Watch our summary video: Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen circumstance our special guest, Chad McIntosh (VP of LP & Risk Management, Bloomingdale’s) was unable to be present this past week for our webinar: Bloomingdale’s Innovative Approach to eLearning is a Game Changer.  Despite this, the show went on and our very own Christine Tutssel (VP of Strategic Initiatives) was able to guide us through the story. She went into detail about some of the challenges Bloomingdale’s was facing with a traditional approach to training. This approach included tactics like: posters, handouts, small group rallies and compulsory OSHA training.  Some of the challenges Bloomingdale’s was facing with this traditional approach included: difficulty identifying exactly who was ‘getting it’, lack of engagement in training, poor compliance, escalating claims and an overall negative image of training.  After outlining the challenges, Christine took us through the new approach that Bloomingdale’s turned to and the kind of impact this approach is having on their company. Here are some of our biggest takeaways after hearing Bloomingdale’s story:  1. Competition drives participation. In order to tackle issues of low engagement with training, Bloomingdale’s turned to the power of gamification. Leveraging elements like leaderboards and rewards, Bloomingdale’s started to see some healthy competition emerge in a variety of stores leading to dramatically increased participation levels. Christine shared that in some stores, Bloomingdale’s was seeing participation levels as high as 97%. On the webinar, the audience asked many questions about whether gamification can alienate certain audiences; however, at Bloomingdale’s there are four different generations of employees and 85.6% of them stated that gamification actually increased their participation in learning. 2. With data, there is no longer a need to assume. In some cases there might be certain topic areas where you assume employees have a high level of understanding. In Bloomingdale’s case, two of these areas were their awards program (or tip line) and their emergency shutdown procedures. After tracking individual knowledge levels, they realized that many employees actually had knowledge gaps in these areas and then Bloomingdale’s was able to take measures to close these knowledge gaps. When you have access to an individual employee’s level of understanding of any given topic, you longer have to guess at what they know and don’t know … the data will tell the story. 3. When you’re trying to make BIG changes … start small.  When Bloomingdale’s decided that a new approach to learning was needed, they decided to select a single business unit to start with and made sure to choose one where a business impact could be demonstrated. If you’re thinking of making a change to your learning environment, you don’t have to perform a complete revolution … instead try small evolutions.  Check out our Bloomingdale’s Infographic If you’ve had a chance to watch the webinar, we’d love to hear your takeaways or even get your thoughts on our key takeaways. Feel free to share them in the comments below. In our next webinar, we’re going to be diving deeper into the science of learning with our research partner Dr. Alice Kim. Alice and our CEO Carol Leaman are going to explore how the latest in brain science is impacting the way organizations deliver corporate learning. Get more details today. Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: Innovative eLearning at Bloomingdale’s appeared first on Axonify.

Facts and benefits to personalized learning Take a look around your office. Chances are, no two of your employees are the same. From ages to educational backgrounds to personal styles, each worker is different. In fact, these individual differences are likely why you hired many of them in the first place. These differences are expressed not just in how your staff looks, but in how they learn, retain and use information as well. The diversity of perspectives and thought processes among your employees is one of your company’s greatest resources, so why would you want a training program that fails to take advantage of that? Personalize your training for better results Companies tend to take a more standardized approach to employee training. With so many new hires to keep up-to-date, such a model appeals because it’s easy to share with as wide a range of people as needed. However, research shows that what’s gained in convenience is actually lost down the road in engagement, comprehension and, ultimately, results for your business. The key to achieving the best results is efficiency - providing your employees with exactly what they need, when they need it, without bogging them down with unnecessary or unhelpful information. This is the linchpin around which personalized learning revolves, as it provides key benefits over more conventional static models Better results. Personalized learning gives employees the chance to spend more time on areas that they find more difficult, offering more opportunity to improve results. This pattern of continuous learning, testing and retesting encourages retrieval practice, which has been demonstrated to strengthen neural connections and lead to better learning.  Higher engagement. Offering trainees more of a directorial role in learning lets them focus on areas that they find most interesting. Brain science research presented by Personalize Learning revealed that when employees are actively engaged, their brains actually learn better and retain more information. Lower cost. By focusing training efforts solely on areas that each employee needs, companies can avoid wasteful spending on broadly applicable training programs that produce comparatively fewer results. Learning that hones in on the most effective and widely used training modules means employers aren’t wasting time or money on materials that staff members don’t find valuable. Incorporating personalized learning into your company is easier than you’d think The best thing about personalized learning approaches is that they mirror ways we already interact with information in our daily lives. Knowledge is power, and by collecting data on specific usage patterns and habits, employers can track how employees are engaging with training material on an individual level. Our brains are unique, and they adapt even as we learn. By keeping track of each worker’s training history, assessment patterns and learning habits, companies can continue to provide digestible, bite-sized chunks of information that are specifically tailored to each individual. This is how employees will receive the best training and companies will see the best results.  Written by Carol Leaman The post Facts and Benefits to Personalized Learning appeared first on Axonify.

Blog Preview: Gamification has become widely acknowledged as a valuable tool in engaging employees more fully in corporate learning programs.  But many people say you only need certain aspects of gamification - like leaderboards and badges.  They say that using games to deliver eLearning is counter-productive. It distracts people from their jobs. They don’t learn enough. We say don’t be so hasty!  Game play isn’t just about fun.  There’s some serious brain science at work behind the game that’s integrated with learning chunks.  Before you dismiss the idea of integrating game play with learning, take a look at 3 reasons we think it’s a powerful method for delivering learning for the long term. FACT #1: Science says "Game play improves retention of learning" By integrating learning right into game play, we are generating an increased level of arousal in the brain.  At some point, we’ve all fought to stay awake during a training session: that’s a distinct lack of arousal. Likewise, we’ve all experienced something so interesting that we sit forward in our chair, and pay attention. That’s arousal, and it’s something you find when people play games they enjoy. Now, here’s the science! The Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is the region of the brain that directs and sustains attention. To function effectively, researchers including Dr. Amy F.T. Arnsten, Professor of Neurobiology and Psychology at Yale University, have identified that the PFC needs the right amount of arousal to allow it to increase attention on relevant information, and filter out distractions. Emotionally arousing information can lead to better memory encoding, therefore influencing better retention and retrieval of information. Game play increases arousal. So when today’s workers sit down to participate in an eLearning session woven through a game, their Prefrontal Cortex becomes aroused. They’re captivated, and fully engaged. And primed to learn. FACT #2:  It gives people the time out they need To learn, we need to focus our attention. But the PreFrontal Cortex can only take so much before it needs a time out. It gets tired. We get distracted.  Researchers have recently established that even brief diversions from a task can dramatically improve your ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods.  Their research established that switching from a main task to a second task could significantly improve performance in the main task.  In Axonify, we integrate learning in bite-sized pieces right into the midst of game play.  So while learners focus on the learning module, they complete it and jump back into game play before they get an information overload.  This gives them break they need from learning, while focusing on game play that doesn’t require laser focus, and may even allow for a bit of daydreaming.  FACT #3:  Game play increases learning participation & effectiveness When people equate learning with fun, they’re far more likely to participate. In fact, "game play" is Axonify’s most popular game mechanic and we have a ton of competition when it comes to popular game mechanics like our leaderboard, rewards and avatars!  67% of learners choose to take their learning from within one of the many games that Axonify offers them. In other words, 2/3 of our learners prefer to play a game while learning. And here’s one more staggering statistic for you:  data pulled from our community of hundreds of thousands of daily users indicates that Axonify learners who play games participate 20% more than those who don’t. The more they participate, they more they learn. Game play in eLearning isn’t just about fun. It’s about harnessing the power of brain science to deliver more effective learning.  It’s about improving knowledge retention. And job performance. Want to know more?  Stay tuned for our upcoming white paper! Written by Laura Martin The post 3 Facts That say Game Play Should Never be Ignored in eLearning appeared first on Axonify.

