Hilton Hotels Corporation
During the mid-1960´s Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) split off its international operations and, over the past 40+ years, these properties have been operating under the Hilton Group plc. In February 2006, Hilton Hotels Corporation reacquired Hilton Group´s lodging operations (Hilton International). As part of the acquisition, a project was initiated to bring the International Properties and Units onto the same technology platforms which HHC use in the US and Mexico. These technologies included PeopleSoft Financials for the back office applications and OnQ Property Management System (PMS) for the front office applications.
The Project
Following the re-acquisition, several IT Systems needed to be replaced to unify the company´s world wide operations and processes. The first phase in this world wide project involved deploying PeopleSoft 8.9 Financials to the Hilton United Kingdom and Ireland (HUKI) Units. The strategy was to move the whole of UK and Ireland´s financial staff on to the PeopleSoft Financial platform, which would affect approximately 430 staff. These system implementations would form part of HHC´s worldwide goal to streamline all financial processes and obtain global reporting benefits.
To assist in the implementation of the PeopleSoft technology worldwide, HHC chose Oracle User Productivity Kit (UPK) to provide training and post Go Live support. The UK and Ireland Team was led by Gus Ross based in Glasgow, with a Training Project headed by Cindy Cloete also based in Glasgow. Recognising the aggressive timelines and geographical distribution of their users, a full training and post Go Live support programme was key to the successful deployment of the new technology. A decision was made to adopt a blended training solution incorporating self service learning and performance support through UPK.
The Solution
A partner was sought with specific expertise and experience of UPK and its use in similar projects. Larmer Brown was introduced as having a proven track record in both these areas. They were able to design the blended learning solution, develop the financial content processes and deliver the training solution utilising their experienced Project, Content Development and Training Teams to develop classroom and eLearning training content using UPK.
Larmer Brown felt that UPK was an ideal choice to support this kind of training as, in their experience, it always generates such positive staff feedback. Staff leave the classroom training knowing that they have UPK available on their desktop to continue to learn and support them to do their job. This not only improves the learning experience but also makes them more positive and committed to the new application.
The Conclusion
The entire training project was delivered from Training Needs Analysis through to post course evaluation and reporting in just over three months. The feedback from staff who attended courses was analysed and confirmed courses were consistently reported as between good and excellent.
Upon completion of the project Hilton Hotels Corporation had a database of eLearning material online to train new staff, or support the transition of staff between job roles. This capability would significantly enhance the ROI from the PeopleSoft system, and place them in the best possible position to maintain their brand advantage as the world´s pre-eminent lodging hospitality company.