MASS CUSTOMIZING THE TRAINING INDUSTRY - MASS CUSTOMIZATION MAY BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT WAY TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS.

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MASS CUSTOMIZING THE TRAINING INDUSTRY - MASS CUSTOMIZATION MAY BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT WAY TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS.
Mass
     Customizing  the
         Training Industry
                       Mass customization may be the most
                       effective and efficient way to address
                       the needs of your customers.

50 | T+D | june 2007                                            Photo by Corbis
MASS CUSTOMIZING THE TRAINING INDUSTRY - MASS CUSTOMIZATION MAY BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT WAY TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS.
By Stephen L. Cohen and B. Joseph Pine II

Whether you lead an internal education
function or an external training supplier,
you must address the learning needs of
your customers in a focused manner.
This typically requires choosing between two options: existing programs,
which range from generic off-the-shelf offerings to public seminars and
standardized university-led courses, and brand-new, custom-made learn-
ing experiences. But there is a third option that may be the most effective
and efficient way to go to market: mass customizing training programs.
     Mass customization surfaced more than a decade ago with the pub-
lication of several books and articles that extolled the virtues of treating
all customers differently, and is now becoming endemic in industries as
diverse as personal computers, shoes, apparel, eyewear, and information.
Mass customization is not about market segmentation; it is about truly
understanding the specific needs of each and every customer and then
bringing together the right combination of training modules to provide the
customers the solution that they really want and need.
     Connecting on an individual customer level is no easy task in the world
of training because the two customer sets—the buying organization and
the learners—have different and sometimes conflicting needs. So how can
we create learning programs that fit the individual needs of learners and
simultaneously address the client organization’s challenges? Is it possible
to cost-effectively produce totally customized programs for one-to-one
learning? Yes.

                                                                               june 2007 | T+D | 51
MASS CUSTOMIZING THE TRAINING INDUSTRY - MASS CUSTOMIZATION MAY BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT WAY TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS.
Mass customization                            On-demand operations. Mass cus-
                       principles                                    tomizing requires the development of
                       Mass production came about from               a repeatable platform that produces
                       Henry Ford’s Model T production line.         the product when needed. Given the
                       Ford’s mantra was that a customer             wide range of both organizational and
                       could have any color car he wanted—as         employee learning needs, the capacity
                       long as it was black. Eventually, of          to operate in an on-demand environ-
                       course, options were added, but they          ment is crucial.
                       were mere variety, not true custom-
                       ization, because they were not in             Dispatching. It is no longer enough
                       response to individual needs. True            to schedule ready-made classes
                       customization was simply too costly.          and have learners organize their
                           Such levels of variety already exist in   schedules according to the train-
                       the training industry, but it remains a far   ing. Rather, we must be ready on a
                       cry from true customization. If the goal      moment’s notice to provide training
                       of the industry is to provide true one-to-    how, where, and when it is needed.
                       one learning experiences at a reasonable      The educational industry has been
                       cost, then we have to understand and          too much like a city bus, forcing cus-
                       embrace the principles of mass custom-        tomers to come to us for something
                       ization, and then apply them to all types     that doesn’t quite get them where
                       of learning experiences.                      they want to go. Instead, we need to
                           First, it is important to understand      become more like taxis—dispatched
                       that the underlying motivation behind         on demand to take customers exactly
                       mass customization is scalability. It fa-     where they need to go.
                       cilitates high-volume, efficient produc-
                       tion, and delivery of unique customer-        No finished goods inventory.
                       driven solutions. This scalability can be     Eliminating the carrying costs of
                       achieved by applying the following pri-       inventory—as well as the risk that
                       mary principles of mass customization         no customer wants the finished
                       to the training industry.                     product—can drastically lower costs
                                                                     in many industries. Even in training,
                       Speed. Getting to market as quickly           printing all materials—handouts,
                       as possible is critical for the training      cases, and forms—on demand lowers
                       supplier to remain both competitive           costs because it reduces the amount
                       and current. While fully customized           of material that will be unused and
                       programs have to be built almost from         discarded.
                       scratch, mass customization enables
                       the supplier to produce programs              Digitization. Anything you can digitize
                          quickly, which in turn increases           you can customize. We need to digitize
                              the supplier’s ability to alter        both the management and operations
                                   the programs so that              of training programs. This requires a
                                   they match the clients’           design tool that enables trainers to
                                   changing needs.                   match learner needs with training
                                                                     capability, bring that capability online,
                                    Information. Given that          and execute it.
                                    the rate of information
                                    expansion and distribution       Modularization. The most fundamen-
                                   is increasing exponentially,      tal principle of low-cost, high-volume
                                we must find ways to quickly         customization is modularity, which
                             extract the most timely and rel-        enables the supplier to do only and
                        evant information for training topics.       exactly what each customer needs.
                       It is important for the supplier to gain      Modularity requires a linkage system
                       information from purchasers and end           that integrates training programs in-
                       learners about their knowledge needs          stantaneously and seamlessly—almost
                       so that the training can be further           like how LEGO building blocks snap
                       customized to meet those needs.               together. People in the training field

