New orientation training puts Simon employees and on-site contractors on the same team A Culture of Unity Opening the doors to approximately 2.4 billion shoppers a year, Simon Property Group (SPG) understands the value of its people.  Simon, a recognized leader in the shopping center management industry, oversees the ownership, development, and management of nearly 300 regional malls, Premium Outlet® centers and community/lifestyle centers in the U.S. and abroad.  Having been ranked #1 in Forbes' Most Admired Real Estate Companies survey for 2006, Simon attributes its continued success to the dedication and common focus of its employees. SPG retains 5,000 staff directly, and has another 8,000 workers at its malls and centers. These additional workers are employed by firms that specialize in property security, maintenance, housekeeping, and landscaping, but to shoppers they are all viewed the same way – as helpful people who contribute to a more enjoyable shopping experience.  SPG's goal is to sustain a team environment among all personnel across the diverse array of its locations.  To do this, they look to their training program to reinforce the team focus, career advancement philosophy, and other attributes of their corporate culture that set Simon apart from their competitors.

"The e-Learning solution set provides us with consistent training across our portfolio. For example, we use e-Learning to set clear baseline expectations for our Guest Services Representatives, improving our service to guests and increasing sales of the Simon Giftcard product." - Amy Noll, director marketing information management   [Download UK Format PDF]

"We're firm believers in training.  Simon is interested in the growth of its people, and putting training at the disposal of all employees is a tangible way to demonstrate commitment to our workforce," said Carol Franket, director of HR field personnel at SPG.

A History of Success through e-Learning
An early adopter of e-Learning, Simon has been delivering online training to its employees since the mid 1990s.  With Element K as their learning provider, they combine off-the-shelf training in desktop applications and business skills development with various custom courses designed to address proprietary systems and career path objectives.  Simon currently uses their training program to advance employees at all levels of the organization down three separate career paths: Management; Marketing, which includes sales and guest services; and Leasing, which covers financial operations and in-house systems training, as well as policies and procedures for lease creation and management.  Employees access training 24/7 through Simon's online training portal.

"The e-Learning solution set provides us with consistent training across our portfolio. For example, we use e-Learning to set clear baseline expectations for our Guest Services Representatives, improving our service to guests and increasing sales of the Simon Giftcard product. The Giftcard program nationally represents in excess of 465 million dollars, and the majority of our Giftcard transactions take place at the Guest Services booths in our malls," stated Amy Noll, director marketing information management.

The proprietary courses were developed specifically for the three career paths.  However, SPG wanted to provide a more general level of e-Learning as a springboard into the more advanced training program areas.  With a planned launch of a number of new initiatives such as Policy and Procedure updates, Lotus Notes training, and Benefit Program reinforcement on the horizon, SPG decided to implement a new employee orientation strategy that would reach everyone in the company.  Beside the impetus to communicate various HR matters, the new training would demonstrate Simon's corporate objectives, culture, and history.  Simon decided to create an orientation course to reestablish and promote a sense of unity among its workers, and inform employees of the many long term career training paths available to them. 

Creating One Simon Mall Team
Simon outsources security, maintenance, housekeeping, landscaping, and a few other operational functions to agencies that perform these services as their core competency.  It is critical to SPG that they foster a strong team atmosphere among everyone working at their locations, regardless of who employs them.  "Every person coming into a given mall or shopping center is our customer, so every person working to support that location represents Simon, no matter if they are the mall manager, or a security person assisting our customers and ensuring the safety of the shopping center," said Franket. 

To create a truly team-oriented workplace, the company intended that the new orientation training be shown even to outsourced employees upon hire.  Simon wanted to ensure this training resonated not only with its own employees, but also conveyed the corporate culture in a way that was accessible and relevant to a wider audience.  "We needed to design this course so that it fit a broad audience.  It was crucial that the contractors viewing the material felt like it was relevant for them too, breaking down the barriers of title or employer," noted Franket. 

