Category: Learning Experience Design

How Mobile Sales Enablement Makes Loyal Salespeople

by Danny Brenes

Loyal retail sales associates mean better sales for product manufacturers. Here’s a story on the benefits of training sales associates to love your brand—and how to do it through mobile sales enablement.

I’m going to tell you the story of the best shoes I’ve ever owned.

Many years ago, my dad gave me some money to get new shoes. I was a teenager, going through my skateboarding phase—yes, I got over it—and I wanted my shoes to look swaggy as hell. I wanted to look like Tony Hawk and Chad Muska and all the other skateboarders my friends and I saw at the X Games.

I ran to the store, anxious to spend the $60 my dad gave me on the coolest shoes I could find. I already knew which ones I wanted. The new Chad Muskas—the signature shoe of my favorite skateboarder—had just arrived. And, by God, I was gonna get them, no matter what they looked like, no matter the cost.

Once I got to the shoe-covered wall inside the store, I froze.

The Chad Muskas were these yellow-and-green-and-orange monstrosities that no sane 14-year-old kid would want to wear. And then there was the price tag: $100.

That’s when the sales guy came over to help. I don’t remember his name, but let’s call him John. John said hi and asked me if I needed some help.

“Well, I’m looking for the new Chad Muskas,” I said back.

“Oh yeah, man, they’re right over here,” he said, pointing at the monstrosities I already had my eyes on.

I cringed, and he noticed.

“They’re not the prettiest-looking shoes, huh,” he said.

“I—I don’t know, man. It’s the Chad Muskas—but…”

John smiled and leaned toward me.

“Look, they’re expensive and they’re kind of hideous. I know you want to look cool and impress your friends. I get it, but Chad Muska is going to go away pretty soon. You know who’s going to be big at the X Games? Bob Burnquist. Check out his new shoes.”

He pointed at some way-prettier black shoes with blue and gray details. I remembered the name Bob Burnquist from the magazines my friends and I read.

“How much are these?” I asked.

“$60, but I’ll give you a discount. You can have them for $50.”

“Really?” I smiled. I could even save some money (that I would absolutely not give back to my dad, of course).

“Yeah, man. Trust me, you’re gonna have the coolest shoes in town.” John smiled as we walked to the cashier.

A few months later, when Bob Burnquist won gold at the X Games, my friends asked, “Hey, isn’t he the guy from your shoes?”

***

I was lucky. Instead of walking out with expensive, ugly shoes, I ended up with a great product thanks to the help of an informed, well-trained, and empathic sales associate. Thanks, John!

While the younger me thought he knew what he wanted, these days customers often walk in the door with much more knowledge. Before they buy, they do their research, read reviews, and speak to people they trust about products.

As Danielle Hart, Director of Marketing at SweetRush, explains, knowledgeable customers have high expectations for sales associates. Customers expect associates to be one step ahead of them and to fully grasp the product as well as make recommendations for their specific needs.

“This situation is an opportunity for product manufacturers: If sales associates are more knowledgeable about their products, they will sell more of their products rather than their competitors’,” wrote Hart in her article “Enabling Sales and Building Brand Loyalty with Mobile Performance Support.”

She adds: “And, if the manufacturer provides sellers with tools that make selling easier, it can build brand loyalty and affinity with associates, which can also lead to increased sales.”

mobile sales enablement

Taking sales associates “off the floor” to train them to sell your products at a retail store is not realistic. That’s why anyone who needs to upskill and support  retail associates should be thinking mobile sales enablement.

“With mobile performance support, sales enablement, and product knowledge training can be seamlessly integrated—guiding the sales process, offering just-in-time learning, and reducing training and selling time for associates,” adds Hart. It also provides an opportunity to integrate augmented reality (AR), which can increase the engagement factor for associates.

Head over to Training Industry and read “Enabling Sales and Building Brand Loyalty with Mobile Performance Support” to learn about best practices for developing tools for mobile sales enablement.

And for more insights and considerations for implementing AR, check out What Augmented Reality Training Is And How To Leverage It In Your L&D Process. 

 

 

The Perks of Offering Training Programs for Retail Employees

by Danny Brenes

Training programs for retail employees can turn millennials and Gen Z—who are becoming the largest age group in the industry’s workforce—from casual workers to loyal associates.

