New to the World Manager community, the team at Zambrero have hit the ground running with their new World Manager platform, atlas, that has impressed franchisees and engaged team members better than ever before. Led by World Manager long-time community member, Adam Bennett - National Training Manager and Zambrero’s training and operations executive, Nick Sculthorpe, the focus has been on creating learning pathways for the team and using training tools like Sign Offs and the Optional Training feature to maximise impact. Read our interview with Adam and Nick below to further understand how they did this.
What was your goal when signing with World Manager?
A key part of Zambrero’s training strategy was to launch a new platform that would re-engage our teams for learning and development purposes whilst also increasing the communication channels directly to the team. The tools available have ticked all our boxes, not only for training and communication but also operations, which we plan to launch next year in 2022.
What does gamification mean to Zambrero?
Gamification to us means interaction that creates engagement, that will deliver a better customer outcome. Our goal is to create a foundation of modules and learning content that allows us to build a framework to grow the team's knowledge over time. To do this we needed to think about what would engage our teams to interact with atlas, whilst on the platform completing their training. We can no longer rely on outdated techniques, as we have a young workforce, so using activities they can relate to will be our approach moving forward.
How did you introduce gamification into the atlas platform?
We put a lot of thought into wanting to move away from simply reading documents on a screen to creating a more interactive learning pathway for the team. We produced some great ideas, including the use of QR codes to link training videos from the dashboard, building new modules with embedded videos and using “memoji” characters as talking guides within the modules. We have also utilsed World Manager’s Creative team to build scenario-based interactive modules around our menu items (for example how to build a burrito) which are fun for the team to learn in a unique way by using our ingredients to create the customer’s desired product, where they lead their own journey but still end up at the point we need them to.
Which tools have the most impact on your business and why?
For us, the tools in the Training product have the most impact. Using the fuel gauges to set clear learning pathways to follow ensures learners understand our expectations from the get-go.
For important operational practices, we have incorporated Sign Offs to give trainees the ability to put skills learnt online into practice by demonstrating their capabilities, therefore creating a blended approach to learning. The trainee completes tasks with their trainer and is then signed off as competent using the Sign Offs tool. As some of these tasks are business critical and need to be signed off regularly, we have set them up to refresh automatically after a certain period and send reminders to the managers.
Optional Training is an excellent feature, which allows us to assign training and sign offs that are not critical to the learning journey.
What strategies do you have in place to ensure your content is always up to date and engaging?
We have done a lot of work already to plan out the content that will be created and now need to decide on what order it will be released. There was a risk we would rush in and launch with a lot of content all at once, making it overwhelming for the teams, so we have planned to release new modules monthly and continue to use atlas as a communication tool with updated widgets, regular notices, and forum posts giving the team reasons to log in each week to keep up to date.
What resources have you allocated to running atlas?
There are two of us in the Training team that look after the platform, but we also have the ongoing support of the wider Operations team. They have been amazing at reviewing content and providing feedback, ensuring we stay on the right path, but also being champions of atlas to help bring it to live for our restaurants.
How did you identify your training needs?
We have regular meetings with key stakeholders on what the business needs are. From there, we identify if there are any quick and easy wins which we act upon as soon as we can, and which things might take longer to create. We never lose sight of our purpose, that atlas is a learning and development tool for our franchise partners and their teams, so the more we seek feedback from the end users, the better platform we can create for them.
How do you encourage team members to log in and engage with the platform?
We use tools from the Communication product to keep team members up to date on business news, but also ensure the information they need daily is readily available for them on the platform. This includes widgets linking to content such as recipe sheets, which have also been redesigned with QR codes taking them to training videos hosted within atlas. We have also used the Links tool to give easy access to important and relevant information such as COVID resources and new restaurant opening information.
Given you have only recently launched, how did you find the Implementation Process?
The implementation process has been fantastic. We have been working closely with our relationship manager to ensure that we are fully trained in all the features and tools on the platform and where our current processes fit in. The process has been collaborative in that we share what we are trying to achieve, and our RM shows us how other brands might be doing something similar which gives us the inspiration we need! We have felt supported and guided the whole way through.
And lastly, what has the feedback been since launching?
The feedback has all been positive, with users commenting on how much they like it being interactive, educational, and holding all the crucial information they need. They have said it is well set out and better than other platforms they have used in the past, which is always a great sign!
Thanks so much Adam and Nick for sharing your experience with us and showing the community new ways to integrate gamification in their businesses.