Training Application
Culver’s “Train the Trainer”
A Little Context
I’ve been a restaurant manager for over twenty years, and the bulk of that time was spent working for a Culver’s franchisee in the south metro area of Minneapolis/St. Paul. As a leader in that space, I’ve always believed that good communication can solve nearly any problem! For most of my career (if not all), I’ve landed in roles that have fostered the growth of both team members and leaders alike. I have a passion for training and communication, so I would often be placed in positions of training and development.
At Prime, I was presented with a rare opportunity to work on a project of my choosing. The parameters were to solve a problem that we’ve experienced in our lives – whether a professional concern, a shortcoming perceived from our personal lives, or something we’re randomly aware of that could just use some improvement!
I asked myself what I would’ve liked to have seen while I was working in the restaurants, and the wheels began turning!
The Opportunity Space
What We Know
Culver’s is a Wisconsin-based, midwestern-born burger-and-dessert concept that’s swept large swaths of the country since its humble origins in 1984. Boasting a juicy and delicious ButterBurger and fresh-made Frozen Custard, Culver’s guests are delighted time and again with tasty treats served by smiling faces!
What We Think
Those smiling faces are often young, many of whom are getting their professional lives started with their very first jobs. Getting everyone on board and honing their expertise can be a daunting experience. Culver’s has a rich space full of training materials and methodologies, but nothing that currently bands them all together on the individual level. Training progress is often charted on paper, cluttering already-limited office space with binders, loose-leaf sheets of paper, or posters littering the walls in the back-of-house, often competing for the attention of those who walk by with legal need-to-knows, general updates, and more.
In My Humble Opinion…
I spent twenty years involved in the training of team members and leaders. Now that I’m in my next chapter, I was given an opportunity to design a solution in a problem space that I’ve always dreamed could be provided — an app that bands together an in-one-place system for feedback and status-checking along with already-existing training guides, videos, and tools.
The Final Solution
Designed specifically for Culver’s, this app shares a common title in the training and development space: Train the Trainer.
The goal for the final product is a clean look — something intuitive using progressive disclosure so as not to overwhelm the user by making to-do lists for the to-do list. Trainers can easily review progress, view past and upcoming training schedules, as well as access training guides and helpful videos within a few easy taps!
Demonstration Video
I began this process by thinking about what I might’ve liked to have seen in my tenure as a training manager. Given that most younger people come out of the box with a phone these days, it made sense to create a tool in the form of an app that could be used by the crew trainers, the trainees themselves, and have that report back to a back-office system for training managers, general managers, and even owners to review if they want to see the progress of an individual team member or their staff as a whole.
My friend Brian opened a new Culver’s franchise — YAY! We love this for him! It opened up an avenue to ask questions of someone who was taking on a HUGE task: Training an entire new restaurant staff! What tools might be valuable to someone in this position?
Next Steps & Learning
Culver’s has a stellar reputation for hospitality, service, and quality products! While they’ve clearly been successful in their training and development processes, there’s always room to improve. My solutions provide a convenient way to further reduce training time and strain on the team by placing everything in one place — a simple platform that, within a few easy clicks, can be a wealth of information at one’s fingertips!
The next steps would be to flower out the trainee version of the app as well as to create the portal for the managers to see progress.