Check out our video summary: On Tuesday November 4th, our CEO Carol Leaman had the distinct pleasure of being joined by Dr. Alice Kim from York University to co-present a webinar titled: Leveraging the Latest in Brain Science to Deliver the Next Generation of eLearning (the webinar is now available on-demand). Over the course of the webinar, Alice discussed some of the latest research in brain science and Carol explored how global organizations are leveraging this research to deliver more effective eLearning. Here are our top three takeaways from the webinar: 1. Pick a principle to start with. During the webinar, Alice discussed three major principles in brain science: Spacing (also known as interval reinforcement): This idea is basically the opposite of cramming, which is a concept that I am sure is familiar to a lot of us. By spacing out the repetition of content, studies show that the that long-term retention of that content is increased. What this means for you as a reader … forget the ‘firehose’ approach and instead, bite-size your learning and deliver it in digestible pieces over time.  Repeated retrieval: This principle focuses on getting learners to repeatedly recall information, which thereby solidifies the information in memory. A practical application here would be, as opposed to simply studying information multiple times, study it once and then ask learners a series of questions related to the information. During the webinar, Alice mentioned that repeated retrieval works best when it is followed by immediate feedback and requires effort (i.e. the more challenging the questions, the better for memory).  Deep encoding: The idea here is that the more deeply and meaningfully you process information, the more likely you are to remember it. Again here a practical idea would be to deliver learning in bite-sized chunks so that it can be more meaningfully processed. 2. For best results, combine all the principles. This was probably the biggest takeaway from the webinar. Through her own research, Alice found that when you combine retrieval practice with spacing, recall increased from 78% to 97% (get more details in our brain science datasheet). By practicing repeated retrieval in a spaced manner, you are also allowing employees the chance to more deeply encode the information, which - as we mentioned earlier - leads to greater retention.  3. Brain science is the way to sustainment.  During Carol’s portion of the webinar, she discuss how global organizations are leveraging brain science in eLearning programs across a variety of industries. She mentioned a common problem across all of these organizations, is that employees are just not remembering and applying what they need to know to do their jobs effectively. What this ultimately comes down to is a lack of sustainment in training. Carol identified how the principles that Alice discussed can help significantly increase the sustainment of training; therefore, leading to powerful business results such as a 54% decrease in safety incidents at Walmart or a 66% reduction in error rates at Capital BlueCross. Did you have a chance to watch the webinar? What were your thoughts? If you’re leveraging brain science in your work, we’d love to know the impact it’s having for you. Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or tweet us.  Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary:Leveraging Brain Science in eLearning appeared first on Axonify.

The following post was written by guest blogger: Tracy Lowrance. The link between learning and an organization’s ability to adapt in a competitive environment has been clearly documented. Though equally important, the strategic value of organizational forgetting is less prolific in industry research. Organizational forgetting is loss of information, whether intentional or unintentional, that results in a change in an organization’s capabilities. Unlearning is the process of intentionally removing existing knowledge in order to replace it with new knowledge to create or maintain a competitive advantage. In my article, The Implications of Organizational Forgetting in the Summer 2014 issue of Training Industry Magazine, I explored the four modes of forgetting, which are categorized by the source of the knowledge (new or existing) and the type of loss (intentional or accidental). In this two part blog series I will explore how companies can benefit from strategically forgetting and the pitfalls they may encounter. This first blog post will focus on unlearning; the intentional forgetting of existing knowledge. A Case of Unlearning In the mid 1800s, a mining engineer established a wood pulp mill near a chain of rapids in southern Finland. Over the years, the company evolved its product and service offering based on the needs of the local community, and eventually the global market. The company produced rubber goods including tires and galoshes, provided electricity and communications cables, and went on to build televisions, personal computers and other consumer electronics.  How could an organization be innovative enough to successfully reinvent itself across such a broad range of industries?  They had to strategically forget what they knew in order to make room for new information.  What is Unlearning? Unlearning is the process of intentionally removing existing knowledge in order to replace it with new knowledge to create or maintain a competitive advantage. In an organization, existing knowledge is stored in the structures, routines and values of the organization.  For an organization to stay relevant and continually reinvent itself it must master unlearning.  Often it is those robust systems of embedded knowledge - daily processes and ingrained operational procedures - that inhibit an organization’s ability to innovate.  The existing stocks of knowledge can actually act as barriers to new learning.  Unlearning and Your Organization In an organization trying to maintain or create a competitive advantage access to new knowledge is critical for solving new problems and solving old problems in a new way.  When history is the hero in an organization it can be difficult to move past "the way we’ve always done it" mentality.  One technique for assuring new knowledge is allowed to surface is to include new or different individuals in the problem solving/innovation process.  Inviting new individuals to participate in the process can prevent incumbents from relying too heavily on their entrenched knowledge; instead of focusing on "how things are done around here", they are encouraged to consider exciting alternative possibilities.    Conclusion The company that started out as a wood pulp mill in the 1800s and evolved to become a global technology icon in the 1990s and early 2000s was Nokia.  Since that time, however, Nokia has experienced a steady market decline - perhaps revealing a hampered ability to unlearn as they’d done successfully many times before.  While at first blush, organizational forgetting may seem detrimental to an organization, it is often the process of forgetting that helps an organization maintain its competitive advantage. In part two of this series, I will explore the intentional loss of new knowledge that can lead to a reduction in quality or productivity. About the Author Tracy Lowrance has spent over 15 years working with organizations in higher education, financial services, healthcare, retail and government on change management and leadership development initiatives. Tracy is currently working on her dissertation on Organizational Forgetting in The George Washington University’s Executive Leadership Program. Her passion for learning, coupled with her scholarly and professional interests drive her to help organizations continually and effectively adapt and change in a complex world. Tracy is the Manager of OD and Professional Development at Clarkston Consulting, a management and technology consulting firm located in Raleigh, NC.  The post When Forgetting is Good appeared first on Axonify.

A recent research study conducted by Software Advice, a Gartner company that reviews learning management systems, revealed which features and incentives would encourage employees to use their company’s LMS more often. The full article written by Brian Westfall, reveals all of the data as well as the methodology used to conduct the study. Based on the findings of the study, here are three big questions you need to answer about your LMS:  According to the study, "Micro-learning was one key feature—breaking up learning content into lots of short, five- to seven-minute lessons, as opposed to a few hour-long lessons. Fifty-eight percent of full-time employees in our survey said they would be more likely to use their company’s online learning tools if the content was broken up in this way."  Bite-sizing learning is something we’ve been advocating for a very long time. Scientifically, bite-sized learning allows for a process of deep encoding, which can help improve the long-term retention of knowledge; therefore, making learning more effective.  According to the study, "Thirty-five percent of respondents said real-life rewards, such as gift cards or personal electronics, based on learning progress would get them to use these tools more as well."  Gamification is not something that’s going away anytime soon and can truly be a powerful tool to help engage your employees in eLearning. Have you created a gamified learning experience for your employees? We’ve written before about the power that game play can have in eLearning and understanding how to motivate employees by leveraging rewards in game play is a huge part of delivering a successful gamified learning experience. One of the final pieces of the study found that 48% of respondents would be "more likely" to use an LMS with smartphone or tablet access. More and more data shows that people are turning to mobile devices as their screen of choice. In fact a very recent study from Business Insider reveals that for the first time ever, Americans spend more time using mobile devices than televisions. What does your LMS experience look like on a mobile device? Is it optimized? Has the content been designed with a mobile user in mind?  As you continue to plan out your learning initiatives for 2015, finding answers to these three big questions is going to be vital to your success. What are your thoughts on the statistics revealed in this study? Do you think there are features that might be more important to encourage engagement? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or via Twitter.  Written by Shum Attygalle The post Three Questions You Need to Answer About Your LMS appeared first on Axonify.

