Must-See (Training) TV

Must-See (Training) TV

E-learning from home, or the office during a worker's spare time, is undoubtedly efficient, unless, of course, the employees in question lack the requisite computer skills. With the fast food/casual dining sector so heavily populated by recent immigrants, a good portion of whom are Hispanic, Minneapolis-based TV Trainer (http://tvtrainer.tv/), a company specializing in providing culturally targeted training via video and DVD, has come up with a New Hire Kit to speed up the transition to American work life.

The product, in the form of three DVDs and VHS cassettes, allows learning to occur from employees' TV sets, with no Internet connection or computer necessary. A handset with a remote control through which learners can interact with the programs is also included. Each New Hire Kit costs $399, "but we're assuming in quantity, they'll [the kits] get down to around $250 each," says Craig Evans, chief marketing officer and co-founder of TV Trainer. Besides its simplicity of use, the fact that the programs are viewed from the Latino living room may help with your company's future recruitment efforts, he explains. It is likely, Evans notes, that more than just the employee new to your payroll will be trained. Centering training in the heart of the household allows those surrounding him or her to get a positive introduction to U.S. work life. "We're not only training them. We're training their family, their relatives and neighbors who come over," Evans stresses.

There is a primer on safety and hygiene, focusing on sanitary do's and don'ts in the kitchen, for instance. "It's very important to set a precedent upfront that there's a difference between cleaning and sanitizing," Evans points out, "and what constitutes contamination, how long you should wash your hands and what you should do if you cut yourself."

Developed over the last year, the programs highlight the expectations workers will be faced with in their new job. In addition to a tutorial on work schedules and pay periods, the message is imparted that employees will be expected to keep themselves busy even after their assigned task has been completed. Workers learn it's OK to take the initiative, Evans says, and that's how they'll get ahead in their new country.

Source : INSIDE TRAINING – Training Magazine