Whitbread gets the right blend for training: E‐learning combined with classroom teaching benefits company and employees

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the training system adopted at Whitbread, which manages businesses in the hotel, restaurant and coffee‐shop sectors, and employs 35,000 people to serve the 11 million customers who each month visit one of its 1,400 outlets across the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper details the reasons for blending e‐learning and classroom‐based learning, and the benefits for employees and the company.

Findings

The paper reveals that using the tablet PC provides a flexible learning environment. The technology is mobile, allowing employees to maximize their productivity during working hours. Since implementation of the solution four years ago, more than 98,000 e‐learning courses have been completed, which has culminated in 4,587 days or 12.6 years of learning. Classroom‐based learning, allowing the employees to work on a live till system with a trained tutor, blended with e‐learning, enables the students to learn in both a practical and theoretical manner. For Whitbread, the training ensures that staff are legally compliant in the hospitality sector.

Practical implications

The paper contends that trainees' confidence levels at the end of the training are significantly increased.

Originality/value

The paper describes how, in order to cater for the large number of nationalities Whitbread employs, the housekeeping course was designed in nine languages. The course is highly multimedia‐oriented, including video, voice‐over and animation.

Citation

(2008), "Whitbread gets the right blend for training: E‐learning combined with classroom teaching benefits company and employees", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 16 No. 7, pp. 18-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670730810911350