Our client, a leading MOOC provider, sought to expand its course catalog with career-focused certifications and short-courses, but faced the challenge of finding subject matter experts (SMEs) who combined industry expertise with a passion for teaching. SweetRush’s unique blend of L&D experts staffing and custom learning solutions enabled us to hand-select “unicorn SMEs” who not only shaped the curriculum but also delivered compelling instruction, resulting in 14 top-rated certificate programs reaching millions of learners globally.
The Client and Need
Our client, a massive open online course (MOOC) provider with more than one hundred million registered users,identified an opportunityto expand its existing library to include career-based certificate programs and short-form courses. Focusing on in-demand skills in areas such as IT support, AR development, UX design, project management, data analytics, and supply chain management, our client’s goal was to equip its users with the skills needed to excel in today’s competitive job market.
With an existing content library of more than 7,000 courses that include programs developed by many of the world’s leading brands and universities, the new courses needed to uphold the quality and standards that our client’s audience have come to expect.
The courses needed to:
Drive real-world impact, ensuring graduates are equipped with the skills needed to excel in today’s competitive job market.
Engage a diverse audience by connecting with global learners from all walks of life through authentic and relatable learning experiences.
The Challenge
To execute their vision, our client needed a solutions provider who could bring academic rigor and real-world relevance while delivering an exceptional learner experience.
Specifically, our client needed a partner with access to subject matter experts (SMEs) who have industry experience and expertise and a passion to teach—SMEs who can translate their deep knowledge into compelling educational content.
Our two decades of L&D expertise means we know what makes a great SME tick—both on paper and in the virtual classroom.
Our vast network of talent connects us with industry leaders eager to share their knowledge.
Our rigorous staff augmentation vetting process enables us to handpick the experts who meet our client’s exacting needs—in this instance, those with a passion for teaching and a knack for storytelling.
Client Testimonial:
“SweetRush understands our needs deeply. They have taken the pressure off of us when it comes to onboarding SMEs to the requirements of content development. They leverage their expertise to help us find unicorn SMEs who are not only experts in their field but also excel at creating content. They have done so at a reasonable cost and on impressive timelines.”
—Senior Program Manager, SweetRush Client
Once screened, selected, and onboarded, these “unicorn SMEs” played a crucial role in:
Recommending the learner journey: Supporting the client with curriculum design including consulting on the learning objectives, content outlines, and the sequence, structure, and flow of the learner journey
Creating authentic hands-on activities: Drawing inspiration from their own experiences to recommend and co-create authentic, realistic, and impactful scenarios
Developing meaningful assessments: Ensuring learners are equipped with and tested on the knowledge and skills they need to face challenges in the real world
Crafting compelling video scripts: Lending authentic voices, perspectives, nuance, and stories that engage, motivate, build trust with, and inspire learners
In addition, some of the SMEs we placed, specifically those with expertise in cutting-edge topics like generative AI and nuanced areas such as DEI, were invited to star in the videos and present the content.
The Results
Our staff augmentation partnership has led to the creation of 14 industry-leading certificates, each featuring more than 90 hours of engaging, practical instruction that have reached millions of learners worldwide.
Boasting an average learner rating of 4.8 out of 5, the certification programs and courseshave consistently ranked among the most popular on the client’s platform. This feedback speaks to the effectiveness and appeal of our expert-led approach to upskilling and reskilling. SweetRush’s ability to consistently source top-notch SME talent has earned us the client’s highest quality rating (5 out of 5 stars) and secured our position as their exclusive vendor for SME resourcing.
When We Succeed, You Succeed!
Our success in exceeding the high expectations of today’s learners has solidified our client’s reputation as a pioneer in the online education space, demonstrating the power of collaboration, expertise, and a shared vision for the future of learning.
When a global tech giant sought to transform their internal cloud training into a market-disrupting certification program, they turned to SweetRush L&D Talent Solutions. We orchestrated a rapid talent infusion, placing 12 L&D experts to turn this ambitious vision into reality. The result? A certification program that exceeded expectations, cementing the company’s position as a cloud innovator and market leader.
The Client and Need
Our client, a global tech powerhouse, had a bold ambition: take their existing cloud training, designed for internal upskilling, and transform it into a public, industry-leading certification program. Their goal was to become a recognized authority in the cloud space, differentiating themselves from established players like AWS and Google Cloud.
