Podium Assessments

Introduction Apparel Group, a renowned global fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate headquartered in the UAE, is committed to providing exceptional retail experiences to millions of customers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Apparel Group has established itself as a leader in the industry, with over 2,000 retail locations across 14 countries and representing more than 80 global brands. However, to continue surpassing the expectations of its diverse clientele, Apparel Group recognized the need to revamp its approach to associate onboarding and training across its retail operations in the GCC. They faced the challenge of understanding and exceeding the expectations of a youthful, diverse, and tech-savvy retail sales workforce while also reducing the time required to onboard new employees. Solution To address these challenges, Apparel Group partnered with Axonify, a leading provider of innovative training solutions. The objective was to implement a strategic approach to onboarding and training that would not only engage the sales associates but also track their knowledge growth and competency improvements, ultimately driving positive business impact. With the help of Axonify, Apparel Group deployed interactive digital onboarding and training programs that were tailored for both general onboarding and specific sales associate roles. The traditional classroom approach was left behind in favour of a more engaging and personalized training experience. Impact The results of this transformation were remarkable. The Skechers brand experienced an 8% increase in sales, while productivity across all brands saw a significant 20% boost. The training initiative also led to observable behaviour changes, with over 2000 behaviour observations completed, out of which 933 were marked as exceptional, scoring a perfect 100%. Additionally, knowledge growth showed a remarkable increase of 13%, with the baseline knowledge level of 67% rising to an impressive 80%. Furthermore, the engagement levels among the sales associates were extraordinary, with a participation rate of 91% and an average of four to five training sessions per week. The commitment to continuous Learning and Development was evident, with an average of 174,000 extra training sessions completed. Apparel Group's partnership with Axonify has not just revolutionised their associated onboarding and training but also delivered tangible business results. By embracing technology-driven, interactive training methods, Apparel Group has positioned itself as a forward-thinking organisation that understands the evolving needs of its workforce and customers alike.

Introduction THE One Total Home Experience is a UAE-grown Lifestyle Brand that offers Seasonal Collections of Affordable Home Fashion founded in 1996. Today THE One has 22 stores and 1 Bistro Restaurant across the Middle East and North Africa, consisting of 3 categories, THE One, FUSION by THE One, and THE One Basics. The growing workforce spread across different geographical locations posed the challenge of training their frontline, keeping them informed, and communicating with them efficiently. THE One was looking for a training solution that would allow them to improve staff knowledge growth for improving sales conversions and helping them deliver exceptional customer service. Solution THE One started a series of training programmes with users. They wanted to focus on certain top-selling products and ensure the staff knew everything about it and could upsell and cross-sell products. According to THE One's internal survey, within the first six months of using Axonify, users reported that the knowledge they gained about suggestive selling and cross-selling, among other topics, helped them to do better on the job. In fact, the top performers on Axonify are usually the top-performing employees. As a result, THE One reported a 10% increase in sales conversion rates by training with Axonify five times a week. Impact THE One saw an employee participation rate of 98%, with 23.4% Training Frequency. Participants trained on Axonify saw a 28% knowledge growth. 97% of participants agreed that Axonify helped them to be more efficient in their jobs and increased their product knowledge. 'It has improved my customer service skills. My Upselling and cross-selling has increased,' said an employee using Axonify. THE One team gained more confidence in handling customer issues and upselling, especially front-of-the-house products.

Introduction Etihad is a large international airline based in Abu Dhabi, providing service to more than 400 destinations in 74 countries around the world. Founded in 2003, we have more than 100 aircraft with revenues upward of $6 billion each year. The Abu Dhabi-based international airline wanted to improve Etihad wanted to improve performance by examining all forms of learning across the organisation. One of their biggest emerging problems was customer service and satisfaction. Their Net Promoter Score (NPS) was too low to establish the kind of success and growth they planned for their future. However, they lacked the proper internal development capabilities to move the needle significantly. The company had clear goals that had to be achieved. To begin with, they needed to develop a clear framework for staff improvement and a simple model to demonstrate excellence. Along with this, the company had recognised universal knowledge points but had to find a method to convey them through an always-accessible training format. With content published daily, Etihad needed a cohesive training format and central hosting location. Solution Etihad realised that leadership and management skills do not come automatically to employees but need to be guided to do so. Etihad Airways decided to run a pilot program for their frontline employees. They eventually expanded to cover Mastering the Art of Service training to enhance their customer service skills. Furthermore, they began using Axonify for more than just hosting videos. This revolutionary training solution allowed the company to track individual and group progress. This benefited Etihad Airways as their senior managers could monitor employee training performance and be more strategic about future development modules. Impact Etihad Airways observed a significant increase in employee engagement around training and development. Their NPS had skyrocketed, increasing by 30 points, and they benefitted from the possibility of leading to more customer referrals while increasing customer satisfaction. Andrew Stotter-Brooks, the Vice President of Learning & Development, claimed that Axonify was the model that helped them promote better employee growth. He further summarised the modern learning solution using three concepts – “clarity, simplicity, and making learning fun.”    

