Onboarding training program provides quantified results that add to recruiting firm s bottom line. Our goal was to create a teachable, understandable, impactful, businessdriving program. What we wanted was to make sure that our new hires could make an immediate impact on the job and our bottom line. Paige Goss Director of Operations The Select Group Customer profile Company: The Select Group Industry: IT and Engineering Recruiting Firm Website: www.selectgroup.com Business need The Select Group is headquartered in Raleigh, NC but has offices across the U.S. and is growing rapidly. Recent accolades include the Staffing Industry Analyst s 2011 and 2012 list of Fastest Growing Staffing Firms, 2010 Triangle Business Journal Fast 50, and INC. 5000. Their growth rate has meant onboarding new recruiting staff at a rapid clip. To keep pace, they needed to replace their outdated training program with one more attuned to the actual recruiting process. The purpose of the new program was to quickly train new hires to make them capable of successful recruiting from day one. The business impact of the training program had to be quantified. They engaged eparamus to develop the program. 1
The Select Group, an IT and engineering recruiting firm, began with one recruiter in 2001. Business has boomed in recent years, and they now have 58 recruiters from coast to coast. They needed an updated training program to ensure their newly hired recruiters would be immediately successful on the job. Challenge: An outdated training program did not successfully train new hires or adequately prepare them to perform the recruiter role. Goal: Create an onboarding program that quickly trains new hires, bringing them up to speed and making them capable of adding to the bottom line. Process: The old program consisted of a 150-page manual. As Paige Goss, Director of Operations for The Select Group, says, It was like a novel that no one wanted to read. There was no consistent knowledge transfer with the manual. Laura Paramoure, eparamus CEO, explains, They were hiring people, but six months down the road, those same people were proving unable to hit their goals. There was an obvious mismatch between the training and the results. Define Objectives To begin, eparamus sat down with The Select Group and helped them define their objectives. We start by helping a business identify the key metrics they need to meet. We pinpoint the specific standards of performance required for a role. For The Select Group, there are particular skills needed by those in the recruiter role. We identified the standards and determined the best practices for those functions, says Paramoure. In as little as one week after the training, we ve had trainees who have gotten offers accepted. That results in bringing immediate revenue to our organization. Paige Goss Director of Operations The Select Group Goss expands, We did a factfinding session that explored where we were, what information we had, and what standards were currently in place. In that process, we discovered that we didn t have our standards documented. We had them in our head, but 2
Business Impact 2.0 measures how training impacts ROI. It is proprietary, turnkey software created by eparamus. This software aligns your training goals and the methods used to achieve them. The software is fully customized based on your specific needs. After training, it measures and analyzes the impact of the training. Measureable results are clearly demonstrated with detailed reporting. After reviewing reports, managers can make informed decisions to fine-tune training or to note its success. With Business Impact 2.0, your company can evaluate training impact on your business and provide specific ROI. You ll see in hard dollars and cents the value of the training dollars you spend. not down on paper. Working with eparamus, we uncovered what we actually wanted and envisioned. This helped pinpoint what content and standards had to be documented in order for us to start the program. Design Courses Once the standards were determined, eparamus designed a course matched to those skills. The skills were connected to instructional strategies, which were then linked to mastery questions. This process closed the knowledge transfer loop. There had to be specific metrics against which the effectiveness of the training program was measured. Those metrics included all the things that a new recruiter had to know to succeed in their job. The new recruiters needed to intelligently speak to candidates during the recruiting cycle. The Select Group wanted their recruiters to manage their candidates through the recruiting pipeline. They needed to know how to generate leads, build and maintain relationships, coach people on how to interview, and qualify potential recruits against a desired skill set. The onboarding program was designed based on on-the-job execution. As Goss explains, We wanted the training to be more challenging than the recruiting process itself so they would be prepared to handle any scenario they encountered on the job. The rigorous program centered around skill and knowledge transfer based on the specific metrics identified by The Select Group. The Select Group brings in the new recruiter hires for an instructor-led two-week training session. Pre-testing is done before training begins. Paramoure explains the thinking behind these tests, We measure certain impact points before and after the training. That tells us what the student learned during the course. We also identify how long we think it will take for knowledge transfer to occur on the job. At that transfer point, we measure against the exact knowledge and skills the trainees are expected to have attained. Test/Measure The testing and measurement are accomplished with Business Impact 2.0, a proprietary tool created by eparamus. Initial testing establishes a knowledge baseline for each trainee. The program itself includes reading, review, and discussion, however a key component is role-playing sessions. During the first week 3
