The Luby’s Fuddruckers training team recently launched the DiscoverLink Talent learning management system (LMS) to all 115 locations. Based in Houston, Luby’s Fuddruckers operates under the brands Luby’s, Fuddruckers, and Cheeseburger in Paradise. With locations primarily in Texas, Luby’s is a cafeteria-style chain, while Fuddruckers and Cheeseburger in Paradise are both casual dining restaurants. They also have several locations that operate both Luby’s and Fuddruckers under the same roof as a combined establishment.

From Old to New

Luby’s Fuddruckers set off on a mission to replace their previous LMS as it no longer met their needs. Their previous system was outdated, and the support was lacking. Going forward, Luby’s Fuddruckers wanted to provide “targeted training” for team members, managers, and corporate staff. Additionally, they needed to support their franchise system, so they were searching for an LMS that had the capability to handle both corporate and franchise environments.

“We definitely felt like we outgrew our last LMS as there was not much innovation during our time there as a client,” said Brandy Ramos, Training Curriculum Manager for Luby’s Fuddruckers. “We quickly recognized the need to find a system that would grow with us so we could continue moving forward as well as maximize how we could utilize the system.”

Questions and Courses Galore!

As part of DiscoverLink’s full-service onboarding process, the DiscoverLink team worked with the Luby’s Fuddruckers training department to migrate existing employee data, export training courses and upload them into new learning programs, and recreate exams.

In DiscoverLink Talent LMS, a feature called Exam Question Bank allows brands to store questions in a bank to create questions once and then use them in multiple exams. Questions can be categorized with three classification levels to enable granular randomization, and question edits are automatically propagated to all applicable exams. The DiscoverLink team uploaded more than 1,300 questions into the Question Bank and even rewrote questions to take advantage of the seven question types available in DiscoverLink Talent. They also worked to remove duplicate questions and re-categorized questions into general categories; for example, questions about handwashing are now listed under a Safety category.

In addition to the large number of questions in their Question Bank, Luby’s Fuddruckers has more than 130 training courses uploaded to the LMS. Their courses are extremely interactive, which helps to keep learners engaged in the content. Luby’s and Fuddruckers each have separate learning programs, but they do have a combined onboarding orientation program that shares six courses across both brands. DiscoverLink Talent’s unique multi-brand structure makes this possible and streamlines administration.

Additionally, Luby’s Fuddruckers is now able to see, at a glance, who has completed their training courses, which is something they did not have with their previous LMS. Lastly, for those managers who were unable to attend the live training session with the DiscoverLink team, Luby’s Fuddruckers recorded the session and turned it into a course.

“The DiscoverLink Dashboard has been a big hit with our Certified Trainers and Management since all employees and completion status are now visible in one view,” said Ramos. “In the past, our managers literally had to pull up one person at a time to find completion status, which was very cumbersome and ultimately discouraged its use.”

Brand Autonomy

Since Luby’s and Fuddruckers mostly function as two separate brands, each brand maintains its identity by displaying its own logo, color, and unique login page. The Luby’s login page displays a different scene than the Fuddrucker’s page. Each brand also manages its own training programs and has administrative access to customize their permissions and learning programs. The full functionality of DiscoverLink Talent is available on each sub-campus, and each brand has the flexibility to use it in different ways.

A Blended Learning Approach

DiscoverLink Talent facilitates blended learning with a feature called Wait Time, which allows admins to assign predefined waiting periods within a learning program that forces learners to pause for a specific amount of time before progressing on to their next assignment. Luby’s Fuddruckers has implemented two key Wait Times in their training. The first is a 30-minute wait for a tour of the restaurant with “a friendly manager or trainer.” The second is a 60-minute Wait Time with the message:

Please spend the next hour “shadowing” or observing a team member in the position you will be working. This will help give you a good feel for exactly what you will be doing in your new role. You may continue your e-learning once you have completed your shadow shift.

Wait Time allows learners to practice new skills or participate in hands-on training before continuing with e-learning. It also prevents long, uninterrupted periods of e-learning, and promotes a more effective phased training approach.

“One of the reasons I believe this partnership will be a success is because they specifically chose us due to our passion and commitment to the restaurant industry,” said Jason Jones, Business Development Manager for DiscoverLink. “This has produced a close working relationship with Luby’s Fuddruckers that I believe will ultimately result in a best-in-class e-learning program for their employees.”