I got my first job when I was 18. For little more than a year, I worked at a call center, taking calls for a sports betting company. I had to give betting lines to customers, update scores, and ease the nerves of people risking a lot of money during games.

I was horrible at it.

The job wasn’t really exciting or challenging; most of the time, I was bored out of my mind and was only looking forward to checking out and leave.

I remember the one time I actually felt I was learning something: About eight months into the job, they taught me how to take horse bets. A guy named Nick, an expert in horse racing, sat down with me and taught me all I needed to know about the “sport of kings;” he also told me there were far greater opportunities in the horse racing department and that I had potential.

Sadly, that was a one-time deal: I didn’t receive further training whatsoever. I scarcely took any horse bets, never heard of open positions in their department, and whenever I ran into Nick, he barely said hi to me.

That sounds sad and impractical, right? Having an unmotivated young workforce is something you’d want to avoid, right?

Well…

Millennials (such as myself) and Gen Zers make up an increasingly large part of the retail workforce. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center [1], millennials are already the largest generation in the US labor force.

Moreover, according to EY, this young core of retail employees actually want to learn and improve in their jobs, which is great for businesses: Companies want to turn their employees into associates who can provide great customer experience and boost sales. “(Millennials and Gen Z) find career-focused perks and professional development opportunities more important than other opportunities,” says the EY study.

Here’s the bad news, though: Lessonly [3] research revealed that 46 percent of retail associates don’t receive enough training to perform their jobs effectively, and 54 percent of retailers are looking for better associate training and enablement.

In How Training Can Engage and Retain Millennial and Gen Z Retail Associates, an article published by Training Industry, author Taryn Oesch explores how training programs for retail employees can turn uninvested workers into trustworthy associates who want to build a career within their company.

Training is a genuine investment, especially when it involves younger employees who are only now starting their career path. Oesch says that training lets team members know they are valued. “Providing clear career paths, for example, shows associates that you believe they are important and can improve retention by showing them their long-term potential with the company,” she writes.

Further, she quotes Annie Hodson, a Solution Architect at SweetRush, who says that “many retail employees may not know about the many career pathways available to them within a particular company once they achieve new skills.” Talent development programs can help companies retain Gen Z employees, and show them they have a path for growth at the organization.

We’re learning more about these demographics and what they value in their work environments all the time. “Authenticity is important to millennials and Gen Z employees. They want to be part of organizations that have similar values and that they feel like they are doing good things in the world,” Hodson adds.

For a more in-depth look at how training young employees can turn into a great business decision, head over to Training Industry and read Taryn Oesch’s full article, How Training Can Engage and Retain Millennial and Gen Z Retail Associates.

training programs for retail employees

 

Resources

  1. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/11/millennials-largest-generation-us-labor-force/
  2. https://www.lessonly.com/blog/2018-state-retail-employee-training-infographic/

 

What Bart Simpson Teaches Us About Detours in Adaptive Learning

by Danny Brenes

According to an in-depth article by SweetRush, providing detours in adaptive learning reduces boredom and increases focus and attention.

I want to talk about The Simpsons.

Actually, I want to talk about a particular scene in season 6, episode 4, when the family takes a road trip to Itchy & Scratchy Land. It’s an exciting time for Bart and Lisa; it took them some time to convince their parents, Homer and Marge, to go, so both kids are really happy when they hit the road. The drive is long, though, and Bart and Lisa eventually get bored in the back seat of the car—until they see a billboard on the side of the road.

“Next Flickey’s, 680 miles,” it reads in big, bold letters accompanied by a picture of a cup of coffee and a doughnut. The kids get super excited as the billboards keep getting better: “Next Flickey’s, 416 miles,” “Next Flickey’s, 277 miles.” Finally, after they pass a billboard that says Flickey’s is 42 miles away, Bart, his eyes full of hope, asks Homer, “Dad, can we go to Flickey’s?”

“No,” says Homer, and the family car drives past the restaurant.

Then the next billboard says, “Next Flickey’s, 25,000 miles,” and the kids are once again bored out of their minds.

Trust me, it’s funnier when you watch it:

 

Why is an old cartoon episode even relevant here? Well, I believe this scene works as a metaphor for an important challenge in learning and development (L&D): the challenge of giving learners what they want to learn while keeping them engaged and on track to meet our learning objectives.

We’re talking about adapting your training to each learner’s knowledge and preferences, answering questions, offering complementary information, and avoiding repetition of information.

