CPM

Wednesday, October 28

Emad Rizkalla is President of Bluedrop Performance Learning, the company that created the course. He points out that it has the potential to make a huge difference in removing the uncertainty that companies now feel. "The secondary H1N1 pandemic is the wave of ignorance and confusion around the disease," he states. "And few places are more in trouble than corporations. Uncertainty is rife in businesses over how to prepare for H1N1. It is true that most multinationals and large governments have completed planning and training that many experts say is of questionable benefit. However, tens of thousands of small to medium sized companies, whose employees total in the millions, have negligible planning and training in place. Many managers have had few resources to truly assess their readiness or measure employees' understanding of H1N1 and how to reduce its spread."

This course, will be available as of October 28 at www.coursepark.com/h1n1 and will let companies see in minutes their employees' level of preparedness:

    - Far beyond just distributing brochures or displaying posters, it allows
      companies to measure how ready employees are for H1N1, and correct any
      vulnerabilities that might remain.
    - A manager can easily distribute the course to all employees by email in
      minutes.
    - The detailed tracking system lets managers see exactly which workers
      complete the course, the scores obtained, and any areas of preparedness
      that might need additional attention.
    - The course, including a pre-test and post-test, can typically be
      completed in 10 to 15 minutes.
    - The course is non-technical, covering the key points without bogging
      down or overwhelming busy workers.

H1N1 in the Workplace was developed by Bluedrop Performance Learning with medical direction from Dr. Bill Bavington, a leading Canadian epidemiologist and Dr. Charlie Easmon, Medical Director of Number One Health in Great Britain. The course leverages the functionality of CoursePark, a new online Learning Management Network that uses the power of online communities to connect trainers, learners, businesses, and course providers.

The Johnson GEO CENTRE, a leading Canadian museum, was one of the very first to sign up for the new course. Executive Director Paul Dean noted that, "This course will give me peace of mind that our people are prepared. We can test, measure, and find whether or not each staff member or volunteer 'gets it,' or still needs more training."

Bluedrop's Rizkalla agrees that the value of the course is confirming companies are actually ready. "The big danger here is that companies just don't know if their people are ready. Yes everyone is sending their staff to Internet links, holding employee meetings and putting up posters. The question however is, are employees really learning? Do they actually know what to do? Our H1N1 course for employees sorts fact from fiction and tells them how to protect themselves. CoursePark then captures their answers to key questions to make sure they learned it. Managers can track everyone to see who has taken the course, who has the necessary knowledge, and who needs more training. Removing uncertainty can help stop the spread of H1N1, not to mention the spread of apathy, fear or ignorance."