Congratulations to the Blake’s Lotaburger training team on their recent launch of the DiscoverLink Talent learning management system (LMS) and DiscoverLink Content Library courses to 75 locations. Founded in 1952, Blake’s offers New Mexico cuisine in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona and holds the crown when it comes to their green chile.

Phased Rollout

The Blake’s training team divided the rollout into three phases: District Managers, General Managers, and all remaining store-level employees. Phases 1 and 2 of the implementation process allowed the District, General, and Assistant Managers to “test out” the LMS so they could become comfortable with the system. This also exempted managers from the 10-day crew member training that is now required for all store level employees. The final phase of the implementation process included uploading approximately 1,700 employees with 282 existing completions.

“We are very excited about the consistency that DiscoverLink Talent will bring to both our training and our products,” said Cristin Heyns, Vice President of Human Resources & General Counsel for Blake’s Lotaburger. “This system is very user-friendly, and the implementation team has been a wonderful resource when questions arise.”

Keeping it Fun

To keep employees engaged, Blake’s included a fun twist in the LMS. During new hire orientation, Blake’s created a Store Tour Scavenger Hunt with a checklist that sends new hires throughout the store to complete the hunt. The first clue starts out, “Guess what?! You are not a volunteer! In order to be paid for your time, you must always remember to clock in when you arrive and to clock out when you leave. Now, go find where you clock in/out in your store and type it in the comment section.”

For positional training, Blake’s is using videos to show how to perform certain functions at different stations – their Fry Station video features an employee with a fry mask and Darth Vader breathing sound effects to go with it.

Additionally, Blake’s created fun exam questions and motivational feedback to keep users interested with phrases like:

“You are a breakfast rock star!”

“Uh oh, it looks like our eggs aren’t the only things that are scrambled”

“Aww man, and I thought that was an easy one!”

“I kinda gave you the answer there…”

“Keep on clicking buddy – this time they were ALL correct.”

Existing employees will have the ability to take a series of exams to receive credit for their learning programs. If they pass, they will not have to repeat their training, but if they do not pass they will be assigned the learning program associated with the exam they did not pass.

Content is Key

“Something unique about Blake’s is the training team designed the campus to train all new hires their roles and key compliance areas,” said Mike Andrews, Account Manager for DiscoverLink. “They designed a solid plan and executed that plan to perfection.”

DiscoverLink’s restaurant-specific training content provided an easy way to implement their plan immediately. In addition to DiscoverLink Talent, Blake’s has licensed multiple courses from the DiscoverLink Content Library including Handwashing, Food Safety Awareness, and OSHA Compliance.