Say you’re an L&D manager and you’ve hired a new employee, Bob. On his first day, you talk about the waterfall method, which your company uses to develop training. Bob interrupts and asks, “What’s the waterfall method?” You then stop and explain how that process works.

That deviation—when you stop and adapt your conversation with someone to make sure everything’s clear, bring more information to the table, or skip what the learner already knows—is what John Cleave, Ph.D., an eLearning Technologist at SweetRush, calls “detours.”

In his article “Using Detours to Drive Adaptive Learning,” Cleave explains that a “well-designed eLearning program should include many (detours).”

“The big win with detours is efficiency. People sit through only the training they need and don’t waste time on topics they already know,” he writes. “By not telling learners things they already know, you reduce boredom, and learners are more likely to pay attention.”

Think of your learners as Bart and Lisa Simpson: they really need that detour to Flickey’s. They’re excited about the trip, but something has caught their eye, and they also want to learn more about that. Cleave’s advice is, in essence, don’t be a Homer. Give your learners all the Flickey’s detours they want, as well as an easy, intuitive path to return to the core learning, because that will keep them invested and engaged in whatever educational journey they’re taking.

Detours, however, can be conceptually challenging. To understand how to develop them, you’ll first need to get familiar with the concept of detours, their different types, and the hurdles they pose.

To learn all about detours in adaptive learning, and the processes for developing them in eLearning, make sure to read John Cleave’s in-depth article, available now for download.

cost-effective ways to offer adaptive learning to your audience

Learning Rush Alert: Sales Training Best Practices and Techniques

by Carolina Montero

Enjoy this curated list of articles featuring sales training best practices and techniques.

Of all the areas in which companies invest in custom learning solutions, sales training continues to be at the top of the list. And for good reason: from building product knowledge to honing sales skills, improving the performance of sales professionals has a direct impact on the bottom line.

What will engage your sales audience—and motivate them to complete your training—when they could be spending that time making sales? Some of the sales training best practices and techniques we’ve found to be effective are keeping it short (microlearning), offering learning at the point of need (mobile learning), and adding in some friendly competition (gamification).

We’ve curated this list of great sales training best practices and techniques from industry experts to help you create compelling and effective sales training programs. Check out the articles below!

Set Clear Objectives for Better Sales Training Results

Before you start designing your sales training program, begin with the end in mind! Define outcomes, identify gaps, and formulate a team approach. This article features sales training best practices and techniques that ensure your program addresses your business need.
Read more: 3 Steps to Creating Sales Training Programs That Deliver Business Objectives

Consider Educational Marketing

Discover how we use educational marketing (also known as education-based marketing) to win the hearts and minds of sales associates who work at independent dealers.
Read more: Educational Marketing: Win the Hearts and Minds of Sales Associates

What Do Sales Professionals Want to Learn?

The results of a survey on the learning preferences of salespeople reveal that reps and managers have different expectations and desires for training methods and topics. This article describes modern training strategies that you can use to deliver sales training that sales professionals want to learn and will retain.
Read more: How to Make Sales Training Actually Stick

Using Training to Improve Sales Skills

Two challenges that often arise in developing sales training are short attention spans and working with sellers’ distinct selling styles. These five techniques will help you improve your team’s skills while addressing these challenges.
Read more: 5 Training Fundamentals Every Sales Manager Should Know

Generation Z: Entering the Retail Sales Workforce

One of the common entry-level jobs for young people is retail sales associate, and as Gen Zers reach their late teens, they are starting to join the workforce. This article will give you an introduction to the most “connected” generation and ideas for training this audience to sell.
Read more: Gen Z: Training to Unlock a Generation’s Potential

Check out our previous Learning Rush Alerts:

 

Educational Marketing: Win the Hearts and Minds of Sales Associates

by Danielle Hart

Educational marketing is the sweet spot at the intersection of training and marketing, with the same end goal of behavior change.

The Challenge: Our client, a large consumer goods manufacturer, discovered that 92 percent of customers wanted a knowledgeable salesperson to sell them products. However, sales associates work in independent stores with many brands to sell, and they’re not mandated to take product knowledge courses from individual brands.

The Solution: Create highly engaging educational marketing that makes associates better salespeople.

What is the “moment of truth” in sales that can create a happy and loyal customer? For many brands, it is the interaction between the sales associate and the customer. Whether it’s a five-minute call or a half-hour conversation, that interaction is the key to capturing a loyal customer and a successful sale.

