Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: http://elmezine.epubxp.com/i/152139
Vi: Diverse E-learning Pays Off A strong partnership between a learning organization and its business partners creates signifcant shared success. At Vi, where nurses make up more than one-third of all employees, the nursing leadership team and the company's learning and organizational development department partner. Te company's dedication to properly educating and training its employees is the main reason that it has been named No. 4 among all privatesector learning programs in this year's Learning! 100. "Attracting, retaining and engaging top talent is a priority for Vi," says Judy Whitcomb, Vi's vice president for Human Resources, Learning and Organizational Development, "because the company recognizes that engaged employees produce quality results and are more productive, innovative and loyal — which, in turn, leads to customer satisfaction. Vi also recognizes and has proven that welltrained and engaged employees have a signifcant impact on resident satisfaction and employee retention rates." Vi specializes in "luxury senior living," blurring the line between resort and senior living, ofering independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing residences. It has 10 communities in the U.S. Some of the company's key L&D; initiatives: 1. Management Development Program, where more than 25 percent of participants move into a higher-level position within one year of completion; 2. Free professional education/certifcation courses for employees; and 3. Leadership Institute for nurse leaders. "We have been able to efectively leverage our online university, E-Campus, to ensure our nursing professionals receive the training and educational resources needed to provide quality care to our residents. It's so important that we have consistent, high-quality training," Whitcomb states. "We present a learning plan to all our nurses; monitor progress through dashboard reports that our managers get on a quarterly basis and audit every year." Learning at Vi neither begins nor ends with nurse training. fve points or more above Hay Group's high-performing companies norm. >> Vi realized employee efectiveness more than 20 percent higher than the norm of Hay Group's high-performing companies. >> Vi scored 8 percent higher than the norm of Hay Group's high-performing companies as a great place to work. The E-campus learning team helped Vi improve customer satisfaction. >> More than 90 percent of employees are "Integrated into the learning platform are diferent channels, and what we try to do is ofer fexibility for our learners but also for our business," notes Whitcomb. "We want to give our workforce diferent channels in which to receive learning, based on learning styles and operational needs. So we ofer classroom, webinars, podcasts, reading libraries and a chat function." Based on statistics from the Hay Group, which conducted a recent Vi employee satisfaction survey: >> Employee engagement scores grew fve percent since the last survey. >> 71 percent of normed questions scored proud to work for Vi. Te end result of Vi's focus on e-learning? Customer satisfaction scores grew from 86.5 percent two years ago to 93.6 percent in 2012. Two years ago, 82.6 percent of Vi's residents would recommend the company, compared to 94.7 percent in 2012. Vi is a three-time Learning! 100 honoree. AREA OF CULTURE EXCELLENCE Elearning! August / September 2013 27