In 2005, CapitalOne launched an audio learning program as a new component of its centralized learning university. The program has proven successful, and the company recently shared some of the lessons it has learned.

Training courses compatible with iPods and computers were developed and rolled out to a small test group before full rollout. The early courses were related to leadership, although the topics have since been expanded. For security reasons, no business confidential information was included in the audio learning sessions.

Corporate communications have also been incorporated into this program with messages from senior company leadership available through the audio learning center.

At the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) 2006 International Conference & Exposition in Dallas, CapitolOne Vice President and Chief Learning Officer Ted Forbes said that lessons the company learned during the first year of the program include:

Lesson 1 -- Build on your strengths. This is a real investment.

Lesson 2 -- Present options to a small, savvy group for evaluation. CapitalOne asked about 30 employees to help evaluate the technology and concept and got their buy-in. These employees ended up being advocates for the project.

Lesson 3 -- Leverage both the business case and executive sponsorship. CapitalOne justified the program by weighing its educational benefits, productivity benefits, enhancements to reputation, and also enlisted the support and participation of key executives.

Lesson 4 -- A good change management plan is essential.

Lesson 5 -- Build early rapport with your advocates. CapitolOne built a website with training and support materials and gave the early adopters free iPods.

Lesson 6 -- Create plenty of content, with multiple stakeholders. CapitalOne has found this a huge challenge, keeping the content fresh and current, and the company underestimated the level of effort to do so.

Lesson 7 -- Arm yourself with data. CapitalOne has several data points that point to the success of this program, such as 75 percent of participants indicated audio learning had raised their awareness and 77 percent were able to apply what they had learned.

Lesson 8 -- Go big, create buzz, but do it tastefully. CapitalOne created a mandatory course an employee must take before they can use the program; the course is very hip with music and iPod-like imagery to excite and educate the participant about the audio learning program.

Lesson 9 -- Work backwards from the customer, and pay attention to your fulfillment processes. At CapitalOne an employee must sign a user agreement, agreeing not to download anything illegal (the iPod is owned by CapitalOne but the employee gets to keep it while employed by the company), then an account is created and courses preloaded into the employee's account, and the iPod is delivered to the employee.

Lesson 10 -- Fresh (and constantly refreshing) content is essential. Messages from senior management, financial reviews, and senior management book recommendations are just some of the materials included in the site.

Bonus lesson -- keeping up with the technology is a huge challenge, such as when new iPods come out.

There are currently 3,200 iPods in service at CapitolOne as part of this audio learning program. CapitolOne was able to get special rates from Apple for the iPods.