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Success Stories

Amway New Distributor Training

2011 International Society for Performance Improvement Award of Excellence Winner   Human Performance

Mutual belief in a mission to help people live better lives is not the only thing that unites Innovative Learning Group (ILG) with its client, Amway Corp. Both companies also share a deep conviction that linking smart, performance-oriented training programs to measurable results, and leveraging the latest technology to deliver programs, can drive organizational success. ILG’s involvement in defining and developing Amway’s global curriculum for worldwide distributors is a testament to this productive partnership.

Situation

Amway wanted progressive training and richer training support for distributors in its 80 markets; the organization also knew that developing training founded on deep market research, documented performance factors, and the newest technology was essential. However, distributors had to see that quantifiable impact on their individual businesses. To address these needs, Amway decided to create a holistic training architecture, anchored in a performance-based model and tied to business growth maps and goals. It also chose a key partner Innovative Learning Group. According to Amway, ILG was chosen to partner in this initiative because of its performance-based curriculum expertise, strong project management, and instructional design capability.

Solution

The heart of the curriculum that Amway and ILG designed was in the performance model, which links the detailed behaviors of a successful distributor to skills, knowledge, and subsequent results. Among ILG’s powerful contributions to Amway’s improved training programs were impact mapping and performance model analyses methodologies that tie key skill development back to goals. The project began with ILG helping in the analysis of performance and the definition of critical, worldwide Amway distributor behaviors on which training should focus. The methodology included extensive distributor interviews, analysis of existing materials, review of external best practices, and information from many additional data sources. ILG and Amway then created a logical course flow and high-level course designs based on those behaviors with the goal of giving

Amway affiliates around the globe a curriculum framework they could adopt or modify based on their needs. After presenting the well-received performance model and resulting architecture at Amway’s Global Training Conference, the next big step was working with the Amway regional training departments to create the learning activities identified in the plan. Since then, Amway launched the integrated program in its Latin American region, which is a high-growth market for direct selling, with very positive results.

Results

Distributors in Latin America achieved positive business results from this initiative. These results are ascribed to the new training curriculum built on the behaviors from the performance model and available for delivery a number of ways, as well as to new business policies that were adopted simultaneously. After one year, sales in Latin America increased 70 percent. Although the increase cannot be attributed entirely to new training programs, it is known that training was an important factor in this success. Productivity growth varies across the region; however, Amway is currently experiencing increases of 45 percent to 70 percent.

There also has been a distinct cultural change in the way Amway executive leadership views training. Training has been strategically integrated with the annual business planning process, and this inclusion is helping to drive more strategic discussions. There is a much tighter link between Amway business strategy, collaboration with field leadership, and training curricula now that successes have been achieved in various markets.

To learn more about how Innovative Learning Group can create custom learning solutions to help improve business results, contact us at info@innovativeLG.com.

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