The sales associate has to know, believe in, and recommend the product based on the customer’s needs. But what happens when the sales associate works for a retailer and has countless other brands from which to choose to meet the customer’s needs?

The business challenge is to engage sales associates so they promote your brand first. In other words, you need to win the hearts and minds of those associates.

The solution lies at the intersection of training and marketing. These two disciplines each bring their own perspective on motivation, but at the end of the day, they have the same end goal to influence behavior change. Working in synergy, they can create an extremely powerful tool to increase sales: educational marketing, also known as education-based marketing.

Educational marketing is often discussed in relation to providing customers educational materials in order to support buying decisions. However, when sales associates are the “extended enterprise” (a non-employee population), an educational marketing program can introduce them to the brand and its differentiators, the product line, and questions to ask to ensure the product is a good fit for the customer. Educational marketing can be any combination of training courses (both online and in person), performance support, and promotional or motivational pieces customized to the specific needs of the sales associates.

What Makes Educational Marketing Different Than Sales Training?

Consumers are increasingly reading reviews and researching online before making any purchase decisions. Special consumer groups such as Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) are known for seeking information on products. Educational marketing has gained prominence because of these changes in purchasing behavior.

While traditional sales training and marketing typically focus on the features and benefits of a product, educational marketing goes much deeper in providing specific information (i.e., the materials used or its technology). Educational marketing offers tools and resources on how to best use or gain the greatest benefit from the product or service. For example, when providing information about a tire product, our client offers tips on what to do when you get a flat and explains the tire pressure management system. This helps associates be fully prepared when a customer walks in the door—better informed, ready with tips and advice, and more likely to close the sale.

Educational Marketing: Lessons Learned

Here are some of the key lessons we’ve learned from developing educational marketing programs:

  • Embrace uncertainty and get creative. Traditional analysis doesn’t work in the extended enterprise because you don’t have the same access or control that you have with your employees. Look within your own organization—particularly the marketing department—to yield great information to build your program.
  • Pay attention to intrinsic motivation and “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM). A common challenge in sales training for the extended enterprise is associates not being required to take courses. Many brands encourage associates using extrinsic motivation—tangible rewards (such as jackets, hats, or other merchandise) or even cash incentives. Our client learned that associates are also motivated to take courses for intrinsic reasons: They wanted to be better salespeople.
  • Be engaging and relevant. Typically, sales associates in retail environments are a younger demographic, such as Generation Z, so you need to meet them where they live: online. Competition for their attention is tough—not just from other brands, but from the information age in which we live. You need to stand out from the crowd, be true to your brand, and connect with the audience.
  • Don’t underestimate the power of branding. Match the level of your overall pride and quality as you create the education arm of your brand. Be consistent in your message and presentation of every educational marketing piece you create, including training courses, videos, email announcements, and reminders.

In the competitive world of sales, product knowledge alone is not enough to transform associates into brand advocates. Combine the power of training and marketing to create an exciting and authentic educational marketing program to win their hearts and minds.

Interested in learning more about SweetRush’s approach to educational marketing? Check out our Branding and Communications page.

7 Practices You Can Use to Create a Learning Culture

by Ashley Munday
Foster a learning culture that motivates your team with these valuable practices.

You cannot have a learning organization without shared vision. Without a pull toward some goal which people truly want to achieve, the forces in support of the status quo can be overwhelming.
Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization

The human motivation to learn and grow within an organization is based on doing well and doing good.

Human beings have a natural inclination to contribute to the well-being of others and society. We want to know that our contributions make a difference in some small way to a larger vision. It is the role of senior leadership to create a compelling vision that inspires employees and connects with their sense of meaning and purpose.

Recently, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, one of the most influential investors in the world, informed the world’s largest public companies that if they want to receive the support of BlackRock, they need to do more than make profits—they need to contribute to society as well. This isn’t just because it’s good for society; it’s because it’s good for business too. People are motivated by higher values and purpose.

Additionally, people need to know how to be successful. They need to know how they will be measured and how they can progress in their careers. Talent management is critical. When they can see the opportunities ahead, authentically express themselves, and feel that their sense of purpose is connected with the organizational mission, people become motivated and are more likely to take advantage of self-directed learning opportunities.

Here are some practices to stoke the intrinsic motivation of your team members and foster a learning culture.

