Last week, the Axonify team travelled to Las Vegas to participate in our very first Call Center Week conference.  We weren’t sure what to expect, but were happy to discover that a number of forward-thinking organizations are looking to engage their call center agents in training that’s fresh, fun and engaging.  And they need to do it, quickly. After a few insightful conversations, I have a whole new appreciation for the complexity of the job of a call center agent. Agents deal with (mostly) disgruntled customers all day long, must problem-solve on the spot and remember a ton of info, all while trying to keep their CSAT scores up. On top of all of that, they can have 10-20+ software tools on their desktop that they need to know how to use; there’s a ton of product and promotional knowledge they must keep fresh in their heads; and they have to follow numerous processes and procedures correctly. Sounds stressful, right!?   With all of these factors at play, the typical call center director is desperately looking for a way to help their overwhelmed agents enjoy their day-to-day work. High staff turnover, tardiness, absenteeism and low engagement rates among agents make it difficult for directors and managers to meet their business objectives. For the people we spoke to at the conference, this is a burning issue that needs a solution, fast. How can someone begin to transform the typical high-stress call center culture into an engaging environment that encourages employees to want to come to work every day, and perform to their full potential? The good news is we were able to offer a solution.  We were able to show people we spoke to how Axonify can arm their agents with the knowledge they need to be successful in their positions, and break it down into smaller chunks that can be consumed in just 3-5 minutes a day. We showed them how the Axonify platform can reinforce the training they provide, so their agents are more likely to remember it and feel confident in their roles, instead of overwhelmed and frazzled. We also showed them how Axonify can help onboard employees faster, maximize their performance on the job, and even encourage them to stay in their roles longer. That’s because Axonify is wrapped in gamification, which includes game play, leaderboards and rewards to make learning fun engaging and promote voluntary participation every day.   Seeing the light bulb go on in people’s heads when we explained Axonify’s approach to bite-sized, continual learning made our first trip to Call Center Week a worthwhile experience. We look forward to continuing the conversation on how we can help drive up engagement, and drive down stress in call centers everywhere. Written by Lindsay Cournoyer The post Call Centers Seek out Axonify at Call Center Week to Transform Culture through Learning appeared first on Axonify.

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of partnering with David Mallon (Head of Research, Bersin by Deloitte) to present a webinar titled, "Meeting the Needs of the Modern Learner." To date, this has been the most popular webinar that we’ve hosted, in terms of the sheer number of registrants. This speaks volumes to the fact that many organizations are realizing they have to re-think their approach to learning, in order cater to the realities faced by the modern learner. Here are three big takeaways from the webinar: 1. Whether you know it or not, you have competition. On the webinar, David shared a very popular infographic that Bersin has produced about the modern learner. The infographic highlights the fact that modern learners only have 1% of a regular work week to dedicate to training and development. If you do the math, this amounts to about five minutes each day … in other words, very little time. Given this precious time, ask yourself this question: if an employee needs to learn something quickly, do you have the ecosystem in place to deliver it at the point-of-need? If not, where will they go to get what they need? 2. Learning Managers need to think like Product Managers. On the webinar, David presented a series of new and expanded roles within the L&D department of today. One in particular that he called out, was that of a Product Manager. He made the point that many parallels can be drawn between the worlds of learning and product management. Product Managers take a holistic view of the customer (As Learning Managers should of the modern learner) and ask questions like: Why are our customers coming to us? Why buy from us? What will they get out of purchasing our product? How do we keep them coming back?  3. You need to redefine learning, because your employees already have. To the modern learner, learning is no longer a one-time event. It’s continuous. Learning is no longer delivered the same way to everyone. It’s personalized. Learning is no longer about one system. It’s driven by an ecosystem. Learning isn’t checking a box. It’s improving performance.  There was a lot to take away from this webinar. If you did not catch it live, you can now watch it on demand. Once you’ve had a chance to digest the content, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below or via Twitter.  Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: Meeting the Needs of the Modern Learner appeared first on Axonify.

