Frontline Unscripted

If you build it, will they come? This question is about more than baseball fields. A learning solution will not have the intended impact if no one uses it. Engagement is a critical and often overlooked part of enterprise learning strategy. This is especially true on the frontline, where time is tight and development needs are personal. How can you get employees to voluntarily engage in training - product, service, safety, compliance - without having to chase them down? 

To uncover the secrets of learning engagement, JD speaks with the people at Axonify who teach frontline forward companies around the world how to build their own strategies. They have helped organizations reach an 83% engagement rate with frontline employees completing training on average two to three times per week. These practices really work! 

Thank you to the Axonifiers who participated in our conversation:

• Carrie Cardoso Cote | Directed of Customer Marketing
• Peter Cameron | Senior Client Engagement Manager
• Rob Little | Customer Success Manager

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com. If you have a frontline story you’d like us to explore on a future episode, let us know at [email protected].

We’ve always relied on the frontline. They get us where we’re going. They answer the phone when we have a problem. They help us feed our families. But for many of us, it took a pandemic to notice just how important these people really are. The frontline may be in the spotlight right now. But is this a flash in the pan? Will they continue to be heralded as heroes? Or will the importance of the frontline fade as things return to “normal”? 

JD sits down with Carol Leaman, a well-known entrepreneur, highly-regarded business leader and CEO of Axonify, to discuss what’s in store for the frontline moving forward and why businesses have to become "frontline forward" in order to compete in a disrupted economy. 

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com. If you have a frontline story you’d like us to tell on a future episode, let us know at [email protected].

Our international panel of talent development experts are back! They shared so many great insights during our conversations, we just couldn’t fit it all into one episode. In this “deleted scenes” edition of The 80 Percent, we focus on real-world examples. 

How can frontline training be improved in manufacturing? How important is coaching in a contact center? How can we put the employee at the center of our workplace learning strategy? Our panelists share stories of how companies around the world are improving their frontline training programs.

Thank you once again to the five illustrious members of the global talent development community who were so generous with their time and insights:

• Donald Taylor (Chairman, Learning and Performance Institute, United Kingdom)
• Dani Johnson (Co-Founder and Principal Analyst, RedThread Research, United States)
• Linda Van Der Loo (Executive Partner Learning Innovation, Blue Pebble Consulting, South Africa)
• Hazel Jackson (CEO, Biz Group, United Arab Emirates)
• Michelle Ockers (Learning Strategy Expert & Learning Team Capability Builder, Australia)

Check out the Learning Uncut podcast from Michelle Ockers for even more great L&D stories and insights.

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com. If you have a frontline story you’d like us to explore on a future episode, let us know at [email protected].

Five continents. Five experts. One frontline story. JD calls on some of the smartest people in the global talent development community to explore how workplace disruption is fundamentally changing the ways organizations support frontline workers. Is this the push L&D needs to finally get beyond the classroom? How will frontline knowledge and skill expectations shift in an increasingly digital world? And will these changes be short-term, or will they last beyond the pandemic?

Listen to the first episode in our two-part conversation with our international panel of experts, who were very generous with their time and insights:

• Donald Taylor (Chairman, Learning and Performance Institute, United Kingdom)
• Dani Johnson (Co-Founder and Principal Analyst, RedThread Research, United States)
• Linda Van Der Loo (Executive Partner Learning Innovation, Blue Pebble Consulting, South Africa)
• Hazel Jackson (CEO, Biz Group, United Arab Emirates)
• Michelle Ockers (Learning Strategy Expert & Learning Team Capability Builder, Australia)

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com. If you have a frontline story you’d like us to explore on a future episode, let us know at [email protected].

Frontline jobs have been disrupted worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of people have been sent home, furloughed while businesses figure out how to move forward and wait for restrictions to lift. They may not be at work, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped learning. How can maintaining engagement with employees while they’re home accelerate reboarding and strengthen workplace culture? JD conducts an old-school investigation to find out how companies are helping their frontline workers continue learning from home. 

Thank you to Aston Moss from Briscoe Group Limited and our other friends for sharing their frontline stories with us for this episode.

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com. If you have a frontline story you’d like us to explore on a future episode, let us know at [email protected].

Frontline employees in grocery, delivery and contact centers are being heralded as heroes of the pandemic alongside first responders and healthcare workers. While many companies have temporarily shut down or limited their operations, these essential businesses have been rapidly hiring to meet changing customer needs. What’s it like to start a new job on the frontline right now? How are people making the transition from their long-term careers, which are suddenly on hold, to the frontline of a global health crisis? And what does it really mean to call someone a frontline hero? To find out more about this side of workplace disruption, we spoke with three people who have recently transitioned into new frontline jobs.

More Story Research

• Gallup: How to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety
• Radio.com: Businesses That Are Hiring During the Coronavirus Outbreak
• Simon Sinek: TED - Why good leaders make you feel safe

Thank you to Jackie, Bo and Ellie for sharing their stories of frontline disruption with us for this episode.

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com. If you have a frontline story you’d like us to explore on a future episode, let us know at [email protected].

The grocery shopping experience has changed radically over the past few weeks. But this impact is felt even more by the people who continue to go to work in these stores every day. Grocery associates are among the heroes working on the frontline of the pandemic. To keep them safe and productive at work, grocers are rapidly adapting the ways they train their associates, especially as they onboard hundreds to thousands of new employees. To find out more about what it’s like to work in grocery right now, we spoke with Evan Parkes, a third-generation grocer with 30 years of experience in the industry. 

More Story Research:

• @RebeccaLoops on Twitter: Rebecca Marquardt’s tips for grocery store shoppers
• CBC News: How COVID-19 is affecting grocery stores
• CBS New York: Grocery Store Employees Worry About Safety, Health
• TODAY: Grocery Stores and Manufacturers Rush to Restock Empty Shelves
• NBC10 Philadelphia: NJ ShopRite Protects Workers and Shoppers With Plexiglass During COVID-19 Outbreak

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com. If you have a frontline story you’d like us to explore on a future episode, let us know at [email protected].

Welcome to The 80 Percent, a podcast about the impact of the frontline workforce. In each episode, JD and Richia share a story about how frontline employees are making a difference in their organizations and communities. You’ll learn how companies are evolving their training and support tactics to empower their frontlines. You’ll take away practical ideas for how you can drive measurable business results through improved frontline performance.

The 80 Percent is brought to you by Axonify. To learn how you can build training for your frontline workforce that actually works, visit axonify.com.