The following post was written by guest blogger: Tracy Lowrance. Whether it’s new or existing knowledge, the deliberate removal of information from an organization’s stocks of knowledge can create a competitive advantage. The first blog in this series, When Forgetting is Good, explored the concept of unlearning and how intentionally forgetting existing knowledge can provide a strategic advantage to organizations. In the second part of this series I will explore another aspect of organizational forgetting: avoiding bad habits. Avoiding bad habits is the intentional forgetting of new knowledge. Simply put it’s an organization’s ability to swiftly forget those behaviors considered counterproductive before they become embedded in the organization and thereby adversely impact competitiveness. The Double Edged Sword of Learning While learning in general is thought to be a good thing, there is a downside; routines, processes, and values can all be bad habits an organization learns. Organizations must be able to distinguish between the knowledge that is useful and would-be bad habits. Identifying and intentionally forgetting counterproductive knowledge before it becomes entrenched in the organization’s memory requires the ability to make this distinction and to be diligent regarding its removal.  Collaboration and apprenticeship is commonly considered an essential process for transferring and enhancing knowledge throughout an organization. There is an inherent assumption the knowledge being shared is both useful and accurate. In fact, this may not be the case at all.  For example, new employees in a call center spend time job shadowing existing agents. To prevent bad habits from taking hold in these new employees the facilitator does a robust debrief about their experiences, addresses any issues or anomalies and reinforces the correct way of doing things. There is a fallacy in the assumption that collaboration only transfers expertise; with multiple touch points the likelihood of transferring unfavorable knowledge increases. Organizations must work tirelessly to reject bad habits before they become woven into the fabric of the organization. Innovation and Forgetting Innovation is defined as the introduction of something new or a new idea, method or device.  As part of the innovation process organizations need to be able to distinguish between the causes of success and failure. Success and failure are two sides of the same innovation coin.  On one side of the coin organizations lacking insight as to why they failed may never truly identify their capabilities. On the other side of the coin, if the positive elements that led to success can’t be separated from those that impeded it, those negative elements become part of the organizational bad habits.  The story of Kingfisher Beer led by Vijay Mallya is an example of an organization that was unable to make this distinction. Kingfisher is the flagship beer of United Breweries Limited; as a premium lager Kingfisher has won many international awards. Mallya wanted to run an airline and started Kingfisher Airlines in 2005.  Similar to Kingfisher Beer, Kingfisher Airlines was a premium brand airline. The values associated with running a company of premium brands had become part of the organizational habits. A few years later Mallya’s troubles began when he acquired a low-cost airline that was on the ropes financially. Mallya tried to apply his premium brand philosophy to a low-cost carrier. Unable to separate the positive and negative causes of their prior success led Mallya to expand Kingfisher beyond its core business and dilute the brand. As a result of this brand extension the company was unable to pay employees for months and eventually went bankrupt. Conclusion Organizations that can become skilled at continuous learning also need to increase their capacity for forgetting. Successfully adapting to a changing environment requires an organization to move away from archaic technology, flawed corporate cultures, and outdated assumptions about the markets in which they work. They must work painstakingly to remove counterproductive knowledge from the organization in order to prevent bad habits from becoming the norm. Only by doing this can an organization create and maintain a competitive advantage. About the Author Tracy Lowrance has spent over 15 years working with organizations in higher education, financial services, healthcare, retail and government on change management and leadership development initiatives. Tracy is currently working on her dissertation on Organizational Forgetting in The George Washington University’s Executive Leadership Program. Her passion for learning, coupled with her scholarly and professional interests drive her to help organizations continually and effectively adapt and change in a complex world. Tracy is the Manager of OD and Professional Development at Clarkston Consulting, a management and technology consulting firm located in Raleigh, NC.  The post It’s Easier to Prevent Than Break appeared first on Axonify.

To close out our blog for 2014, we’ve decided to share our top 7 most read blog posts from the past year. Our posts on gamification were particularly popular (which is partially what lead us to create our latest workbook); however, there were a few others in the mix as well.  Here are the posts in order:  7: Maybe the Millennials are Doing it Right Summary: Unceremoniously dubbed ‘Generation Me’ by skeptics, the millennials are often criticized for needing constant affirmation and easy success. But I like to think that the millennial generation brings fresh perspective to the work environment.  Read the full post. 6: The New Learning Manifesto Summary: We have put up with traditional learning for too long. It’s time we re-write the rules and usher in a new era of learning. To help guide us along, here is the new learning manifesto: Learning will be continuous and woven into the workday as opposed to being a one-time, event-based session. Read the full post. 5: The Impact of Bite-Sized Learning Summary: Discover an infographic which depicts the impact that bite-sized learning is having on leading global-organizations. Is your learning bite-sized? If not, find out why it should be. Read the full post. 4: Enterprise Gamification Ain’t Going Anywhere Summary: From sales and conversion rates to safety and compliance, gamification is becoming too big to ignore and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.  Read the full post. 3: The Importance of Confidence Based Learning Summary: Confidence Based Learning takes your employees from Uninformed to Mastery, and from Paralysis to Informed Action. Discover how it can help you today… Read the full post. 2: 7 Key Learning Points on Gamification Summary: Discover what we’ve learned about the gamification of corporate learning after accumulating data from over 100,000 employees in world-class organizations. Read the full post. 1: 5 Trends in the Gamification of Corporate Learning Summary: Find out where the gamification of corporate learning is heading in 2014 with these five trends, taken from our latest webinar with Karl Kapp. Read the full post. We hope your 2014 was filled with a ton of tremendous learning opportunities and wish for even more in 2015. See you in the new year!  Written by Shum Attygalle The post Our Top 7 Posts From 2014 appeared first on Axonify.

An article in the November 2014 Oprah magazine titled "The Morality Workout" got me thinking about ethics at work, and how as employers we have an obligation to help our people develop their integrity, which in turn helps us create an ethical organization. At one point or another, we all experience situations at work that push our ethical boundaries.  For some people, the line is very clear and will never be crossed. For others, they look for opportunities to cross the line - which leads to everything from petty pilfering to industrial espionage. But it’s the people in the middle - those whose ethics haven’t yet been tested, or who don’t have a strong moral compass - that we can most effectively impact in a positive way. In the article, the author talks about "strengthening your moral muscle."  She says that scientists and ethics researchers have identified that people’s values can be improved and "…they believe that you can train to be more ethical, much as you’d train for a 5K race." Many organizations regularly implement ethics training workshops. But ethics learning is also susceptible to the same drawbacks as all other corporate learning: regardless of whether in-class or via eLearning, it’s a one-time event, with no consistent, repetitive reinforcement. The result: people generally forget as much as 90% of what they learned within 30 days. The solution is to implement a continuous reinforcement model for ethics training, in which specific situations and responses can be kept top of mind, so that when employees are confronted with a dilemma, they know the appropriate response. It’s one of those topics that will benefit from daily training delivered in small and gentle training bites that aren’t overpowering, but persuasive - and pervasive! After all, we’re not just trying to instill knowledge, we’re trying to shift attitudes and beliefs; and help people develop skills so they can hold on to their ethics even during stressful situations. In fact, our customers are having a lot of success delivering this kind of information via the Axonify platform. An example of this is Pep Boys, who were able to reduce their employee theft and increase calls to their Integrity Pays (employee theft) hotline by 60%! This is not only due to the everyday nature of the "reminder" to act ethically, but the fact that the gamified learning experience is fun and engaging.   Gamified learning gives you the ability to tie ethics development to the pleasurable activity of games - so when people recall the information they’ve learned, it triggers a pleasant emotional response. Linking integrity to a pleasant feeling is one of the surest methods of shifting attitudes and ingraining ethical responses to challenging situations. By creating a continuous learning environment that constantly reminds employees about the right thing to do, what’s tolerable in the organization, and why it’s important; employees will embrace these concepts, helping create a more ethical organization. Written by Laura Martin The post Crossing the Line at Work: Helping Employees Become More Ethical appeared first on Axonify.

Dear Training & Development Professional, I’m really happy that our organization provides us with such great employee training. It gives me a chance to learn how to do my job better, and I feel like I’m building my career skills. You already know that as an adult learner I want to know why I need to learn something, as it helps me relate it to my job, and get more engaged in the learning. But I’m sure you also know that I want to be responsible for my own learning - you call it being "self-directed." I’d love to be even more involved in my learning. Is there some way you could let me see under the covers and expose some of your key learning analytics to me? There are a number of things I’d really like to know about the training I’m taking and my overall levels of knowledge. I like that I can look at my learning dashboard and see how much of a topic I’ve got left to learn, or even what my scores were on tests. But I’d like more: Which subjects am I strongest in, and in which subjects do I really need to work harder? What is my baseline knowledge in the subjects I’m learning about, and how does my current knowledge level compare to my baseline?  That might help me understand how training is helping improve my job performance, based on my performance metrics. What’s my overall knowledge growth in critical subjects?  It would be good to see that on a monthly basis, so I can see if I’m maintaining my learning momentum. How often am I participating in learning?  I’d like to see how my level of learning participation compares to my improvement in knowledge. I know this is a lot, but I really think these types of metrics will help me be an even stronger employee. Oh, and can I see my analytics on my smartphone please? I’d like to be able to view them when I have the time to focus. And can you make these same analytics available to my supervisor? I’d like to make sure that I’m learning the right things, and that my learning success is being recognized. Sincerely, Me. The post Learning Analytics…from the Learner’s Perspective appeared first on Axonify.