52 | T+D | june 2007                                                                               Photo by Fotolia
have praised the concept of chunking          the contours of a person’s face or the   Modularity
learning into easily digestible bites for
many years. Now we must fully ap-
                                              bed that allows users to adjust the
                                              firmness of the mattress on each of
                                                                                       requires
ply the principle of modularity across        two halves, from soft to very firm.      a linkage
programs, sessions, templates, learn-
ing points, and examples. This means          Cosmetic. In this approach, the
                                                                                       system that
an even deeper level of customization         functionality of the training solution   integrates
where all “chunks” can be seamlessly
altered and integrated beyond their
                                              changes in response to individual
                                              customers. For example, as a Hertz
                                                                                       training
original structure.                           Gold member you bypass the stan-         programs
    Putting all of these principles togeth-
er readily enables training companies
                                              dard counter and proceed directly
                                              to the bus where you tell the driver
                                                                                       seamlessly—
to meet the needs of both purchasers          your name. The driver informs the        almost like
and learners, which will lower the cost
of delivery and thus increase the train-
                                              operation teams that you have ar-
                                              rived so that when you reach the car
                                                                                       how LEGO
ing companies’ profit margins.                lot you see your name in lights on an    building
Mass customization types
                                              electronic billboard that directs you
                                              to the proper stall, where again your
                                                                                       blocks snap
While the basic principles of mass            name verifies you have the right car,    together.
customization apply to all offerings,         with the agreement attached to its
there are many different ways in which        mirror. It’s the same car everyone
they can be implemented. The types            else in your product class gets, but
of customization can be classified into       the delivery of the car is customized
the following four categories.                for you. Cosmetic customization
                                              equates to personalization. In train-
Collaborative. In this type of custom-        ing, this is often done by changing
ization, the provider customizes the          binder covers, logos, or graphical
training solution with a design tool          user interfaces, while keeping the
that helps customers identify what            actual program content and materials
their individual needs are. Dell pro-         the same.
vides one of the best known exam-
ples of collaborative customization.          Transparent. The program’s
Customers work with Dell to identify          functionality is customized to the
what components they want config-             customer’s specific needs while the
ured into their personal computer,            format remains seemingly standard.
which the company then develops               For example, the Ritz-Carlton hotel
exclusively for them.                         chain uses a sophisticated database
   In the training field, this form of        management system to alter its
mass customization typically takes            guests’ experiences by documenting
shape through the creation of company-        and then retrieving specific guest
specific role plays and case studies          preferences when they return—
inside of an existing program—all of          without specifically asking the
which require input from the organiza-        guests for their preferences. Hotel
tion’s representatives.                       employees are taught to make note
                                              of individual preferences and to
Adaptive. Online learning                     enter them into a guest preference
programs are good examples of                 system. In training, an example of
adaptive customization because                transparent customization would
they are designed to adjust                   involve an instructor independently
according to the alternative paths            adjusting the course based on what
the individual learners take and              he knows about the client or the
the varying progress they make,               learners without calling attention to
without changing the programs’                the customization. The client and
infrastructure or platform. Think of          end learners think they are getting
the razor with a flexible system of           a standard course, but in fact it’s
springs that automatically adjusts to         customized for their needs.