Introduction At Home is an American home décor company with more than 200 stores across 40 states in the USA. The company’s Chief People Officer, Valerie Davisson, faced the challenge of aligning more than 3,000 employees around 100 stores. She knew proper employee training was integral to At Home’s successful transformation. At Home faced a few key challenges, reducing safety incidents and tying learning to their business results. Most importantly, they were looking for a user-friendly lean training solution that would be scalable as the company expands. They also wanted to create a consistent onboarding process and engage associates in the ongoing training. An additional challenge faced by Davisson was resolving these challenges effectively without breaking the bank. Solution Davisson claimed that typical LMS doesn’t strategically fit their business model and had to take a fresh approach to align with the company’s modern transformation. She believed Axonify’s revolutionary methodology to be just what At Home needed and initiated a 6-month pilot. Each day, associates logged on to Axonify through kiosks to answer 3-5 questions about safe work practices, while playing a fun game. Based on their answers, Axonify identified areas where each associate needed more training and delivered learning to fill those knowledge gaps. This modern learning solution personalised learning to target and close each frontline employee’s knowledge gaps, giving employees the confidence to perform their role to the best of their ability. Impact The results of the pilot were incredible! Davisson was able to train 2,500 associates in 4 weeks, which previously took 6 months, resulting in a 90% reduction in onboarding time. In addition, 98% of the company’s frontline voluntarily participated on Axonify, with current employee knowledge levels averaging 92%. Observations suggest that more than 3/4th of the company’s workforce completed the annual PCI training within 2 weeks. Moreover, At Home identified a direct relationship between associate knowledge and sales and conversion performance, i.e., stores with a higher associate knowledge showed an increase in these performance drivers. Moreover, Axonify helped improve long-term memory around safety topics and build additional knowledge over time. Davisson was thrilled with the decision to use Axonify and believed that it has allowed their company to deliver an end-to-end solution to their field operations team, as this modern learning solution will evolve and grow and scale with At Home.

Introduction A leading organisation in the banking sector wanted to improve team productivity and cross-functional collaboration in the management department. Solution  Biz Group set up a Multiplier workshop for this organisation and designed a Learning Journey for three days split a month apart. The tools used in this workshop included classroom training, Learning Circles, work-based assignments and AI-based microlearning and reinforcement with Axonify. The training also provided keynotes to the learners and helped them understand the positive and profitable effect Multipliers can have on organisations and individuals. Additionally, our virtual instructor-led training guided our learners to lead like a Multiplier and harness their team’s full capability. Furthermore, we also ran workshops to implement the theory learnt in the real world and practice applying these concepts in their organisation. In the end, we assigned assessments to find out from our learners if the training helped them in times when their leadership was diminishing. Moreover, we also offered our learners Multipliers Coaching, a system offering eight 50-minute conversations designed to help our learners shift from being an Accidental Diminisher to an intentional Multiplier. Impact After implementing training within the organisation, we used the Kirkpatrick Model of Training Evaluation to assess the impact of the Multiplier Workshop on the company’s management department. From Level 1, the Reaction level, we observed a 96% score for “Course being useful for their Leadership Career”. From Level 2, known as the Learning Level, there was a 23% knowledge growth recorded among the management team after using Axonify in their workflow. From Level 3, 48% of learners showed the application of learning through assignment submissions. This level is also known as the Behaviour level. Lastly, from Level 4, recording the journey results, we observed that the collection recovery increased by 500K every month, and sales increased by 21%. Moreover, business retention increased by 220%, increasing by 5.5M. Along with this, four underperforming staff overachieved their targets for two consecutive months, increasing the organisation's overall productivity.

