Clarity Helps Leading Data Company Train Its Customers
Challenge
A pioneer in providing online information resources, LexisNexis blends proprietary brands, advanced Web technologies, and premium information sources to provide risk and analytical solutions.
Although LexisNexis had a knowledgeable instructional design team, focused mainly on internal corporate training. The team had neither the time nor the resources to assess and upgrade vital customer-facing product training, which lacked standard instructional design components. The lack of a structured curriculum, formalized course objectives, and instructor guides hampered the ability of facilitators to train across different subject platforms. Webinars on collections procedures were usually conducted using demonstrations rather than hands-on training. Because there were no pre-course assessments to determine participants’ backgrounds or level of knowledge, some participants attended courses that they were not prepared for, while others attended courses on content that they had already mastered.
Opportunity
Clarity Consultants provided LexisNexis with a learning and development professional with more than 35 years of experience and demonstrated expertise in training needs assessment, instructional design, and leadership development. The consultant enabled the client to move quickly toward successful solutions.
The consultant initially focused on developing structured customer training for one of LexisNexis’ key products, the Accurint® for Collections system. Accurint is a robust tool used to research public domain background information on businesses and individuals. The success of any business involved in collections depends on employees who are trained to use this tool effectively.
The consultant collaborated with internal subject matter experts and training management to develop recommendations. He created sample materials by collecting and analyzing participant feedback. He also interviewed management, customer-facing account executives, and internal instructors. Lastly, he developed instructor guides and participant materials for instructor-led training and webinars and conducted early vetting of curriculum ideas and recommendations for modifications.
Results
The consultant provided LexisNexis with recommendations for an overall curriculum structure, assessments, instructor and participant materials, and a comprehensive instructional design strategy. The strategy included a curriculum with base content focused on collections for both classroom and webinar training that could be implemented by in-house trainers. Specific deliverables included:
• Recommendations for overall curriculum structure, including specifics regarding collections basic, intermediate, and advanced courses (objectives and topics).
• Recommendations for assessments, instructor materials, and participant materials.
• Sample basic training materials for in-class instruction and webinars. The materials included hands-on training exercises that would enable participants to explore product capabilities based on their specific industry.
LexisNexis management was impressed with the breadth and depth of the instructor and participant materials and the curriculum structure. They knew that implementing these solutions would enhance relationships between LexisNexis and its customers, provide industry-focused product training, and ensure consistent quality, regardless of who facilitated the course. Customers could be assured that participants who completed the courses would be capable of producing consistent and effective results.
Clarity enabled the client to:
• Develop an overall collections-focused curriculum structure to meet product training goals.
• Involve participants in product training that included the hands-on experience and resources that they needed to be successful.
• Provide customers with an enhanced and more relevant training experience.
