1. New Operational Procedures

2.  Sanitation Programs

3. Manager Investment

4. Onboarding Influx

The post What Now? 4 Ways to Get Ready for Recovery appeared first on DiscoverLink.

The post When You Find Your Passion, Share It appeared first on DiscoverLink.

We are incredibly proud to share the exciting news that DiscoverLink has been acquired by CrunchTime Information Systems, Inc., the leading back-of-house operations platform provider for the restaurant industry. This brings together two leaders in the restaurant technology space to create an end-to-end restaurant management solution that includes inventory and supply chain management, operational analytics, labor scheduling, and now, talent development. Read the press release that is being distributed today for more details.

We’re not going anywhere!

Over the course of our 19-year history of providing e-learning solutions to hospitality businesses, we have always focused on the needs of our customers first, and today is no different. We want to assure you that the same team members you have worked with for years at DiscoverLink will continue to support you as we move forward. CrunchTime shares the same customer-centric philosophy that has been the foundation of DiscoverLink’s success, and now you will have the opportunity to leverage the expertise and resources of a larger organization.

Big platform, bigger portfolio

As the restaurant technology space has matured and consolidated, we have seen the desire of some restaurant clients’ IT departments to reduce the number of vendors they work with. DiscoverLink Talent and the DiscoverLink Content Library are a great fit in CrunchTime’s product portfolio, providing talent development solutions that perfectly complement CrunchTime’s labor scheduling, inventory, and analytics offerings. The products will continue to be available separately as well, but combined, they will provide a powerhouse solution to help you improve both team member and operational performance.

What about the roadmap?

We know how excited you are about the many new product and content development initiatives we have been working on. Our teams continue to be focused on bringing those fantastic enhancements to you, and we will, of course, continue to include you in our product prioritization and development processes. We will begin to look at opportunities to integrate our platforms over the coming months, and we welcome your input and ideas for how we can deliver even more value to your operations.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

As we embark on this new adventure as part of the CrunchTime team, we want to pause briefly to express our heartfelt thanks for your tremendous support and loyalty over the years. We are humbled and honored by the wonderful clients who have entrusted us with helping to drive their learning and development programs. You have brought us a long way, and we’re excited to continue working with you as we focus on helping you prosper in 2021.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact either of us or your account manager.

Best always,

Jeff Tenut, Founder                        John Poulos, Co-Founder & President

The post Exciting News About DiscoverLink appeared first on DiscoverLink.

We often hear from restaurant training administrators who are frustrated with the challenges of having to track multiple certifications in different programs across their organization. Whether for food safety, OSHA, harassment, PCI compliance or other certifications, keeping track of who is up-to-date on which programs when they’re all managed through disparate systems can be a real bear. Couple that with managing different requirements in different states, preparing reports for various authorities or corporate executives, and scheduling recurring training, and it can become a real nightmare.

With DiscoverLink Talent you can track certifications in the same system you use to deliver e-learning programs to your stores, making compliance tracking and reporting a snap.

Certification Tracker for Easy Compliance

With Certification Tracker you can keep track of your employees’ most important certifications integrated within your learning management system. Any compliance can be tracked and reported on along with your learning programs and exams. Certifications can be set to recur on a timeframe you specify, and will automatically appear in the learner’s My Training page when it’s time to recertify. Optionally, you can require that the learner input a Certification Number upon completion. You can allow your learner to select from as many Certification Organizations as you offer, including MenuTrinfo’s AllerTrain and Food Handler programs available from DiscoverLink. You can also require a manager to sign off in person or remotely to validate the certification was completed. And, your organization’s past certifications can be uploaded to establish history that can be important for compliance reporting.

Conditions to Automate Complex Assignments

With Conditional Learning Programs you can apply advanced conditional rules to automatically assign learning programs based on any combination of Skill Position, Store Type, or State. This powerful tool lets you customize the learning experience for different regions, franchisees, brands, or other criteria that dictate a unique approach to learning administration. This unique capability is especially handy for managing certification requirements, which often vary by state.

