LearnKey Blog

“A” Players- They work at it all the time!

At Better Learning Systems we recently announced the formation of an “A” Team within our LearnKey company who will lead strategic sales in our K-12 vertical. While we are very excited about the group during one of our conversations with a LearnKey team member Justin Walker ( a new member all of 8 months)  explaining the realignment details we asked him if he had any questions. He answered “Yes” How can I be a member of the “A” team? The best part of all was when Lori and I heard that response- we both looked at each other and said that is EXACTLY what we expected to hear from Justin. That’s because “A” players work at it all the time and Justin is quickly becoming an “A Player”. He is willing and able to do whatever it takes to be a good team player for the right cause and working his “tail off” (small inside joke).

It is with great pride we announce that Justin Walker is our most recent November/December employee of the month. Over the past eight months Justin has worked extremely hard to learn the elearning industry, the “ins and outs” of selling to the education market, and most importantly do whatever it takes to be a great team player. He has demonstrated our core values making it Easy for people to work with him because he is a good listener. Second, he is quickly learning the importance of understanding what Value he can bring to not only his external customers but internal team members as well. Third, understanding the importance of patience while he builds his pipeline knowing that it takes time to build Trust, which is the trigger to successful partnerships.

Here are some fun facts about Justin so all of you can get to know him a little better:

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Lead by Example- LearnKey employee of the month’s recipe

Writing is an important part of our business. It can be objectives for an upcoming course, a workbook or projects used in the classroom environment, or even a MasterExam thats going to help a student/learner get college or career ready, all very important parts of the learning experience. At LearnKey we are fortunate to have Brittni Traynor who, as a lead agent for our Technical Writing team, makes sure all our writing activities get done on time.

Even better, is that her leadership team voted Brittni our October employee of the month for hard work and never ending commitment to lead by example. That’s right, she jumps in to help her team on a daily basis. Here is what her manager Brad Washburn had to say about her :

“As a team lead, she is very good at helping her team stay focused and motivated. She has forged a strong bond between the members of her team and turned them into a family”.

We are fortunate to have Brittni who truly does demonstrate our core values around Ease, Value and Trust. She makes it easy for her team members to work with her, shows them her support and how much she Values their work each and every day, in addition to building a level of trust that motivates them to work together and operating at a high performing capacity.

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Great People – Team Player stands out in Cedar City

There are a variety of different definitions around being a team player, but the one that stands out to me recently is the one demonstrated last month by Carole Heaton in our LearnKey video production office in Cedar City, UT. It is what made her our employee of the month for September 2012. Our team has just completed the roll out of: A+  2012, IC³ GS4 and our Career Readiness bundle of courses (14 in total). At the last minute, we identified several ways to enhance the learning experience for A+ 2012 which meant we needed people to work overtime. When we needed help the most to meet our deadlines, it was Carole Heaton who stepped up big time.

Everyone in our Cedar office had been working overtime hours, everyone was tired. These projects needed to be delivered on time and Carole was willing to go the extra mile and work practically around the clock to help us meet our deadlines. Here is what her manager had to say when he nominated her for employee of the month:

“It seems like I can come into the office at just about any time, day or night, and find Carole either at her desk or online on my IM. She has put in more hours over the last month than any other member of her team. She is always willing to do whatever is asked of her as soon as it is asked, which has provided that level of Ease in getting fixes and files done on a tight deadline. I can always Trust that her files will look good and the fixes she is asked to do will be done correctly. She is always a positive force in the office, despite doing the lion’s share of work, and she can always be counted on to have a ready smile and a laugh available.”

Everyday in some way shape or form we communicate about our core values – Ease, Value and Trust. Carole clearly demonstrated all three of them by making it easier for us to meet our deadlines, valuing the importance of these courses and what it meant to get them out on time, and trusting the broader team that these improvements did merit being implemented for the benefit of our customers/learners. I thank you Carole for all your efforts.

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Can do, will do – watch me do it!

Once again one of our super star employees demonstrates a “can do attitude” by willing to take on additional duties without even thinking twice. Our leadership team has seen it and I witnessed it too. That’s because Chip Ehlers, LearnKey’s Employee of the Month for June, is all about being a team player. When we needed him to take over all of our shipping and trade show coordination activities, “No problem.” Then we asked him to take on additional duties supporting accounting and order entry, once again “Can do”. That is the sign of a true team player and someone who demonstrates our core values. Here’s what his manager Chad Stocks had to say about Chip….

“Chip has taken on a lot of extra duties over the last several months with a “can-do” attitude. He never complains or shows any kind of bad attitude. Chip demonstrates our core values of Ease, Value and Trust in everything he does. Chip makes work-life easier for those around him from Wendi and myself to supporting the sales team in entering orders and supporting trade shows. We all benefit from the value he brings from his experience and the previously mentioned willingness to take on extra duties without complaint. And finally, everyone knows that they can trust Chip to get the job done. We can rely on him to be here when he says he will be here and to do what he says he will do.”

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May Employee of the Month – Recognized for his “break/fix” skills!

At LearnKey, we have employees who take great pride in creating video training courses in our Salt Lake City, UT studios, those who are great at selling, supporting, marketing and promoting our courseware in our St. George offices, and those team members who finish our courses through post production process in Cedar City, UT.

Then there are team members like our May employee of the month Val Deuel, a super quality control agent who does everything he can to “break” our courses prior to them being released and loaded into our Learning Management System (onlineexpert.com). Our quality control team is a true asset to the LearnKey family, and we our proud of the great work they do.