DAILY FEEDBACK

Feedback often prompts the receiver to visualize and manifest a desired future. In his book Feedback That Works, Sloan Weitzel describes how feedback inspires changes in behavior: “Effective feedback enables the receiver to walk away understanding exactly what he or she did and what impact it had on them. When the result is this specific and this direct, there is a better chance that the person getting the feedback will be motivated to begin, continue, or stop behaviors that affect performance.”

Related exercises: Reflective Feedback from the book Get Connected (p. 173)

REFLECTION AND “LESSONS LEARNED” MEETINGS

We need to invest time to stop, reflect, and learn collectively. This helps us develop shared meaning and understand what works and what does not. The purpose is to enhance your team’s ability to transform and learn.

Related exercises: Team Learning from Get Connected (p. 165)

RECOGNITION, CELEBRATION, AND REWARDS (Performance/Behavior Awards)

People like to be caught doing things right. The desire for recognition is contagious, so the more you acknowledge your employees’ good work, the more they will want to do it. Traditionally, we are not good at celebrating what is right and good around us. By intentionally focusing on the positive, we also grow the behavior and culture we want to see.

Recommended book for ideas: 1501 Ways to Reward Employees, by Bob Nelson

Learning_culture

Want to foster a learning culture among your team? Try the following methods:

QUARTERLY CULTURE REPORT

Businesses need ways to track and learn from their culture journey. The quarterly culture report measures progress, but not in the traditional linear way. Its purpose is to create a shared picture of your team’s current culture journey through data collection and dialogue.

Related exercises: Culture Report from Get Connected (p. 185)

ROLLING THREE-MONTH PLAN

This plan includes focus, actions, and dates. It helps your team review, focus, and manage your culture.

A CULTURE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

This plan includes desired values, actions, responsibilities, and dates. It helps each team review, focus, and manage the cultural transformational journey.

There is an example of a Culture Development Plan in Get Connected (p. 54).

FOLLOW-UP CULTURE ASSESSMENT

Define how and when you intend to follow up to see the effect of your efforts and the progress of your team’s evolution.

 

 

Training Gen Z: Unlock a Generation’s Potential

by Danielle Hart

What are the characteristics of Generation Z? Learn best practices for training Gen Z.

As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
Cause the times they are a-changin’
—Bob Dylan

Bob’s right. Times indeed are a-changin’. In the fine tradition of the generations before us, we shake our heads at the generations to follow and define them using catchy labels. But if you’re anything like our clients, you’re looking beyond clever catchphrases to get a handle on the newest employees on the block and discover best practices for training Gen Z.

Spotting Members of Generation Z

Look around you. See that 18-year-old grocery store cashier? She runs a TaskRabbit business parallel to her day job. And this 16-year-old, nose to screen with his smartphone, is a minor YouTube celebrity with over 25,000 followers. That 15-year-old runs her own online NGO that connects disadvantaged children with mentors. Impressive, aren’t they?

Spotting members of Generation Z is easy! Youthfulness is your first clue. Born between 1998 and 2010, Gen Zers are under 21, and many are ready or will soon be ready for the job market. They form 25 percent of the population of the United States, and by 2020, 30 million of them will join the workforce. Without a doubt, they are the most “connected” generation to date: their absolute ease with technology is your next clue. Approximately 98 percent own mobile devices, and over 90 percent use social media, communicating via smartphone apps such as FaceTime, Snapchat, or WhatsApp. They crowdsource their information online and through their peers.

Training Gen Z Shifting generations in the workforce

 

Training Gen Z Employees

Learn what makes Gen Zers tick. This generation watched its Gen X parents struggle through the recession and its millennial siblings stagger under student debt in a weak job market. So it’s really not surprising that job stability is a priority. Gen Z tends to view a job as a means to an end: it pays bills but leaves them free to pursue other interests.

Gen Z employees are usually independent and self-directed, and they value opportunity for growth through training and sponsored higher education. Employers that value diversity and ethics and that offer egalitarian work cultures along with growth win with them. For Gen Z, equality is synonymous with access to information, so keep the information flowing. As my colleague Gail Eisenstein, a lead instructional designer, explains, members of “Gen Z don’t see tradition as a reason for doing something. They want to know why, they want feedback, they want to be heard! Believe me, they’re not shy about voicing opinions. Ten years ago, training needs analysis was hard work because employees were cautious about speaking up, even about issues that impacted them. Millennials and Gen Z, on the other hand, are very vocal with opinions and feedback.” And knowing what makes Gen Zers tick allows you to speak to them and motivate them.