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of hosting our first webinar of the year, which featured our very first guest from outside North America. Our featured guest was learning veteran, Donald Taylor, who joined us all the way from the UK. Together with our CEO Carol Leaman, Don lead a discussion around three trends that corporate learning professionals should keep an eye on this year.  The trends were derived from the results of a survey, which Don conducted on his blog back in December of 2014. The survey had a total of 14 different options to choose from, which Don then summarized into three overall trends. This was a completely self-selected survey; however, it garnered over 600 responses from learning professionals all around the world.  Before you read the details on the three trends below, quickly glance at the headlines as well as the images and ask yourself, how would I rank these three trends in terms of importance to my business? Here are the three trends that were revealed and below each one is a list of the survey options that made up the trend: Wider Delivery Channels On the webinar, there were many points raised on the pervasiveness and growing importance of mobile learning as well as video. Of those who attended, many believe that video is simply a must have when it comes to learning and the bigger questions coming up now are around how video can produced sustainably at scale. Mobile delivery continues to be a big trend for the year; however, we learned that this might be the case more so in North America as opposed to other parts of the world. Carol Leaman suggested that this might be due to more distributed workforces and the trend toward BYOD.  Networked Individuals Personalization, collaboration and curation were three of the top five responses in the survey that Don administered. Many attendees were curious about what exactly personalization is and even how it differs from curation. Don explained it in a very simple way and let me paraphrase it for you here: Curation is making sure you gather all relevant materials in one place, personalization is making sure that material gets delivered exactly those who need it, when they need it. There was also a great comment by an attendee in the webinar, which summarized the importance of collaboration quite well:  "90% of learning is participant to participant, so we must enable networking"-@DonaldHTaylor #LearningTrends — Axonify Inc. (@Axonify) January 20, 2015 L&D and the Business Ultimately, this trend is about how the Learning and Development function is impacting the rest of the business. A facet of this trend that Don and Carol spent a bit of time on was Knowledge Management. As we learned from the survey results, this facet is particularly intriguing because it is of high importance to North Americans; however, the rest of the world does not seem to care for it (at least based on the survey data). Carol suggested that this might be due to the need for many North American companies to find an effective way to handle the transfer of knowledge from an aging workforce to a new generation.  Rankings Earlier in the post I asked you to think about how you might rank these three trends for your business. The survey respondents (Over 600 learning professionals, self-selected from around the world) ranked the trends this way: Networked individuals (44%), wider delivery (30%) and L&D and the business (26%). A rhetorical question that Don posed the audience at the end of the webinar was, have we got this in the right order?  I am going to leave you with the same question and invite you to share your responses in the comments below or via Twitter. I also encourage you to check out the slides and recording from the webinar for more detail on the great discussions and insights shared during the session. Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: 3 Corporate Learning Trends to Watch in 2015 appeared first on Axonify.

The movie "Office Space" follows an unmotivated IT employee named Peter Gibbons and his friends, as they try to survive Initech, a 1990s software company. Faced with an unreasonable boss, a depressing work environment, and a general lack of motivation, Peter tries to pull off a scheme that would allow him to quit working, forever. Although Office Space is clearly a work of fiction, it sends a fair warning about how not to run a company, especially with regards to corporate training. Initech’s employees are disengaged, unmotivated, bored and restless-not exactly characteristics that are sought after. The way Initech’s employees feel about their work is the same way many employees feel about their training process. So how do you avoid the same pitfalls that Initech faced? Here are three lessons that Initech never learned, but you still can:   1. Focus on Employee Engagement  Source: quickmeme.com Training isn’t going to work unless employees are paying attention and actually absorbing the information they need to know. In many cases, it’s not that employees don’t want to put in the effort to learn, it’s that the training is delivered in such a way that employees just can’t bring themselves to engage with it. Day long training sessions are overwhelming, long, and result in an information overload. Using gamification techniques, like competition, storylines and achievements, gives training the spice and excitement it needs to really make employees care.  2. Give Relevant Feedback It’s happened to everyone: you reach the end of an online training module, complete the test and…you have to do the Whole. Thing. Again. Training programs that just say you’ve failed a test, and don’t tell you where you need to improve, are a lot like the boss in the clip you just watched: they don’t listen, and reinforce things that you already know, instead of focusing on your weak areas. Delivering training that detects where each employee goes wrong, and personalizes training to fit each employee’s needs, is the most effective way to see performance improvements.  3. Address Employee Concerns…Before it’s too Late Note: only watch up until 0:45 The best way to find out if training is working, is to ask the employees themselves. Do they enjoy it? Is it effective? Is there anything that they would change? Disregarding employee feedback only leads to fed up employees…and although they may not threaten to "set the building on fire" as Milton did in the clip above, ignoring employee concerns about training can have equally damaging consequences. Shrink, lost sales and accidents are all the result of ineffective training, so hearing what your employees have to say about your training process is an invaluable step you can take. Initech may be a caricature of a company, but there is truth in humour. Employee disengagement, a lack of relevant feedback, and ignoring employee concerns were Initech’s downfall, and they could be the downfall of your training program. Gamifying training, personalization and addressing employee concerns are all ways you can improve your training, and avoid the consequences that Initech faced: an unmotivated workforce.   Written by Emily Kroboth The post 3 Corporate Training Lessons Learned From "Office Space" appeared first on Axonify.

As a university student working on a co-op term right now, I can say that taking a break from the stresses of "learning" is a welcome opportunity. For the next four months, there won’t be any cramming, all-nighters or exam stress because in the ‘real working world’, these things don’t exist. Going back and forth from school terms to work terms has given me perspective on not only my education, but on training in general. And it’s got me thinking: much of corporate training mirrors what I’m doing in university now: professors stand at the front of the room for three hours, and at the end of it all, their job is done and I’m stuck trying to remember everything they’ve just said. As a third year student, only a short time away from entering the workforce, I have a request: Please don’t give me the training I’m used to. Let me explain. Ode, Olivia, Dave, Emily, Joe and Tori are some of Axonify’s resident Millennials. Chasing a Grade There just isn’t enough time to really learn in university. Between classes, assignments, extra-curriculars, work, and a plethora of other commitments, students just don’t have ample time to review concepts daily. This creates an endless cycle of playing catch-up, which in turn makes university about grades, not about learning. What’s the difference? The difference is in copying answers off a friend to guarantee you get the marks, instead of sitting down and mulling over the concepts yourself. The difference is in skipping class to catch up on all the work you have to do, instead of learning it first-hand. But most of all, the difference is what you take away from university when it’s all over. Learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge. But is it really learning if the knowledge is acquired overnight, only to be forgotten as soon as students walk out of the exam room the next day? You may have gotten an A, but is that really valid if you would receive a C on the same test a week later? What value is there in a degree if none of the classes, concepts or ideas are remembered in the long run? There’s no doubt that there’s value in policies such as progression requirements and cut-off averages: however, I’m finding that this is what students do (and ultimately must) focus on. Too often I’ve seen education approached with a ‘staying afloat’ type of mentality. The question is, how do we turn the university experience into an actual learning environment, instead of four years of chasing a grade? It’s Time to Innovate Brain science research says that lecture-type learning isn’t effective, material should be reviewed everyday to increase retention, and that learning should be delivered in bite-size pieces. So the way university is structured now—taking hours of class everyday, each in a different subject—isn’t exactly brain friendly. And it’s impacting students in the worst way. We are in the midst of a mental health crisis, which can be attributed to many factors, but with a big one being anxiety related to grades. Students have studied in this lecture-style format for hundreds of years, and the concept of university has managed to evade innovation in this regard. It’s been proven that there are many different learning styles, so why is university only catering to one? When will it be time to take the leap from an outdated method of instruction, to one that’s proven to be brain friendly? Nothing changes overnight of course, but I think it’s about time university institutions explore other methods of instruction, methods that will beat the forgetting curve and ultimately do what’s most important: truly instill the knowledge of relevant subjects in each student. The World of Corporate Training There have been a variety of articles written about how to approach the peculiar Millennial Generation (hey I even wrote one myself) but here’s my number one piece of advice: don’t give us the training we’re used to. Don’t give us hours of training once, and then expect us to remember everything. We’ll pass the test at the end of the day, but without proper reinforcement, all that training knowledge is going to follow the same path as our first year Economics class: in one ear and out the other. The training and development world is at an exciting point right now, because we’ve figured out what really works when it comes to learning. Thanks to brain science research, we know people learn best in shorter sessions, and will actually remember that information if it’s reinforced. That being said, I would implore whoever’s reading this—whether you’re a Vice-President, a Training Specialist, a Manager—think about your training. If it reminds you of sitting in a lecture hall, you’re likely not engaging people, and this time, it’s not people’s grades on the line, it’s your bottom line. Written by Emily Kroboth The post A Millennial’s Perspective: Please Don’t Give me the Training I’m Used to appeared first on Axonify.

