Simple. Original. Honest. Organic. These are the values of SOHO Coffee Co., an independent, artisan food-led coffee business which began life in Cheltenham in 1999.
They get a lot of satisfaction from working alongside other businesses willing to share these values, hence the highly positive relationship they have with Nimble Elearning. Here’s how.
Simple?
According to Kelly Foxall, the company’s Operations Training Manager, the choice of Nimble was down to its simplicity. Their rapid expansion needed an effective solution to reach all of their team members at the same time. Nimble’s simplicity meant it took a very short time at the World of Learning event in 2018 to realise they could create bespoke training without any fuss. In fact, Kelly admits it only took a supply of jelly babies from the Nimble team showcasing the platform to keep her going while she ‘played’ with Nimble at the show. By the time the jelly babies had vanished, Kelly was hooked! And this was the view of someone who had little experience of elearning beforehand.
So definitely simple to use.
Original?
A key factor in SOHO’s business profile is their personality. You’ve only got to visit their website to see how their passion defines them. ‘Nothing but the freshest ingredients are chopped, marinated, roasted, drizzled, spiced and seasoned. Using what Mother Nature gave us to handmake every single wrap, salad and melt. Food simply done, done well.’ It’s this personality that needed to be visible in their learning resources.
Kelly told us, ‘We realised the system fitted our brand guidelines, plus the same was true for the Nimble courses we’ve bought “off-the-shelf”, we could brand them easily too. It was the way that Nimble delivered something that looks uniform and “slick”, without a great deal of experience, that made them stand out from the rest.’
So definitely original.
Honest?
The best way to define this value is to quote Kelly again. ‘The team at Nimble are fabulous, always available for discussion, advice and feedback. Course reviews are invaluable and incredibly helpful. Knowing that the Nimble team are on hand gives me great confidence if I run into any issues.’ Nimble’s Customer Success Programme is all about maintaining an honest and productive relationship. Nimble want their customers to succeed. Nimble think that happens when they offer professional and constructive advice – when you ask for it. Their experts are there to offer valuable feedback, but also to meet up and discuss your plans for the future and how Nimble can support them.
Strong relationships need honesty.
Organic?
Successful businesses develop in their own ways, there are no prescribed formats. They identify the qualities that make them unique and productive and build on them. This is true of SOHO Coffee Co. For instance, they employ a number of non-native English speakers which presents accessibility challenges. The audio function within Nimble will be vital to this year’s delivery, allowing for translation into multiple languages of our compliance courses.
SOHO’s innovative Stars Program is aimed at aspiring managers and offers a 12-month series of learning which meets the company’s succession planning. Feedback is already proving positive. Their elearning approach to training allows employees to find time, always a valuable factor, to complete their training. Not only does it lead to greater learning engagement, but also extended learner reach and a positive environment which is flexible and productive. This organic development of training needs will extend in 2020 to include a “training tapas” menu and a drive into “social learning” across the company.
Nimble is helping to facilitate this organic approach too.
We asked Kelly what advice she’d pass on to anyone thinking about using elearning, and Nimble in particular. Here’s what she said: ‘It is not as difficult as you may think! If the platform is straightforward and user friendly you will be able to create something bespoke and of great quality in very little time. Using elearning will improve the reach of the learning and development department and improve the learning culture of the business.’
It’s easy to see how SOHO Coffee Co. are staying true to their mission by bringing their values into the training environment and Nimble are helping them all the way.
Together they are making sure learning is: Simple. Original. Honest. Organic.
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