Category: News

“VR Training Program Case Study: Aggressive Behavior De-Escalation at CHRISTUS Health” will showcase a behind-the-scenes look at building a successful virtual reality learning program.

San Francisco, Calif., July 15th, 2020 — Join learning and development experts at SweetRush and CHRISTUS Health for an inspiring behind-the-scenes look at creating workplace safety training using an exciting new tool: virtual reality. VR Training Program Case Study: Aggressive Behavior De-Escalation at CHRISTUS Health will be held on July 30, 2020, at 11 am EDT.

Tobias J. Washington, Director, Learning Experience, Design and Technology at CHRISTUS Health, and Emily Cooper, XR Producer at SweetRush SPARK, will share their voyage from design to solution, illuminating key challenges and valuable lessons learned. Learn how the team employed leading-edge VR trends, including body movement tracking, voice recognition, and emotion analysis, as well as data tracking and analytics.

If you’re interested in how VR training can radically transform traditional learning, increasing engagement and retention while enabling scalability and cost savings, don’t miss this informative, one-hour presentation.

VR training programs offer a number of key advantages, such as:

• Immersing the audience in the learning experience, leading to better retention
• Offering realistic scenarios that provide an alternative to role playing
• Providing a safe space to practice
• Tracking results for learning analytics

The key to successful learning is to understand and solidify the link between desired learning outcomes and the type of technology used. For CHRISTUS Health, virtual reality has been the most appropriate choice to deliver on their learning objectives: to train their people in de-escalation techniques, enabling a safe environment and positive outcomes for their team members and patients.

“It’s extremely exciting to see the growing adoption of emerging technologies in learning and the passion of the Learning and Development community who are making this a reality.”

—Emily Cooper, XR Producer at SweetRush SPARK

Register for this exciting webinar today at eLearning Industry.com.

The Presenters

Emily Cooper is an XR Producer at SweetRush SPARK. She has traveled the world as an award-winning creative producer of immersive experiences, specializing in the creation of story-driven content. Emily has vast experience working with clients to identify their needs and the emerging technology or creative medium that works best to bring those needs to life. She is passionate about creating XR learning experiences that excite learners and effect positive change within organizations and communities.

Tobias J. Washington serves as Director, Learning Experience, Design and Technology, at CHRISTUS Health, a Catholic health care ministry with over 40 hospitals and facilities in the United States and abroad. Under his leadership, CHRISTUS Health’s first immersive learning program was developed, using VR and AR, and leveraging artificial intelligence to develop talent. Tobias also leads the technical, digital, and social learning strategies.

About SweetRush

SweetRush is trusted by many of the world’s most successful companies to help them improve the performance of their employees. We are known for exceptionally creative and effective solutions that combine the best of instructional design with highly engaging delivery. Our work has earned a long list of awards and accolades in collaboration with our clients. Discover more at our website.

SweetRush’s leadership programs support individual and organization performance, agility, and adaptability, and employee engagement and retention.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 14, 2020 — Global custom learning solutions provider SweetRush has been awarded one Platinum and two Gold creative awards for a unique, enterprise-wide leadership skills program developed in collaboration with client-partner Mondelēz International Inc. SweetRush’s wins for leadership training, new hire onboarding, and sales training also resulted in the Horizon Interactive Awards naming the company to its prestigious Distinguished Agencies List for 2019.

The awarded course, called “Personal Purpose: Childhood Story,” helps learners connect to their values and purpose through the lens of storytelling. The course represents one part of a blended learning solution that focuses on personal growth and communication, essential leadership skills training available enterprise-wide. It features compelling stories, relatable 3-D characters, and vibrant illustration and animation.

This leadership training program was awarded:

2020 HERMES CREATIVE AWARDS
Platinum, Web-based Training

2020 MUSE CREATIVE AWARDS
Gold, E-Learning

2019 HORIZON INTERACTIVE AWARDS
Gold, Training/e-learning

Leadership and soft skills are essential areas of employee development, recognized as top skills needed for the future of work. Human performance drives organizational performance, and organizations rely on their people’s abilities more than ever before. Leadership training builds employees’ skills and competencies—to improve individual, team, and company performance; shape career paths within a company; and/or prepare a workforce to meet emerging or future challenges. This makes businesses more agile and adaptable in response to unforeseen conditions.

“Just as professionals continually grow their skill sets to perform better on the job, organizations need to expand their leadership training offerings,” said Arturo Schwarzberg, SweetRush Cofounder and Chairman. “These programs enable organizations to be agile, and help them retain top talent, particularly younger generations.”  

As companies increasingly need workers who possess skills like communication, creativity, critical thinking, and empathy for others, blended learning solutions have proven effective, combining context-setting and demonstration (via eLearning), self-reflection, social learning, and coaching and practice (via instructor-led or virtual-instructor led training). Emerging technologies such as virtual reality offer new ways to immerse learners and practice skills. 