The success of your business relies on a workforce that’s competent, highly skilled and knowledgeable; who can apply these attributes effectively to the job they do for you.  Blindly trusting they have these attributes is more than a little bit risky… What if you don’t know what they don’t know? For instance, consider your internal safety program. It might appear that employees understand proper safety measures and what to do in the event of an accident or other safety hazard. But how do you know? Is a "smile sheet" survey at the conclusion of training—2 months ago—enough to make you confident employees retained what they learned and can make the right decision? Do you want missed sales targets to be the red flag identifying there’s a problem with your sales force?  Although you spend thousands bringing your sales team together for new product training, there may be many people who don’t really learn the information well enough to sell your products effectively.  What would happen if your customer service representatives weren’t at the top of their game? Even one "time out" to check with a supervisor is enough to increase resolution time… and aggravate a customer looking for assistance! Would it make a difference to your business if you knew without a doubt that your employees had the knowledge and skills to perform at peak levels? How much more opportunity would you consider if you had a high comfort level in their competence? How much more risk averse would you be if you knew they weren’t at the peak level you need? What would it change if you could predict the speed at which employees could achieve competence or excellence in selling a new product? The key is to dig deep and mine the information about your employees’ knowledge and learning; then put that intelligence to work.  To leverage employee learning data effectively, you need a variety of metrics: A granular baseline knowledge level for each employee, on each critical topic. A consolidated baseline knowledge level per topic, across department, geographic or demographic boundaries. Progressive knowledge improvement rates on every topic, for every employee, as well as consolidated by department, geographic or demographic boundaries. Knowledge about which employees participate in learning, and which avoid it like the plague. With this type of learning data, there is a variety of intelligence you can obtain: Understand baseline knowledge levels of specific topics and analyze whether the knowledge meets your target levels. Understand in which topics your employees need more training: where they are, and where they need to be. Identify low levels of participation: understand which employees need to participate more in their learning programs, and evaluate whether low participation equates to lower knowledge levels. Understand training effectiveness: identify knowledge lifts by product, policy or procedure - by individual or department. Relate training to job performance improvements: with historic learning data, you can identify and correlate knowledge lifts to job performance improvements over specific periods of time. When you know what your employees don’t know, you have the ability to fix it. Mining learning data, then turning it into actionable intelligence is a sure way to ensure your workforce is competent, highly skilled and knowledgeable. That’s a workforce that can support and grow your business. Written by Carol Leaman The post When You Don’t Know What They Don’t Know. appeared first on Axonify.

Take a minute to join me in a thought experiment.  Think of your favourite retail store. I’m sure you’ve been in one before so you know what the environment is like. Now try to think of it during a time when it’s particularly busy, perhaps during the holiday season. I’m just trying to help set a scene for you here, so really try and picture as much as you can about that store.  Now imagine you are an associate working at that store. Part of your role is to walk around and ask customers if they need help with anything at all.  During one of your walks you happen to notice a customer who is looking at something on your his or her mobile device, while at the same time looking at one of your products. You even notice this person taking pictures of the barcodes on your products. You decide to approach this customer and see if you can offer any assistance.  You: "Good morning, is there something I can help you with?" Customer: "No thanks, I just noticed on my phone that another retailer is selling this same product at a lower price."  Let’s stop the thought experiment there. The Reality of Omni-Channel On a webinar earlier this week, our CEO Carol Leaman explored the world of omni-channel retailing and some of the big challenges associated with it. She discussed some of the realities of the way digital channels are influencing sales and the changing expectations in the mind of consumers when they enter retail stores.  According to research from Retail TouchPoints, five big barriers to omni-channel success are: 1. Inaccurate Inventory2. Actionable analytics3. The Shifting Mindset of Consumers4. Poor Integration of Systems5. Lack of Employee Enthusiasm The fifth barrier is what Carol spent the most time discussing. She mentioned that one of the most important and cost-effective steps a retail organization can take, in order to increase the success of their omni-channel strategy is to focus on improving this fifth barrier.  How Toys"R"Us Canada is Tackling the Fifth Barrier On the webinar, Carol shared the story of how Toys"R"Us Canada is tackling the challenge of executing an omni-channel strategy at the store level. In order to be successful, what they realized is that their front-line associates needed to be educated and buy-in to the importance of omni-channel in an engaging way.  Their solution was to leverage a bite-sized, gamified and personalized approach to associate training, which focused on three specific levels of understanding: 1. What - What is omni-channel?2. Why - Why is it important to the customer, to our organization and to YOU? 3. How - How do you make omni-channel happen day-to-day? Here are some of the results Toys"R"Us Canada saw from leveraging this approach:  Consistent execution at the store level High levels of voluntary participation in training Significant knowledge growth in topics surrounding omni-channel Behavior change exhibited by associates at the store level Let’s go back to the thought experiment.  Customer: "No thanks, I just noticed on my phone that another retailer is selling this same product at a lower price."  Imagine that you did not know how to respond in this situation and what you came up with ended up resulting in the customer leaving the store and your organization losing a sale. Remember it’s a busy season, so imagine that this same interaction happened simultaneously in a different part of your store and then across multiple stores across the country (or even the globe).  This is the reality of how consumers behave today and it truly underscores the importance of the role an associate plays in executing a successful omni-channel strategy.  If you’re interested in watching the full-recording of viewing the webinar slides, they are both available on-demand now. Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: Increasing Omni-Channel Adoption With Associates appeared first on Axonify.

Have you seen this dress? Ask a friend or colleague what colors they see. People all over the internet are disputing the dress’ colors. Some say it’s blue and black, while others say it’s white and gold. While this dress has sparked an open debate among the general public as well as celebrities, including Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian, the fact is that these types of varying interpretations happen all the time, even when people think the issue is "black or white". The workplace is one spot where these kinds of widespread opinions occur frequently. That’s because people use different filters to process information, meaning that when it comes to interpretation, there are often many shades of grey. As an employer, you need to have a clear picture of what these filters are so that you can get people to understand the true answer or correct course of action. The goal is to stop any internal questioning or arguments and get everyone on the same page. But, the problem is that managers often don’t know these types of internal debates exist because they usually don’t come to the forefront, as in the case of this social media dress color craze. That’s where eLearning technology can help. Managers have a tool to ask their employees what they know and what they don’t know. Then, they can use this tool to deliver learning that not only teaches employees the official company policies and procedures, but also reinforces them continually. Let’s say your organization has specific customer service guidelines, for example. Many people will have different ideas of the best way to handle a complaint, for example. Yet, the organization has one consistent method it wants employees to follow. eLearning technology can help achieve this consistent behavior across associates in different departments and store locations by delivering training from one source and then serving up questions to test employee comprehension. Proceeding blindly, without visibility into your employees’ knowledge and understanding poses a significant risk. If managers aren’t aware of differing interpretations, they can’t address any inconsistencies that can cause negative consequences, including conflicting customer service responses across bricks and mortar locations as well as online stores. While there can always be lots of debate within an organization, at the end of the day, there is only one right answer when it comes to official policies and procedures. The goal is to clarify them through learning to stop the argument and change behavior accordingly. Oh, and by the way, if you’re still engaged in a heated discussion over the color of the dress, British retailer, Roman Originals has set the record straight, just like organizations should. Written by Carol Leaman The post #TheDress - Stop Arguing. Start Agreeing. appeared first on Axonify.