We’ve been hearing a lot these days about how the LMS just isn’t living up to corporate expectations. But we know many organizations have already invested a ton into these systems and don’t simply want to toss them out the door. So, we decided to create a document that would show businesses how to address this challenge. The response has been huge! We’ve clearly hit a nerve and we’re thrilled this piece is getting such positive feedback. That’s why we wanted to share it with you too. We’ve included a summary below or you can bypass this and go straight to downloading our white paper in full: When the LMS isn’t Enough. Why are organizations falling out of love with their LMS? Many lack the bells & whistles that businesses today realize are critical, such as effective reporting, ease of use, flexibility and mobility. But underlying that are the inherent power limitations that will always constrain the LMS from delivering more value: Learning is treated as an isolated event, not a continuous process. The LMS doesn’t meet the need of today’s modern learner who wants learning fast and easy, mobile, and available at the point of need. The LMS delivers generic, not personalized learning; leaving many learners asleep at the wheel. LMS reporting leaves much to be desired, rendering tangible learning results difficult to prove. Time for a tune-up! We’re not by any means suggesting you scrap your LMS for something else. We believe that with a quick tune-up and some aftermarket functionality, you can turn your LMS into a key component of a high-performance, finely-tuned learning system; one that delivers real results where the rubber meets the road - your bottom line. Here’s how: By implementing key brain science techniques for learning delivery, you can turbocharge your LMS, improving knowledge retention of a subject from a paltry 10% to as much as 85% or 90%. By moving to a continuous learning model, you’ll be able to embed learning into each workday, keeping critical knowledge top of mind for when employees need it. By implementing the proper complementary technology, you’ll be able to more fully engage employees in their learning, provide knowledge at the point of need for the job, foster collaboration and teamwork, and deliver learning in the way that today’s modern learner demands - fast, easy, and mobile! If you’re interested in getting more mileage from your LMS, make sure to download our new white paper: When the LMS isn’t Enough: How to Turbocharge Your LMS and Improve Learning Retention for Bottom Line Results. Written by Laura Martin The post When the LMS Isn’t Enough appeared first on Axonify.

You don’t have to be a brain scientist to take advantage of insight into how our brains work. In fact, by applying the right cognitive approaches in the workplace, you can increase learning and retention among your employees, which allows them to be more successful on the job. And when your employees use their noggins more effectively, the entire organization benefits from being able to achieve business goals that positively impact the bottom line. Read the full article in TD magazine  Written by Carol Leaman & Dr. Alice Kim The post Combat Knowledge Decay in the Workplace appeared first on Axonify.