“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be in L&D. Never before have there been so many remarkable technologies that are so effective at teaching leadership soft skills,” said Arturo Schwartzberg, Cofounder, and Chairman at SweetRush. “We’re thrilled that this unique collaboration has been recognized in these respected industry competitions. Having client collaborations honored is always meaningful and reaffirms our creative and instructional design strategies and our application of new media.”

See all the winners of the Hermes Creative Awards, the Horizon Interactive Awards, and the Muse Creative Awards.

About SweetRush

Dream for a moment that you have the expertise and tools to positively impact the lives of others. You can affect mindsets and behavior. You can help an organization grow, change, prosper, and thrive. The passionate pursuit of this expertise and the development of these tools have been at the heart of the success SweetRush has experienced collaborating with clients who share the same dream.

SweetRush’s focus on team culture and mastery of performance improvement is reflected in loyal clients, a near-zero turnover of teammates, an 18-year track record of success, and a remarkable portfolio. Our work with clients has earned us gold awards from our peers and high ranking on the top training industry lists.

Every solution we deliver is infused with creativity. Instructional creativity allows us to discover effective and unique solutions to our clients’ challenges. Artistic creativity spurs us to create visually exciting, engaging user experiences. Technical creativity allows us to embrace new capabilities and platforms as they emerge, such as virtual reality, gamification, and mobile delivery. Cultural creativity empowers our clients to create the conditions that energize and empower their people and unleash the energy in their teams. Our Talent Solutions team builds on its unique knowledge of talent, team building, and learning and development to craft a unique, creative solution for clients who need the best temporary staff to augment their team. We apply the creative lens to all things, from project management to our treatment of our teammates, clients, and the planet. 

We are over 175 people strong and have been in business since 2001. Every day, we give thanks for the trust of our world-class clients. Our deliverables span from analysis and curriculum mapping to the creation of blended training products, including live and virtual classroom training, custom-developed eLearning, and innovative use of emerging technologies.

Dream with us, and together let’s make a positive impact!

SweetRush was recognized by three creative awards organizations for its collaboration with Bridgestone Americas on a groundbreaking sales training program for extended-enterprise sales associates. SweetRush also earned a spot on the Horizon Interactive Awards’ 2019 Distinguished Agencies List. 

SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, 2020 — Global custom learning solutions provider SweetRush reinforced its reputation as one of the best sales training companies by receiving five awards for eLearning and video sales training programs, including three Platinum and two Gold awards. Acknowledging SweetRush’s wins for sales training, leadership training, and new hire onboarding, the Horizon Interactive Awards also named the company to its prestigious Distinguished Agencies List for 2019.

Three creative awards organizations—the Horizon Interactive Awards, the Hermes Creative Awards, and the Muse Creative Awards—recognized SweetRush and its client-partner Bridgestone Americas for two recent sales training programs, each part of a remarkably successful sales training approach for extended-enterprise sales associates. 

The lauded programs feature the best of custom content development for sales training. Objection Junction, an eLearning course featuring storytelling, humor, and branching scenarios, teaches associates how to overcome sales objections. Nano’s in the Know, featuring custom 3-D animation, is a video blog series starring a humorous 3-D character who answers learner questions about tire technology in his “studio.”

SweetRush’s recent sales training awards include:

2020 HERMES CREATIVE AWARDS
Platinum, Web-based Training: Objection Junction
Platinum, Training Video: Nano’s in the Know

 2020 MUSE CREATIVE AWARDS
Gold, E-Learning: Objection Junction
Gold, Training Video: Nano’s in the Know

2019 HORIZON INTERACTIVE AWARDS
Gold, Training/e-learning: Objection Junction

 “A robust sales training program is an essential to L&D strategy for most organizations, and, done right, is an investment that can result in strong ROI,” said Arturo Schwartzberg, SweetRush‘s Chairman and Cofounder. 

“For sales associates, and especially those who are not mandated to take the training, engagement is key. SweetRush’s talented team, in collaboration with our client-partners, leads the industry in creativity and storytelling, and our 3-D capabilities are agency-level quality.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way many sellers operate, and has also required many organizations to shift their training programs online. This puts focus on blended learning solutions for sales training that incorporate virtual instructor-led training, mobile learning, and online learning games and simulations. 

As retail stores begin to open up, brick-and-mortar chains already at risk of disruption may find that they must “do more with less.” This challenge often means in-store training decreases, as fewer trainers are available despite demand. Mobile learning, or m-learning, can be a powerful solution, letting employees train on a smartphone or other device—during sales floor downtime. 

“One of SweetRush’s strengths as a provider of sales training programs is our ability to blend multiple delivery modalities to reach and teach the audience in the best way,” said Schwartzberg.

“Whether it’s building empathy for customers, learning consultative sales practices, or gaining fluency with product knowledge, our solutions address the specific need and performance objective, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.”

