TechLearn Insider

JCPenney Links Training to Strategy

By George Miller

If you’ve ever needed an example of how training can be tied to corporate strategy, take a look at JCPenney.

The retail giant is in the midst of a satellite/terrestrial network rollout to deliver corporate training to more than 150,000 employees throughout the United States and Puerto Rico (see JCPenney to Upgrade 1,000-Location Training Network).

“There absolutely is a link between our training efforts and corporate strategy,” said Deborah Masten, vice president for associate development at JCPenney, in an interview.

“Our vision is to be the preferred shopping choice for middle America,” she said. Another goal, she added, is to make JCPenney an exciting place to shop, meaning stock replenishment must be timely on the retail floor, and to provide excellent customer service by being a leader in sales associate performance. “All of this requires training,” she said.

The retailer is upgrading to interactive video-on-demand training from synchronous satellite teleclasses and an asynchronous CD- and DVD-based training system it has used for a decade. It is working with distributed IP video solutions provider Helius Inc. and with video training and communications specialist One Touch Systems Inc. The team is implementing the Helius MediaGate Router 4550 and the MediaClassroom package, which is an integrated version of One Touch technologies. The end capability will be a fully interactive live and on-demand training system.

“The neat thing is that we will be able to make classes available to associates when it is most convenient for them, while maintaining the interactive format,” said Masten. Store supervisors will no longer have to tape the live class to share with associates who may be working different shifts.

Masten said that JCPenney has partnered with One Touch since 1996. In beginning the upgrade process, they were able to skip the request-for-proposals step because Helius provided “the only [video-on-demand] solution that fit,” she said. Funds were requested last fall from JCPenney’s capital appropriations committee. Then, she added, “Our IT folks had to approve it, and they had it running in the lab to make sure it didn’t bring down the [corporate] network.” Internal communications experts also tested the satellite communications capability for corporate uses other than training.

The Helius equipment rollout is now underway and Masten said it will be completed by September, perhaps earlier. Timing of the rollout is being coordinated with a point-of-sale system rollout, even though the two are not connected.

www.helius.com
www.onetouch.com

George Miller
Editor
gmiller@questex.com