It’s that time of the year when thousands of love-struck couples tie the knot. Wedding guests typically gush over the beautiful bride, stunning décor and fellow friends and family members, who are all present to share in the happy day. But, at a recent wedding I attended, I must admit, I felt the biggest surge of excitement for something most people probably would have ignored. Performance support was happening right before my eyes and, well, I marveled at the sight. (Yes, I know this is weird. Don’t tell the bride). Here’s how I justify my enthusiasm… I had just spoken with performance support expert, Marc Rosenberg, and was pumped up that, from his teaching, I was able to spot a real life example in action at this event. I’d like to share it with you too! Take a look at the place cards (below). Do you notice anything? Look closely and you’ll see that the first one displays a solid black line; the second one displays a solid grey line; and the last one displays two parallel black lines. If you only looked at the first two place cards, you might think that the printer was running out of ink—that the solid grey line on the second card should be black. But, upon closer examination, it was clear this was no mistake. Each line was deliberate and represented something specific. For this particular wedding, guests were asked in advance to preselect their main course. The solid black line indicated to servers that the guest had ordered beef. The solid grey line indicated the guest had selected chicken. And the two black parallel lines indicated the guest had requested the vegetarian option. A simple tactic, but super smart. It helped the servers perform their jobs flawlessly. Every guest was guaranteed to receive the correct meal, as long as the servers remembered what each line meant. As Marc Rosenberg pointed out to me, Starbucks does something similar. Baristas check boxes on the back of the cup to ensure they get the order right every time. This is what performance support is all about—providing employees with the information they need, when they need it, so they can be successful on the job. It can be as simple as these examples, or more in-depth, depending on the needs of the employee and the specific task at hand. The goal of performance support is to augment training, empowering employees to perform daily job functions more efficiently and effectively. There’s a balance between the information they need in their heads versus the information they simply need at their fingertips. In this example, it would not make sense for servers to sit through a training session that ran through the selections of each guest and required servers to memorize each guest’s selection. That would be a poor use of time. Instead, servers only needed to be trained on the meaning behind the three different lines—significantly boosting learning efficiency. The end result was that the marked place cards enabled servers to perform their tasks much more accurately, reducing the risk of error substantially and increasing the likelihood of keeping guests content. Now, think about your own organization. Are there tools or information you can provide employees after a training event that can help them apply that training on the job? Are there ways you cut training time by implementing performance support tools to empower employees to carry out certain tasks? Maybe you don’t even need any training at all. Perhaps a performance support tool is the best way to enable your team in the first place. We’d love to hear how you’re implementing performance support in your own organization, so don’t hesitate to submit your stories in the comments below. If you’d like to read more of our posts on performance support, click on these links: Electronic Point of Need Learning Marc My Words: Selling Performance Support Performance Support Improves Business Outcomes Written by Richele Black The post What do Weddings Have to do With Performance Support? appeared first on Axonify.

In today’s work environment, employers need their employees to know more than ever before. Higher customer demands, increasing competition and rapidly changing products are just a few of the forces driving escalating knowledge requirements. The Modern Learner: distracted and overwhelmed. The problem is modern learners are distracted, overwhelmed and have no time to dedicate to learning. They also have an expectation that they should be able to access the information they need, when they need it and in the way they’ve grown accustomed to in their personal life. Traditional training methods simply fall short. We wanted to hear from modern learners themselves on how their needs are changing and how organizations can provide the best support. Here’s what they had to say… Read the full article in Learning Solutions Magazine. Written by Carol Leaman The post Modern Leaners Speak Out. Listen to What They Have to Say. appeared first on Axonify.

This is how JD opened up a webinar we sponsored this past Tuesday titled, ‘A Practical Approach for Supporting the Modern Learner.’ He went on to say that the business equivalent of an asteroid (see slide 6 below) is headed our way and if L&D doesn’t do something about it, they might face the same fate as the dinosaurs.  Over the course of an hour, JD entertained and enlightened us with some hard-hitting truths about the state of corporate learning today. He also spent a good amount of time walking us through how he and his team at Kaplan are tackling many of the challenges that modern learning environments are facing.  Here are three big takeaways from the webinar: 1. Learning hasn’t changed, but the context in which it takes place has. (Tweet this) At the root of it, the way we learn from a scientific standpoint has not changed that much. What has changed is the demand for modern learners to solve problems in new and increasingly challenging ways. During the webinar, JD touched on four different facets of context: tasks, variety, environment and flexibility. An interesting question to ask yourself is: "If you have the same job title that you did a year or two ago, are you still doing the exact same work?" The context of modern learning is always changing and L&D simply has to change with it. 2. You are not driving the bus. Your people are. (Tweet this) During the webinar, JD made a rallying cry out to L&D professionals to step off the sidelines and become truly integrated into a modern learner’s work day. This means being present in the moment of need, rather than behind a request form or some other artificial barrier. The reality is, if you’re not present, you’re not picked. A modern learner will find the answer that he or she needs by simply going elsewhere to look for it.   3. You are no longer a creator. You’re a connector. (Tweet this) L&D has the distinct advantage of ‘sitting in the middle.’ This means that it knows and can help connect many different individuals within a given organization. JD asks, ‘How do you shift from being the person who builds, to the person who finds me the information I need? The person who connects me to the people who have the information that’s going to help me do my job?" Being known as a connector has some serious advantages when it comes to being chosen in the time of need. Think of how quickly you turn to Google or YouTube to find an answer. Technically Google and YouTube aren’t actually giving you the answer, but rather connecting you with the source that has the answer.  Check out the slides from the webinar below: A Practical Approach for Supporting the Modern Learner (CLO Magazine Webinar - August 2015) from JD Dillon Another big thank you to JD for taking the time to share his insights with us. If you’re eager to connect with JD, you can follow him on Twitter or check him out at DevLearn. If you want to watch the full webinar recording, it can be found on CLO’s website.  Feel free to share your stories on how modern learners are being supported in your organization by using the hashtag: #ModernLearner on Twitter.  Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: A Practical Approach for Supporting the Modern Learner appeared first on Axonify.

