New Trend of Corporate Universities: Employees Getting Paid to Study

Clearwater, FL, July 9, 2007 – While it’s not unheard of for a company to send its students to do training for jobs, it’s a bit more abnormal in the business world for a company to pay its employees to study at the office... on a regular weekly basis. But that’s just what PostcardMania is doing, and not for technical skills like how to operate machinery, but life and communication skills that employees can use while working to better service customers and in their own lives as well.

PostcardMania has two staff academies; one at its Corporate Headquarters and another at its Manufacturing Facility. The academy curriculum is based on the Hubbard Management System. The purpose for all students is different. For some, it’s executive training. For others it’s a way of enhancing their technical expertise and certifications. For all, it’s a chance to become more competent employees who are better equipped to do their jobs and deal with customers. A nice byproduct seems to be happier employees.

Since the beginning of the year, CEO Joy Gendusa’s Human Resources Division has been working harder to ensure more employees have the chance to study during work time. Jorge Flores, the Supervisor over PCMU (PostcardMania University), says in any given week about twenty employees study in the academies and another thirty-five employees have been in training at some point this year. Although the length of the courses varies by topic, in the last six months there have been about thirty graduates from the academy.

Amanda Ouellette was one of the first students out of the 160 employees to enroll at PostcardMania’s academy.  She has found the study program beneficial, not just at work but in her life. She and has been taking advantage of the classes steadily since February 2006.

“After doing the first course about how to study more effectively, I immediately started working on getting my GED, which is a major accomplishment for me. The training I’ve done has also absolutely helped me on the job as well. I started out as a customer service representative and have been promoted up to Production Services Manager. I think to be successful in a company you need to keep an open mind and learn and continue to grow with the company and as a person,” stated Amanda.

Some may wonder if providing continuing education for employees during regular business hours is wise considering the economy, but in Pinellas County, the government not only agrees, but supports the notion. For the second year running PostcardMania is applying to Worknet Pinellas for a corporate training grant, after being awarded its first grant last year. Training grants up to half of a company’s yearly costs are being rewarded to help companies train their employees in order to stabilize the local workforce and ensure more job security.

“My employees mean the world to me,” said Gendusa. “When they become better at their jobs and raise their own level of wherewithal by becoming more competent, that makes me happy!”

About PostcardMania:

PostcardMania is a full service postcard direct mail marketing company which includes graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition and mailing services with free marketing advice. PostcardMania employs over 140 people, has seen positive expansion every year since its inception and is currently on a 23 million-dollar-revenue run rate for 2007. They have won many awards for their creativity and marketing farsightedness, such as the MarCom International Awards, the Stevie Awards, the Inc 500 List, the Creativity Annual Awards and the Webmaster awards – all of which the underlying theme contributing to their accomplishments is helping companies all over the nation expand. They print 4 million and mail 2 million postcards representing over 350 business, finance and industrial clients each week. Visit www.postcardmania.com

If you would like to interview Joy Gendusa, CEO of PostcardMania, please email PostcardMania’s VP PR, Karla Jo Helms at karla_jo@postcardmania.com or by calling 800-628-1804 x 342.