How Vanderbilt increased knowledge retention and food safety compliance in 30 days.

‍"We needed to look beyond the traditional classroom setting and Opus has allowed that to happen."

 

In-person training was costly and time consuming

Jeffrey Weissinger is the General Manager at The Commons Center at Vanderbilt University. He built a robust allergen training program for student and non-student employees at Vanderbilt that keeps students and faculty safe.

Vanderbilt initially conducted all training in person. Since The Commons Center is a complex operation, Jeff and his team had difficulty gathering people in the same room at the same time. They had to schedule large, annual group sessions and used PowerPoint presentations and paper exams --- a costly training operation. ‍On-site mangers took over two months to create training, from start to finish. Skill verification was manual. Examinations had to be reviewed individually. This led to high labor costs, poor knowledge distribution, and inefficient data tracking. 

Jeffrey needed a way to increase engagement in his frontline team. Training had to be accessible and it had to be translated into multiple languages, in order to increase participation and the pass rate.

"Opus has allowed us to reach and exceed our training expectations, by connecting our staff with the resources and course materials directly on their mobile device." 

With Opus, compliance pass rate tripled to 81%

‍The team at Vanderbilt began to make changes. Jeffrey had to move toward a centralized training model. He needed a training platform that would save time, increase engagement and retention and allow his frontline team to easily obtain and retain information. He had tried a legacy learning management system, but passing scores were at an all-time low, with only 32% of students passing. With Opus, Vanderbilt University increased its passing rate to 81%.

“Most people are inseparable from their cell phones. When I learned about Opus and the opportunity to use the platform, everything made sense.”

The key missing component was accessibility. Mobile-first, micro-training delivery was the way to go.Jeffrey explored the Opus platform and noticed that The Common Center could now "bring the training directly to the individual employee and increase the overall engagement." Many of Jeffrey's frontline workers spoke Spanish as their primary language. The AI-driven Opus Training platform technology made translating course materials simple. A student, who previously had a pass rate of 18%, was now able to complete their training in Spanish with 100% accuracy. 

‍”In previous platforms, we had the ability to have the test translated to other languages, but not the course material.  Having the exam translated is one thing, but if our people are not understanding the material it doesn't make any sense. With Opus, everything was easily translated.”

Vanderbilt became compliant within 1 month (vs. 3 months)

Jeffrey requires that 100% of his team be trained in Allergen Safety. When he was made aware of the MenuTrinfo and Opus Training partnership, he knew this was the next step for his business. The Common Center needed groundbreaking numbers and to be compliant quickly.

At Vanderbilt, Jeffrey insists on providing the safest food possible. "Opus allowed us to speed up our process to become compliant with allergen training. “I initially taught this course in a traditional class setting. We were able to increase our pass rate by 10% with Opus.

Jeffrey was able to enroll more people in the course, which was otherwise difficult at the end of the year. Jeffrey witnessed astronomical numbers using the platform. 88% of the employees at Vanderbilt completed their AllerTrain courses within 30 days. This was three times faster than their in-person method.

"Opus allows training to be available to more people, making great knowledge streamlined throughout campus food service". - Betsy Craig, CEO/Founder of MenuTrinfo

Employees, spanning four generations, love the format

“This technology offers a service that nothing else does.”

Jeffrey found the to have an "overall interface that works really well. It is user- friendly, and easy to sign up and assign people courses." Using a mobile-first platform, Jeffrey was able to cater to all different types of learning styles. His frontline employees gave a 4.8/5 rating of the course delivery and platform. They loved the option to provide and receive instant feedback, and could see how they scored in real-time.

“Opus speaks the language of everyone, regardless of age. Everyone understands Opus. We have 4-5 generations in our workplace, but Opus really bridged these gaps."

The reality is that many people are using their cell phones most hours of the day. Frontline workers can spend 15 minutes scrolling and digesting course material, at their own pace, on their mobile devices. "The great thing," says Jeffrey, "is that they get paid to use their phones. The smiles on their faces when telling them they could use their phones was cool." He understands that the younger generation is well-versed and invested in technology, and leveraged their passion for the digital world. 

“Opus has shown that we can use technology to our advantage. Technology not only increases engagement, but increases the knowledge base of our team. The possibilities are endless with Opus.”

Learn more about our Allergen Safety Compliance training here.