Jiffy Lube: ASTD's BEST for 2011

Abstract:

The training staff at Jiffy Lube International-part of Shell Oil Company-can directly tie business results into the participant-centered training they do for their 2,000 franchise locations. This distinction set them apart as they were named American Society for Training and Development's BEST for their commitment to enterprise-wide learning and development. What benchmarks did they measure and how did they implement participant-centered training?

Title: Jiffy Lube: ASTD's BEST for 2011

Article:

As manager of learning and development for Shell Oil Company, Ken Barber is responsible for overseeing training for the more than 185franchisees who operate 2000 service centers for Jiffy Lube International. That means 20,000 employees training on things like customer service, management, and service procedures through 80 different courses and 10 certifications as part of Jiffy Lube University.

JLI’s training function began its award-winning climb back in 2004 as it changed from videos and manuals to computer-based and now web-based training. With the adoption of a learner management system, JLI had what it needed to begin tying learning into the company’s bottom line.

Elearning, which accounts for more than 95 percent of JLI’s courses, “gives us the breadth and depth we need to get new people up to speed quickly and performing at a high level. We use a four-step process [elearning, certification testing, on-the-job training, and proficiency as determined by a manager], to accomplish this,” Barber said. “The instructor-led training is the other part of our blended learning solution, and it’s primarily focused on mangers and assistant managers, because of the role they play at the store; we feel that’s worth the investment, to spend the time, to give them instruction and mentor them during that week of training so they can go back to their stores and do the same with their people.”

Elearning also allows JLI to get new employees involved in training and bettering themselves and their chances for advancement quickly. “We know that there is a direct correlation between the number of certifications, the level of certifications, that an individual achieves and the length of service he or she typically has,” Barber explained. “If we can have an employee plugged into a training program within the first 90 days, there’s a very good probability he or she will stay for two years or longer because most of the turnover we experience is within the first 90 days.”

Jiffy Lube branded its training function as JLU in 2009. “I felt that taking training through JLU might raise the profile for the learner, and it would give them a sense of being part of something bigger than just Jiffy Lube training,” Barber said. “It also gave us the opportunity to create a new brand we could use to support the business and advance the learning agenda for our system. JLU provides us with a learner portal where the individuals taking the training can see the roadmap to advancement and take ownership for learning at whatever rate they would like to apply themselves. We feel   there is more of a pull than a push for individuals to become better trained and equipped to do their job.”

JLU also has worked hard to further the training through management mentoring. Many current managers indicate the key to their success was receiving coaching themselves from a supervisor, Barber said. “One of the reasons our management training (CBT) and advanced management training (ILT) is such a priority is because we know that those managers set the tone in their store. If they model the behavior we teach them, they will teach their employees, reducing turnover and providing the foundation for better customer service—the behaviors will be contagious.

Barber also credits success to the alignment with the business and franchisee.   The best example is the Training Committee made up of franchise owners, JLI employees and JLU trainers. “They set the priority, serve as subject matter experts as we develop content, and do final review as courses are deployed. The result has been virtually no pushback from the franchisee community when new courses roll out. The opposite happens. They say, ‘This is great! When can you get us more?’”

Training also is an easy sell because of its interactive nature even though the training is asynchronous. “Throughout the delivery of the content, we use a good deal of video so they can see and hear what’s being taught. We check to determine if they are grasping the content that’s being delivered” through various methods like multiple choice questions, a drag and drop activity, or simulations to keep learners engaged.

 Interactions in the instructor-led training are a key reflection of the training Jiffy Lube has valued from The Bob Pike Group. “When I came into this position in July 2006, I knew that I wanted to adopt the Bob Pike philosophy of adult learning and participant-learning experiences,” Barber said. Since Barber came on board with Jiffy Lube, all field training personnel now go through BPG’s Boot Camp Plus or Boot Camp and Business Presentation Skills “so everybody is on the same page as far as what we expect, how we want to conduct training,” Barber said. “In addition to that, a couple of years ago, Becky Pluth audited all of our instructor-led training [ILT] courses and gave us pointers on how to improve our PowerPoint presentations and how to further improve the interactive experience for the student. As a result, at this point in time, we have a 4.94 out of 5.00 overall level 1 evaluation rating from our students. We feel that it’s been extremely helpful in helping us get to a world class status.”

JLU has won numerous awards for its training, both in the automotive and training industries. JLU is a certified training provider with ASE and can now offer seven hours of college credit with ACE accreditation for its courses. It has also been a recipient of Training magazine’s Top 125 awards for two years in a row, with a special achievement award this year for outstanding initiative. The work that Pluth did on our ILT content, the PowerPoints, the delivery, “That was just one of the things we did as part of our self-improvement process,” Barber said. “We know that contributed to that special recognition. Only five companies received that award this year.”

 Another key factor for their awards was the ability to tie training into key business metrics. This year, JLI earned the top spot in ASTD’s BEST competition for 2011. “I was told that what separated us from the others in the competition was the fact we were able to relate our training program to direct impact on business results,” Barber said. JLU could “correlate our improvement from customer service scores for six consecutive years, [and show that] ticket averages are 18 percent above industry average and have improved for six consecutive years.

“The most important statistic was that our franchisees rate every department of Jiffy Lube International for how well we meet their needs, and the training function, for the second consecutive year, had the highest rating of any division of Jiffy Lube. This year the overall rating for the training function was a 90 percent approval rating. We’ve proud to have reached that level of appreciation and support from our franchisees.”