Dealer & Applicator Magazine / June 2002

In a Competitive Marketplace, Knowledge is the Difference

ELearning Playing a More Critical Role in Continuing Education at the dealer level

I have seen a great many changes in my 25-year career in production agriculture but few as exciting as the commitment we see to continuing education in our business today. Take your business as a case-in-point. Did you know that nearly 90 percent of sales agronomists employed by ag chemical dealerships have at least a two-year college degree? That's an amazing statistic but also a reality in today's competitive agriculture marketplace.

Let's face it, aside from shrinking margins, the number one issue facing dealers today is keeping quality people. You absolutely cannot service your business without them. But maintaining a highly competent staff can only happen with an ongoing investment in training. The question is, can your business afford to take your sales agronomists and others out of the field to send them to training events? You can with eLearning.

In the past two years, we have witnessed significant growth in eLearning, or interactive training courses delivered via the Internet or CD-ROM. BASF recently launched mytrainingmanager.com as a dealer-focused initiative to offer training for retail employees. Iowa State University offers individuals the opportunity to earn up to half of their annual CCA-CEU credits through their Crop Advisor Institute [www.cai.iastate.edu]. Our company provides course development for several agribusiness organizations in the areas of sales, agronomics, livestock production, business skills, among others.

The list goes on and for good reason. ELearning provides your employees access to world-class training that can be completed from anywhere at anytime. That's a critical consideration in an environment where more training for more of your employees will be the norm.

With an increasing number of companies and universities now offering courses, there is also a larger selection - and more specialized - agronomic and business management topics to choose from. That trend will continue as more land grant universities and industry experts create courses for distribution. But perhaps the most exciting aspect of eLearning is that individuals who complete courses online tend to learn faster and retain more of what they learned when compared to traditional classroom training. And bottomline, that's what truly helps you achieve your goal of maintaining a higher level of competency within your organization.

Consider the real benefits of eLearning for your business:

Less time away from the plant. On average, eLearning takes 50 percent less time to complete as the same training done in the classroom. It requires no travel to out-of-town training sessions. And it can be done anytime, 24-7.
Less costly. Considering time and travel savings, eLearning is typically far less expensive, enabling you to expand participation among employees.
More effective. Participants in eLearning programs have a 60 percent faster learning curve and retain 25-60 percent more of the material they learn vs. traditional classroom training.
Access to world-class material. Imagine taking a course on entomology from the world's foremost expert on the subject. With eLearning it's possible to do that from your conference room.

Traditional face-to-face training will never go away - and should not. But in a competitive environment that requires all of us to raise our level of competency in order to serve the needs of our customers, eLearning can be a valuable tool in maintaining the competitive edge over your competition.

Tom Gray is executive vice president of AgTechnologies International, an eLearning-focused company based in Owatonna, MN. AgTechnologies specializes in building customized training solutions for clients in the food and agribusiness industries. He can be reached at 507.446.9100 or by email at tgray@agtechintl.com.

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