Introduction Emirates NBD offers its banking services across the MENAT region and is the largest banking group in this region by assets. The leading banking group in the region wanted to increase the number of product application acceptance rates and improve their overall customer experience. Solution The banking industry is fast-paced, and Emirates NBD’s frontline requires to be on their toes when it comes to being informed about their products and processes, central bank regulations, and being confident in providing these to customers. With Axonify, their employees were able to easily receive any announcements on regulation changes, product updates, and daily reinforcement on key concepts. Axonify's AI-driven microlearning customised according to the individual's needs helped them increase their knowledge and confidence and ultimately improved performance. Impact Using Axonify, EmiratesNBD accelerated the approval rates of applications by 42.75%. Apart from this, 92% of Emirates NBD employees voluntarily participated in making Axonify a part of their work-life and later on claimed to have a 21% knowledge growth. Furthermore, Emirates NBD employees noted a log-in frequency of 4-5 times a week. In terms of the approval rates, credit limit approval had an increase of 57%, with Auto Finance (Early Settlement) & After Sales Transaction (Early Settlement) having the second and third highest growth approval rates, at 60% and 45% respectively. Following this, 89% of learners agreed that Axonify helped them be more efficient in their job and also noted a 9% increase in approval rate for successful account opening.

Introduction Sephora is a French multinational retail company offering personal care and beauty products. The makeup giant featuring 340 brands, including their private label, wanted to increase its customer satisfaction scores and achieve target sales for new products. Solution The frontline staff at Sephora has a lot of information to remember daily during any given shift, and keeping them engaged in learning and communications can be challenging. With Axonify, Sephora employees could easily access daily training in just 3-5 minutes a day without taking them away from the valuable floor time. AI-driven, personalised bits of learning helped them achieve the training support they needed to do their job well. Furthermore, with Axonify's instant communication feature, Sephora's frontline could access real-time updates about the latest products and processes. Impact We observed an 89% participation rate by Sephora's employees. Sephora employees logged into Axonify 20 times a month on average and recorded a 32% knowledge growth rate. Sephora recorded a 17% increase in sales by training three times a week and a 1.4% increase in sales numbers with each extra day of participation. Moreover, Sephora achieved 100% of the overall monthly sales target along with 23 stores exceeding their Monthly Sales Target and noted a 26% increase in customer satisfaction scores.

Introduction Etihad Airways is the second-largest airline in the UAE and commenced its operations in 2003. The second flag carrier airline of the country found it challenging to keep up with the dynamic nature of the aviation industry. It’s also highly demanding for a company to forecast the nature of work after 6-12 months when it piles up. Etihad’s previous history with e-modules was limited in communication, and they were looking for a frontline-focused learning management system that could streamline learning and communication.  Solution The aviation industry is highly dynamic and competitive. Every day looks different for the managers of Etihad Airways, and the nature of their work demands a high-efficiency rate from the workforce. In regards to this, Etihad could keep up with the complex nature of the airline industry by inculcating Axonify to their performance measurement structure. They aimed to develop a sales process designed by salespeople for salespeople. According to Etihad, the concept of daily learning Axonify brings to the table is its real selling point, as their employees found it user-friendly and incredibly simple to understand. Graham Cook, the Manager of Commercial Performance, finds employees using Axonify daily to reaffirm their existing knowledge as “time well spent” and sees it as the best solution to escape the generic and boring training modules. A key feature of Axonify utilised by Etihad is using this tool as a medium to communicate and roll out changes in real-time. This increases the efficiency of Etihad’s departments and informs everyone about the various changes taking place internally and externally. Impact Etihad noticed a massive increase in their engagement rate, as their sales staff completed around 4,500-5,000 extra training sessions on Axonify. This clearly depicts their enthusiasm at work, which is genuinely an ideal quality required by an organisation’s frontline. Furthermore, Etihad observed a 10% improvement in participation rate after using Axonify, with more than 2/3rd of their sales team engaging with this training solution. Moreover, this frontline training tool left Etihad’s salespeople empowered to confidently approach their market and customers. Axonify has allowed the company to deliver a positive message positively, making a real impact on Etihad’s work culture.

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