The document discusses training programs in optical companies. It finds that most large optical companies have no formal training approach and those that do were still suboptimal. Training is often ad hoc, inconsistent, lacks standardization and key content. Trainers pass on knowledge in inconsistent, biased ways. There is little assessment of learning. Compared to time spent on product costs, far less time is spent on training. A new training solution, LearnEyeCare, was developed with standardized content across various devices. Its beta testing showed high satisfaction ratings and tangible improvements in optician retention, remakes, and recruiting. It provides a comprehensive curriculum on optical technical skills and customer service.

2. • Training and retaining
staff is without a doubt
one of the central
issues in our industry
today

3. Many eye care practices,
from multi-office to single
location offices, do not
have good training
programs that they can
deploy to new or existing
staff

4. What does training
look like today?

5. When we surveyed 25 of
the Top 50 largest
Optical Companies, we
found some consistent
trends:
• 90% had no Formal
approach to training and
when they did their
approach was Ad Hoc.
• Of the 10% that did have
a formal approach all
indicated they had
Suboptimal Training

6. They also told us:
• Very little consistent
content delivered across
the organization
• Comprised of bits and
pieces from an array of
sources
• Key areas missing in their
materials
• Content not standardized
• Content is ‘Vendor-ized”

7. • Tribal Method – Passed on
from “elders” to new staff
• Inconsistent and subject to
trainer’s biases
• “I like to do (it) this way..”
• “This AR is the best”
• “this progressive is the
best”
• “we don’t do that in this
office”
• “That’s not important..”

8. • Trainers / Mentors
• Limited time for all who need
training
• Secondary or Part-Time Role
• Most staff are left to their
own devices to figure out
what they needed to know.
• Bottle neck - Limited time
and access to employees
in need.

9. • Little, if any, method for
assessing and tracking
content absorption.
• Spotty: “We have some
manual tracking on
some training from some
vendors”.
• Use their “gut”.
• “Nothing…no real way
to do that.”
• No objective way to
monitor content
expertise.

10. • How important is
training to your
organization’s
success?
– “We know it’s important but
we haven’t done a good
job”.
– “Hard to find good trainer”.
– “I know it’s costing us
money and we should do a
better job training”.
– “We are no worse than our
competitors.. But it is an
opportunity..”.

11. As compared to the time you
spend on buying products at a
better price - how much time
does your organization spend
on training staff?
Not one company spent the same
amount of time on training as on
product costs.
– “Way less time”
– “Hard to compare, but far less”
– “We need to do a better job on
both fronts”
– “About 50% of the time we
spend on training vs product
cost”

12. Want training like this Have training like this

13. Challenges
More competition
– It’s easier for patients to go to
someone else today.
Managed Care
– More Work / Make Less
Employee Retention
– Average Job Tenure of a millennial
is 18 months
– Average cost to replace an
employee is $5000 to 150% of the
salary of the person you are
replacing
Impact of Social Reviews

14. There’s just a lot more
to know and learn today
versus
10 – 20 years ago!

15. Want training like this Have training like this

16. How should our
training look?
5 components
were identified…

17. 1. Standardized content
and delivery process
• Same content is delivered
across the organization in
the same effective &
consistent manner

18. 2. Easily distributed and
accessible:
• Available on demand– 24/7
• Eliminate bottle-neck: Staff
at various stages in the
training process can be
trained simultaneously
• Available on-line
• Allows staff to work at their
own individual pace

19. 3. Easy to monitor how
staff is progressing:
• Ability to monitor individual
progress or lack of
progress.
• Easy to track the time staff
has committed to training.
• Able to measure new hires
aptitude for learning the
material.

20. 4. Make it Vendor
Agnostic
• Keep the content free from
vendor sponsorships and
brand neutral

21. 5. Make a positive impact on
the organization:
• Improve patient service:
increase sales and patient
retention
• Improve confidence of Staff
• Reduce our costs: i.e.
remakes, redo’s and other
errors can be controlled
through better training
• Improve staff retention:
Retaining those staff
members that “we want to
keep”
• Compensation and
performance evaluation

22. LearnEyeCare
Training
Solution

23. Development Process
– Established a committee of ECP owners & Trainers and developed list of the
skills needed to be a competent Optician/Staff member
– Identified an LMS system to that has the following features:
• Accessible 24 /7 via the internet
• Scale and play on multiple applications: Desk Top, Lap Top, IPAD, Mobile
device
• Management reporting capabilities: e.g. time spent on Units, Page
views, test score results, drill down on test Q answers
• Secure log-in protection
– Set up 8 multi-office practices as BETA testing partners
– Spent 2 years in BETA while developing the 38 units to support our objectives

24. BETA Process:
• Vetted over a 18 to 24
month period program
using 8 practices that are
multi-site operators.
• Surveyed users as well as
& management to measure
content validity, reliability,
usefulness and results.
• Adjusted content and
approach to improve
engagement, usefulness
and financial results.

