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getAbstract, Inc. 20900 NE 30th Ave., Suite 315, Aventura, FL 33180, USA +1.305.936.2626 | getAbstract AG, Alpenquai 12, 6005 Lucerne, Switzerland +41.41.367.5151

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Continuous Learning to Maintain a Competitive BrandKia Motors works hard to promote a brand identity that is dynamic, young and fun. In its European market in particular, Kia is increasing its efforts to be recognized as a unique brand apart from its company sister, Hyundai. The state-of-the art headquarters of Kia Motors Europe (KME) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, include the company’s design center, dedicated to deliver products that reflect both the specific Hyundai and Kia brand identity in its designs and interiors.

To help build and market competitive automobiles, KME has built a company structure that encourages everyone to

contribute. To assure that employees have the skills to help the Kia brand succeed, KME started to develop the plan for a specific European training center. Based on the Korean parent company’s standards for global leadership development, training at Kia focuses on what Beate Baier, Manager for Organizational Development and Training, describes as three competency tracks: core competencies, job competencies and leadership competencies.

“We embrace our brand identity and convey it throughout our training,” says Baier. This is accomplished through a combination of online and interactive offline learning. Everyone taking one of the

offline leadership competency courses, for example, first has to complete the related online training session. The offline training, offered in Frankfurt, includes substantial face-to-face experiential learning. “We want to make sure that all the training we offer enables people to see that there’s something in it for them for their personal development.”

“We’re offering our employees a continuous learning cycle. We want to ensure that every one of them maintains a peak level of relevant knowledge, and we have seen very positive results from this effort,” says Baier.

getAbstract Reinforces Online and Offline LearningKia Motors Europe relies on getAbstract content to complement its online and offline training programs. Aligned with the competencies KME seeks to develop, getAbstract helps the company promote continuous learning and build its brand.

Achieved Results• Complementary content

for online and offline learning programs.

• Alignment of materialwith company’s competency model.

• Broad employee use and acceptance.

• Employees accessing content on mobile devices on their own time.

CASE STUDY:

-Beate Baier, Manager for Organizational Development and Training

getAbstract, Inc. 20900 NE 30th Ave., Suite 315, Aventura, FL 33180, USA +1.305.936.2626 | getAbstract AG, Alpenquai 12, 6005 Lucerne, Switzerland +41.41.367.5151

www.getabstract.com or email: info@getabstract.com

Supplementing and Reinforcing Program ContentHow does training at KME promote continuouslearning after completion of a course?

“We’re using getAbstract to complement theseofferings both online and offline,” says Baier. “Forexample, whenever employees undergo a training,we create lists for recommended reading toinclude with the training material - either of booksthat the trainer refered to or of those that we feelwould be beneficial. getAbstract is filling a gap thatway, it’s very useful.”

“And this enables our goal of getting our people toread more and to keep the momentum of learning,”she says. “Not just to think ‘been there, done that,’but go beyond the training and engage in furtherlearning.”

KME provides employees access to getAbstractcontent through a getAbstract home page wheresummaries are categorized in alignment with thecompany’s three competency tracks and its fivecore values of challenge, collaboration, customer,globality, and people. The goal, Baier explains, is tomake it easy for employees to find content on anytopic that meets their current needs.

Mobile access to getAbstract also contributes to use of the service, Baier says. “It’s very valuable for us that getAbstract is available on smart phones, because people do not sit at their desktop to read the majority of the time. They retrieve information while on the go. People will download summaries minutes after training concludes for the day, when they have it fresh in their mind and they are pumped full of energy to get information.”

Growing Use and AcceptanceKME employees are definitely availing themselves ofgetAbstract content outside of their formal training.“Statistics from our employees show that if theysee something in getAbstract they are intrigued tofind out more,” says Baier. “This might mean thatthey download similar book summaries or that theypurchase the complete book. It is very clear that theywant to keep the momentum of learning and stayingabreast of current thinking, ideas and developments.”

“What is very exciting to us is making getAbstractavailable to employees wherever, whenever,” saysBaier. “If someone is waiting at the airport, they’recommuting or whatever they’re doing, they can usegetAbstract to further their knowledge on the go,which our employees really appreciate.”

“For me as a learning and development professional,”she says, “it’s very important to keep peopleinterested in getAbstract, because it’s such acomplementary tool to our existing learning.Employees accessing getAbstract shows there isan interest in further learning. People can decidehow deep to dive into the subject matter, and howmuch more they can learn for themselves. And that’swhat we want to achieve, because it’s not just forthe company that employees learn, but also forthemselves.”

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“We’re offering our employees a continuous learning cycle. We want to ensure thatevery one of them maintains a peak level of relevant knowledge, and we have seenvery positive results from this effort.”

Beate Baier