See all the winners of the Hermes Creative Awards, the Horizon Interactive Awards, and the Muse Creative Awards.

About SweetRush

Dream for a moment that you have the expertise and tools to positively impact the lives of others. You can affect mindsets and behavior. You can help an organization grow, change, prosper, and thrive. The passionate pursuit of this expertise and the development of these tools have been at the heart of the success SweetRush has experienced collaborating with clients who share the same dream.

SweetRush’s focus on team culture and mastery of performance improvement is reflected in loyal clients, a near-zero turnover of teammates, an 18-year track record of success, and a remarkable portfolio. Our work with clients has earned us gold awards from our peers and high ranking on the top training industry lists.

Every solution we deliver is infused with creativity. Instructional creativity allows us to discover effective and unique solutions to our clients’ challenges. Artistic creativity spurs us to create visually exciting, engaging user experiences. Technical creativity allows us to embrace new capabilities and platforms as they emerge, such as virtual reality, gamification, and mobile delivery. Cultural creativity empowers our clients to create the conditions that energize and empower their people and unleash the energy in their teams. Our Talent Solutions team builds on its unique knowledge of talent, team building, and learning and development to craft a unique, creative solution for clients who need the best temporary staff to augment their team. We apply the creative lens to all things, from project management to our treatment of our teammates, clients, and the planet. 

We are over 175 people strong and have been in business since 2001. Every day, we give thanks for the trust of our world-class clients. Our deliverables span from analysis and curriculum mapping to the creation of blended training products, including live and virtual classroom training, custom-developed eLearning, and innovative use of emerging technologies.

Dream with us, and together let’s make a positive impact!

SweetRush’s collaboration with Hilton on new employee onboarding training puts cultural and service competencies into practice via eLearning. SweetRush also earned a spot on Horizon Interactive Awards’ 2019 Distinguished Agencies List.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 14, 2020 — SweetRush, a top custom learning solutions provider, received two Platinum and one Gold award with client-partner Hilton for an interactive and effective new hire onboarding program for the Canopy line of hotels. SweetRush’s wins for new hire onboarding, sales training, and leadership training resulted in the Horizon Interactive Awards naming the company to its prestigious Distinguished Agencies List for 2019.

The “Canopy Intuition: Reading Guest Cues” eLearning program features relatable characters and interactive, gamified experiences, allowing Hilton team members to practice how to deliver an exceptional guest experience. 

SweetRush’s recent awards for new hire onboarding include:

2020 HERMES CREATIVE AWARDS
Platinum, Web-based Training

2020 MUSE CREATIVE AWARDS
Platinum, E-Learning

2019 HORIZON INTERACTIVE AWARDS
Gold, Training/e-learning

New employee onboarding training can have a significant impact on engaging and retaining new workers. While taking this training—which is an essential introduction to company culture, values, and mission—they form an impression of their new employer. 

“New hire onboarding should win the hearts and minds of new team members,” said Arturo Schwartzberg, SweetRush‘s Chairman and Cofounder. “Your program should make them immediately feel embraced as part of the team, excite them about your company, and inspire them to be a valuable contributor.”

Effective employee onboarding focuses on the right messaging and offers a learner-centric experience. 

“Our CoDesign experience, which uses design thinking to create learner-centric solutions, is a complete game-changer for all training, including new hire onboarding,” said Schwartzberg. “It builds empathy for learners and buy-in from SMEs and stakeholders, and helps teams get to a more effective solution faster. And we recently transformed the in-person experience to a virtual one with great success!”

With millennials the largest group of workers globally, online learning reaches this digital-native audience where they spend their time and in a way that speaks to them. In partnering with the right L&D vendor, organizations can give learners a compelling experience—blending 2-D and 3-D animation, rich storytelling, characters, gamification, and vibrant visual design. 

“We’re thrilled to use our craft to help organizations connect with and empower their newest team members,” added Schwartzberg. “Our collaboration with Hilton exemplifies how cultural and service competencies can be expressed and practiced in new hire onboarding.”

See all the winners of the Hermes Creative Awards, the Horizon Interactive Awards, and the Muse Creative Awards.

About SweetRush

Dream for a moment that you have the expertise and tools to positively impact the lives of others. You can affect mindsets and behavior. You can help an organization grow, change, prosper, and thrive. The passionate pursuit of this expertise and the development of these tools have been at the heart of the success SweetRush has experienced collaborating with clients who share the same dream.

SweetRush’s focus on team culture and mastery of performance improvement is reflected in loyal clients, a near-zero turnover of teammates, an 18-year track record of success, and a remarkable portfolio. Our work with clients has earned us gold awards from our peers and high ranking on the top training industry lists.