To achieve this, they needed to create a certification program that not only met rigorous standards but also delivered an engaging, high-quality learning experience that would resonate with a wide audience.
The Challenge
While the client had a strong internal L&D team, they lacked the bandwidth and specialized skill sets required to execute such a large-scale and complex undertaking. They needed to rapidly expand their team with experts across multiple disciplines, from instructional design and program management to learning technologies and assessment.
Finding the right talent quickly and efficiently was critical. The client needed a partner with proven experience in staff augmentation for L&D who could understand their unique needs and provide a tailored solution.
The SweetRush Solution
With over a decade of experience in L&D staffing, SweetRush Talent Solutions stepped up to the challenge. We worked closely with the client to understand their vision and identify the specific expertise gaps that needed to be filled. We then developed a custom, phased recruitment strategy that prioritized filling critical roles first, ensuring a seamless integration of new talent into the existing team.
Our deep network of L&D professionals allowed us to quickly identify and place top talent in key roles, including:
Program Management: Experienced professionals to oversee the project, manage resources, and ensure alignment with the client’s goals.
Learning Experience Design: Instructional designers, content developers, and multimedia specialists to create engaging and effective learning experiences.
Assessment and Accreditation: Experts in psychometrics and accreditation to ensure the program met rigorous industry standards.
Learning Technology: LMS architects, administrators, and technical specialists to build and maintain the technological infrastructure of the program.
The Results
We successfully filled more than a dozen specialized roles, providing the client with the expertise they needed to move their project forward at full speed. Our phased recruitment strategy ensured a seamless integration of new talent, minimizing disruption and maximizing productivity.
The results were impressive!
Rapid Placement: All roles were filled and onboarded within weeks, with an average placement time of three weeks per talent.
Zero Turnover: 100% of the talent placed by SweetRush remained on the project for the duration of their contract, a testament to our rigorous screening process and commitment to ongoing support.
Client Satisfaction: The client was thrilled with the quality of talent and the collaborative partnership we provided, leading to an ongoing relationship that continues to this day.
Client Testimonial:
“SweetRush excels at finding and providing true expertise, and in nurturing their team members, providing them with the necessary support to thrive while also employing strategic resourcing practices.This has made my life easier in knowing I have a partner that is deeply committed to the project’s success.”
—Program Manager, SweetRush Client
Conclusion
SweetRush Talent Solutions’ ability to quickly identify and place top L&D talent was instrumental in helping our client achieve their ambitious goal. Our collaborative approach, commitment to quality, and focus on building strong partnerships enabled the client to launch a market-leading certification program that has solidified their position as a cloud innovator.
An insider’s look at leading-edge learning innovation at Hilton
We’re entering our second year of generative AI buzz, but organizations are just beginning to scratch the surface, with most using the technology to create first drafts, identify data patterns, and summarize lengthy texts. Meanwhile, they’re leaving nuanced human pursuits like critical thinking, creativity, relationship building, ethics, and navigating complex and ambiguous situations to…well, their humans.
Training is another pursuit that’s been left to humans: None of the 1,600+ respondents to a global survey on the state of generative AI called out training as a use case.
This vast, virtually untapped opportunity is what makes generative AI so exciting for L&D innovators—like our friends at Hilton. Read on to discover how the Hilton-SweetRush team set out on an exploratory mission into the heart of generative AI… and emerged with a leading-edge immersive learning experience.
Generative AI: Hilton’s L&D Use Case
With a robust portfolio of effective, engaging WebXR and native VR learning solutions, the Hilton-SweetRush team were already veteran immersive learning creators. Amazing experiences such as Hotel Immersion and Exceed with Empathy (see below) place learners in someone else’s shoes—and drop them into interactive, day-in-the-life scenarios that help them gain insight and empathy.
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Learner Audience: Newly hired team members
Purpose: Help learners gain empathy for hotel operations team members.
The Experience: The Hilton-SweetRush team wanted newly hired team members to experience a day in the life of the hotel operations team members who drive results via brand standards. In this energetic simulation, learners land in a Hilton hotel—and work against the clock to assemble room-service trays, clean a guest room, and check guests in at the front desk. Learners access this experience via a headset, which gives them the freedom to move around and interact with objects in these 3D spaces.
Learner Audience: Hotel operations team members
Purpose: Help learners develop empathy for guests.