Automated Notifications When It’s Time to Recertify

When it’s time for a learner to get recertified, you can automatically send email notifications when learning programs are assigned and/or completed. Notifications are set on a per-learning program basis, so you can choose different notification settings for each learning program. You can use a predefined email template or create your own, including merge fields to personalize the message.

Customizable Certificates to Add to Any Learning Program

Personalized certificates are a great way to reward employees for completion of learning programs or specific content items. You can create your own design or leverage provided templates, and optionally, add a logo and signature.

ServSafe Integration for Seamless Access

With ServSafe Integration you can manage and track certifications from the National Restaurant Association with ease, including ServSafe Manager, ServSafe Food Handler, ServSafe Alcohol, and ServSafe Allergens. Two-way integration with your ServSafe portal provides single sign-on for learners and automatic push of completion details to the LMS for easy reporting and management. To learn more about the benefits of this option, see how Moe’s Southwest Grill Ensures Food Safety Compliance with ServSafe Integration.

System-wide Reporting Makes Compliance a Breeze

An interactive Dashboard lets you see learning program completion status across your entire organizational hierarchy, with drill-downs by region, franchisee, or store. Built-in standard reports show course or learning program completion status by user or across all employees, available for export in common document and spreadsheet formats. A Certification Tracker report shows the status of all certifications by location, along with certificate numbers and certifying organization. Custom reports can also be developed to provide the exact report you need to prove compliance at the touch of a button.

Take the Burden out of Certification Tracking 

DiscoverLink Talent makes tracking your certifications easier than ever, with the help of these powerful features:

• Certification Tracker
• Conditional Learning Programs
• Automated Notifications
• Customizable Certificates
• ServSafe Integration
• System-wide Reporting

To learn more about tracking certifications or any of the other DiscoverLink Talent hospitality-focused features, request a demo today.

The post Certification Tracking Made Simple appeared first on DiscoverLink.

As we ramp up operations post-COVID, a new era has dawned that requires a new mentality for above-store leaders. So much has changed in such a short time – technology disruptions, new customer expectations, and evolving employee needs are all coming together to create a perfect storm requiring new best practices for managing across locations.

In this 10-minute interview, Cindy Poulos, VP of Marketing for DiscoverLink, asks Jim Sullivan, author of the best-selling book, Multiunit Leadership, about the most critical changes multiunit leaders need to be ready for during the next five years.

The post Multiunit Leadership in the Post-pandemic Era appeared first on DiscoverLink.

Cotton Patch Cafe recently launched the DiscoverLink Talent learning management system (LMS) plus 20 courses from the DiscoverLink Content Library to all locations after a successful pilot program. This 31-year-old, Dallas-based casual dining chain has almost 50 locations in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, and is committed to humbly serving their scratch-made food, to #LOA (love one another), and to #Grow2Gether (themselves, their teams, and their communities).

Simplicity as a Key Priority

Prior to engaging with DiscoverLink, Cotton Patch was using a file sharing platform to house recipes and training materials that was clunky, difficult to access, and not as secure as they liked. In identifying a new training platform, the Cotton Patch team knew they had to address the pace at which restaurants operate, meet turnover head-on in the face of COVID and the industry staffing shortage, and make operations simpler. Their primary objective was to lessen the workload of operators in the field by creating, distributing, and tracking their knowledge training easily. With simplicity as the underlying priority, their specific training goals were to:

• Provide real-time information, training, and updates to their teams
• Eliminate the paperwork and confusion with paper-based training
• Provide asynchronous options for their teams so they can put guests first

DiscoverLink Talent was chosen as the platform for the pilot because it’s easy for administrators to manage the system, it’s simple for managers to track their team members’ progress, and it’s intuitive for learners to access and use.

Goals of the Pilot

In designing a 5-location pilot for the system, the Cotton Patch training team identified specific requirements that DiscoverLink Talent would need to meet:

• Must be easy to use for anyone involved. This was measured by tracking the training time to train the test restaurants and roll out the system vs. other initiatives of similar scope, and by tracking the number and types of calls/emails for assistance.
• Must integrate with their human resource management system (HRMS). Like many DiscoverLink clients, Cotton Patch wanted to eliminate double entry of new team member data and ensure that they can start training right away.
• Must support the move to digital resources. To avoid confusion about which version of resources was current, it was critical that the new system enabled digital, secure access to all training materials.
• Must provide geofencing. As part of their goal to make this easy for operators, Cotton Patch needed to ensure that content was only accessible inside the restaurants to alleviate the liability of off-the-clock training.

