Guests:
Brian Knudson, Founder and Co-Owner, NogginLabs
Jenny Roof, Field Digital Learning and Program Design Manager, maurices
Host: Rachel Cooke, Chief Operating Officer, Brandon Hall Group
Together maurices, a women’s specialty clothing retailer, and NogginLabs partnered to develop an innovative way to engage and train the sales and services teams through gamification. They were recipients of Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards for Best Use of Mobile Learning (Gold) and Best Use of Games and Simulations for Learning (Silver) in 2016. 
In this podcast, I talk with Brian Knudson, founder, and co-owner at NogginLabs, and Jenny Roof, field digital learning and program design manager at maurices, about how they developed a highly innovative gamification learning solution for the sales and services teams in an environment that has never even used eLearning. Not only did they implement a new form of learning, but they transformed maurices’ approach from individual selling to team-based. They changed the selling model to support their consumers based on their buying trends and behaviors. Whether consumers were shopping in stores or online, maurices needed a unified method that encouraged the sales and services teams to work together toward a common goal.
Our discussion included the following:
- The drivers of the change in approach
- Timeframe and design of the program
- Critical successes, such as extensive testing prior and throughout the development of the learning solution to make sure it was relevant and practical
- Lessons learned and what is next
About Brian Knudson
Founder and co-owner at NogginLabs, Brian is an expert in instructional design with deep expertise in programming and media design. NogginLabs is instrumental in building courses that hit every spectrum of learning –from teaching psychologists how to conduct group therapy and mindfulness training, to teaching folks at McDonald’s everything the restaurant crews need to know.
About Jenny Roof
With more than 17 years of maurices field and corporate experience, Jenny leads the field team in learning and development. Jenny creates, strategizes, and produces training content for 1,000 maurices stores and 10,000 associates, from area sales leaders to new sales associates. The training includes leadership training, product training, new store training, and much more. Jenny also supports field meetings by creating content and activities to engage associates in the latest retail needs and specifically providing them tools to better support their interactions as a team and the maurices customer.
About maurices
A hometown specialty retailer, maurices elevates the true magic of hometowns as the epicenters of style and inspiration across North America.
Based on a philosophy that encompasses style, community and everyday life, maurices outfits its customers’ small-town lives. From workday to weekend, mothers to daughters and with prices and sizes that are inclusive for every woman, maurices has roots – and stores – in places where fashion is still fun at every age.
To listen to the interview, you can download the podcast anytime at the HCMx Radio site.
-Rachel Cooke, Chief Operating Officer, Brandon Hall Group
@RachelCCooke
