Technology is a beautiful thing. But let's face it, sometimes it's isn't
so easy to comprehend. For individuals and companies, those knowledge
gaps can be challenging, but Springhouse, with
locations in Exton and Malvern, is determined to get people wired
quickly and efficiently. Co-founder Richard Collins chats about user
skills, technology investment, and the return of a training demand.
How did Springhouse get started?
During the early years of the desktop computer I was CEO of a large
financial company in New York.
In adopting the PC to my financial services company, it was quickly
obvious that there was no instructional guide to provide the critical
user skills and value propositions required to complete the integration
of the PC into the valued productivity and efficiency tool it
represented.
My financial staff and I took classes in the use of the PC and found
almost no instructional value available. In that disappointment,
Springhouse was born.
Why do you feel there's a need for what you provide?
It has been proven that if a business purchases technology and invests a
reasonable amount in training its staff, then the project will be more
successful. Technology is complex, despite what vendors advertise about
user-friendly products.
Assisting employees in understanding the technology is the first step in
assisting them in becoming aware of how the technology will help them in
performing their jobs.
Once this level of knowledge is reached, the company is poised to gain
significant benefits from its technology investment, as employees will
be able to apply their technical knowledge to either change business
process to take advantage of the technology or change the technology to
adapt to the business process. In either scenario, positive change takes
place and productivity goes up and competitive advantages are gained.
With so many training options available, what makes you unique?
At Springhouse, our mission is to assure that each student has a fully
satisfying experience when participating in a Springhouse educational
process.
This means that from the moment the student enters the building, their
experience is aimed at creating the most positive learning environment
possible.
The highly trained staff and instructors at Springhouse continuously
receive high compliments on student satisfaction. This commitment to a
successful student experience has allowed Springhouse to continue to
grow each year and maintain a long-term basis of satisfied clients.
Do you find that with the tech economy coming back that more people are
interested in training now than they were in the past couple years?
Our experience has been that even during the recent economic downturn,
people remained highly interested in additional training and education.
Unfortunately company budgets for training and development were cut.
I believe what we are seeing now, is the release of significant pent-up
demand. This plus new and significant advances in technology suggests
that demand will continue to be strong for the next several years.
What kind of reaction do you get from students about your materials?
The selection of curriculum is a very important part of the satisfaction
experience for students.
Springhouse uses a combination of professionally developed materials
from national publication companies and Springhouse-created solutions.
Our class evaluations consistently rate our material highly
satisfactory. Perhaps the favorite parts of the classes are the labs and
hands-on experiences guided by our experienced instructors.
Do you know a Delaware Valley company we should cover? Let us know about
it. Send your local profile candidates to Elizabeth Millard at emillard@ computeruser.com.