We’ve all heard of brand names turning into verbs. These days, we Google, we Skype and we Facebook. Today, on the third year anniversary of Axonify becoming an official company name, we’re excited to say that it’s happened to us too. In fact, if you walk through the busy distribution center at Walmart, you’ll likely hear employees ask, "Have you Axonified today?" That’s because Walmart workers coined the verb, "Axonified" after the Axonify eLearning platform became part of their daily routine. Axonify eLearning software helps 75,000 hard-working Walmart employees increase their knowledge of corporate safety and compliance procedures as well as improve performance behaviors using a fun, fast and personalized approach to learning that incorporates game mechanics (such as competition, leaderboards, game play and more) along with proven scientific methods of information retention. Ken Woodlin, Vice President of Compliance, Safety and Asset Protection for Walmart Logistics, began a partnership with Axonify in 2012 when the company ran a 6-month safety training pilot program with 5,000 logistics workers in eight Walmart distribution centers. The goal was to take the retailer’s existing safety program, that had strong behavioral components, cultural connectivity and compliance policies and procedures in place already, and make it the world’s best. The results proved to be directly in line with this vision. During the pilot, recordable incidents at Walmart decreased by 54% in the retailer’s eight subject distribution centers, morale was elevated and injury expenses were mitigated. This prompted the retailer to expand implementation to its remaining 150-plus centers across the United States and more than 75,000 associates. This early success also initiated Walmart’s plans to bring Axonify to its entire transportation department of more than 6,000 drivers. "We have seen tremendous improvement as a result of our associates’ ownership and engagement in our safety programs, as well as leadership commitment to the program," says Woodlin. "Metrics like Lost Times have been reduced by more than 50% in the past three years, and Incident Rates and DART rates [Days Away from work, job Restrictions, and/or job Transfers] are well below industry average. Feedback about the Axonify system has been phenomenal, and we believe the process has been a significant contributing factor to our improved performance and engaged associate base." The Axonify eLearning platform is straightforward and efficient. Walmart associates log into the system daily and spend a couple of minutes receiving safety culture content, often in the form of questions. The system provides instant feedback, so associates know which questions they get right and where they need improvement. The system also shows associates how they measure up against their peers. The next time, associates log in, the system remembers their responses and will ask questions to reinforce information they know, as well as follow up on information they don’t know, to ensure learning progresses, behaviors improve and associates don’t forget what they learned previously. The reason the Axonify eLearning software is so successful in environments like Walmart is that it is based on proven learning principles designed to work the way people actually learn and retain information. This unique approach to learning allows Walmart to simplify training through a bite-size approach, make learning fun, adapt it to employees’ individual learning needs and increase knowledge and retention by applying proven cognitive approaches, such as repeated retrieval and spacing, that are proven to enhance learning and recall. Since Walmart implemented Axonify more than three years ago, associates have become more able to spot potential safety opportunities, see the connectivity of safety in the workplace with safety out of the workplace and have also become more comfortable raising safety concerns. One of the best parts, according to Woodlin, is that safety training has become a continuous loop driven by good behaviors and fed by the corporate culture, rather than a one-way top down approach. "Feedback about the Axonify platform has been phenomenal and we believe the process has been a significant contributing factor to our improved performance and engaged associate base," says Woodlin.  Written by Laura Martin The post Walmart asks, "Have you Axonified today?" appeared first on Axonify.

The following post was featured in eLearning Industry on February 20th, 2015. These days, finding out almost anything is easy. Want to know the answer to a question? Just Google it. Want to get career advice? Poll your peers on LinkedIn. Need to see the latest breaking news? Watch it broadcast online. While this type of immediate access to information has its benefits, it also has its drawbacks. Employer and employee expectations are out of synch. Employers have higher expectations on staff to remain in the know. Yet, they often do not provide employees with instant access to the information they need. Employees expect the information they require should be at their fingertips. When it isn’t, they search outside the organization to get it. This conflict poses a huge challenge for those responsible for corporate training because they can no longer control the information employees receive and there is an increasing risk that the information they uncover themselves is outdated or completely inaccurate. Besides these misaligned expectations, today’s information deluge means employees face more distractions than ever before that interfere with daily tasks. Incoming tweets, emails and texts, combined with websites, videos and apps all vie for learners’ attention. In fact, throughout the workday, interruptions disturb employees as frequently as every five minutes and two thirds of knowledge workers complain they don’t have time to do their jobs (according to the "Meet the Modern Learner" infographic by Bersin). With competing demands and constant disruptions, it’s no wonder employees feel distracted, impatient and overwhelmed as they try to keep their heads above water. Not surprisingly, for professionals responsible for corporate training, capturing the time and attention of today’s modern learners as well as ensuring the information is correct and consistent, becomes an almost impossible task. Almost! By joining modern learners on their own turf and adjusting for shorter attention spans, increasing job demands and information overload, modern trainers can engage modern learners in new and more effective ways. Here’s how: A group of Axonify teammates. 6 Ways To Engage The Modern Learners GO On-DemandGone are the days of scheduling training sessions at a single time and location. Web-based eLearning apps that modern learners can access from desktops, tablets or mobile phones make it simple to participate in training whether they’re in the office or working remotely. Making learning accessible anywhere and anytime also means employees don’t have to travel to training sessions to get the information they need to be successful in their jobs. GO Short"I don’t have time!" is a common complaint from learners who believe training takes them away from completing important job functions. Offering online training in short five-minute bursts each day means employees can increase their knowledge on an ongoing basis over time without feeling overwhelmed and without impacting their regular job duties. Chunking training information into bite-sized pieces also makes it more manageable for learners to digest—allowing them to be more open to receiving training in the first place. GO PersonalEmployees learn differently, at their own pace. Using adaptive eLearning technology provides individuals with the training information they need at the time they need it. This eLearning technology also allows content to adjust according to learners’ roles and competency levels on various topics. Depending on how learners answer questions, the material changes to either re-educate them on certain subjects or reinforce information they already know. By creating a personalized knowledge map, this type of eLearning technology can track learners’ progression over time and also help them master topics that are integral to job performance. Learners who have more knowledge have higher rates of individual success, which translates into increased success for the organization as well. GO InteractiveTraditional classroom-based training or online course delivery requires employees to do a lot of listening. The large amount of material covered, combined with increasingly short-attention spans, results in learners not retaining enough information to apply it on the job. Even when information is presented in shorter formats, research indicates learners will begin to forget what they learned almost immediately after the event. More than ninety percent of the material they learned will be forgotten in as little as a month. Technology that allows modern learners to take a more active role in their learning (by asking them to click on answers to multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks or match responses) drives participation, engagement and long-term memory. It also reinforces the information in the brain so learners have a lesser chance of forgetting the material completely. GO FunMention training and you’ll likely hear a lot of groans. But make it fun and learners are much more receptive. Taking advantage of eLearning technology that applies game-based learning techniques is a great way to connect with modern learners at every age and role in an engaging and entertaining way. eLearning technology that incorporates gamification is key to making the learning experience enjoyable and drives high participation. Examples of gamification include games and activities that allow learners to overcome challenges, offer the chance to compete with other learners and give them the opportunity to earn points or rewards for their efforts. Additionally, incorporating leaderboards and other stats so modern learners can review individual performance and see how they measure up against their peers, is a great way to take advantage of gamification elements in eLearning Technology. GO Long TermTraining sessions can’t make a positive impact if learners cannot recall and apply the information after they have learned it. Turning to eLearning technology that incorporates repeated retrieval—the practice of learning a concept, testing recall of that information, reviewing the concept again and then testing recall again—ensures modern learners maintain their knowledge and solidify it in memory over the long term. Additionally, eLearning technology that uses questions to challenge learners to recall information at different intervals (e.g. days, weeks, months, etc.) increases information retention. Research shows memory retention improves as the time intervals between the information increases, stimulating the brain to remember. Written by Carol Leaman The post Go Engage The Modern Learners. Here’s How appeared first on Axonify.