The Experience: Learners step into the shoes of a guest waiting in a long line to check in, after hours of travel; a guest who’s served the wrong order at the restaurant; and another who finds that the conference room they’ve booked is improperly set up. After each experience, they reflect on their mood, gain greater insight into the guest experience, and discover how to exceed guest expectations.
In spring 2023, the team began to wonder how they might leverage generative AI to take Hilton’s immersive learning game up a notch. The timing was right, and so was the learning need: Create an engaging, effective, and scalable immersive experience to help hotel operations staff practice their guest service skills.
Read on for background about the business and learning needs—and how the team met them with creativity, ingenuity, and industry-first technology.
Hilton’s Business Need: Deliver a Reliable and Friendly Stay
Guest feedback shared the wish for a reliable, consistent, and friendly stay, where team members treat every guest like a friend. Thus the powerful impetus for Hilton’s leading-edge guest service skills training was born.
This impactful learning journey, called Make It Right, features a variety of bite-sized eLearning modules, pre-shift team meetings, videos and more.
One part of Make It Right focuses on service recovery with HEART, Hilton’s five-step problem-resolution model (see below).
At this stage in the learning journey, Hilton team members are equipped with a good understanding of HEART. But knowing the five steps and their purpose and putting them into practice—especially under pressure—are two different things.
Like so many interpersonal skills, service recovery requires plenty of trial, error, and feedback before learners achieve competency. While role-plays are one way to achieve this, Hilton chose a virtual environment to build confidence with their teams during their training process.
Would this catch-22 derail the opportunity for hands-on practice of the HEART model? Not for the Hilton-SweetRush team!
WebXR and Generative AI: Scalable Immersive Learning for Hilton’s Global Audience
The Hilton-SweetRush team rose to the challenge by creating a capstone experience that brought hands-on HEART practice to team members across all its hotels.
How? By leveraging WebXR, a super-scalable virtual reality learning technology.
Because WebXR content lives on a web browser and can be accessed by learners with or without a headset, it’s an ideal modality to bring the benefits of virtual learning to a distributed global audience like Hilton’s.
Helping Hilton team members speak from the heart was the perfect learning use case for WebXR. To practice these vital service recovery skills, they created the Delivering on Our Customer Promise experience. This WebXR- and AI-powered simulation drops learners into three different scenarios with concerned guests, each of whom explains their problem and waits expectantly for a response.
These scenarios make learners sweat a little, just as real service recovery situations do. Yet rather than risk real relationships with Hilton guests, they find their feet—and voices—within a safe, authentic virtual practice space.
Generative AI: Hilton’s High-Tech Human Skills Coach
Hilton’s Delivering on Our Customer Promise WebXR adventure was already a leading-edge learning experience—but the team’s addition of generative AI lands it among L&D industry firsts.
Here’s how generative AI helps learners make it right: After listening to the guest explain their problem, learners speak their response into their device’s microphone, using the HEART steps they’ve learned.
The simulation records their response, converts it into text, and feeds the text of the response into a Large Language Model (LLM). On the back end, the LLM, which has been carefully “trained” by SweetRush SMEs, creates a response to the learner’s attempt. (Discover how SweetRush’s exacting SMEs systematically trained the LLM to evaluate learner input and deliver relevant, actionable feedback.)
Learners receive feedback and a grade of pass or fail on each step of Hilton’s HEART model. Though most learners can tackle the HART, most find the E, or Empathize, to be a challenge.
After completing each scenario, learners can then reattempt it as many times as they like, receiving targeted feedback each time.
Learner Experience (LX): Designed by Experts, Hosted by VIC
To create the greatest impact, the team focused the WebXR experience on three different scenarios, all based on top guest problems:
Room climate controls
Food and beverage options
Special room requests not met
Using their best storytelling and dialogue-writing practices, the team built branching scenarios featuring a guest interaction in different areas of the hotel. These in-room, front-desk, and breakfast-area conversations could end with positive, negative, or neutral results based upon the learner’s input.
The instructional designer worked closely with Hilton SMEs to craft realistic guest scenarios—and responses that matched Hilton’s high standards and signature service recovery methods.
This guest visits the front desk to express frustration with the air conditioning unit in her room. It rattled all night, and she didn’t get any sleep. The learner’s challenge: Respond with HEART.
This guest has been working on a presentation all morning and missed breakfast. Learners think on their feet to offer a heartfelt resolution.