Every solution we deliver is infused with creativity. Instructional creativity allows us to discover effective and unique solutions to our clients’ challenges. Artistic creativity spurs us to create visually exciting, engaging user experiences. Technical creativity allows us to embrace new capabilities and platforms as they emerge, such as virtual reality, gamification, and mobile delivery. Cultural creativity empowers our clients to create the conditions that energize and empower their people and unleash the energy in their teams. Our Talent Solutions team builds on its unique knowledge of talent, team building, and learning and development to craft a unique, creative solution for clients who need the best temporary staff to augment their team. We apply the creative lens to all things, from project management to our treatment of our teammates, clients, and the planet. 

We are over 175 people strong and have been in business since 2001. Every day, we give thanks for the trust of our world-class clients. Our deliverables span from analysis and curriculum mapping to the creation of blended training products, including live and virtual classroom training, custom-developed eLearning, and innovative use of emerging technologies.

Dream with us, and together let’s make a positive impact!

SweetRush works with large, global businesses as well as nonprofits and foundations to bring mission-critical mobile learning to leaders, employees, humanitarians and first responders.

San Francisco, Calif., April 10th, 2020—SweetRush, a top global provider of custom solutions for people growth and development, is thrilled to announce it earned a coveted spot on eLearning Industry’s inaugural Top Content Providers for Mobile Learning 2020 list.

SweetRush has been a pioneer in mobile learning, combining a strong focus on meeting organizational and employee performance goals with sound instructional design, agency-level creative, and advanced technology for mobile platforms.

“Today, mobile learning is no longer a ‘nice to have,’ it’s a must-have for organizations,” said Arturo Schwartzberg, Cofounder and Chairman of SweetRush. 

SweetRush’s mobile learning solutions offer just-in-time, point-of-need learning that is accessible to learners, and fits within their workday and work environment. Meeting real-time needs is essential, whether that be product knowledge on the retail floor or mission-critical reference for first responders and humanitarians.

“As part of our C.A.R.E. (COVID-19 Action Response eLearning Center) initiative, we’re helping to develop mobile learning for health care professionals on the front line about the proper use and cleaning of masks and personal protective equipment (PPE),” Schwartzberg said. “We’ve also collaborated on a chatbot for humanitarian physical therapists working in Syria, to help them quickly find information and respond to medical situations.”

Mobile learning can be a challenge for organizations to navigate due to the volume and variety of devices, platforms, and authoring tools, which can also make the matrix of testing very complex.

“Our client-partners appreciate that we roll up our sleeves and own these challenges with them, and step up to provide research, consulting, and solutions that meet their unique needs,”  Schwartzberg said.

With the COVID-19 pandemic requiring many organizations to move their training online, mobile learning is coming into focus as an important part of the solution. Mobile learning can be part of a strategy to mitigate the need for in-person training and travel, both of which might become challenging during future global events.

“Most companies are looking for mobility and alternative ways to be able to not only offer training anytime, anywhere, but also give their staff the flexibility to work from home,” said Christopher Pappas, founder of the eLearning Industry Network. “But to deliver effective training, especially when there is time pressure, you need a content provider to develop your content. You need an expert to help you build up your community.”

The eLearning Industry judging committee chose SweetRush for the list based on several criteria, including its excellent customer reviews, reputation for innovation, content development quality, solution expertise, and social responsibility.

“Mobile devices are ubiquitous and becoming more powerful and essential, which makes mobile learning a key area for innovation,” Schwartzberg said. “At SweetRush, we’re breaking new ground in mobile with highly interactive Adapt courses, mobile learning games, chatbots, augmented reality, and other types of experiential and social learning. It’s a great time to be in learning and development!”

View the Top eLearning Content Providers for Mobile Learning list at eLearningIndustry.com.

About SweetRush

Dream for a moment that you have the expertise and tools to positively impact the lives of others. You can affect mindsets and behavior. You can help an organization grow, change, prosper, and thrive. The passionate pursuit of this expertise and the development of these tools have been at the heart of the success SweetRush has experienced collaborating with clients who share the same dream.

SweetRush’s focus on team culture and mastery of performance improvement is reflected in loyal clients, a near-zero turnover of teammates, an 18-year track record of success, and a remarkable portfolio. Our work with clients has earned us gold awards from our peers and high ranking on the top training industry lists.

Every solution we deliver is infused with creativity. Instructional creativity allows us to discover effective and unique solutions to our clients’ challenges. Artistic creativity spurs us to create visually exciting, engaging user experiences. Technical creativity allows us to embrace new capabilities and platforms as they emerge, such as virtual reality, gamification, and mobile delivery. Cultural creativity empowers our clients to create the conditions that energize and empower their people and unleash the energy in their teams. Our Talent Solutions team builds on its unique knowledge of talent, team building, and learning and development to craft a unique, creative solution for clients who need the best temporary staff to augment their team. We apply the creative lens to all things, from project management to our treatment of our teammates, clients, and the planet. 

We are over 175 people strong and have been in business since 2001. Every day, we give thanks for the trust of our world-class clients. Our deliverables span from analysis and curriculum mapping to the creation of blended training products, including live and virtual classroom training, custom-developed eLearning, and innovative use of emerging technologies.

