Building shared values with interactive e-learning.
Having corporate values is easy….right? Just write them on a piece paper and tell everybody that “these are our values”. But, to have the company’s values really live and become part of the culture is much, much harder. Difficulties often arise because it is up to an individual to interpret how they apply the company values to their own actions, or perhaps they are not fully aware of the resulting effects of not adhering to the values. This is important to note as it is the reality of the culture (not the values) that your customers will experience.
E-learning can help to convey how the company expects the values to be interpreted and educate the employees on how values can guide their actions.
To illustrate, let’s build a series of simple simulations around the value ´loyal´(We would envisage the following simulations to form part of a larger course). We will use three exercises to work with this value:
1. Exploring what we mean by the value “loyal”
2. Applying the value “ loyal”
3. Exploring the consequences of not using this value to guide actions
Simulation 1: Initially we would illustrate to the audience how we define this value.
Before writing the content the author needs to consider how the value should be interpreted in company related situations. In this example the possible question in the template may be about the value of being “loyal”.
Step 1: We would insert the question at the top of the template - “What is does the value of loyal represent in our organisation?”
Step 2: The description for the user could be - Review the following choices and match your preferred choice to the question. The content here would involve creating choices and corresponding feedback that helps to guide the learner towards the preferred response.
We would then create a second simulation designed to help the user apply this value in a practical situation.
Simulation 2: Once the value has been defined it is important to “bring it to life”
Step 1: Again, we can leverage the question, “How would the value of ´loyal´ be applied in the following situation?”
Step 2: The description here is critical, as it is important to give the user a clear understanding of situation they are going to apply the value to. For example a question in this simulation could be as follows - How do you react to a decision that was not in your favour?
Step 3: The choices that you offer the user could present a variety of descriptions of common reactions to a question like this. As a content author this is an opportunity to honestly acknowledge how someone would genuinely react (even though their reaction may be driven by emotion rather than logic) and then coach them through these reactions so the value is upheld.
Simulation 3: Explore the consequences if the desired value is not adopted within the culture
The next level of exploration is to illustrate the consequences of this value not being adopted within the organisation. Using the feedback option to coach the learner, this tactic provides the content author with the opportunity to illustrate the consequences of an outcome.
Summary:
This example shows that e-learning can be used for learning far beyond training. The important point to remember is to encourage people to answer honestly.
Therefore, it is recommend that these types of courses be used as key communication pieces within the organisation. They can be combined with other vehicles for re-enforcement of behaviour such as awarding examples of people ´living the values´.
Below is a link which contains the above simulations bought to life, enjoy!