This guest hasn’t received the in-room amenities he requested when he made his reservation. The learner has only moments to Make It Right.
Making It Look, Sound, and Feel Right: Designing in 3D
Appearance matters for a 360° immersive experience, and a realistic setting is an important part of creating an authentic immersive scenario. The team custom-created these lifelike settings by taking photographs at real Hilton properties—and the SweetRush extended reality (XR) team built depth and detail into each scene.
The guests’ avatars needed to be as diverse and expressive as Hilton’s guests are in real life, with the tone of voice, gestures, facial expressions, and posture that reflects their mood and level of satisfaction.
Why this painstaking care? To truly immerse learners, they need to feel that they’re face to face with a real guest in a real Hilton hotel.
Because of the complexity of the scenarios and their different potential outcomes, the creative director, instructional designer, and XR team worked closely together to ensure that the content, audio, and visual treatment informed one another.
Like any great guest experience, the HEART model trainingexperience needed a great host who would encourage learners and serve as their guide throughout all three scenarios. VIC, Hilton’s friendly robot emcee (and breakout star of previous VR experiences), was up to the task, hovering in the scene with helpful instructions, a HEART walkthrough, and learner feedback. (Join us for a demo of this leading-edge immersive AI coaching experience at Training Industry’s Leader Talk: Using AI to Transform Content Development.)
Leading-Edge Learning at Your Organization: Leverage Generative AI Coaching and Immersive Training for Your Unique Needs
Feeling inspired by Hilton’s generative AI-powered, immersive learning VICtory? We’re with you!
We’ve loved sharing the story of how one innovative client-partner leveraged the leading-edge powers of WebXR and generative AI to meet Hilton’s deeply human business need: a warm welcome and friendly stay for every guest.
If you’re curious about how to apply WebXR and generative AI to your organization’s unique needs and learners, we’ve got you covered!
In the following changing corporate culture case study, you will learn more about the concept of the culture change journey. It’s important to recognize that every organization whose leadership chooses to embark on such a journey has different intentions and approaches toward cultural transformation. There is not just one way but many ways to successfully work with your organizational culture.
“I believe that the culture of our business is critical to its success. We monitor our culture using an annual process of engagement with all our people—the Barrett Cultural Values Assessment. Managers all around the organization are tasked to address issues raised. … We understand and believe in the importance of putting our customers at the heart of our business and creating the right culture and behaviors to support our vision of becoming our customers’ most trusted partner. This will continue to be critical to our success as we head into the future.”
—Julian Roberts, CEO, Old Mutual PLC
Old Mutual Group is a leading international long-term savings, investment, and protection group. Three of Old Mutual Group’s well-known brands at the time of writing are Nedbank, Old Mutual, and Skandia.
Transformation and culture change across all the Old Mutual Group businesses started with Nedbank in 2005. It became group-wide when the aspiration of becoming “our customers’ most trusted partner” was articulated as part of the Old Mutual Group vision in 2010.
Work was done with the executive leadership teams to increase self-awareness, build trust in relationships, and cascade a practice of strategic storytelling. Organizational structures and processes were aligned to support the development of the desired culture from the top down, including the group operating model, performance management, selection assessment, leadership development, and, most recently, the incorporation of cultural entropy levels (a measure of dysfunction) into the long-term incentive plan for executives. Staff members were confident the organization was taking its values and culture seriously.
Recognizing that working with the top leaders would not be enough to catalyze and sustain the change in the geographically dispersed teams, Old Mutual began to embed a capacity for culture change into the business via the introduction of Culture Leads, first in its UK-based Wealth business and later in the South Africa-based Emerging Markets businesses.
Culture Leads are equipped with a set of skills to support transformation and culture change in their teams. The Culture Leads are skilled in making change happen “on the ground” in their part of the business. An important aspect of the role is to both support and challenge the Executive Committee members to drive the culture change agenda and carry this agenda, or change story, further into the organization. Thus, the culture transformation is embedded throughout multiple levels in the business.
In 2017, Ashley Munday, Former Director of Thrive by SweetRush, and Tor Eneroth, Director of Cultural Transformation at Barrett Values Centre, wrote an eBook as a resource and workbook for leaders to get started on the culture journey in a meaningful and tactical way. To accommodate as many leaders as possible, we have converted the content into a series of articles that can be read piece by piece and will be publishing them on a weekly basis. We invite you to consume the material at your own pace and welcome your feedback and questions along the way. Thrive by SweetRush is now known as Transforming Leaders and Culture (TLC) by SweetRush. Please reach out to begin transforming your organization today!
