Challenge

“Too much good stuff” – It’s the brand image for BP’s franchise convenience store, ampm. BP’s focus on quality standards doesn’t stop at the gas pump; food appeal, safety, and customer service all play a vital role in growing the brand. So handling customer complaints, especially food complaints, plays a part in the success of each franchise and of the brand as a whole.

Training franchise employees can be challenging. BP encourages franchise owners to provide consistent and relevant training for their employees. Motivating employees to take the training, however; and apply it to their jobs requires a creative, innovative approach. The presentation of content must engage learners, help learners acquire practical knowledge and develop new skills, and encourage learners to modify their behavior. No small task!

Solution

Teamed with Centrax Corporation, BP rose to the challenge. Combining extraordinary 3D graphics and gaming components with sound instructional design, Centrax and BP created a course that franchise employees enjoy while developing essential skills that they can transfer to the job. The Handling Food Complaints e-learning module is divided into two parts – the first immerses learners in scenarios where they respond to customers report feeling sick after consuming a product from the store. The second part focuses on the food production process, or “flow of food”, engaging learners in food complaints related to how food is prepared and displayed.

Results

Although encouraged by positive feedback from the initial curriculum rollout, BP wanted proof that their innovative training was accomplishing their goals. BP hired Learning Gauge Inc. to conduct a statistically valid, thorough evaluation of the Handling Food Complaints e-learning module. The results speak for themselves. Eighty percent of pilot training participants were able to verbally explain the proper food complaint reporting procedures; while only twenty percent of employees who did not complete the training accurately performed the proper procedures during the drill. The evaluation also demonstrated retention of learning by the pilot group; the drill was conducted a full two weeks after completing the module. The bottom line? Employees who took the course demonstrated significantly greater knowledge of the food complaint process than employees who did not participate in the training.