Bling-Bling, Inc. is a struggling jewelry outlet that provides modestly priced gold, silver and gemstone jewelry via kiosks placed in large malls. Since their products are made with lower quality and less expensive stones and lower levels of key ingredients (like gold) and since they do not rent or own building floor space, they can sell for prices that meet the needs of many mall shoppers. However, they have the on-going issue of training and retraining sales associates. BBI wants to beef-up their orientation program.

You have been hired to build a low-tech training solution for these associates. Based on the information below, what are the key cognitive issues, and memory/attention factors that you will consider in your designs? Based on that analysis of the essential learning needs, what learning theories, modalities, methods and technologies would be most likely to meet the need? Explain your reasoning and support your opinions.

Bling-Bling, Inc Sales Associates Level 1 (kiosk-based):

Age: 18-30 (average age 19)

For 49% of sales associates this is their first job ever, while 39% indicate that they have held another full-time job, and another 9% indicate that this is their second job (i.e., they are already working 40+ hrs a week for another business), 3% did not respond.

Tend a mall kiosk during mall hours with 15 minute breaks every 2 hours.

Have a 40% turn-over in 90 days and a 75% annually

When surveyed about the work indicated that:

They are often bored by sitting in a kiosk with nothing to do

Do not have a phone (or at least not one provided by the company)

Their only computer is one provided by the company for posting sales and does not have internet or wireless access

When mall security were asked about Bling-Bling’s Sales Associates work practices, they indicated that:

“They’re just kids. Like all kids they spend more time on the phone or playing games on their iPods than working.”

“When a new one starts the first day, I show‘em how they will handle a money-changer con artist. None of them have ever heard of that. When I ask how they will handle someone ripping off some of the jewels, they don’t seem to know what your company wants them to do.”