idea because it allows employees to go through the training process faster than the traditional way. I am interested in seeing how exactly the iPod works for training. I want to know if with the iPod, the employees are still required to do on the job training or if they just listen and watch the iPod and are good to go.
(2007, April 1) iPod as Teacher. Hospitality Technology. http://www.htmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=8D86DF469BD74C098382D9532C904D8E&nm=Additional&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=3E19674330734FF1BBDA3D67B50C82F1&tier=4&id=FBDB371A31CF4D9EA2C7F7A5401A1D5F
3 comments:
IPODs are expanding their capabilties more everyday, and I think that used as a training tool it could be very effective. Especially in this technhological age, I feel that people will often respond better to something electronic rather than just simply listening to someone talk and teach them. I think that there are both advantages and disadvantages to this technology. It could definetely be more effective, and, as mentioned in the article, save time training employees. However I question whether this will help as much as having something more hands-on with a person. Also, though the restaurant in the article was able to pay back the expense for the IPODs, it seems that not every business may be able to do this and it might not be worth it in the end. There are I feel several considerations to look at when deciding whether or not to use this as a training device, but if used correctly it could definetely make a big impact in the future.
I had heard of professors putting their lectures on iTunes as Podcasts so that their students could download them and listen to them on their iPods. I think the use of iPods for training is a great idea especially if it brings greater turnover rates for employees and the restaurant itself. It also seems like its a good idea because it allows employees to go through the training process faster than the traditional way. I feel that people will often respond better to something electronic rather than just simply listening to someone talk and teach them. I think that there are both advantages and disadvantages to this technology.
I found this article very interesting and informative. Based on facts given in the article, it sounds like there is no reason for all fast-food restaurants to use ipods for training employees. I am pretty surprised that the ipods really helped this much, but it is always good to have a consistent training plan throughout all properties of a chain and ipods provide this. It is also impressive that training has been cut down to less than two weeks rather than the full three weeks. With the high employee turnover rate fast food chains endure, the shorter the training period, the better.
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