ProSource CEO and president Dave Workman took to the stage Sunday night in Las Vegas at Summit 2020 to reflect on the success of 2019, and to reveal some exciting announcements.
At the top of the list of announcements is the unveiling of the ProSource University Learning Management System, a systemized educational program that is designed to tackle the difficult tasks of onboarding, training and retaining new employees in the systems integration industry.
“Recruitment has been “how can I steal someone from somebody else in my market?” We’ve got to evolve beyond that,” said Workman. “We’re never going to get a certification process like plumbers, and if we wait around for some sort of standard like electricians and some others have, we’ll die before that ever happens. We have to answer some of these questions ourselves.”
ProSource U is the buying group’s answer to the difficult question most, if not all, dealers and retailers face: “How can I grow my business if I can’t on-board, train and retain new talent?”
“We’re bringing you a product that will provide [members] with a complete structure that will allow you to hire somebody, and, within a period of time, have that person qualified as a technician, sales representative or whatever else you want to do, and it will take your business to the next level,” Workman told attendees at the ‘State of the Business’ address Sunday night. “This product [ProSource U] is going to be a repository for all our vendor training, and we have access to the entire CEDIA library, and ultimately. Once it’s fully deployed, ProSource U will allow you as a business owner to bring people in and have a structure to bring them through your organization.”
ProSource U is currently in beta testing with 20 dealers, and is scheduled to roll out to the general membership in early summer 2020. Programs run approximately a year in length, depending on the selected modules, and individuals can learn at their own pace.
The access to CEDIA’s entire library is an exclusive feature not found in any other group, and ProSource members enrolled in ProSource U will have access to the CEDIA library, even if they are not CEDIA members.
Other assets of ProSource U to train, onboard and develop talent include eLearning courses, micro-video lessons and courses, interactive videos and video conferences.
“It’s not a generic one-size-fits-all,” Workman told TWICE, “each dealer can customize the program to their cultural values so it’s ‘their’ product…and it’s low cost. Ultimately, we’ll answer the question of labor, and with labor being solved in some fashion, then you unleash the growth that is available to the dealers.”
For more information about ProSource University and how to enroll, visit https://www.prosourceinfo.com/education/