Legacy Sales Training Methods Does this sound familiar? Sales representatives fly in from all over North America for your weekend sales training session. It’s expensive and people are grousing about losing a weekend, but how else can you get all the new product training done? Arrival is Friday, with a welcome dinner that evening. Next morning, eyes are red, heads are sore, and attention seriously wanes by 2pm. Seems to be a lot of people taking breaks for "customer calls," although it’s the weekend. Sunday is a repeat of Saturday. Everyone heads home late Sunday evening.  Four months go by and it’s time to evaluate sales number. You hope to pinpoint just how much sales have jumped since that critical training event several months ago. But, there doesn’t appear to be any appreciable increase: Everyone is performing at much the same rate as always. Reps that meet or exceed their quota continue to do that; reps that don’t meet their quota, perform as usual. Modern Sales Training Methods Today’s forward-thinking organizations take learning to a new level. Sales representatives from all over North America participate in several scheduled virtual learning sessions on new products without having to leave home base. Sessions take place over a 2-week period, giving sales professionals the opportunity to maximize time in the field while still participating in this critical learning. After the 2-week training period, reinforcement and engagement programs kick in to keep the learning momentum high, and keep the sales force involved in a continuous learning program.   Four months later, you look at whether sales have improved since the original training event.  When you evaluate individual performance against target numbers, you see that almost all of your sales reps have achieved a higher percentage of their quota. You take a look at the individual knowledge levels of each sales rep, and there appears to be a direct correlation between knowledge improvement and quota achievement.  Sales Effectiveness = Effective Training We all know that better sales skills produce better sales performance. But we’ve never really questioned the fire hose approach to sales training—both for products and sales techniques. We thought this was the best way improve the abilities of our sales teams. But proven research into learning retention, combined with advances in technology, have changed this. Yet, many sales organizations seem to still be stuck in a legacy-style sales training model, with no appreciable return on investment. What’s wrong with legacy training methods?  Aside from the high expense of bringing the sales team together for training, there is really no solid technique to ensure that what people learn in their training sticks with them for any length of time. In fact, research proves that people lose almost 90% of what they learn within about a month. Not auspicious for a positive ROI. Why are modern training methods so much better?  With so much research into brain science and learning—as well as the emergence of sophisticated eLearning technology—we’ve finally figured out that it’s not training that produces better skills and performance. It’s how effective the training is that really makes the difference.  Brain science has defined several learning techniques that help improve the long-term effect of training, which allows people to leverage what they’ve learned, when and where they need to. Techniques like spacing and repeated retrieval provide ongoing learning reinforcement so people never forget the important information—and, in fact, begin to maintain critical information for the long term. Confidence-based learning encourages people to carefully consider whether what they know is correct, and improves their confidence in their knowledge. And confidence in the right information is as critical to selling as knowing the product inside and out. Personalization means that people learn what’s relevant for them, in a manner that makes sense for them, and on the platform—such as mobile devices—they prefer; which makes learning easier and much more engaging.  When you leverage eLearning technology that applies these modern sales training techniques, all sales professionals—whether retail sales associates, high-end technology reps or pharmaceutical sales staff—can reap some big rewards: While you may still conduct in-person training, using eLearning technology to reinforce information after the big event helps ensure people remember more of what they learn for far longer, effectively using it to improve their performance.  Learning doesn’t need to cut into selling time: Using intelligent eLearning technology, sales professionals can participate in short, daily learning reinforcement sessions—in as little as 5 minutes per day—before they begin work, or when they have a bit of down time. Frequent in-person training sessions can be transitioned to eLearning sessions, reducing travel costs as well as extended time away from the job.  People sell what they know, so as knowledge and confidence in products or solutions grows, so will sales. Learning ROI can be dramatically improved—as people retain more of the knowledge they learn over much longer periods of time, the effect of training becomes more significant. Are you currently using legacy sales training methods or are you taking sales training to a higher level? Feel free to share any challenges you’re facing or talk about your modern learning success. Written by Laura Martin The post Maximizing Sales Effectiveness Through Effective Training appeared first on Axonify.

"The Customer is King."  Always has been, always will be. But today’s customers are a totally different breed!  They want to research products online, and buy online or in the store. They want product information on their laptop, tablet or smartphone—at home, on the go, or even in the store. They want a seamless experience through all shopping channels. These customers also place higher expectations on sales associates: They want associates to be experts on ALL the products they sell—in the store, plus online. They want associates to be as "tech savvy" as they are. And they want associates to provide product recommendations based on their own knowledge and expertise, as well as customers’ individual preferences and past purchases. Most retailers agree that creating an omni-channel strategy is the best way to meet these new customer demands. But, when hourly paid sales associates are critical for omni-channel success, this solution isn’t as simple as it sounds. After all, associates must not only know how to sell, but also become product evangelists, distribution experts, and customer service advocates too. Beefing up associate knowledge is one of the most significant ways retailers can up the success factor of their omni-channel strategy. Yet, 40% of retailers report that store associate training is a major barrier to omni-channel success. Conventional training methods just don’t cut it. It’s not enough to simply shove employees into more training sessions: this takes associates off the floor and they just forget what they learn anyway. To truly increase associate knowledge for omni-channel success, retailers need to re-think employee learning completely. Modern learning approaches are leveraging brain science research to dramatically improve knowledge retention and help create more confident sales associates, who are better equipped to service customers. Here are 5 eLearning components that are critical for effective associate training in an omni-channel environment: Daily, bite-sized learning counteracts information overload. Associates receive training in short bursts each day, rather than lengthy, one-time sessions. The daily learning reinforcement helps associates retain information for the long term—and also allows managers to deliver critical up-to-the-minute product and promotion updates. Personalized learning adapts to individual strengths and weaknesses to meet associates’ unique learning needs, instead of training everyone the same way. Areas where associates have high knowledge are continually reinforced, while areas where they are less knowledgeable receive more attention until they increase their learning. Mobile learning delivers information to associates when and where they want it—even to associates’ mobile devices on the store floor—so they can receive training on demand. Gamification makes learning fun—improving associates’ engagement and enhancing knowledge retention. Supports Coaching with reports for managers to help them detect knowledge gaps by the topic and individual, as well as identify top performers. With the increased knowledge retention that comes from modern learning practices, retailers find associates have the knowledge and skills at their fingertips to better service customers in an omni-channel world. Associate performance improves, along with business results. Customer remains King! Learn more about how companies, like Toys R Us, are increasing omni-channel adoption with sales associates by accessing our omni-channel webinar recording. Written by Laura Martin The post 5 Critical eLearning Components for Omni-Channel Success appeared first on Axonify.

As April is Workplace Violence Awareness Month, it’s an appropriate time to stop and ask whether your workplace violence training is as effective as it could be. No doubt you’ve implemented training to make sure employees understand how to avoid or defuse situations that can lead to bullying, harassment or violence.  It might take the form of an online course teaching them how to identify, report, or control undesirable behaviours in the workplace.  Or it could be a workshop using role-play to teach employees how to react in specific situations. You have policies that define zero tolerance and outline the consequences of identified actions.  You may have even posted information around your workplace encouraging workers to identify and report specific instances. But how confident are you that you’ve done enough?  How do you ensure your employees are constantly vigilant? That they understand what should not be tolerated?  That they’re comfortable identifying and reporting potential problems? That they’d know how to react if a violent situation erupted? Bottom line…this topic needs to stay top-of-mind.  You need to be confident that your employees know what to do, and that they’re on board with your policies and procedures. Training is the most common preventative method, but this could be a critical problem. Because of the way training is typically delivered, it’s likely that employees will forget most of what they learned within 30 days, putting them at a huge disadvantage in a negative situation.   Recent brain science research has identified several challenges with conventional learning, and has identified key new techniques to deliver more effective learning and information.  These techniques are ideally suited to workplace violence training, which not only requires providing knowledge, but also impacting attitudes and beliefs, and creating a culture that openly and consistently addresses potential issues. So how do you leverage new training techniques to create a more informed, able workforce? Keep the conversation going.  Bite-sized training for as little as 5 minutes each day keeps information top of mind, and helps avoid learning overload. Repeat…repeat. Spacing, or the drip approach, repeatedly presents a topic with specific time gaps between each repetition, which helps embed the knowledge for the long term. Ask, and ask again.  Repeated retrieval—or testing—regularly injects Q&A into learning sessions, helping people retain the correct information for longer periods of time, while helping you to understand the knowledge gaps that must be addressed. Have some fun.  Gamified learning ties a tough topic to pleasurable activity, so when people recall the information they’ve learned, it triggers a positive emotional response.  Linking a tough topic with a pleasant feeling is one of the surest methods of shifting attitudes and ingraining responses. Say "I do." Confidence-based learning prompts employees to rate their confidence in the correctness of their knowledge—eliminating lucky guesses.  The more confident employees are in their knowledge, the better prepared they are to act when situations come up.  There are many examples of workplace violence and the truth is, any degree of workplace violence is unacceptable. Training programs and communications that constantly keep employees aware of the signs—and consequences—of violence, harassment and bullying will ensure that you create a proactive, positive environment. Take a minute and ask yourself, is your workplace violence training as effective as it could be? Written by Suzanne Hyatt The post Inform. Remind. Prevent. appeared first on Axonify.