Key Findings from the Pilot

DiscoverLink Talent met all expectations outlined for the pilot and provided a number of additional benefits that were not initially anticipated. According to Ashley Helkenn, Sr. Manager of Learning & Development for Cotton Patch Cafe, “The pilot taught us we could get up and running quickly AND that we could be flexible – because in hospitality, plans always change.”

Through integration with their HRMS, managers follow their existing protocol of updating employee data in the HRMS and it automatically updates in DiscoverLink Talent. Helkenn commented, “Our pilot showed us we can pivot quickly to meet the needs of all stakeholders. We introduced the HRMS integration to the field easily and were able to track the progress.”

As an example of how the pilot was able to support the move to digital resources, Cotton Patch was able to convert their training checklists online. “We learned that when something works well and can provide quick results, other departments will want in,” said Helkenn.

Shortly before full rollout to the whole system, another department had a compliance need and had to move quickly. As soon as the training department was brought into the conversation, they mentioned the availability of a course from DiscoverLink that could be licensed, which meant no development time was required. The course was uploaded immediately, and the rollout of the LMS was moved up to address this single issue. Cotton Patch had less than 3 weeks to have the full system in compliance to maintain certification and was able to become 99% compliant (over 2,100 team members) in 2 weeks. “This feat gave us so much buy-in from every level of the organization,” reflected Helkenn. “This led to our field teams understanding the system and feeling comfortable with DiscoverLink with few questions or issues. They saw the time saved from previous yearly compliance certifications, and the teams saw the value in the system when we were ready to introduce it with additional learning content.”

Also, with DiscoverLink Talent they are able to quickly provide certifications for when employees complete exams and other training materials to ensure comprehension of safety measures. For example, they purchased the MenuTrinfo Food Handler course from DiscoverLink which made their time-to-certification for new hires go from 7-10 days to less than 3. After reviewing the course, the training team created additional exam questions to bring the context of the course into their own world.

Cotton Patch has also heavily leveraged the Wait Time feature with back-of-house employees to minimize typical e-learning and, instead, apply the learning in the field to accelerate time-to-capacity in the skill position. Wait Time is a content item that can be included in any learning program that locks the learner out of the LMS for a specified period of time, so they can practice what they’ve learned as part of a blended learning approach.

With geofencing on the DiscoverLink Talent Mobile App, Cotton Patch was able to ensure that training occurs inside the restaurant, so it’s easy to clock trainees in and out, manage their time to completion, and provide seamless transition from knowledge learning to on-the-job practice. More than 150 recipes have been uploaded to the Resources area, providing easy on-demand access on store-based tablets. In addition, Resources are assigned with role-based permissions so the training department can control who sees what. Helkenn said, ”We were hesitant about allowing team members to download the app, and our original plan was to only use tablets in each restaurant. With the compliance push, the tablets weren’t on site yet. DiscoverLink had just implemented a Sign-off Form with a digital signature and the timing could not have been better. This allowed us to have a digital consent form within the platform where team members were informed of the rules of using personal devices for training! We now allow use of personal devices for training at all locations, with certain boundaries, of course.”

In terms of the implementation and rollout process, the single word used to describe Cotton Patch’s experience was “simple,” in keeping with the overall focus on simplicity. Each step was outlined so they knew what to expect, training was provided throughout the implementation period so the Cotton Patch administrators could learn the system, and each call was recorded for later review as needed. Helkenn recalls, “Our reps even met with members of other departments in our organization to help troubleshoot and train them! It was the type of service you can only dream of. Since the implementation, they are always available, responsive, and more than helpful. We have scheduled times to help us learn how to use the system in creative ways to meet more needs. It was the experience I could only HOPE for with other vendor partners.”

Future Plans

Cotton Patch continues to transition its content from paper to digital and is also working on two new initiatives within the campus.