Dream with us, and together let’s make a positive impact!

SweetRush brings deep online-learning expertise, having collaborated with 29 nonprofits and foundations to create mission-critical learning solutions for volunteers, humanitarians, and the public at large.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2020—Three factors led SweetRush to create C.A.R.E. (COVID-19 Action Response eLearning Center), pivoting to apply its craft developing training solutions and help in this universal moment of crisis: 

• SweetRush is currently helping create COVID-19 online, mobile learning materials for frontline healthcare workers, after being approached by two key players, a government-funded infectious disease research and education agency and a global health and relief nonprofit. These projects are underway.
• SweetRush’s workforce, 100% virtual since 2009, brings 19 years’ experience handling complex, innovative learning solutions while working from home. We are skilled and ready to support these critical efforts with customized strategies.
• SweetRush’s Good Things division has supported 29 nonprofits and foundations, developing a deep understanding of how to work most effectively with these mission-driven organizations. 

“It’s not time for red or blue, but for all of us coming together to unite and support each other. We invite anyone who needs our help doing COVID-19 or humanitarian work to reach out,” said Arturo Schwartzberg, SweetRush Chairman and Cofounder. 

Education and communication are critically needed in the fight against COVID-19. SweetRush designs eLearning that provides just-in-time training solutions when and where learners need them, accessible through their own smartphones and tablets. This is why SweetRush has announced the creation of C.A.R.E., dedicated to producing much-needed eLearning solutions to serve those combating the novel coronavirus while protecting their health. 

“The essence of our mission at SweetRush is service, and our aspirational goal is to positively impact the lives of a billion people,” said Andrei Hedstrom, SweetRush CEO and Cofounder.

“Our team of passionate, talented learning professionals is ready and eager to use its skills to provide just-in-time training solutions for these brave folks on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic. With C.A.R.E., we are prepared to surge and dedicate resources to building knowledge and skills that will help healthcare professionals and others dealing with this crisis.”

For more information, contact SweetRush at [email protected] or [email protected]. 

About SweetRush

SweetRush is considered by its industry peers as a model for creativity, and the design and delivery of effective learning solutions. It was recently named Learning Provider of the Year by the Learning & Performance Institute, is considered a top 10 eLearning Solution Provider by eLearningIndustry.com, and has garnered a remarkable array of Brandon Hall Gold awards, validating its depth and breadth of capabilities. 

The company offers five services, fully defined at www.sweetrush.com.

Despite working virtually since 2009, SweetRush’s 200-strong workforce is a culturally united, communicative, and high-performing team. SweetRush is a trusted partner of a long list of the world’s most successful and branded companies, as well as high-impact nonprofits and foundations. 

About SweetRush Good Things and C.A.R.E.

SweetRush’s Good Things service (one of its five services) was born out of its aspirational goal of positively impacting the lives of a billion people. Under this service banner, SweetRush has collaborated with 29 nonprofits and foundations in the past two years to create mission-critical online and mobile learning solutions for volunteers, humanitarians, and the public at large.

These collaborations have brought valuable, timely, and accessible resources to first responders around the globe, humanitarian aid workers in Syria, volunteers helping LGBTQ+ youth in crisis, and a long list of customized support for mission-driven entities. 

Recognizing the time-sensitive need for COVID-19 learning solutions, SweetRush created the COVID-19 Action Response eLearning Center (C.A.R.E.) to support nonprofits and agencies combating coronavirus around the globe. SweetRush is already collaborating with two organizations to rapidly deploy eLearning and other training materials related to COVID-19 to frontline healthcare workers. This point-of-need training is customized for the needs of the audience, and accessible on demand through their own mobile devices, providing just-in-time resources and support.

For more information, contact SweetRush at [email protected] or [email protected].

A big thank you to everyone we met at this year’s Brandon Hall Excellence Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida. The true highlight of the event was the opportunity for facetime with our clients, and to listen and learn from the best in the learning community. Being a virtual company, it’s not every day that we get to connect with so many members of our community, all devoted to learning and development. But that’s exactly what our Director of Client Lifecycle, Marni Taradash, got to experience. 

Marni brought back a ton of insights and personal thoughts, so we asked her to share her experience with our community. If you weren’t able to attend, we hope this article sheds some light on what the conference was like.

The Brandon Hall Excellence Conference Builds Community

Q: The theme was “The Future of the Employee Experience.” What was your initial impression of the conference and the attendees?

Marni: It was amazing to be part of such a thriving community of L&D experts. It was really a cauldron of passion for all things L&D. People were genuinely curious about what each of us was doing, and how we were contributing to the success of L&D teams, their organizations, and their employee learners. I could truly see how SweetRush fits into the landscape as a learning services provider, along with the many other services that support companies with their L&D development needs. Not to mention an organization’s own internal resources. This conference brought them all together so we could see how the puzzle pieces fit.