This past March, at the Learning Solutions Conference, I was exposed to work of the amazing learning duo: Conrad Gottfredson and Bob Mosher. Bob shared the following diagram at the conference that does a great job of explaining the learning continuum. I thought that I’d share it with you, along with my interpretation of each of its three phases, so you could also benefit from this holistic view of learning. Source: Learning Solutions Magazine Continuous Learning Addresses the Entire Learning Continuum Rather than focusing only on event-based learning solutions, Gottfredson and Mosher argue that it is equally important to put a continuous learning infrastructure in place to support learners in their journey to succeed on-the-job. They believe continuous learning can be viewed as a three-phase model, which supports employees from the point of new knowledge delivery, through to competence, improved job performance, and ultimately business results. Phase 1:  Train   This phase is about helping employees to learn in a formal setting. But, rather than delivering training as a one-time event, we advocate daily bite-sized training techniques to ensure that employees aren’t overwhelmed with knowledge, but learn at a pace where they’re able to retain more of what they learn. New techniques, such as gamification, can also be implemented to enhance employee engagement in training, and ultimately their ability and willingness to learn. And eLearning systems that provide high levels of personalization ensure that employees are learning exactly what they need, the way they like to learn, which also leads to improved engagement and learning success. Phase 2: Transfer When training is delivered as a one-time event, it immediately becomes susceptible to knowledge loss. For successful transfer of knowledge, we know that several techniques help to improve on-the-job competency. For example, when repeated retrieval-or testing-is regularly injected into learning, people retain more knowledge for longer periods of time. By assessing employee confidence levels when they are asked to recall information, this prompts employees to consider how confident they are that their knowledge is correct. And this active reflection more fully embeds knowledge and helps elevate confidence, which is important when employees are required to act on their knowledge in a real situation. Phase 3:  Sustain In the sustain phase, employees need to maintain their knowledge and skills, with the ability to unlearn and relearn information as change occurs in the organization—so they can continue to perform their jobs effectively. Spacing is a technique that repeatedly presents a topic with specific time gaps between repetitions, which helps embed the knowledge for the long term and keeps knowledge top of mind where it can be accessed as needed. When processes change and employees do not remember all the details, performance support applications allow employees to look up information in real time, at "the moment of need". This helps employees perform their job functions correctly and remain competent in an ever-changing environment. [Note: We’ll be chatting more about performance support in future blog posts]. New Training Techniques Work in Harmony These training techniques work together in a continuous learning model to deliver knowledge in the most impactful way, support employees as they move to subject mastery, and help employees sustain their knowledge for the long term, where they can apply it again and again on the job. By viewing learning more holistically, organizations can help foster the right knowledge and behaviors throughout the employee journey, improving ongoing employee success and, ultimately, generating improved results for the organization as a whole. Written by John Astorino The post From Learning to Performance: 3 Key Phases Essential for Learning Success appeared first on Axonify.

On May 17, I’ll be at the ATD Conference in Orlando, Florida participating in a panel discussion with Dr. Alice Kim—Research Associate at York University and the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest—and Jackie Morton—Manager, People Potential at Lululemon Athletica. We’ll be answering a number of questions about brain science and the evolution of corporate learning. Left to right: Alice Kim, Carol Leaman, Jackie Morton Here’s a sneak peek into one of the topics up for discussion: What are your 5 top tips for trainers seeking to make use of how the brain works? Make it Short and Sweet - You likely know individuals at your workplace who can talk a blue streak. But when they talk on and on and on and on, you start to tune them out. You don’t do this on purpose. It’s just that your brain is wired to learn and remember more information when it is presented in bite-sized pieces, rather than lengthy, drawn out discourse. So, when putting together employee training, think about how you can chunk information or hold shorter, more focused sessions instead of doing lengthy CBT. Make it Fun - Think about the training you’ve had in the past. What stands out in your mind? Chances are, you’ll remember the information that corresponded to a fun activity. That’s because when learning is fun, our brains associate that information with that particular event and are better able to recall it in the future. So, if you want employees to remember what you tell them, make sure you tie it to something enjoyable. Make it Personal - You’ve probably heard the corporate mantra, "It’s not personal. It’s just business." Well, training is one exception when business should be personal. After all, when you make training relevant to the individual, learning is much more effective because the person can identify with what’s in it for them. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, consider creating sessions that are tailored to the needs of specific individuals and their roles within the organization to increase overall comprehension and memorability. This definitely requires more effort, but the payoff will be greater in the long run. Make it Stick - Telling something to someone once isn’t enough. To really boost retention, you need to repeat information again and again, over time to solidify neural pathways in the brain. This repetition helps employees recall the right information at the right time. So, when developing your training, consider holding several sessions on the same topic at specific times throughout the year to deepen knowledge and memory. Make it Memorable - If you want to help employees encode information more deeply in their brains, put it in context. In a classic experiment by Craik and Tulving, participants were shown a list of 60 words. They were then asked to recall certain words by being asked one of three questions: 1)   Is the word printed in capital letters? (tests structural processing) 2)   Does the word rhyme with ____? (tests phonemic/auditory processing) 3)   Would the word fit in the following sentence: "He met a _____ in the street"? (tests semantic processing) The result was that participants were better able to recall words when asked if they would fit into a specific sentence. This higher recall rate resulted because the words had been processed more deeply in the brain. So, when putting together training, consider using as many real-life scenarios and examples as possible to illustrate the information and increase the likelihood employees will remember it long term. Want to hear more? Join us at ATD on May 17 for answers to fascinating questions, like: What has led to the explosion in brain/memory research over the last decade? What is the disconnect between traditional approaches to learning and how the brain actually works? Why is this research even more important, given the characteristics of the "modern learner" in today’s work environment? What is the likelihood that, with the evolution of technology, we’ll be able to provide each employee with a training solution that nearly perfectly matches the way his/her brain works? If you can’t make this session in person, we’ll make sure you don’t miss out. All our responses will be provided in a post-conference write up on our blog. Stay tuned! Written by Carol Leaman   The post 5 Ways to use Insight About Your Noggin to Create Better Training appeared first on Axonify.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of participating in a webinar on ATD’s increasingly popular Science of Learning Community (now available on-demand). The idea for this webinar came from a common need we’ve been seeing in the learning community and that is the need to practically apply the science of learning. The webinar was aptly titled: "The Science of Learning - 7 Actionable Insights From Real Data." Our two featured speakers for the webinar were Dr. Alice Kim and our Vice President of Development, Phil Menary. Alice and Phil each shared a number of insights based on data gathered from over 250,000 learners from the Axonify platform. Before sharing the insights, Phil set the stage by citing some statistics from Bersin’s Modern Learner infographic. The most interesting number that Phil highlighted from Bersin’s research, is that the modern learner only has 1% of a typical workweek to focus on training and development. In many ways, this webinar was about how to leverage the science of learning to maximize that 1%.  Here are three of the seven insights that were shared on the webinar: 1. Spacing improves retention According to the data, employees retain more information if it’s spaced out over time as opposed to being delivered all at once. In thinking about how this could apply to the modern learner, imagine if ‘training bootcamps’ ceased to exist (this was actually a question on the webinar). Instead, what if the same information was delivered to the learner in short bursts over a long time?     2. Repetition improves confidence Confidence is extremely powerful. When it becomes dangerous is when an employee is highly confident in the incorrect information (think of a safety procedure for example). The data Phil shared on the webinar, which is taken from a large cross-section of companies, shows a very high correlation between repetition of information and confidence growth: Rather than just showing and testing an employee something once, what if you used a small portion of your allotted 4.8 minutes in a day to test them on it again? How does it affect your environment if you’ve employees who are highly confident in the wrong information? 3. Tangible rewards increase participation There was a lot of discussion around this point on the webinar. Tangible vs. intangible rewards and even the topic of extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation is something that been discussed in learning literature for a long time. The data Phil presented shows something very clear: tangible rewards have a strong correlation with participation.  Coming back to the modern learner … this is one way you can get him or her to actually engage in training and development within those 4.8 minutes a day. Rewards don’t need to be elaborate, Phil suggested some creative examples such as an executive’s parking spot for the day or even some company swag.   To discover the rest of the insights, you can watch a full recording of the webinar and get the webinar slides anytime on ATD’s website (note: you might have to register for a free ATD account if you don’t already have one).  Tell us, what are you doing to maximize the 1%?  Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: The Science of Learning in Action appeared first on Axonify.