If you’re reading this series, we know you are a leader who understands and cares about the way your organization’s culture supports its people and its purpose—for that, we thank you! Check out the other articles in this series:
In the following culture change case study, you will learn more about the concept of the culture change journey. It’s important to recognize that every organization whose leadership chooses to embark on such a journey has different intentions and approaches toward cultural transformation. There is not just one way but many ways to successfully work with your organizational culture.
Volvo IT is a global company based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its primary role is to provide IT services and support teams to the global network of Volvo industries. It worked proactively with its culture starting in 2000, led by a full-time Culture Manager who was a nonvoting member of the executive team.
This culture change case study covers Volvo IT’s cultural transformation and development journey over 11 years (2000–2011).
The fundamental intention and belief with this Culture Ambassador Program was to empower and train all formal and informal leaders to develop their capability to grow a desired culture. It was an ongoing journey to find, define, grow, and care for their espoused core values.
The culture work’s focus evolved as Volvo IT responded to the changing market conditions, strategic ambitions, and needs of the organization, employees, and stakeholders.
Here are the themes that emerged over the years in the company’s culture change journey through:
GROW ONE COMPANY:
THE VOLVO IT IDENTITY (2000–2002)
At the start of the journey, Volvo IT was a newly formed company created by consolidating the IT departments from seven Volvo business units plus the Group IT department. The first challenge was to form a shared culture for the new organization that was mainly in Sweden, Belgium, and the United States. Teams were identified with their old business units, so there wasn’t a shared identity. This led to internal positioning and competition. The company’s key challenge was to develop a shared set of values and culture among the dispersed teams and create one Volvo IT identity.
GROW CUSTOMER FOCUS
(2003–2008)
Once the cultural norms had been established internally, Volvo IT began to focus externally. After it became a separate entity from Volvo, the former internal relationships turned into customer/supplier relationships, which called for new behaviors and attitudes. Additionally, Volvo IT started serving external customers. During this period, Volvo IT grew from 3,000 employees to 7,000 employees at its peak in 2009.
ENSURE RESILIENCE:
CULTURE IN DOWNTURN (2008–2010)
As soon as the financial crisis hit, business at Volvo and Volvo IT declined. Volvo IT had to make urgent decisions to cope with the recession. Consequently, it let go 2,000 of its 7,000 employees and consultants in six months’ time to adjust to reduced business volume. While it was a difficult time, leadership was conscientious about living their values to maintain their desired culture and not erode trust. Employees knew that it was a matter of long-term sustainability. Employee satisfaction rates remained around 90%.
REALIZE STRATEGY:
CULTURE AS AN ENABLER (2010–2011)
Once the market began to recover, Volvo IT grew again, reaching 7,000 employees and contractors in 2011. During this period, the focus of the company was on fulfilling its strategy while continuing to develop and care for its culture.
THE OUTCOME
Volvo IT maintained extraordinarily high levels of employee satisfaction, even when it had to reduce its staff by 2,000 employees. Its Employee Satisfaction Index remained around 90% over five years.
Customer satisfaction increased more than 30% during this decade. Several customers surveyed had 100% satisfaction.
Project delivery precision improved 55% to 90%.
The company was selected as best in class for most attractive IT employer (rated by Universum).
Volvo IT’s culture change case study is proof of the power of commitment to the culture change journey.
In 2017, Ashley Munday, Former Director of Thrive by SweetRush, and Tor Eneroth, Director of Cultural Transformation at Barrett Values Centre, wrote an eBook as a resource and workbook for leaders to get started on the culture journey in a meaningful and tactical way. To accommodate as many leaders as possible, we have converted the content into a series of articles that can be read piece by piece and will be publishing them on a weekly basis. We invite you to consume the material at your own pace and welcome your feedback and questions along the way. Thrive by SweetRush is now known as Transforming Leaders and Culture (TLC) by SweetRush. Please reach out to begin transforming your organization today!
If you’re reading this series, we know you are a leader who understands and cares about the way your organization’s culture supports its people and its purpose—for that, we thank you! Check out the other articles in this series:
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