                                                                                              june 2007 | T+D | 53
Even training                         Why do all this?
                                              Regardless of the method chosen,
                                                                                                 individual student. Even experiences
                                                                                                 can be commoditized, however.
         experiences                          mass customization principles will                     In fact, in many learning environ-
               can be                         help trainers scale programs to meet
                                              customers’ needs more fully, in
                                                                                                 ments, the entire point is to commod-
                                                                                                 itize the experience. Think of highly
       commoditized.                          shorter timeframes, for less cost, and             stressful, intricate, and high-pressure
                                              with higher quality. When the train-               environments such as the cockpit of
                                              ing matches the customer’s needs, it               a military jet, the emergency room of
                                              becomes a truly magical, motivational,             a hospital, or the control room of a
                                              and memorable learning experience.                 nuclear power plant. In each case, em-
                                                 But this is not the end goal. The               ployees are trained over and over again
                                                         chart below shows how the               how to perform critical tasks until
                                                           economy has changed                   they become second nature—in other
                                                                over the millennia               words, commoditized.
                                                                 with each succes-                   When training is executed properly,
                                                                 sive economic shift,            employees and the organization reach
                                                                 moving from com-                a transformation point where both
                                                                modities to goods                parties benefit from the time and cost
                                                                to services and to               invested. In the end analysis, isn’t that
                                                                experiences. Note how            what all corporate educational experi-
                                                               customizing a product             ences should be about? Ultimately, the
                                                            automatically turns it into          ideas that trainers impart—the dime-
                                                       a service, and customizing a              a-dozen commodities of the educa-
                                                  service automatically turns it into            tional business—are not important.
                                              an experience, thereby forestalling the            Neither are books, articles, hand-
                                              inevitable forces of commoditization               outs, nor are preparation, delivery, or
                                              that come to any offering, and any                 analysis activities. Even the experience
                                              industry, over time. Mass customizing              doesn’t really matter. The bottom line
                                              training services, therefore, creates the          is, Were the individuals in this course,
                                              right learning experience within each              and the organization to which they be-
                                                                                                 long, transformed? Did they improve
                                                                                                 their workplace performance through
                                                                                                 the acquisition of new knowledge,
                                                                                                 skills, and tools?

     The Progression of Economic Value                                                               Mass customization is a way to
                                                                                                 bring more efficiency and effectiveness
                                                                                                 to training, thus adding value to every
                                                                                                 organization that embraces learning as
                       Customization
                                                                                                 a means to achieving improved busi-
                                              transformations                                    ness results. However, it is a continu-
                                                                Guide                            ous process that ultimately requires
              Customization                                                                      a transformation in the way training
                                         experiences                                             suppliers change their own operations
                                                        stage                                    to effect the transformations custom-
     Customization                                                                               ers desire to see within each of their
                                   services                             Commoditization
                                                                                                 employees.t+d

                                              Deliver

                              Goods                         Commoditization
                                       make                                                      Stephen L. Cohen is vice president of the
                                                                                                 Service University for the Carlson compa-
               Commodities                                                                       nies; steve.cohen@carlson.com. B. Joseph
                                                  Commoditization
                                                                                                 Pine II is co-founder of Strategic Horizons;
                                                                          Photo by iStockphoto   bjp2@aol.com.

54 | T+D | june 2007                                                                                                              Photo by Fotolia
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