Lack of growth opportunities is a big challenge to retail employers and Gen Z alike because the industry doesn’t typically lend itself to rapid advancement. So find ways other than promotion to build engagement. Offer young employees exposure to information, other forms of growth, and involvement outside the classic advancement ladder. Gail points out, “Gen Z doesn’t always view growth as promotions or [moving into] people management. So plan for alternative performance rewards like specialized training, paid networking workshops, promoting your company’s ‘do good’ efforts and skill building, etc.” Since Gen Zers value learning and growth, training is definitely a big deal, and tailoring your training program to their needs will win you brownie points.

Training Gen Z working in retail sales

Training Gen Z: Challenges and opportunities

While Gen Zers value the growth opportunity that training offers, instructional designers will have three big challenges ahead of them:

  • Gen Z workers are said to have the attention span of a goldfish, but they are just different—and they are multitasking experts. Your chances of getting members of Gen Z to click their way through a lengthy, text-heavy course are virtually zero.
  • Gen Zers connect to a variety of different devices: laptops, tablets, smartphones, game consoles, and television. Your content must be compatible on all platforms.
  • Members of Generation Z are “digital natives” and access information online. Your content must stand out in the sea of content.

Some other important considerations for training Gen Z:

Experiential blended learning: Members of Generation Z are experience seekers and problem solvers. In our experience, combining interactivity and visual elements works well. Ownership over the learning experience through customer journey mapping or branching simulations resonates with them, and they often enrich trainings with their perspectives, values, and experiences.

Design challenges and case studies are also great ways to engage their critical thinking. And they flourish in a structured safe space for reflection and collective learning. Gen Zers are collaborative, so incorporate group feedback or discussion sessions wherein employees can share experiences and correlate them to principles just learned.

Just-in-time learning and nano-learning modules: These are the perfect solution to short attention spans, and learners won’t be overwhelmed with content.

Gamification or virtual reality: Use technology in training! Long-life content such as onboarding material could use custom-designed games to subliminally push your organization’s messaging.

Videos: Think visual! Creative, edgy videos, such as the wonderful cup of tea video discussing sexual consent, help push your message across. Short video lectures by subject matter experts, mentoring or apprenticeship programs, and virtual instructor-led training (vILT) will also be effective.

Training gen z and video Multiplatform: 

Loosen your death grip on the LMS. Reach out on different platforms. Remember, members of this generation spend about 15.4 hours per week on their smartphones, so use apps and mobile games to boost the visibility of your content.

As boomers retire and Gen Z steps up to the plate, employers and trainers need to revisit training programs and repertoires to evaluate what will and will not work for learners. While generational trends can provide a general direction, keep the individual needs of your audience in mind when making training design decisions. Gen Zers have the potential, but it’s up to us to help them unlock it.

LR Alert: Corporate Training Gamification 101 – Back to the Essentials!

by Carolina Montero

In my previous posts about corporate training gamification, I suggested articles that discuss practical examples and techniques for your next game-based solution. This post covers essentials that you can’t afford to miss.

Gamification is a valuable and effective learning technique that, as many authors conclude, is about much more than badges, points, or leaderboards. “Gamification should be thought of as the concept of using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems,” Karl Kapp writes in his white paper What Every Chief Learning Officer Needs to Know About Games and Gamification for Learning.

This blog post offers a compendium of SweetRush expertise on why gamification may be the perfect technique for your next learning solution. After all, in the end we are all humans, and we like our learning with a dose of fun!

Characteristics of a good learning game

Considering characteristics of some popular games, John-Carlos Lozano, SweetRush’s Chief Creative Officer, describes what elements are important to keep in mind in order to produce  motivating, engaging, and appealing corporate training gamification.

Read: What Makes a Good Learning Game?

Playing: the key in gaming

The power of play is essential in gaming. This blog post covers one of the most important building blocks of gaming, and it shares links to some interesting videos that focus on just how successful a game can be in achieving learning objectives.

Read: Video Games Are Good for Your Mind. Designer’s Survival Guide: Gamification

Successful gamification

Corporate training gamification is about so much more than earning badges and points. When designing a program using this learning format, success depends on accurately identifying and integrating both organizational and employee goals.

