In 2009, Unetversity (the training school for the Fiat Group network) continued to study innovative teaching methods and processes.
The rollout of the Web University worldwide and in all Group Sectors was completed. From one side, this multifunctional platform enables dealers to complete a questionnaire to assess their skill level, view a calendar of training activities offered, enrol in programmes of interest and take courses on-line.
From the other side, the Group can monitor which courses have been attended by the network and the skills acquired. The Web University also enables for the assessment of the most suitable location for training activities, so that users can attend courses as near to their workplace as possible, either through the Group’s extensive network of local training centres (on-site) or directly at dealerships (door-to-door).
In 2009, 65% of training for technicians took place at dealer service centres. For the launch of the new Doblò, door-todoor commercial training was successfully trialled at 390 locations and involved 2,500 Fiat sales representatives throughout Italy.
This decentralisation of training is a response to the need to make information and know-how available to everyone in the network, while minimising the impact on dealers in terms of cost and travel time required to participate in courses. Through the utilisation of both on-site and door-to-door training, in addition to increasing the number of hours of web-based distance learning provided, Unetversity trained over 25,000 sales representatives and more than 100,000 technicians around the world in 2009 for a total of more than 2.5 million hours of training and a saving of more than 12 million kilometres in travel.
Unetversity continuously monitors its training activities using a system that enables the evaluation of the course in terms of satisfaction and the knowledge acquired, which is measured through a comparison of pre-course tests with those taken at the end of the course.
For cases where a more thorough assessment of training is required, the Group also utilises other methods. These include mystery shopping (where an individual poses as a customer, simulating a sale to verify whether services are offered in accordance with the required procedures and standards) and field tests to verify that training provided on courses is applied in practice.