Consistency of Delivery
Because of the geographic dispersion of their offices and the challenge of providing and maintaining current orientation materials at remote locations, new Simon employees often learn about basic policies and corporate culture from a mentor – typically their predecessor on the job.  Since some offices operate with as few as five management employees, mentors have limited time to devote to training and do not necessarily posses specialized training skills. Stories associated with corporate culture are often picked up at the water cooler, instead of the channels that would give them a true picture of the Simon history.  Simon wants a method to ensure every representative of their company is exposed to a consistent message that in turn can be assessed and validated through a company-approved e-Learning program. In addition, since the training is one hour in length, it is imperative that it presents the material in an engaging, interactive way. 

A Personalized Learning Solution
Having a long history with Element K, Simon outlined the new training goals and immediately set to work with their learning partner.  The orientation needed to be more than a training tool: It had to be a vehicle for team unification spanning different organizations and job roles, and serve as a resource that people could refer to when necessary.  Simon also made it a priority to fill the course with pictures and references from a large number of its properties, adding a strong personal element to which all workers could relate. 

While many of Simon's more advanced courses placed emphasis on simulations and interactivity, the company felt that a purely narrated orientation would strike the proper tone with viewers.  Due to the material's unique cultural component, the script for SPG's welcome message and various culture-specific sections needed to be precise.  Simon realized that this narrated approach was different from the rest of their training, and looked to Element K to ensure a well-measured and engaging delivery.  "Being entirely narrated, the speaker had to have just the right emphasis on certain words.  We worked through multiple iterations, often sending copy to Element K after hours and getting new versions back for review first thing the next morning," said Franket. 

The training would also serve as a stepping stone to Simon's HR materials and benefits, providing an overview of available training and access to their education site.  "In our experience, once people get acquainted with the training we offer, they are eager to use it.  The challenge is creating awareness about the program and ensuring it is broadly accessible," said Irv Kravitz, senior vice president of human resources.

SPG employees utilize training either on-the-fly or via a set development path.  QuickTrain, Simon's array of highly-focused, 15 minute training courses, are available for Guest Services representatives to access as a just-in-time learning resource.  SPG employees pursuing the management career path undergo a more extensive set of training modules, taking 12-18 hours worth of courses over a span of months or years.  This latter development path aligns training goals with practical, on-the-job objectives as managers move from smaller locations to larger centers commensurate with their experience. Regardless of their career path, Simon employees now rely on the orientation training for direction into future opportunities within the organization.

Results and Future Plans
SPG has had great success with training rollouts in the past due to an emphasis on internal marketing efforts and the relevance of career mapping. For the orientation training, Simon reported that over seventy people took the course before it was officially launched at their annual convention.  Irv Kravitz noted: "There was a lot of buzz about the course while it was in development.  People were excited to see what it would offer and were logging in before we even rolled it out to the organization!"

Mirroring the positive internal response, employees of the external agencies have also reacted well to the training, due in part to the well-paced narration and integration of on-location references.   Although those agencies have somewhat different HR policies, the administrators appreciated the benefits of a more team-oriented approach to property management, and actively encouraged their own employees to make use of the new training.

Simon requires all employees to complete the course before the end of the year, ensuring that every employee has the opportunity to see the program. SPG also plans on creating an updated version designed specifically for new hires incorporating incremental modifications to enhance and improve on the original training.  The new version will include commentary from the CEO, as well as other employees, consistent with the narrative emphasis on training.

As a next step in its enhanced employee training and communication efforts, Simon plans to engage Element K's Managed Learning Services to implement usage tracking and incentive-based learning programs.  They also have a new Mall Management training program being architected for future rollout.

Of course, as with any IT-based program, technical challenges can impede progress.  Because technologies differ from location to location, and many Simon employees access their training site after hours from home, the company offers an internal help desk that fields log-in and technical questions, in conjunction with Element K technical support services.  An evolving FAQ area addresses technology-related issues as they are identified.

SPG's new orientation course underscores their commitment to career development, job satisfaction, and a team environment.  By delivering their corporate culture and history to all on-site personnel regardless of employer, the scope of Simon's training has reached new levels of audience relevancy.  Carol Franket concludes, "With this orientation, people really see that it's not the employer, but the goal that we all have in common."

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