E-learning at Whitbread Although many staff in restaurants, hotels and bars will come and go with the seasons, or will work unsociable hours or only on a part-time basis, this does not absolve businesses from their statutory training requirements. Whitbread is overcoming the problem of training such a fast-moving and flexible workforce by doing it in the workplace rather than the classroom.
Although computer-based training has been around for some time, the pub chain has taken advantage of the arrival of tablet PCs. These are similar to laptops, but have removable keyboards and can be operated using a special pen and handwriting recognition software, and come with on-board sound and video capabilities. Using the system, employees have passed food safety, health and safety, and cellar management courses.
Richard Taylor, managing director of Creative Learning Media, which helped implement the new system, says the teaching techniques used previously involved employees having to attend classroom-based courses off-site, or learning using a fixed PC on the premises.
With off-site courses, staff would have to take paid time away from their normal jobs, and would often need travel expenses. Weekend-only staff would find it difficult to take courses because of midweek commitments. But using existing PCs is difficult because they are often sited in managers' offices, even in managers' accommodation, and could hold sensitive data such as pay and HR records.
With the tablet system, Taylor says, staff can break up the course into segments, and study these one at a time during quiet times at work. "Having run a pub myself, I know that staffing is not an exact science," he says. "There is inevitably some quiet time. The huge advantage of this system is that, when staff are not busy, they can go and do some learning. We use integral quiet time, so learning is not an additional cost."
Whitbread businesses Brewers Fayre and Broosters are using 72 tablet PCs that cost £800 each. The company plans to invest more to provide one PC for each of its 400 sites, and to include other corporate training.
Julia Hill, head of learning and development at Brewers Fayre, says: "We have 80% staff turnover in our pubs, so effective on-the-job training is essential. The youngsters like [the tablet PC] and find it very exciting. They call it the 'Etch-A-Sketch'. In a training course, it could be an eight-hour session, and most don't have a huge attention span."
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