Custom Content for Critical Learning Objectives About Accor North America Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Accor North America is a division of Accor, the European leader and one of the world's largest groups in travel, tourism and corporate services. Accor North America operates more than 1,200 upscale and economy properties in North America including nationwide economy leaders Red Roof Inns, Motel 6, and Studio 6; the upscale Sofitel; and mid-scale Novotel hotel locations in the U.S, Canada, and Ibis hotels in Mexico. Accor - A Corporate Culture Supporting Employee Development Accor's commitment to training has its roots in the French cultural commitment to employee development - and with the company's founders, Paul Debrule and Gerard Pelisson. Debrule and Pelisson believe people in the service industry will progress if trained properly and if they understand their fellow employees' duties to perform them when necessary. Accor's CEO, Jean-Marc Espalioux, regards training as paramount and set the company standard by developing a training requirement for the company's executive committee in Paris.

"Element K's high quality content and their flexibility made the decision easy for us."         "Seven years ago, Accor North America wasn't even using computers yet. Today, Accor North America employees now have access to online customized learning... content that helps Accor North America serve its customers better while saving the company time and money over traditional classroom learning."         - Allen Krom, Director of E-Learning and Computer Education, Accor North America

But, with 6 brands, 50,000 employees, geographically dispersed locations, and vastly different cultures from brand to brand, "mandating" training across Accor North America was difficult. And, until two years ago, Accor delivered all of its training via the classroom - adding to the challenge.

Classroom training was costly. The company had a training staff that delivered training in Dallas and at properties nationwide. Also, general managers (GMs) were flown into Dallas from across the country for management training. Allen Krom, Accor North America's Director of E-Learning and Computer Education said "Limitation of time and the geographic distance problem made it inherently difficult for employees to get the training they wanted or needed."

In 2002, the decision was made to integrate and centralize training across brands in the U.S. And in 2003, Accor North America opened its Académie Accor in Dallas, TX - the ninth Accor Académie worldwide. The Académie consists of the Dallas campus with brand specific campuses in Addiston, TX, Columbus, OH and Tempe, AZ. The Académie was originally intended to reduce training costs by delivering solely custom applications, specifically management training, for upwardly mobile managers. But, the Académie moved beyond this design by offering computer training to employees in the corporate office. Out of this "cluster training," Accor wrapped in e-Learning from Element K® to create a blended learning environment at the Academie - and a centralized point of consistent training for all brands.

Krom stresses the blended approach as key to Accor's success - particularly for its GMs. "Each Accor brand is uniquely different. For example, a GM at a Sofitel may have 150 employees and 6-8 department heads. A Motel 6 GM may oversee 7-10 employees. Obviously, these individuals have different goals and require different sets of skills to succeed," says Krom.
 
Custom Content Provides Mission Critical Learning
Today, Accor North America is able to provide mission critical learning to all employees, regardless of their location, via e-Learning and custom content developed by Element K®. Managers and desk clerks at the hotel locations now access comprehensive online office productivity skills training and managers in the corporate office, as well as mid-level area managers throughout the country, have access to Harvard Business School Publishing management training - all via the Internet at their desks or at the Académie.  

Property managers and desk clerks also benefit from custom-developed training for hotel business applications: "Fidelio" for Red Roof property management, "InnSure" for Motel 6 property management, and "WinStar" for timekeeping. Accor North America also has plans to roll out two new pieces of customized training and assessments for its managers - developed by Element K:

• Accor North America and Element K have partnered to create a blended online training program for Accor's procurement software, Accor Market Place. This program includes a web-based training course, a comprehensive virtual lab, and a customized assessment. The virtual lab is integrated into the online course and gives students real time access to the E-Procurement software, enabling them to apply and practice what they've learned in the web-based training course. Students are then required to take a tracked assessment to ensure they are proficient in the software.
• Accor North America and Element K have partnered to create an assessment program based upon their revenue management process. All employees involved in revenue booking for the hotels are required to pass the appropriate series of assessments. This program is currently rolled out within North America (with assessments delivered in Spanish and French).

