ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sept. 22, 2011 — Paradigm Learning, a leader in learning innovation offering unique education and communication programs to organizations around the world, announced today that it was named as a finalist in Chief Learning Officer magazine’s 2011 Learning In Practice Awards in the Excellence in Simulations and Games category.
CLO magazine’s Excellence in Simulations and Games Award recognizes training providers that have rolled out innovative, effective and interactive learning programs for a client in the past year.
Paradigm received its finalist status as a result of its custom training and development work with Baker Hughes, a top-tier oil field service company with a century-long track record of delivering solutions that help oil and gas operators make the most of their reservoirs.
To accelerate development of newly hired engineers to become technical professionals and potential leaders, Baker Hughes created a three-year Engineer Development Program that supplemented job assignments and used an intense technical curriculum with management and leadership instruction. The EDP curriculum required financial literacy, business acumen and project management training programs for new engineers.
At that point, Baker Hughes turned to Paradigm Learning and began to use Paradigm’s Zodiak®: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy and Countdown®: A Strategy Game for Project Teams.
Zodiak consists of a classroom-based business simulation and a custom component called “Zodiak Connections Exercises,” which are activities designed to allow participants to visually see a connection between the overall lessons and their day-to-day activities and to apply the learning from Zodiak directly to their businesses and jobs.
In addition to learning about business acumen, participants also spent the next training session playing Countdown. Countdown is a project management game that quickly immerses participants in a simulated seven-month project. In small teams, learners use game boards to move through project milestones, make critical decisions, communicate with stakeholders and manage trade-offs — all under tight deadlines. The second half of the Countdown session bridges from the simulation to Baker Hughes’ own learning environments and project management issues.
The solution Paradigm Learning created for Baker Hughes continues to impart the required knowledge and training today. More than 500 engineers have already participated in the program, and Baker Hughes plans to raise that number to 1,000 over the next nine to 12 months. The company has rolled out the program globally in the last nine months, and the program has become the bedrock of Baker Hughes’ internal training department.
About Paradigm Learning
Paradigm Learning is a leader in learning innovation, offering unique education and communication programs to organizations around the world. Its award-winning, classroom-based business games, simulations and Discovery Maps®, enhanced with online options, customizing and consulting services, have been used by leading companies since 1994. Paradigm Learning’s core methodology is discovery learning, a powerful educational approach that engages employees, accelerates learning and increases retention.
Fully customized programs and tailored off-the-shelf programs are available in areas such as business acumen, talent leadership, employee alignment, leadership accountability, team building, project management, organizational change and change management.
About Baker Hughes
Baker Hughes provides reservoir consulting, drilling, formation evaluation, completions, pressure pumping, and production products and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry.
This press release was distributed through PR Web by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.