First, they are in the middle of a three-month test to see if they can use DiscoverLink to track new hire sign-on and referral bonuses. This should take all work out of the hands of the restaurant management and ease their burden of tracking and remembering. The process includes a way to input the person who referred them for the position (to help with referral bonuses), a wait time before the next step, a quick 90-day survey to gain feedback on their first quarter of employment, and a final sign-on bonus request that triggers a notification to payroll. This will keep team members engaged in the system after their initial training and ease the workload of the manager.

Second, the team is planning to use DiscoverLink Talent to train with its next limited time offer (LTO) later this year. This will ease the burden of training on the manager, allowing them to validate knowledge and focus on hands-on training and practice.

The post Cotton Patch Cafe Focuses on Simplicity in Launch of DiscoverLink Talent LMS appeared first on DiscoverLink.

WEST CHICAGO, IL, May 25, 2021 – DiscoverLink, Inc., a CrunchTime company, is pleased to announce that Ryan Addison has joined the company as Vice President of Sales. Addison brings eight years of experience delivering digital and mobile training solutions to restaurants. In this position, he will use his extensive knowledge of restaurant operations to position value-added e-learning offerings that solve operator problems.

“DiscoverLink is the most trusted brand in restaurant training solutions and is in a pivotal position to help clients emerge from the pandemic as they face the challenge of quickly onboarding new team members,” said Addison. “With CrunchTime’s recent acquisition of DiscoverLink, the opportunity to leverage e-learning across the entire operational workflow of a hospitality business will provide an even bigger value proposition.”

John Poulos, President of DiscoverLink, said “Ryan is the perfect fit to drive the growth of DiscoverLink as we join forces with CrunchTime. His technology experience and industry knowledge will be tremendous assets as he helps prospective clients navigate the quickly evolving e-learning space.”

Addison is based in Atlanta, GA, where he lives with his wife, Sarah, and their three children. His passion for restaurant technology is matched only by his love of America’s favorite pastime. When he’s not talking about restaurant training, he’s using his training know-how as a coach for a nationally-recognized youth baseball team.

The post DiscoverLink Welcomes Ryan Addison as Vice President of Sales appeared first on DiscoverLink.

Jason Lechner, Director of Training and Development for Pizza Ranch, and Mike Andrews, Account Manager for DiscoverLink, recently presented a CHART webinar called Going Mobile: A Strategic Plan for Driving Adoption. During this informative presentation and live demonstration, they shared how a 225-location chain leveraged a mobile training and communications app to drive messages directly to employees and improve engagement system-wide. Jason described the step-by-step process the Pizza Ranch team used to gain leadership support for the initiative, how they prepared for rollout, and what best practices they uncovered along the way. They also revealed a number of impressive measurable results achieved from this initiative, including:

• System-wide adoption of the mobile app within months
• Impressive completion rates for re-opening training during COVID-19
• Dramatic improvements year-over-year in limited time offer participation and back-of-house training completions

Watch the webinar on demand and contact us to request a personal demo to see how the DiscoverLink Talent mobile app can help your organization achieve better training results and improve team engagement.

The post Going Mobile: A Strategic Plan for Driving Adoption appeared first on DiscoverLink.

With employee turnover rates at an all-time high and the labor market tighter than ever, hospitality organizations are constantly looking for ways to improve retention and attract new talent. When vacancies occur, many hospitality businesses dive into a mad scramble to fill the position as quickly as possible, often settling for less-than-ideal external candidates or promoting internal employees before they’re ready.

Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of the mad scramble, you had a bench of available talent already trained for their next role and ready for promotion? This vision can become reality by adopting a philosophy of continuous development at every level of your organization. From the moment a new employee is hired, you have an opportunity to teach them about leadership, giving rising stars opportunities to learn management skills before you need to promote them. This approach provides a host of benefits to both the employee and the restaurant:

• Unexpected management vacancies can be filled instantly with employees on the bench who already have the skills they need to succeed.
• Employees appreciate that you are investing in their development and see a tendency to promote from within, so they’re more likely to stay.
• Your company earns a reputation of continuous development, making it more attractive to top talent.
• Having a team that is equipped with leadership skills like communication, teamwork, and professionalism results in better guest service across the board.

