Manufacturing

Imperial Tobacco

The Problem

Imperial Tobacco needed a truly international programme – one that could deliver a quality training programme in multiple languages via an effective delivery method.

Imperial Tobacco were keen to use e-learning but wanted to be sure that there was a real expert guiding the participants through the course and helping them to understand the practical applications of what they were learning. It was also imperative that participants were provided with a confidential forum where they could discuss topics of particular concern to Imperial Tobacco.

As many of the participants did not have English as their first language, we needed to ensure that participants would be assessed on their knowledge of the issues of concern to Imperial Tobacco, as opposed to their fluency in the English language. Devising a suitable and effective method of assessment was therefore crucial.

The Solution

RRC Training set up an e-learning version of our Key2Safety Programme, with distinct introductory, intermediate and advanced tiers to allow each group of participants to be trained up to the knowledge required for their roles.

A confidential Imperial Tobacco forum was established as part of the e-learning site to allow participants to discuss issues in each of their sites.

A large proportion of the assessment on the course takes the form of carefully thought out multiple-choice questions, which removes the need for participants to be able to construct lengthy arguments in a foreign language but still ensures that the principles have been learnt and understood.

To ensure that we were not wasting the valuable time of participants, we devised an exemption assessment to ensure that those who already had a certain degree of knowledge were not required to attend that particular level of training.

After a successful pilot programme involving 30 students, 19 of which progressed up to Advanced level, Imperial Tobacco approached RRC and asked for the programme to be translated into German, with one of RRC's specialist tutors providing expert support in German. A French version is planned in the near future.

The Result

Managers at Imperial Tobacco have been delighted with the positive response received by the participants on the pilot course. Some participants on the pilot course were managers who had been asked to assess the course for suitability for their own staff and all concerned were keen to recommend the course for further rollout among Imperial Tobacco.

The next stage is for RRC Training, in partnership with Imperial Tobacco, to develop a bespoke version of the course, based entirely on the procedures within Imperial Tobacco's own organisation.