WORK :: SKILLS TRAINING

Engaging Proficiency

ORTHO CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS IMPROVING SATISFACTION WITH ON‑SITE CUSTOMER TRAINING

BrandonHall

Best Advance in Competencies and Skill Development

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics’ Laboratory Specialists have many responsibilities. In addition to calibrating every chemistry or blood test that customers run on Ortho’s instruments, they must also demonstrate excellent customer care in every visit and educate labs on additional tests, inventory management practices, and workflow improvements that would benefit their business. They are Ortho’s most trusted advisors within customer labs and blood banks.

One other responsibility Lab Specialists have is to deliver on-site training to customers on how to operate and maintain their Ortho analyzer. However, despite their myriad skills, most Lab Specialists are not trained educators. The training that Ortho delivers at their own Customer Training Centers was ranked consistently higher by attendees than the in-lab training delivered by Lab Specialists. Zimmet Group identified that this was a fixable skill gap and devised a plan to improve the Lab Specialists’ training satisfaction scores.

Customer satisfaction rose by 16% after completing our program.

A SOLID FOUNDATION

Zimmet Group began by studying our audience. We interviewed a panel of exemplary Lab Specialists about the current state of Ortho’s on-site customer training—the materials they used, the challenges they faced, and the realities of their “classroom” (i.e., a busy lab where work must continue uninterrupted).

We then applied our own expertise and research in adult education principles to design a program that would address our client’s needs. We centered the program on a series of five training delivery best practices that would be realistic for the Lab Specialist to incorporate but truly transform their training and results.

MAKE IT AN EXPERIENCE

In order to teach Lab Specialists how to make their own training a memorable experience for their customers, we had to provide a model to emulate. We designed and facilitated a series of inspiring two-day, in-person workshops. Dynamic individual and group activities let learners practice applying the program’s five key tenets. The class also evaluated a series of behavior modeling videos, produced by Zimmet Group, to see how the best practices look in action.

Image of an informal corporate training class
Image of an informal corporate training class

Throughout each event, teams also worked on a Final Presentation, in which they presented to the class a specific plan for elevating their own training delivery. Across the board, attendees reported that the session challenged the way they delivered training (some for many years) and inspired them to raise their game!

“I have seen a lot of programs developed and you got to the heart of the Lab Specialist team.”

“This will take our training to a new level in Ortho.”

MANY HAPPY RETURNS (ON INVESTMENT)

The true testament to the effectiveness of this program is in how Ortho’s customer trainees responded. Customer training satisfaction was measured in Q1 of the year before the program’s global rollout and again in Q1 of the following year. The improvement was dramatic:

  • Customer Satisfaction with the Training Experience rose from 77% to 93%
  • Customer Satisfaction with the Lab Specialist Trainer rose from 92% to 97%

Zimmet Group and Ortho were jointly honored with a Silver Award at the 2019 Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards. The program, “Transformative Training for Laboratory Specialists,” was recognized in the category of Best Advance in Competencies and Skill Development.

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