560-store, family dining company located primarily in the heartland

Turnover
Employee turnover reduced by 35% due to higher competency and job satisfaction
Costs
Saved $35 million in training expense in first year
Training time
Cut training time in half for both kitchen and counter, and reduced new server training from 5–6 days to 3

CHALLENGES

  • Reduce total training time and improve retention of material
  • Reduce attrition by addressing underlying competency issues
  • Make updating and translation of training content easier
  • Enable just-in-time training on new product introductions
  • Streamline training for new store openings

SOLUTIONS

  • Consulted on LMS selection and rollout
  • Created strategic training plan and managed implementation
  • Developed 50 custom courses and provided access to course library
  • Provided ability to track which courses have been completed at which stores, which has become a key piece of intelligence for general managers and area directors
  • Enabled on-the-fly switching from English to Spanish text and narration
  • Delivered just-in-time training capability, which was successfully utilized for holiday gift cards

HOW WE DID IT

We guided Bob Evans through the process of selecting a Learning Management System (LMS), and created an in-store training system utilizing a combination of our library courses and custom developed courses. We helped them through the entire process of transitioning to e-learning, leveraging our experience to ensure that the solution achieved their goals.

Younger employees were especially receptive to the interactivity of the new training courses versus older manuals and videos, and the company benefited from knowing its employees were paying attention and learning critical lessons. Natalie Ward, director of training for Bob Evans, said, “It helps the trainers, too, because they take people to the next level instead of teaching them basic skills.”

As a result of their satisfaction with the initial implementation, Bob Evans sped up the timetable for full implementation of the e-learning roadmap DiscoverLink had developed from a 3-year rollout to 18 months.

Because they know what works in the industry, they helped us look at training from a total ROI perspective.  That was an insight we didn’t have internally.

Natalie WardDirector of Training for Bob Evans

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