The Learning Xchange

What do the words “employee experience” mean to you?

Every employee, manager, or business owner likely has a different definition. It can relate to day-to-day experiences, recruitment, training and development, retention, and everything in between.

It relates to every touchpoint a business has with an employee, from when they first join to whenever they decide to move on. The experience that they have in between those two points and even beyond carries an impact across the company. Even once they leave, their experience can still create ripples for a business, for example, through Glassdoor reviews.

That’s why it’s so important to think about employee experience and employee culture, as both those things naturally go hand in hand.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Schoox’s Matthew Brown (VP of Learning and Brand Success) is joined by his colleague Karen Clem for a discussion on employee experience and the role of training in it.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• Why the employee experience and company culture are so closely linked
• How the employee experience can affect customers and profits
• The role of learning and development in employee experience
• Why training should be continuous, not just an annual event
• The importance of engaging training programs

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

Are you making time for self-care?

Self-care is something that often gets neglected in the hustle and bustle of the modern world. But are we doing ourselves, families, and colleagues a disservice by doing so? By ignoring our own needs, are we making things more challenging for ourselves, our productivity, and our teams at work?

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) explores the topic of self-care and why it’s so important to make time for ourselves. Focusing on good self-care has plenty of benefits for your own mental health and wellbeing, as well as your team’s.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• Why self-care is so important to make time for
• Why self-care starts with us as individuals
• The challenge of maintaining good self-care in the era of remote work
• Practical ways to introduce self-care aspects in your professional life
• How to help colleagues and employees with their self-care

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

How does your workplace approach content curation or creation?

If your company is dedicated to learning and development, content curation is a great way to add value to your employees. In the context of learning and development, content curation is the process of gathering, sourcing, and organizing information that’s helpful for a team.

In many workplaces, the learning and development team is viewed as solely responsible for creating this type of content. However, there are lots of benefits when a company empowers the learning and development team to tap into the broader employee community.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) discusses the benefits of content curation in workplace learning and development.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• What content curation is and why it’s helpful
• The problem with generic training solutions
• How to get employees involved with content curation
• The benefits of employees helping with content curation
• Why hearing different perspectives is key to great training content

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

Do you consider and encourage different perspectives in your place of work?

There’s a lot more open discussion in the world today, and more people value the spirit of inclusion and diversity. But for some, there’s still a long way to go, particularly in the workplace. 

How you approach open discussion in the workplace can significantly affect collaboration, morale, and productivity. 

Are you actively seeking to learn from others with different opinions, experiences, and backgrounds? If not, what valuable ideas and perspectives could you be missing out on? Hearing differing perspectives that challenge our own has great benefits.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) talks all about the importance of valuing different perspectives. 

Listen to this episode to find out: 

• The benefits of hearing different perspectives 
• Why you should be open to challenges and remove any defensiveness
•  How to encourage people to speak up and share their opinions
• Why being open to different perspectives makes it easier to have difficult conversations

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

How can we encourage engagement in a virtual training session?

It looks like virtual training is not going anywhere any time soon. While many people had never participated in virtual training before, tools like Zoom have become a familiar home for team meetings and training sessions. 

For some, the virtual experience has been ideal, but there are certainly challenges that come with it.  

As a learning and development professional, one of the challenges for virtual training is getting people engaged and interacting.  

There are all sorts of distractions that affect our attention in a virtual meeting. How you approach building and managing your training sessions can help boost engagement and create a productive learning environment.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) shares some great tips and insights into engagement in virtual training sessions. He discusses the best ways to plan content and manage different personas in a virtual group. 

Listen to this episode to find out: 

• The challenges of virtual learning
• How to deal with distractions in a virtual learning space
• The best way to structure your virtual training courses
• How to encourage everyone to engage and feel comfortable doing so

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

How can you create a highly effective virtual training session?

Whether virtual sessions are your go-to method of training or not, it can be difficult to deliver a session that works for everyone. There are lots of things to consider when putting together a virtual training course.

While challenging, virtual sessions offer unique opportunities for engagement - if you utilize the tools effectively.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) shares some tips for making your next virtual training session a success. He discusses how to best leverage virtual tools to boost engagement and the importance of icebreakers and feedback.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• Why making training sessions voluntary leads to better engagement
• How to use different virtual tools to boost engagement
• Why it’s important to be mindful of those who prefer not to participate
• How to use icebreakers effectively
• Why you should get feedback from each session

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

In any business or organization, there are naturally some people who perform better than others.

How does your organization focus on or identify those high-performing employees? Do you focus solely on them, and if so, does that mean there is an imbalance in the organization?

It might seem like a no-brainer to spend more time and effort on high-performing workers. Many companies will have programs specifically in place to help elevate these people to senior positions. However, a common mistake that organizations make is putting their entire focus on high-performing workers. This means that most of the workforce is left without the support they need to succeed.

That’s what Matthew Brown talks about in this episode of The Learning Xchange podcast. Matthew (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) shares his thoughts on supporting lower-performing staff to help them become more engaged.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• Why focusing only on high performers could be a mistake
• How to turn low performers into high performers
• How to get lower-performing workers more engaged
• What makes a high performer and ways to apply that to others

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

One of the most difficult decisions a business can make is choosing a vendor.

Choosing the right vendor is not just about getting the right products, tools, or services. If you’re going to be working closely with them, it’s important to choose vendors that are a great fit for your company values.

That’s what Matthew Brown discusses in this episode of The Learning Xchange podcast. Matthew (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) shares his advice for choosing a vendor that can become a true partner of your organization.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• How your choice of vendor can have a huge effect on your organization
• The best ways to choose the right product or service
• Why it’s important to look at a vendor’s values
• The difference between ordinary vendors and partners
• What the vendor’s employees can teach you about their working style

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

Check out our FREE e-book, “Your Guide For Choosing The Best Learning Management System.”

How can you spark new ideas and encourage innovation in your team?

Innovation is so important for organizations to continue growing. But are you openly encouraging it within your own team? Are you creating a space where employees at all levels feel comfortable sharing their ideas?

That’s what Matthew Brown discusses in this episode of The Learning Xchange podcast. Matthew (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) shares his six tips for encouraging innovation in your team. 

He says that being more open to trying new things and encouraging everyone to speak up can empower your organization.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• How innovation can help organizations overcome challenges
• Why innovation is everyone’s job
• How to encourage a trial-and-error approach
• Why it’s so important for people to share their stories and ideas
• Why no idea is a bad idea if it can spark innovations

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!

How often do you reassess your priorities, either in your business or personal life?

In times of change or crisis, many of us make the mistake of keeping those plans and priorities the same. However, if the world/the business/your life has changed, shouldn’t those priorities change as well?

That’s the topic of discussion in this episode of The Learning Xchange podcast. Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) talks about the importance of setting priorities and regularly reassessing them.

Matthew says that while planning for the future is essential in business, things rarely stay exactly the same. When things change, it’s important to be flexible and revisit priorities. He also discusses the importance of talking to your team about goals,  and tasks and being honest. If there’s too much on your plate and you need help, talking to others can help you better prioritize tasks together.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• Why you need to revisit priorities in times of change and crisis
• Why it’s important to set goals and revisit those goals regularly
• What to do when your plate’s full and something has to give
• The importance of conversation and collaboration
• How to use the Eisenhower Matrix to better prioritize tasks.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share what you love about The Learning Xchange by leaving us a rating and review!