His leadership team had these great things to say about Val:

“He embodies our core values of Trust, Value, and Ease, and maintains a positive attitude in everything he does. Trust – Val can always be trusted to complete whatever work he is given promptly and efficiently. He is not afraid to ask for help or further instructions when needed and he never complains, regardless the task. He shows trust in his supervisors by being willing to complete whatever task he is assigned. Val embodies the core value of Value in his willingness and ability to complete tasks. Through Val’s hard work he made it very Easy for us to select him as our May employe of the month.

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April Employee of the month = True Champion!

When it comes to being a true champion within our Better Learning Systems (BLS) companies, look no further than Kim Gillcoatt, who holds the title of Client Services Champion for a reason. She offers outstanding support to all teams in our BLS company, exemplifying Ease, Value and Trust every day. Kim provides Ease in coordination of projects internally and externally for our customers; and Ease in terms of working together across our 3 companies. She has everyone’s back – which is why it was a landslide in voting her employee of the month for April!

Kim has been an employee of Predix going on three years. Here’s what Lori C. had to say:

“Her Value is seen 24X7 doing whatever it takes to accomplish a task that has been given to her. In the past 2 years since she has been in this role, she has never missed a committed deadline – which is truly remarkable. Kim provides Value daily in supporting the executive team in numerous projects for all of BLS in research projects, coordination for internal employees and external clients, sales efforts, marketing, recruiting efforts, and client servicing”.

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March Employee of the Month – Congrats to a LearnKey Client Services Rock Star!

At LearnKey and Better Learning Systems, all of our employees treat each other as customers. That goes one level up when your dealing with Gina Black from our client services team. If you have a process that needs improving, give it to Gina. Need assistance with customer support request, or client files? After you hit “send” on your email, you will get a response back so quickly, you will think the email bounced – that’s just how fast and efficient Gina is all the time at getting things done for our LearnKey clients!

I am very proud to announce that Gina Black has been chosen our March employee of the month. Here’s what Kim Johnson, her manager had to say:

“Gina Black has been with LearnKey for over 4 years and has added an enormous amount of value to the Client Services team. She first started in our Marketing department assisting them with their daily tasks. About two years ago Gina worked part time as my assistant and as part of the Client Services team. She has an amazing ability to find the most efficient way to finish the task she has been given, which is why she truly is a rock star and our March employee of the month.”

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February Employee of the Month

Another great opportunity to brag about our great employees, and no better way than to announce that Michael Watson has been named the employee of the month February.

Better yet, here’s what his manager Jared Baker had to say about him:

“Michael Watson is the epitome of a team player. He is always positive and willing to help in any situation. I am always amazed at his attitude and willingness to make it happen and be successful no matter what comes his way. Many times he has been in positions that would have been very easy to get discouraged. He remained positive and always displayed leadership and company loyalty no matter what. As we head into battle and fight for each of our successes in our respective areas in the company, I will always want to have Michael Watson by my side. It is an honor to work with him!”

During my tenure as CEO for LearnKey, I can honestly echo what Jared shares about Michael. He displays our core values each and every day: Trust – from his clients, Value – in his commitment to be the best resource to his peers and clients, and Ease – in how easy it is to get along with him. Thank you Michael for your commitment to LearnKey. We truly feel fortunate to have you on our team!

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LearnKey Team Members who Really Shine!

At LearnKey we are very excited for 2012, and there is no better way to start the year then to share our most recent Employee of the Month winners. Success in any organization starts with great people and I am really pleased to take a moment and share some insight about these two great individuals.

First I want to recognize Levi Williams, a great example of “can do attitude”! It does not matter if he’s helping one of our K-12 customers with IT questions, or internal team members with basic questions. He is always wanting to help out in anyway he can. He was named employee of the month for December 2011 and nominated by several team members for his constant display of our core values around: trust, value and ease.  Levi works out of our St. George, UT supporting our IT needs.

The second team member, Sharlinda Jessup, out of our Cedar City, UT office, has been named the employee of the month for January 2012.  Sharlinda embodies our core value of trust in everything she does. No matter what assignment, she can always be trusted to get it done quickly and with minimum direction. She has gained the trust of every employee she has interacted with in her time at LearnKey, and she responds to that trust whenever she is asked to do something. Shar’s commitment and work ethic provides a level of ease to our process which is unmatched.

I can not convey enough how the entire team at LearnKey is so proud to have Levi and Sharlinda supporting our customers and what an impact their combination of “can do attitude” and “commitment” means to our company.  Be sure to check back, as February is right around the corner!

When it comes to learning – Our employees lead the way

As you know, LearnKey is all about creating premium video course ware, so you could say learning is what we do. With that said, it’s always great to catch one of our very own employees learning something new.

Recently Sheena Chamberlain from our Cedar City office was named the November employee of the month for learning our new mobile technology with LearnCast. She was selected as part of an initiative to integrate our new mobile learning platform into LearnKey. In just a short period of time she has created two courses, Bullying: You Do Not Have to Take it Anymore and a QuickBooks demonstration. Again demonstrating our core values, Sheena quickly gained the trust of LearnCast’s founder Dave Clemons by jumping in and learning how to re-purpose content and distribute it to any device . Not only has Sheena learned this new technology, she also continues to do her other job supporting our technical writers and designers. For those of you that don’t know Sheena very well, we have asked her to answer a few questions that might give you a little insight into just the type of person Sheena is.

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