Plateau Systems Trains Rent-A-Center
ARLINGTON, Va. – November 4, 2003 – Plateau Systems, the leading provider of enterprise learning management systems (LMS), announced today that Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII) has selected Plateau 4 LMS to manage employee training across its enterprise and ensure its consistent excellence in customer service. Rent-A-Center (RAC), the leading rent-to-own operator in the U.S., will use Plateau’s enterprise software to manage Web-based and classroom learning for approximately 14,000 employees at more than 2,600 store locations, 400 offices and 22 product service centers nationwide.
The driving business forces behind RAC’s decision to implement a holistic, enterprise learning solution are two-fold, 1) to increase work force productivity by enhancing the skills and abilities of its employees, and 2) to develop timely and accurate reporting of training activity in order to evaluate ongoing programs and plan for future learning initiatives. RAC will integrate Plateau 4 LMS with its Lawson Human Resource System to automatically assign learning plans for all employees based on job roles and positions, greatly streamlining RAC’s cyclical learning programs and reducing the total cost of corporate training.
Historically the retail industry experiences high turnover among employees, emphasizing the need for efficient, cost-effective and consistent training for new employees. Consistent training is especially important across an enterprise like RAC, so managers are able to ensure customers in Utah have the same positive experience as customers in Florida. Plateau 4 LMS enables RAC to achieve and maintain its consistent brand and customer service level by providing a single platform to manage all learning initiatives in a holistic manner. This ensures all employees are trained in a way that meets corporate objectives.
“Each store averages six coworkers, which makes the impact of each and every individual critical to the success of our business,” said Joe Arnette, vice president of training for RAC. “Plateau 4 LMS provides us with a fast, consistent and efficient way to deliver and manage training, which will bring each worker to a higher level of performance and have a positive
impact for our customers.”
RAC chose Plateau 4 LMS based on the software’s functionality and proven scalability. RAC also noted Plateau’s corporate stability as instrumental to its decision. In October, Gartner Inc. cited Plateau as the clear market leader in an update to its 2003 Learning Management System Magic Quadrant. Plateau is the only profitable enterprise LMS company, and has grown its revenues by more than 100 percent for four consecutive years.
“Plateau 4 LMS empowers RAC to quickly respond to changes in its workforce, enhancing its organizational readiness and ensuring consistency in its customer-facing operations,” said Paul Sparta, CEO and chairman of Plateau Systems. “We are proud to be working with a company as innovative as RAC, and believe that our work with the company will further validate the value of Plateau 4 LMS in the retail market.”
About Plateau:
Plateau’s enterprise-class software manages all of an organization’s learning and knowledge on one scalable platform. Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS) is built on web-based J2EE/EJB architecture, and is the engine behind the largest e-learning initiatives in the corporate, non-profit and government markets. Plateau’s clients include the American Red Cross, Motorola, Union Pacific and the U.S. Air Force. Plateau is listed as a leader in LMS evaluations from Gartner Inc. and Meta Group. The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.
Rent-A-Center Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, currently operates 2,605 company-owned stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. The stores generally offer high-quality, durable goods such as home electronics, appliances, computers and furniture and accessories to consumers under flexible rental purchase agreements that generally allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed-upon rental period. ColorTyme, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a national franchiser of 326 rent-to-own stores, 314 of which operate under the trade name of “ColorTyme,” and the remaining 12 of which operate under the “Rent-A-Center” name. For more information about Rent-A-Center, see http://www.rentacenter.com.
Danica Low
For Plateau Systems
www.plateau.com
The SheaHedges Group
www.sheahedges.com
(703) 287-7813
