by Site Staff
November 25, 2013
GOLD: Adri Maisonet-Morales, Vice President, Enterprise Learning and Development, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina
One thousand flowers are about to “bloom” at health insurance provider Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina.
BLOOM, a new video-based learning system, stands for Blue Learning Opportunities On-demand Media. It is designed to allow the organization’s 5,000 employees and external stakeholders to view short videos that are accessible from anywhere and reduce time away from the job. Videos are available on a range of topics, including how-to information and business acumen from company leaders. In the future, more of the workforce will be able to create and upload content.
BLOOM is part of a broader overhaul of learning and development at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina prompted by regulatory shifts in the Affordable Care Act. Higher-level thinking skills, such as business savvy and consulting capabilities, are vital to the organization in the new climate. The learning function, led by Adri Maisonet-Morales, is tackling that training challenge by moving past the company’s historic reliance on classroom-based instruction.
The organization has gone from traditional paper-based materials for live classes to distributing electronic versions via SharePoint. This practice provides a framework for “beyond the learning event” activities such as discussion boards and action learning projects.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield also has adopted a training outsourcing strategy expected to generate savings of nearly half a million dollars over two years. Letting internal experts share knowledge through BLOOM videos is expected to cut costs. The company projects annual savings of more than $225,000 based on reduced time spent by learners consuming training, as well as savings in learning and development resources.
SILVER: David Van Meter, Chief Knowledge Officer, Infinite Campus
Not long ago, knowledge management for employees and external customers was in disarray at Infinite Campus, which provides a student information system for K-12 education institutions.
End users had to gather information from many separate locations, and skill assessments could not scale.
David Van Meter and his team put in place practices designed to improve communication, collaboration, accountability, productivity, customer relations and overall corporate brand awareness. For instance, all applicable content was made available to users in one place, learning was personalized and a new content management system was created.
Results include a drop in the visitor bounce rate to wiki pages hosted by the knowledge management unit from 26 percent in 2011 to 23 percent. Customer satisfaction also increased.
BRONZE: Pat Golden, Senior Director, Deltek University, Deltek
Software firm Deltek’s customer training courses were plagued by inconsistent delivery, inadequate presentation materials and a lack of opportunities for learner reinforcement.
Deltek created new courses that included more hands-on learning and options for reinforcement, using technology such as software simulation tools and screencast videos to enhance the new approach. Instead of relying on bulky training manuals and instructor-led sessions, the company now has a blended approach that also includes a new revenue stream.