25. BETA results:
All Beta users renewed subscriptions (on a
paid basis) for successive years
We surveyed BETA users and they told us:
– It’s easy to use and learn from.
– The Content is interesting and valuable.
– The content is applicable to our staff’s
everyday job.
– The information helps build our staff’s
confidence on the job.

26. BETA results:
On a scale of 1 to 5
(with 1 very unsatisfied and 5 very satisfied)
our BETA testers rate
Learn EyeCare
very high with an
Average Score of
4.7!!!

27. Areas where our BETA group experienced
tangible improvement / ROI
– Optician Retention increased (Turnover decreased)
– Remake % decreased 4% resulting in savings of $80K)
– Now able to Recruit Non-Optical “People persons” and have a method to train into
successful, competent opticians, systematically

28. “We use the program to organize our on-boarding process. We
gained valuable insight into the actual competence levels new
hires have with in the first 30 days.
Before having Learn EyeCare, it could take us months to really
know how much they know and their aptitude for learning new
things.”

29. Our Current Curriculum
1. Getting Started – Overview
2. Anatomy of the Eye
3. Eye conditions every optician should know
4. Light Prisms and Lenses
5. Understanding a lens and Lens power
6. Introduction to Prismatic Effect
7. Calculating Prismatic Effect
8. Parts of the Lensometer
9. Steps to Neutralizing Spherical Lenses
10. Steps to Neutralizing Cylindrical lenses
11. Steps to Neutralizing Segmented Multifocals
12. Neutralizing Progressive Lenses Part 1– Reconstructing the
markings on Lenses & Why
13. Steps to Neutralizing Progressive Lenses Part 2
14. Lensometry Intro to prism
15. Neutralizing Simple Prism
16. Neutralization of Resultant Prism
17. Lens Design - SV BF TF & Specialty lenses
18. Lens Designs Progressive Lenses
19. Lens Classification
20. Lens Enhancements Part 1 - Absorptive tints, Variable tints,
Polarized tints,
21. Lens Enhancements Part 2 - Scratch Coat, UV Blocks & Non-Glare
Coating
22. Anatomy and Materials of Frames
23. Frame Shape Frame measurements & Face Shapes
24. Frame Fitting Theory Part 1 - Preadjusting the frame
25. Frame Fitting Theory Part 2 - Ensuring proper frame fit
26. Fitting SV Lenses Part 1 - Measuring PD's using a Ruler PDs
27. Fitting SV Lenses Part 2 - Measuring PD's using a Pupillometer
28. Fitting SV Lenses Part 3 - Specifying MRP Vertical Placement
29. Fitting Segmented Multifocals - Specifying Segment Height
30. Fitting Progressive Lenses
31. In office Final Inspection - ANSI Standards Part 1 - Introduction to in
office Final Inspection
32. In Office Final Inspection ANSI Standards Part 2 - Cosmetic
considerations,
33. In office Final Inspection ANSI Standards - Part 3 - Overview of ANSI
Standards
34. In Office Final Inspection ANSI Standards – Part 4 - Verifying Single
Vision Lenses - Step by Step Guide
35. In Office Final Inspection ANSI Standards – Part 5 - Verifying Single
Vision Lenses - Step by Step Guide
36. In Office Final Inspection ANSI Standards Part 5- Verifying
Segmented Multifocal's - Step by step guide
37. In Office Final Inspection ANSI Standards Part 6- Verifying
Segmented Multifocal's - Step by step guide
38. In Office Final Inspection ANSI Standards Part 7 - Verifying
progressive lenses - a step by step guide

30. Comprehensive Training program
Optical Technical
Other Modules slated for future development:
Sales Process
Product Knowledge
Patient Conflict / Complaint resolution
Leadership/Management

31. Thank You!