2008 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

Concerned that its sexual harassment training approach couldn’t pass legal muster, the
state of Illinois in 2006 forced thousands of employees to retake the course because records
showed they had completed the training in as little as 10 minutes.
Effectiveness of courses can be difficult to measure, however, especially since most
vendors don’t track test or quiz results. That’s by customer design; at least some employers fear
that poor employee test scores could be used against them by a plaintiff building a hostile
workplace case.
“There are published cases where training is scrutinized by a judge and a jury,” says
Atkins. “Ten years ago they asked, ‘Did you do the training?’ Today they are asking ‘How did
you do it, and what did you use?’ ”
Atkins said that to pass muster in court, training programs should be at least 30 minutes
long, contain enough content and interactivity to make the estimated times real, and use realistic
scenarios and hypothetical situations.
“If employees can blast through the training quickly, they will,” Atkins said. “It’s human
nature.”
Methodology
The authors first conducted a DELPHI study with twelve human resource managers to
arrive at a consensus on three issues with respect to e-learning. Respondents participated in three
rounds of questions for purposes of this study. In round one, respondents were asked to provide
their answer to the question in list form. In the second round, the authors gave respondents a
complete list of all answers for each question. Respondents then rank ordered the answers
beginning with their highest ranked answer to their lowest ranked answer. In the third round, the
authors sent respondents the tabulated results from the second round. They were asked to re-rank
the responses to see if any changes occurred.
The questions respondents replied to are as follows:
1) What are the primary reasons that companies now use e-learning as part of their human
resources training program?
2) With respect to learning effectiveness, what benefits do participants receive from e-
learning?
3) What, if any, problems do organizations encounter with e-learning?
After completing the DELPHI study, the authors conducted a series of personal interviews
with human resources professionals in both the United States and England. Respondents
were asked a series of questions to determine their feelings toward e-learning and to see how
it fits into their organization’s business model.
Results
As an answer to the question regarding primary reasons for using e-learning as part of their
human resource training program, respondents listed the following in rank order:
1) E-learning saves time because participants do not have to be pulled from their job to
participate. E-learning participants can receive training in short blocks of time during lunch
breaks or at times before and after work.
2) E-learning is a cost-effective way to deliver training, especially for exempt employees
because they are not separated from daily activities and may elect to receive training
outside of the workplace.
3) Training works well in intervals thereby improving retention and satisfaction.
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