Guy BOUDAREL
Training Director for the Casino group
How do you train more people without increasing your budget? This is the problem that the Casino group has solved by choosing e-learning as an alternative to a classroom approach. For training in office software, the Casino group has adopted ENI’s MEDIAplus eLearning solution, with a distance tutoring service for their learners.
Following the reform of the French employment laws and the introduction of the DIF (the Individual Training Entitlement, a French government measure by which every employee is entitled to 20h training per year, financed by the employer), the CASINO super- and hypermarket distribution group, which has a staff of over 220 000, 75 000 of whom are in France, was dealing with a year-by-year increase in requests for training. Determined to pursue a proactive policy with regard to the DIF, the group gave serious consideration to the best way to respond to as many of the requests as possible. “Faced with the geographical spread of the requests for training and a budget which could not expand indefinitely, we decided to turn to e-learning, as an alternative approach to classroom-based training,” explains Guy Boudarel, Training Director for the Casino group.
The training programmes based on e-learning technology relate to the domains best suited to this approach: office software, languages, management…
After testing different systems and comparing the training methods, the quality of the contents, the technical specifications etc… The Casino group chose ENI’s MEDIAplus eLearning solution to train staff in the use of office software.
“The advantage of learning in a real software environment, which is unique to MEDIAplus eLearning, was a decisive factor in our choice of this solution,” specifies the Training Director. “The assessment of training requirements, the personalisation of training programmes, the accompaniment and tutoring of learners were also important criteria in our decision,” he adds, “not forgetting the positive relationship with our contacts at ENI, whose listening skills and adaptability made the realisation of this project possible,” he elaborates.
Campus Casino, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Casino group, has the task of making sure that all possible solutions to their training requirements are available to staff.
This means that both e-learning and traditional training are proposed.
“In each individual branch of the group, it is the manager responsible for training who chooses the most appropriate way to respond to a request, taking into account the requirements, the number of learners and the geographical position of the retail outlets…” explains Guy Boudarel.
Every e-learning programme includes a tutoring service for the learners. “In our experience, the tutor is indispensable. Our results are much improved when learners are accompanied during their training,” he maintains. For training in office applications, ENI’s own tutors provide a distance service in conjunction with MEDIAplus eLearning.
The users are satisfied with MEDIAplus eLearning as a means of training. They appreciate the system’s flexibility, the fact that they work at their own speed and can go back to topics that they want to look at again.
Thanks to e-learning, some members of staff now benefit from training to which they would not otherwise have had access. “Some of our people are isolated geographically, or unable to take days off to attend a course. They now have access to numerous training options. Another advantage is that e-learning permits us to satisfy most of the DIF requests we receive,” explains the Training Director.
As for the future, the Casino group’s Training Director sees distance training taking on a more important role. “The new generation arriving in the workplace is completely at ease with computer technology. I think they will find it natural to train that way,” remarks Guy Boudarel. “That is why I have set my teams a target of progressing from 10% of training via e-learning, to 30, 40 or even 50% in the long term, by developing new offers and communicating more effectively about this approach. The aim is obviously not to move from totally classroom-based to totally e-learning, but to achieve a reasonable balance between the two,” he concludes.