I can point to a test score that is directly tied to a question that is directly related to a job standard. I can actually see if the connection was made. eparamus was the only vendor able to do that. Paige Goss Director of Operations The Select Group of the session, trainees role-play steps from the recruiting process with senior leaders and trainers. After these sessions, they receive immediate feedback. In the second week, trainees put their new skills into action. They speak directly to potential recruits. Again, they receive immediate feedback. At the end of the two-week session, there is a posttraining test. Again, this helps establish the rate of knowledge transfer for each trainee. Business Impact 2.0 measures and analyzes the impact of the training. Measureable results of the impact on the student, job performance, and corporate strategy are clearly demonstrated with detailed reporting. After reviewing reports, managers can make informed decisions to finetune training or to note its success. These tests tell us the level of our recruits once training is over and show us if there are issues that need to be addressed after training, explains Goss. Based on the post-test results, the course facilitator develops objectives for trainees to achieve in their first 6 weeks on the job. Evaluation At the end of those 6 weeks, a transfer test is given. This test determines if the new recruiters are executing in the field as well as or better than they did in the training program. If they are doing well in the field then that success is noted. If there is a mismatch between the post-training score and transfer test, the test can identify organizational barriers that might be preventing training from being applied. Such barriers could be time constraints, lack of manager buy-in, process conflicts, etc. This information can prove invaluable to a business in correcting issues that may have a negative impact on their bottom line. Results: Says Goss, We have had trainees who have made beneficial phone calls in their second week of training. Some have even gone as far as getting offers accepted within their first week outside of the program. Obviously, that results in immediate revenue to the organization. We ve been able to quantify in revenue the success of the training. Goss continues, Many trainers say they can measure training impact, but what they are really measuring is how the training program went. eparamus goes far beyond that. We can quantify exactly what was learned by the trainees and if knowledge transfer has occurred on the job. I can point to a test score that is directly tied to a question that is directly related to a job standard. I can actually see if the connection was made. eparamus was the only vendor able to do that. 4
Hospital system uses tool to show quantified links between education and positive, repeatable outcomes. With this program, we could create education that would be consistent and then measure the learning. Everything goes back to the ability of the nurse to care for the patient. Marilyn Pearson Morales, PhD, RN-BC, FNP UNC Health Care Director of Nursing Professional Development, Practice and Research (2006 2012) Customer profile Customer: UNC Health Care Website: unchealthcare.org Business Need UNC Health Care is a not-for-profit health care system, owned by the State of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. It aids the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina and is associated with the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. In 2010, UNC Hospitals received Nurse Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), their highest honor. The ANCC promotes excellence in nursing practices and health care. Only 6% of hospitals nationwide have achieved this designation. Earning this honor was a major accomplishment for UNC Health Care. Maintaining the designation can be a challenge. Every 4 years, Magnet organizations undergo redesignation by the ANCC to be sure high standards have been upheld. The model for Magnet recognition requires empirical proof of outcomes. To prepare for the process, UNC Health Care sought a way to measure the outcomes of their education programs. Beyond the Magnet program, they also wanted a way to show a quantified link between education and organizational strategy. 1
As part of the Magnet designation process, UNC Health Care wanted to teach their nurse educators to create educational programs that could show measurable outcomes and a positive impact on patient care. Challenge: Provide nurse educators with a way to create educational programs and measure the impact of the education to the organization and patient care. Goal: Measure the organizational impact of nursing education programs in a health care setting. Process: We had the content. What we needed was a way to evaluate and prove the effectiveness of it, says Marilyn Pearson Morales, UNC Health Care Director of Nursing Professional Development, Practice and Research (2006 2012). As an educator, time after time, I see that when budgets get tight, often education is the first thing to go. This program helped me articulate the value of the department and the value of education. Marilyn Pearson Morales, PhD, RN-BC, FNP UNC Health Care Director Nursing Professional Development, Practice and Research (2006 2012) A New Way to Create and Evaluate Education At UNC Health Care, Pearson Morales led a team of 30 educators responsible for nursing education programs. When she heard about the eparamus program and ability to measure outcomes she says, The light bulb went off. With this program, we could create education that would be consistent across the organization and then measure the learning that was occurring. My goal was to tie education to outcomes. Everything goes back to the ability of the nurse to do the procedure and care for the patient. She explains further, Anyone can show someone else how to do something, but does that result in 50 people doing it 50 different ways and getting 50 different outcomes? That s the old way, the see one, do one, teach one method. We needed to build in best practices to say this is how we all get to the same best outcome, defined as X. How do we teach a behavior that is consistent and can be depended upon to result in X? And, if we didn t get X as our outcome, can we go back and show where the point of failure occurred? Can we show why we didn t get X? 2