The Brandon Hall Excellence Conference 2020

Q: What do you think were some of the benefits of attending?

Marni: I’d say attendees got to see a lot of interesting and innovative work being demonstrated on the technology front. But the real value was getting to mingle with the industry to get a feel for what everyone was doing. As a vendor, we’re lucky that we see the evolving trends in L&D from our clients’ needs every day. However, some organizations don’t get the opportunity to hear about the trends or topics from the greater L&D community. So this conference provided a lot of value to them.

Q: What was of top importance to attendees?

Marni: Overall, attendees seemed most interested in learning from their peers about best practices to increase learner engagement and how to generally improve the learner experience. People are talking about cultural transformation, diversity and inclusion, and design thinking. Much discussion was around onboarding, competencies, and transforming leadership; how cultural transformation is a pillar of business success; how to inspire better workplace experiences.

There was a lot of talk surrounding durable skills: those soft skills that are essential for effective leadership. Skills that are long-lasting, versus skills that have a shelf life. For example, resilience, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and managing tough conversations; or establishing leadership best practices. As a whole generation retires over the coming decade, how will an organization pass down the durable skills that are being lost? In the first 10 years of their career, new employees need those durable skills, knowledge transfer and mentorship, but resources are getting scarce.

Q: Do people feel that there is a lot of pressure on L&D to help maintain the continuity of skills within their organizations?

Marni: They do. This concern is causing companies to shift from examining only what a learner needs to do their work, to companies gaining a deeper understanding about the whole learner experience. They’re asking: “How is the training going to give them the mindset to be the most effective in their jobs?” Companies are gaining a better understanding about the importance of having a better workplace environment, and how L&D can work toward this goal. Many sessions revolved around providing an exceptional, human-centered, custom learning experience. The ultimate goal being to pass knowledge, produce a workforce with durable skills, and reduce risk for the organization.

Creating Learner-Centric Programs Through Learner Input

Q: What were some of the questions you had for attendees?

Marni: I was interested in learning more about the best practices around being in touch with the learner and what it means to different companies that the best L&D “starts with the learner.” Was this during the requirements phase or an alpha review? I wanted to know how frequently companies piloted programs, to gain learner insight and feedback before the SCORM is wrapped up. I, personally—and I know SweetRush does as well—firmly believe in the value of getting learners involved during the requirements gathering. This means getting learner input, not just feedback.

Q: Anything else?

Marni: Just that it was great to talk with some of our client-partners up close. I got to hear firsthand about the impact that SweetRush has had on them as people, as L&D professionals and their learners. 

This kind of feedback really validates our style and methodology, and shows the value of our culture—our partnership mindset. It made me pretty proud of our team. I can’t wait until next year!

Marni accepting SweetRush’s trophy in recognition of our 28 award wins.

 At the electrifying Learning Awards 2020 gala in London on Feb. 20, the SweetRush team, along with some 600 European-based L&D peers, awaited the final and top award of the night: Learning Provider of the Year.

San Francisco, Calif., March 9, 2020 — At the Learning Awards 2020, global custom learning solutions provider SweetRush took home the coveted “Learning Provider of the Year” gold award at the Learning & Performance Institute’s gala awards celebration. LPI’s Learning Awards are Europe’s most distinguished Learning and Development honors, and it’s a momentous win that once again demonstrates the impact SweetRush’s way of working and being is impacting the industry. 

As the only U.S. finalist among some 100 vendors that night, LPI’s panel of esteemed judges commended SweetRush for its ability to deliver high performance outcomes to its client-partners, its “long term relationships and positive business impact,” and its “near zero turnover” of clients. LPI also called out SweetRush’s cultural “values of respect, caring and commitment,” and its focus on “the impact of increased learner confidence and empathy resulting from” its learning solutions—which combine sound instructional strategy with high-impact creative design to make more engaging, authentic, and relevant experiences for learners.

SweetRush Solution Architect Alexandra Jabs was thrilled to receive the award. “The Learning Awards was such an extraordinary event for SweetRush to be a part of,” Jabs said. “It was incredible to see and feel the energy and enthusiasm of so many diverse learning vendors from around the world. At the same time, it was deeply moving and inspiring to know that everyone shared the same passion for enabling people to grow and develop the best version of themselves.” 

“It is so meaningful to us to be recognized by our peers across the pond,” said Arturo Schwartzberg, SweetRush Chairman and Cofounder. “If I had to speculate, I think the winning formula was a combination of our engaging deliverables, our work supporting nonprofits, and that our culture is one that promotes teamwork, caring, and doing good in the world.”