But creating a good management development program is time-consuming, right? It doesn’t have to be. Here’s a 5-Step Leadership Ladder that you can use as is or customize and integrate into your own blended learning program. With ready-made training programs available for employees at every level of your organization, you can deploy a continuous development philosophy in no time.

1. Train the Trainer: Star performers in a skill position are often ideal candidates to become trainers at the unit level. Getting them ready to train other team members is a great way to show your confidence in them and prepare them for promotion when a trainer role opens. From validating comprehension, to coaching, to evaluating performance, these skills are highly transferable to positions even beyond trainer.
2. Supervisor or Shift Lead: Oftentimes the first management role for hourly employees is as a supervisor or shift lead. The transition from follower to leader can be uncomfortable for some, especially if they have never been in a position that requires supervising their co-workers. By providing guidance on things like managing emotions and building relationships, you can help make the leap from teammate to supervisor a bit easier. And, these skills are equally handy in guest interactions, while your supervisor candidates are waiting on the bench.
3. Assistant Manager: Manager development training is critically important at this stage of a career because it’s often the first time an employee needs to handle human resource responsibilities. From hiring, to developing employees, to goal-setting, assistant managers are now responsible for the performance of their teams, and they need to learn a whole new language of leadership. Help them master their new language with a training program focused on teaching these critical skills in a hospitality environment.
4. General Manager: Did you know that as many as 35 percent of newly promoted general managers fail? This is one of the most under-trained roles in the industry, with many GMs being handed the keys to the restaurant with virtually no preparation. At the same time, many restaurant chains are planning for aggressive growth. New store openings are key to driving that growth, but staffing those stores, especially finding qualified general managers, is becoming increasingly difficult. With a well-defined blended learning program that combines e-learning with scenario-based exams and experiential activities across seven competencies, you can improve your GM success rates by as much as 30 percent. Designed as a 9- to 18-month program, AGM to GM is a great way to fill your bench with ready-to-promote GM candidates.
5. Multiunit Manager: Multiunit managers have a unique challenge in that they are managing general managers. Multi-U 2.0 is an e-learning program based on the best-selling book by Jim Sullivan, Multi Unit Leadership: The 7 Stages of Building High-Performing Partnerships & Teams. Multi-U focuses on the seven stages of leadership development, based on proprietary research with more than 500 multiunit managers across foodservice segments. These stages detail both best practices and specific strategies and tactics related to: sales-building, recruiting, retention, customer service, time management, team building, conflict resolution, marketing, competition, high-impact restaurant visits, priority planning and of course, leadership.

With this 5-Step Leadership Ladder at your disposal, you now have a complete arsenal of proven leadership development programs to deploy at every level of your organization. So what are you waiting for? Lead the way!

The post Lead the Way in Team Development with a 5-Step Leadership Ladder appeared first on DiscoverLink.

We’re excited to announce the new names for DiscoverLink products, following the acquisition of DiscoverLink by CrunchTime! last year:

DiscoverLink Talent LMS is now

CrunchTime! TalentLink

&

DiscoverLink Content Library is now

CrunchTime! MainCourse

The new names are a great reflection of the value these offerings provide at the core of CrunchTime’s new Talent Development solution, which helps restaurants train and retain team members using learning and development software and online courses. This comprehensive solution has helped more than 500 restaurant brands to:

• Improve training quality and effectiveness
• Reduce turnover and create engagement
• Decrease training costs and increase compliance
• Accelerate learning and raise staff competency
• Promote career growth from within

CrunchTime! TalentLink is a full-featured learning management system (LMS) built for the hospitality industry, including an optional mobile app, talent development and performance management modules, and insightful quality metrics. TalentLink is integrated with CrunchTime, so operators can view training status on their dashboard and access details via single sign-on.

CrunchTime! MainCourse is a library of 100+ courses with interactive, hospitality-focused content that’s ready to launch. Restaurant organizations can instantly deploy compliance, skill, and leadership programs for every level, from hourly employees through multiunit leaders. Courses can be customized to reflect your brand, and many are available in Spanish.

The post DiscoverLink Products Rebranded as Part of CrunchTime’s Talent Development Solution appeared first on DiscoverLink.