Image Credit: Getty Images Last week, I was reading an article in Inc. Magazine on the importance of fostering a learning culture within an organization. One particular quote by Dr. Arie de Geus (former head of strategic planning for Royal Dutch/Shell Oil) stood out to me: "The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage." Now, I’m a sucker for a great quote, but I couldn’t agree more.   From a business standpoint, it’s relatively easy to invest millions of dollars into the development of a new widget that promises to increase profitability. However, when it comes to learning, the same type of dollar investment can be a hard pill for executives to swallow—particularly if they can’t measure the business impact of employee training. The missing link is data. Organizations need to be able to show how learning can change behavior to drive targeted business outcomes that, ultimately, increase competitive advantage. Here’s how UPS has done just that. Developing the UPS Mindset In 2004, UPS announced a new policy for drivers—one that initially received a lot of flak. As you can probably guess by the headline of this post, UPS drivers don’t turn left (or at least try to avoid it). It sounds silly, but by analyzing driver data, UPS engineers discovered that left-hand turns were negatively impacting efficiency—often delaying drivers in left-hand turn lanes and wasting time and fuel. By virtually eliminating left-hand turns, UPS has saved an estimated 10 million gallons of gas and 100,000 metric tons of carbon emissions—all while increasing the safety of its workforce and saving time. Oh, and did I mention this is saving UPS a ton of money?  Focusing on Data and Analytics Although UPS trucks look the same as they did more than 20 years ago, they’ve changed significantly beneath the surface. Sensors now report data on almost every aspect of a driver’s journey throughout the day, such as opening/closing the door, how often/fast the driver backs up the vehicle, and even when a part on the truck is about to break. At the end of the day, all this data funnels into UPS’s computers where data scientists are trained to think about solutions that will lead to significant savings. "Just one minute per driver per day over the course of a year adds up to $14.5 million," states UPS head of data, Jack Levis. Adopting a Market Leader Mindset One of the reasons UPS has been able to stay ahead of its competitors is because of its focus on analytics and efficiency. Take left turns, for instance. Without consistently tracking drivers’ whereabouts, the company would have never been able to come up with a solution to not only save time and money, but also improve the safety of its workforce. The time is now for data-driven learning. Learning and development folks need to be more than just educators; they need to take on the role of "data scientist." Instead of simply developing courses that check a box, L&D needs to identify employee behaviors that can be influenced through learning initiatives to help the organization achieve strategic objectives. For example: What types of learning programs can help reduce shrink? How can learning initiatives help improve safety? How can organizations change the way employees learn to boost their knowledge and retention of information? Results also need to be tracked and measured to show how they connect back to specific learning initiatives. This strategic approach to learning will allow L&D to prove its value to the c-suite and help the company gain a sustainable competitive edge. Written by Wes Bush The post Why UPS Drivers Don’t Turn Left? appeared first on Axonify.