Alexandra Jabs summed it all up this way: “Winning Learning Provider of the Year is the greatest honor and testament to that bigger vision we all share. Not only is it an opportunity to celebrate innovative, impactful, and successful projects, but more importantly, to recognize the people who bring these relationships, ideas, projects, and experiences to life—both within SweetRush and within our client-partners’ organizations. During a time when technology, AI, and automation is growing, it is more important than ever to cultivate the mindsets and behaviors that are unique to human beings—empathy, communication, critical thinking, or questioning, to name a few. To be part of the world that helps to make that type of human-centered learning possible, and to be recognized for doing that work well, is just outstanding.”

View this year’s Learning Awards recipients. 

About SweetRush

Dream for a moment that you have the expertise and tools to positively impact the lives of others. You can affect mindsets and behavior. You can help an organization grow, change, prosper, and thrive. The passionate pursuit of this expertise and the development of these tools have been at the heart of the success SweetRush has experienced collaborating with clients who share the same dream.

SweetRush’s focus on team culture and mastery of performance improvement is reflected in loyal clients, a near-zero turnover of teammates, an 18-year track record of success, and a remarkable portfolio. Our work with clients has earned us gold awards from our peers and high ranking on the top training industry lists.

Every solution we deliver is infused with creativity. Instructional creativity allows us to discover effective and unique solutions to our clients’ challenges. Artistic creativity spurs us to create visually exciting, engaging user experiences. Technical creativity allows us to embrace new capabilities and platforms as they emerge, such as virtual reality, gamification, and mobile delivery. Cultural creativity empowers our clients to create the conditions that energize and empower their people and unleash the energy in their teams. Our Talent Solutions team builds on its unique knowledge of talent, team building, and learning and development to craft a unique, creative solution for clients who need the best temporary staff to augment their team. We apply the creative lens to all things, from project management to our treatment of our teammates, clients, and the planet. 

We are over 175 people strong and have been in business since 2001. Every day, we give thanks for the trust of our world-class clients. Our deliverables span from analysis and curriculum mapping to the creation of blended training products, including live and virtual classroom training, custom-developed eLearning, and innovative use of emerging technologies.

Dream with us, and together let’s make a positive impact!

About LPI

Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) is a global organization committed to raising the standards of professionalism within workplace learning and its associated industries. With an unrivalled portfolio of membership, endorsement, certification, accreditation, consulting services, networking and events, the LPI retains a unique focus on “learning efficacy”; the demonstratable impact of learning on individual and organisational performance.

Hats Off to Adaptive Learning: Tailoring Corporate Training to Each Learner is a complete, practical guide to using adaptive, or personalized, learning in courses—full of proven, in-depth examples to apply. Adaptive learning and eLearning expert John Cleave is the author.

San Francisco, Calif., January 22, 2020 — Leading custom learning solutions and emerging technologies provider SweetRush has just released an in-depth and practical eBook, Hats Off to Adaptive Learning: Tailoring Corporate Training to Each Learner. Written for Learning and Development (L&D) professionals by eLearning technology expert John Cleave, this free how-to guide demonstrates the real business and performance gains to be made via adaptive, or personalized, learning—without having to invest in expensive artificial intelligence software.

Given the high volume of eLearning programs that instructional designers are tasked with creating these days, applying adaptive learning is the most impactful route they, and organizations can take. All learners are not created equal, and so corporate training for employees should not be one-size-fits-all. Adaptive learning is an incredibly powerful tool for delivering targeted training to each learner’s needs rather than content that might be redundant, irrelevant, or otherwise unnecessary. Applying it, L&D teams can benefit from Learning Management System data that informs how to improve content and make it even more effective—not possible with one-size-fits-all courses. Adaptive learning strategies support L&D professionals in achieving business goals and driving organization competitiveness.

Hats Off to Adaptive Learning: Tailoring Corporate Training to Each Learner features creative, useful examples that will spark ideas and can be immediately applied to L&D programs to great effect. The guide shows readers: 

• How adaptive learning works
• How it benefits online training programs
• Easy ways to implement it into courses
• Common myths that prevent organizations from adopting adaptive learning as a strategy
• Appropriate instructional design solutions for several learning scenarios
• Fostering employee engagement with adaptive learning
• How to calculate its ROI versus that of traditional online programs 

Author John Cleave, who earned master and Ph.D. degrees at Northwestern University’s prestigious Institute for the Learning Sciences, has been building adaptive learning for corporate clients for over 25 years.

“Adaptive learning is essentially a belief that, in a perfect world, every minute any of us spend in training makes us better. This should be the dream of all Learning and Development professionals, because every minute it doesn’t is a waste of time and money,” says Cleave. “While technology such as AI affords amazing opportunities to deliver it, adaptive learning is not dependent on technology. We believe it isn’t achieved through a clever algorithm so much as through clever L&D professionals.”

Download Hats Off to Adaptive Learning: Tailoring Corporate Training to Each Learner.

About SweetRush

Dream for a moment that you have the expertise and tools to positively impact the lives of others. You can affect mindsets and behavior. You can help an organization grow, change, prosper, and thrive. The passionate pursuit of this expertise and the development of these tools have been at the heart of the success SweetRush has experienced collaborating with clients who share the same dream.

