The new global education services department saved the company $90,000 in its first year by centralizing the training function.
by Site Staff
November 19, 2012
PATTY CROWELL
Director of Global Education Services, Syncsort Inc.
Prior to late 2010, software company Syncsort Inc. had no formal training department. In an effort to scale up the business, Syncsort switched to a partnering business model, which required additional training and development for all employees. Therefore, executives invested in a global education services department, led by Patty Crowell, director of global education services.
Crowell and her team began with a comprehensive assessment of learning and development business needs and identified six key areas of focus: training content for different levels, roles and stages of development; infrastructure for delivery, registration and content management; performance measures to track who is trained, results, gaps and targets; collaboration on training; certification and accreditation for scaling programs; and training resources. In the last year, the global education services department launched an online community, a learning management system and an accreditation and certification program.
When Crowell joined Syncsort, she aimed to link formal training to the company’s business strategy and bottom line. The new global education services department saved the company $90,000 in its first year by centralizing the training function, replacing the learning management system and adding remote lab capabilities.
The department hired three key training staff members to develop new programs and courses and developed a learning advisory board to foster training collaboration. In the last year, more than 1,300 employees, partners and customers were trained on new programs, and 21 instructors completed the train the trainer program. This program helps to ensure a consistent training approach with measurable results throughout the company. With the help of these trainers, 274 employees were accredited in programs geared toward sales professionals, technical sales professions and a separate certification program for engineers.