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Customizing
workplace training
How
do you take tens of thousands of employees and create
a unified team? Many large companies lack the time and
knowledge to create an all-encompassing training package
for their work forces. They may outsource some of their
training, but too often they are left with a canned
program that doesn't address specific needs.
Enter
Vertex Solutions. The six-year-old Falls Church company
tailors unique learning systems for each of its clients,
roughly 90 percent of which are large government agencies.
Working with more than 20 federal organizations, from
the Internal Revenue Service to the Air National Guard
to the Smithsonian Institution, Vertex has implemented
training programs that make sure all workers have the
same guidelines and expectations.
Although
there are plenty of training companies vying for business,
Vertex is running laps around its competitors. Last
year, the company made the Deloitte & Touche Technology
Fast 500 list — a list of the fastest-growing technology
companies in the United States and Canada — having
increased its revenues by 5,707 percent over five years.
"We
come in and assess an organization's infrastructure.
We look at the business processes they have in place
and how they manage that from an IT perspective. We
look at types of training they use. Then we work with
the organization to come up with the right approach,"
says Jeff Kidwell, vice president of operations for
Vertex. Past Vertex approaches have included interactive
satellite video training, video conferencing, Web-based
training, on-site classroom training, multimedia CD-ROM
programs and even variations of low-tech paper-based
training. According to Kidwell, "We don't believe
in technology for technology's sake."
Of
course, technology often provides the best training
options. For example, the delivery system Vertex recently
implemented at the Florida Law Enforcement Training
Center featured an e-learning program for police officers.
"[Vertex has] been good at understanding us and
their recommendations have been insightful and direct.
With the Web-based training, we've been able to focus
on what's really important in law enforcement - the
practical side of it," says Ned Futoran, program
manager of distributed learning for the center. "And
the students can go home to their families at night
and take online classes when it's convenient for them."
-
Elizabeth Thalhimer
Return to Virginia Business - March
2002
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