SweetRush’s focus on team culture and mastery of performance improvement is reflected in loyal clients, a near-zero turnover of teammates, an 18-year track record of success, and a remarkable portfolio. Our work with clients has earned us gold awards from our peers and high ranking on the top training industry lists.

Every solution we deliver is infused with creativity. Instructional creativity allows us to discover effective and unique solutions to our clients’ challenges. Artistic creativity spurs us to create visually exciting, engaging user experiences. Technical creativity allows us to embrace new capabilities and platforms as they emerge, such as virtual reality, gamification, and mobile delivery. Cultural creativity empowers our clients to create the conditions that energize and empower their people and unleash the energy in their teams. Our Talent Solutions team builds on its unique knowledge of talent, team building, and learning and development to craft a unique, creative solution for clients who need the best temporary staff to augment their team. We apply the creative lens to all things, from project management to our treatment of our teammates, clients, and the planet. 

We are over 175 people strong and have been in business since 2001. Every day, we give thanks for the trust of our world-class clients. Our deliverables span from analysis and curriculum mapping to the creation of blended training products, including live and virtual classroom training, custom-developed eLearning, and innovative use of emerging technologies.

Dream with us, and together let’s make a positive impact!

Secrets of Effective L&D Leaders: Innovation, Embracing Change, and Cultural Transformation is your practical guide to enacting organizational culture change.

San Francisco, Calif., January 24, 2020 — Hot off the press, SweetRush is proud to announce the publication of its latest guide to help L&D leaders become the true champions of cultural transformation in organizations. Never before has a guide with this level of depth and detail been offered for free. Secrets of Effective L&D Leaders identifies top concerns for learning and development professionals and provides numerous practical tools to successfully engage both departmental as well as organizational culture.

L&D professionals need a strong learning culture to execute on the big shifts occurring in today’s organizations. With a shift from tech skills to human skills, there is a deeper focus on developing competencies around collaboration, empathy, and innovation. Today’s learning leaders need to step up to the challenge of making this a reality. And SweetRush’s comprehensive guide is designed to support L&D leaders through their challenges.

“Shifting your leadership mindset should be your number one focus. SweetRush manages to seamlessly unravel the secret to cultural transformation with this eBook,” —Christopher Pappas, Founder of eLearning Industry’s Network, explains.

Mastering Organizational Culture Change Manages Risk

L&D leaders are facing unprecedented challenges in today’s global market. Organizations are innovating at a pace faster than ever before. This rate of change involves new solutions, systems, and processes. Teams are cross-functional and agile, requiring new competencies. To maintain the expertise of their workforce and reduce the risk of turnover, companies now look to custom continuous learning programs for the answer. 

“An organization needs employees to perform tasks and meet compliance requirements, but they also need employees to drive innovation, communicate strongly, be flexible to new business challenges, be optimistic, and be forward thinking. This is a tall order for L&D,” says Arturo Schwartzberg, Cofounder, CFO, & Board Chairman at SweetRush.

A Healthy Culture Is a Type of Compensation

A company’s culture is more valuable than ever before. Employees and customers demand transparency around values and business practices. Gen Z, in particular, want to work for a company they believe in.

Traditional attitudes toward hiring, training, and business processes are giving way to strategies that support better alignment with culture. At the same time, companies strive to better align retraining, upskilling, and education within the career development of current and future employees. Organizations are shifting mindsets from “business-centric” to “people-centric.”

Learning Takes Center Stage

Successful L&D leaders understand that great attention must be paid to not only how an organization is structured, but also how it continually develops and supports employees within this structure. 

“L&D is key to providing internal communication and education, company and role-specific training, and developing organizational culture change champions,” says Fran Willis White.

Main Takeaways for Organizational Culture Change

In this guide to organizational culture change, you’ll explore and identify:

• The values, beliefs, and behaviors that impact performance within your organization
• The processes or standards can be transformed to improve teams, departments or your overall organizational goals
• The top considerations for organizational culture change and cultural transformation

Authored by SweetRush’s Ashley Munday, Former Director of Cultural and Organizational Transformation; Fran Willis White, Change Management and Leadership Executive Consultant; and Shelby Shankland, Manager of Cultural and Organizational Transformation, this guide shines a light on the top most concerns of today’s innovative L&D leaders.

“It’s more evident than ever that organizations need to invest in cultural transformation, no matter their industry,” says Pappas.

Download Secrets of Effective L&D Leaders today to begin your learning journey.

About SweetRush

SweetRush is trusted by many of the world’s most successful companies to help them improve the performance of their employees. We are known for exceptionally creative and effective solutions that combine the best of instructional design with highly engaging delivery. Our work has earned a long list of awards and accolades in collaboration with our clients. Discover more at www.sweetrush.com.