Business Impact 2.0 measures how education impacts ROI. It is proprietary, turnkey software created by eparamus. This software aligns your education goals and the methods used to achieve them. The software is fully customized based on your specific needs. After training is complete, it measures and analyzes the impact of the training. Measureable results are clearly demonstrated with detailed reporting. After reviewing reports, managers can make informed decisions to fine-tune education or to note its success. A Means to Measure Impact One of the reasons Marilyn chose eparamus is because we help clients develop their own metrics. Those metrics show in hard numbers how education impacts strategic initiatives. Marilyn wanted us to bridge the gap between educators and administrators to show how education affects corporate strategy and bottom line ROI, says Laura Paramoure, eparamus CEO. With roughly 70 to 100 nurses going through the UNC Health Care orientation program each month, that seemed a good place to begin. Using Business Impact 2.0, proprietary software created by eparamus, Pearson Morales team could customize and design the orientation program and then measure its impact. With Business Impact 2.0, your I wanted to start with orientation company can evaluate education because no matter impact on your business and where you work in provide specific ROI. You ll see in the organization there hard dollars and cents the value are foundational of money spent on education. educational programs that are consistent for everyone. After going through that process, we would then know how to develop education for the very specific needs of the oncology nurse, the cardiology nurse, and so on. Paramoure says, With the orientation program, we prepared the education team to manage their own education programs. We showed them how to determine impact points and where they could specifically measure a program s effectiveness. I wanted to drive our evaluation process. In health care, there are levels of performance evaluation related to nursing activities. The success of our education impacts our business as well as the ability of our nurses to perform, Pearson Morales explains. Hospitals are unique. They are businesses but their business often comes down to life and death. They rely on education because lack of knowledge and any resulting errors by their staff can have dire consequences, says Paramoure. Providing Empirical Data for Magnet Designation UNC Health Care achieved Nurse Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). After receiving this honor, every 4 years, recipients undergo redesignation to maintain Magnet status. Empirical proof of outcomes and continuous improvement are requirements of the redesignation process. Paramoure says, Once a hospital achieves Magnet status they have to show continuous improvement. The Magnet redesignation process 3
It all comes down to our most important function: Educating our nurses to provide the best possible care for our patients. Marilyn Pearson Morales, PhD, RN-BC, FNP UNC Health Care Director Nursing Professional Development, Practice and Research (2006 2012) is upcoming for UNC. Being able to show outcomes of their educational programs is a requirement. Our program is uniquely designed to do that because we can show behavior change. That ability is why we align well with the standards of the Magnet program. Any hospital that is trying to achieve this status for the first time or facing the redesignation process to maintain the status would be focused on the quality in their education programs for their nurses. We support credible evidence of outcomes. Results: Paramoure says, During our process, we certified all of the nurse educators in Measurable Instructional Design (MID). We handheld them through the process of creating their first orientation programs in the system. Now they are prepared to create and measure their own programs. We worked with eparamus to learn how to measure what we re supposed to measure and how we align objectives to those of the organization, says Pearson Morales. She goes further, As an educator, time after time, I see that when budgets get tight, often education is the first thing to go. This program allowed me to articulate the value of the department and the value of education. It also helped educators better understand their role. Our educators are nurses. They know their content and know what they are teaching, but this process helped them understand that the goal of education is both knowledge and behavior change. Pearson Morales explains, For most people in education, if students pass the post test then that s great. But if they pass the post test but can t perform on the job then what have we really done to affect the ultimate outcome or enhance their ability to care for patients? It helped me to help our educators stretch their horizons. From this process, they realized that it s not enough for students to pass a test. The learning must go beyond that, it must become sustainable. With this program they could see how we can measure the impact of education on job performance. Pearson Morales reflects, I saw the beauty of how this would make the jobs of the nurse educators so much easier. On the first project some didn t quite understand how it would help because they hadn t seen all the pieces come together yet. But now they are farther into the process, they see the value. Pearson Morales says, I ve had feedback from staff saying now I understand, now I know why this is so valuable. It all comes down to our most important function: Educating our nurses to provide the best possible care for our patients. 4