Read: Gamification in Business: How Learning and Development Can Take It Beyond the Hype

Simulations for generations to come

Millennial and many Gen X—workers depend upon previous generations to cultivate professional experience and wisdom , and thereby improve their business skills and apply best practices to their respective fields. Using simulations as a learning strategy helps accelerate the learning curve for these younger generations and provides them the knowledge needed to realize their potential sooner.

Read: Accelerating Expertise with Simulations

If you want to learn more about corporate training gamification, check out our page on Games & Simulations.

Mitigating Unconscious Bias in Learning: Resources

by Carolina Montero

“A new focus on accountability, data, transparency, and ‘diversity through process’ is driving efforts around unconscious bias training and education throughout the business community. Despite these efforts, however, we see a reality gap. Issues around diversity and inclusion continue to be frustrating and challenging for many organizations.”

—Rewriting the Rules for the Digital Age: 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends

At SweetRush, we are also seeing a growing demand for unconscious bias training and education. Organizations are realizing the importance of creating inclusive work environments and helping leaders and managers discover their blind spots when it comes to unconscious bias.

Although recruiting and management get a lot of the attention when it comes to mitigating unconscious bias, the biases of learning professionals should not be overlooked. Every day, they create materials that include real-world case studies and scenarios. They choose stock photography to include in their slide decks or eLearning. They interact with and respond to learners in the classroom.

Unconscious bias can negatively influence all of these activities, and we’re not hearing much about this in the learning and development community.

Dr. Steve Yacovelli, a special consultant to SweetRush, and Erin Krebs, our Director of Client Solutions, spoke on this topic at DevLearn 2016, with their presentation on the impact of “hidden” or unconscious bias within learning. We’ve put our entire team through this training, and individuals of all roles now have a greater sensitivity to mitigating unconscious bias in learning materials.

In the article “Hidden Forces: Unconscious Bias in Learning,” Yacovelli provides an important checklist to consider when developing learning materials. Paying attention to images, wording, and the target audience helps mitigate biases and create inclusive learning.

The article also includes:

If you’re interested in learning more about our services related to unconscious bias, please email us at [email protected]. It would make our day to hear from you!

Learning Rush Alert: Designing Successful Learning Solutions

by Carolina Montero

Designing successful learning solutions means crafting an experience that engages your learners.

Imagine that you need to buy a dress or a suit for a formal event. What do you do? Maybe you take a look around the store, search for something that you like, and then…There it is, on the rack, the perfect one. You are not sure if it’s the right size or what fabric it is, you just know that the cut, color, and style are perfect. The outfit immediately engages you and makes you come in for a closer look.

Now think for a moment about your next learning solution. You want it to be engaging. You want it to be just like that dress or suit that captures the buyer’s attention. In this case, however, you want to capture your learner. You want your learning solution to be so engaging that the learner wants to not only come closer, but engage with and finish the course motivated and pleased with the learning experience.

So how do you make that happen? One important factor is taking a look at the visual design. As Jane Bozarth recently wrote in her piece for Learning Solutions Magazine, “Designing for Learner Success,” visual design can either “enhance or interfere with learner success.”

At SweetRush, we take creative design for engagement very seriously. We know that every audience is different, and every client comes to us with important business and performance objectives to achieve. We seamlessly blend content creation and visual design into our solutions to achieve optimal results.

On May 24, SweetRush Chief Creative Officer, John-Carlos Lozano, and SweetRush Director of Client Solutions, Erin Krebs, spoke about Design for the Mind: UI and Visual Design for a New Generation of E-Learning at the ATD 2017 International Conference in Atlanta. With their presentation topic as inspiration, I’ve listed a few blogs to help you amp up your next learning solution — and make it as irresistible to the learner as that outfit for the party!

Visual Design Meets Instructional Design: Are You Ready?

How do you change the perception that training is “boring” and make sure you’re ready for a new generation of learners?

Designing for a New Generation of eLearning. Designer’s Survival Guide: Top 10 Tips

Discover 10 tips to ensure success in learning by closing the gap between instructional design and visual design. Read more

Visual Perception. Designer’s Survival Guide: Tip of the Week

Are you familiar with the Gestalt principles? In this blog post, John-Carlos explains these principles, which give us an understanding of the fundamentals of human perception. Read more