Business case studies – Alliance Hospitality
One of the leading European hotel groups, Alliance Hospitality made a major step forward when they decided to transfer from traditional language training programs to the World Speaking Blended Learning. Final results: 94% satisfaction and a faster progression of trainees’ levels.
The company
Alliance Hospitality is a multi-brand group with 1,200 employees across Europe. The company is responsible for 45 well-known trademarks, including the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Ibis, Mercure, Best Western, All Seasons and many more.
The challenge
To Alliance Hospitality corporate language training is critical in ensuring competitiveness and quality. When they first approached World Speaking, their demands were very challenging, in part because they were used to training their workforce via traditional language methods. They were looking for a solution able to adapt to a very diverse population: different job positions, varied language levels, and incompatibility of employees’ schedules. In addition, they needed to train more employees on the same budget and do it faster than before.
“At first, I personally tried out different solutions and was convinced by the World Speaking method. Today, I am pleasantly surprised that our trainees’ attendance rate has significantly increased. They take an average of 3 lessons per week and have progressed faster than ever. What’s even better, the level of satisfaction is as high as 94%.”
Anne-Françoise Brambach – Head of training and recruiting.
The partnership
Alliance Hospitality was in urgent need of a training solution capable of overcoming the drawbacks in traditional methods (extensive organization, little customization to their company’s needs, and high non-attendance rate).
In January of 2008, the group launched a pilot for 90 trainees in English, French and Spanish. They selected individual Blended Learning programs of 30 and 40 hours, combining telephone lessons and online sessions with CyberTeachers® Corporate.
Learners began by completing a 30 minute linguistic audit online. Much more than an assessment tool, the audit is the first step in program customization. It allows the definition of personalized learning content, the selection of instructors better suited for each learner, and the ideal learning pace to be prescribed.
Once the individual training plans were established, the learners could easily start reserving their telephone lessons over the internet and accessing their online courses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Finally, employees with stringent work schedules could take their courses anytime, anywhere.
The results were very satisfying, as Anne-Françoise Brambach, Head of Training, explains:
“Our trainees enjoyed working directly on the skills necessary for their professional roles through the use of real-life scenarios, news articles and specialized business vocabulary. The one-on-one classes with a telephone teacher helped them develop their speaking and listening skills very quickly. The business oriented learning materials, the flexible lesson reservation policies, and the high degree of customization of the World Speaking Blended Learning programs were crucial in keeping the trainees very motivated.”
The World Speaking difference
Convincing the hotel staff to adopt a new training method and implying a radical cultural shift from their traditional perception of language learning, were very important for the overall success of the project. World Speaking assigned a dedicated Project Manager to accompany the Head of Training every step of the way.
“To gain support, we first launched a trial project for a group of 6 trendsetters who could spread news of the project by word of mouth. We then designed a communication plan for the managers of each hotel and set up incentives for employees from different positions within the group. Finally, we developed a reward system, where the company offered additional hours of training on the condition that the prescribed learning pace was respected. Instantly, requests for participation in the “try it out and see” program were coming in from all the different departments.”
Christel Derrien – Project Manager at World Speaking.
After the project was initiated, the next challenge was to ensure a close monitoring of trainees’ progress. World Speaking’s Learning Management System offered comprehensive reports and assistance. The Training Manager could easily visualize the attendance rates, connection time, quality feedback and results via the internet. As a solution to potential attendance problems the trainees received a complete report after every lesson, immediate technical assistance, and motivational coaching.
The Results
Just a few months after launching World Speaking Blended Learning programs, Alliance Hospitality obtained impressive results and excellent feedback. The desired learning pace of 3 courses per week was respected and the overall satisfaction rate was 94%. Finally, Alliance Hospitality found a solution to their training needs.
Course appreciation: Overall satisfaction rate 94%.
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