Last week, I was reading an article in Inc. Magazine on the importance of fostering a learning culture within an organization. One particular quote by Dr. Arie de Geus (former head of strategic planning for Royal Dutch/Shell Oil) stood out to me: "The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage." Now, I’m a sucker for a great quote, but I couldn’t agree more.   From a business standpoint, it’s relatively easy to invest millions of dollars into the development of a new widget that promises to increase profitability. However, when it comes to learning, the same type of dollar investment can be a hard pill for executives to swallow—particularly if they can’t measure the business impact of employee training. The missing link is data. Organizations need to be able to show how learning can change behavior to drive targeted business outcomes that, ultimately, increase competitive advantage. Here’s how UPS has done just that. Developing the UPS Mindset In 2004, UPS announced a new policy for drivers—one that initially received a lot of flak. As you can probably guess by the headline of this post, UPS drivers don’t turn left (or at least try to avoid it). It sounds silly, but by analyzing driver data, UPS engineers discovered that left-hand turns were negatively impacting efficiency—often delaying drivers in left-hand turn lanes and wasting time and fuel. By virtually eliminating left-hand turns, UPS has saved an estimated 10 million gallons of gas and 100,000 metric tons of carbon emissions—all while increasing the safety of its workforce and saving time. Oh, and did I mention this is saving UPS a ton of money?  Focusing on Data and Analytics Although UPS trucks look the same as they did more than 20 years ago, they’ve changed significantly beneath the surface. Sensors now report data on almost every aspect of a driver’s journey throughout the day, such as opening/closing the door, how often/fast the driver backs up the vehicle, and even when a part on the truck is about to break. At the end of the day, all this data funnels into UPS’s computers where data scientists are trained to think about solutions that will lead to significant savings. "Just one minute per driver per day over the course of a year adds up to $14.5 million," states UPS head of data, Jack Levis. Adopting a Market Leader Mindset One of the reasons UPS has been able to stay ahead of its competitors is because of its focus on analytics and efficiency. Take left turns, for instance. Without consistently tracking drivers’ whereabouts, the company would have never been able to come up with a solution to not only save time and money, but also improve the safety of its workforce. The time is now for data-driven learning. Learning and development folks need to be more than just educators; they need to take on the role of "data scientist." Instead of simply developing courses that check a box, L&D needs to identify employee behaviors that can be influenced through learning initiatives to help the organization achieve strategic objectives. For example: What types of learning programs can help reduce shrink? How can learning initiatives help improve safety? How can organizations change the way employees learn to boost their knowledge and retention of information? Results also need to be tracked and measured to show how they connect back to specific learning initiatives. This strategic approach to learning will allow L&D to prove its value to the c-suite and help the company gain a sustainable competitive edge. Written by Wes Bush The post Why UPS Drivers Don’t Turn Left… And Why Every Organization Should Be Using Learning Data To Drive Strategic Advantage appeared first on Axonify.

I’m an instructional technologist who sold learning management systems, focusing on the extended enterprise, for over 13 years.  I worked for two major LMS companies and both had LMS systems primarily designed for internal employee training with some extended enterprise features.   I always enjoyed and chased the extended enterprise audiences of the solution because of the measureable tie to the business and the relative lack of competition.  Over time, through winning new clients, promising new features and building new customizations, both solutions developed into leading external user LMS solutions. I developed a personal specialty and sold customer, sales channel, public sector, ecommerce and association learning technology solutions better than just about anyone in the LMS industry.  In all, I sold approximately 100 LMS solutions and generated over $50,000,000 of LMS license and service revenue.  I learned how to "translate" fluently between LMS, eLearning, IT and business languages.   Seems simple, but so many LMS sales people just can’t shut up about integrated performance management or using APIs to facilitate SSO via SAML2 while speaking to business owners.  I needed this fluency to get my team to understand the business and get the business to understand the solution.  If there was a [...] The post LMS Vendor Eyes Only: Getting Past 1st Base appeared first on Talented Learning.