 
Element K's fully hosted learning management platform, KnowledgeHub®, ties the learning together and provides tracking and reporting and other administrative functions. Accor North America also plans to implement Element K's Web Services to tie KnowledgeHub with Peoplesoft to enhance administrative automation.

Global Académies Provide Training
Around the world, there are eight other Accor Académies that serve to train the corporation's global employees. Some of these Académies utilize CD-ROMs for training and the CD-ROMs are distributed without cost to each location. "Within the Académie Accor North America, our goal is to train the staff from all levels of the organization so that they may move up within not only Accor North America but potentially Accor worldwide," says Geoff Castiaux, VP of Leadership Training and Development.

Marketing e-Learning at Accor
Marketing e-Learning differs from brand to brand within Accor North America. Motel 6, one of Accor North America's 6 brands, uses contests to increase usage among their GMs, with gas cards, movie passes, and other gift cards as prizes. They use targeted email blasts, field-wide memos, and postcards to publicize the contests, which are based on completion and how many times an employee has taken an online course. 

"Department ‘lunch and learns' have been the most popular and most successful at the corporate office in terms of marketing e-Learning," says Debbie Ascenzo, e-Learning Manager of Académie Accor North America. "These hands-on sessions, hosted by our Element K sales rep, get people excited about e-Learning and encourage them to check it out. Also, while e-Learning is required of Motel 6 GMs as part of their yearly bonus, not all of them recognize the benefits of e-Learning. These contests expose them to the curriculum, which serves two purposes: it helps them to recognize the personal benefits of e-Learning and the experience helps turn them into e-Learning evangelists when they return to their properties." 

Challenges
Krom says that Accor North America's launch of e-Learning has not been without its roadblocks. First and foremost, Accor's CEO demanded ROI data on e-Learning and wanted to see corresponding reductions in the brand budgets. "It took a while to develop our ROI concept," said Krom. "And to see any actual changes in our budget." 

The lack of computers also remains an issue company wide. At Sofitel, only department heads have their own computers, with two computers set up kiosk-style for e-Learning access. And, at Motel 6, only the manager's computer has Internet access, so employees share time on her/his computer. 

Mentoring With Element K
E-Learning has also become a successful part of Accor North America's mentoring program. The program links 40 managers interested in advancing their careers with 40 personal mentors, providing training and other career development tools, including e-Learning, to help the managers move up in the company. "Of the 40 protégés, 35 of them have used Element K as a stepping stone by completing four courses within the first quarter of this year," says Ascenzo. 

Why Element K
"Element K's high quality content and their flexibility made the decision easy for us," says Krom. He also cites his Element K sales rep as a reason for his choice. "She didn't just try to sell me a product - she took the time to understand Accor North America's needs and to explain the general benefits of e-Learning. Once she did this, she went on to explain how Element K's solution could be flexible enough to meet Accor North America's needs." 

Results
Accor North America consistently increases its e-Learning usage month to month. In the first four months, the number of Accor employees who accessed courses steadily increased. In addition, during the same time period, the number of courses employees accessed increased. Completion rates have leveled out as employees have discovered the "just in time" benefit of e-Learning. 

"Our staff, particularly, appreciates the benefits and availability of e-Learning. One employee has been so successful with e-Learning that she now has the confidence to attend community college at night to pursue her degree," says Ascenzo. "And, managers working in our remote properties, like Wyoming, no longer need to worry about how or where they'll get the training they need to be successful. 

Today, Accor North America's CEO, Georges LeMener, remains one of Accor North America's e-Learning initiative's biggest supporters and public relations person. LeMener believes that since e-Learning was launched it has helped the company improve service company-wide. 

"Ten years ago, Accor North America wasn't even using computers yet," says Krom. "Today, Accor North America employees now have access to online customized learning at the corporate and property level - content that helps Accor North America serve its customers better while saving the company time and money over traditional classroom learning."