Fuji Xerox Hong Kong, a leading provider in document management solutions and services, has a workforce of over 800 employees. In 2010, their innovations in T&D earned them an excellence award at the HKMA Training & Development Awards.
Innovative training
Alice Ma, Manager of Learning & Development at Fuji Xerox Hong Kong pointed out that training effectiveness can only be maximized if staff takes ownership of their learning and development.
“We design our training programmes based on real-life scenarios as much as possible to facilitate effective transfer of learning,” explained Ma, adding that this is one of the ways to help employees walk out from their comfort zone in testing out what they have learnt. “For example, when we have a training programme to impart IT knowledge on individuals, and they have gained sufficient knowledge we turn the tables and get them to conduct the training themselves—to train their colleagues.”
Another way that Fuji Xerox makes training a vivid experience for individuals is to conduct video-taped role plays. “This is a fun learning experience. Particularly when they can see their colleagues in the video,” said Ma. “It helps to break down barriers and help achieve a more open and honest discussion. Individuals can also learn by seeing their own behaviour and body language on the playback of the role play.”
Effective learning
Fuji Xerox believes that customised learning is essential to make the most of learning. Ma explained that the approach taken with management level training is quite different from more junior employees.
“In management training, managers are encouraged to participate in discussions and the trainer is there to facilitate discussion. This allows the trainer to challenge their viewpoints to nurture their critical thinking mindset. Whereas, for skills training involved with products, we introduce “demorama” which is a competition in demonstrating or introducing a product.
All salespeople participate in various kinds of demorama to display how much they’ve learnt about the product. Their presentation skills and confidence are also boosted. Demorama has become part of their regular duties,” explained Ma.
Document Solutions Pioneer Programme
The training programme Fuji Xerox Hong Kong chose to enter the 2010 HKMA Training & Development Awards was entitled: the Document Solutions Pioneer Programme.
This programme was launched in mid 2008, with an objective to accelerate the solution application selling via a group of solution pioneers to support our business transformation.
“It was developed using the ‘Document Life Cycle’ as the backbone with related software offerings,” commented Ma. “Participants acquire not just product knowledge and technical know-how; they also practise their soft skills such as probing skills to define client’s needs to blend both aspects of learning.”
Points of difference
Ma pointed out that a number of different training components were also put into the programme to promote learning effectiveness, participant engagement and fun at learning, including lecture, case sharing, participant’s teaching back, demorama and guest speakers’ talk on IT trends and practices.
Impact on business
According to Ma, the programme created a very positive impact on business, contributing to the double-digit business growth while ensuring customer’s confidence in taking Fuji Xerox Hong Kong as their trusted partners. She further commented that participants not only experienced the fun and skills acquired, but also were further motivated by increased businesses, and eventually help them get closer to their career goals, resulting in more employee satisfaction and company loyalty. Ma was proud to find that the programme proved to be the right ‘solution’ to sustain the transformation of the business model into a solution-centric company.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
