What is an Engaged Employee?

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of an employee who is engaged? Is it the employee that is always happy? Or the one who shows up on time every day? Whether you listed one trait or many, what if I told you that these traits are unrelated to employee engagement?

Engagement from an employee is based on an emotional connection to what they are doing. I recently read an article that helped me see the difference between an engaged employee and the employee who is not engaged. Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.

An engaged employee will know the true “WHY” behind every task they do every day, and that will motivate and drive them to company goals/mission. Helping employees find the “WHY” is what we do for our customers with our Enterprise Development Solution. These proven and game-changing solutions are based on four needs that every employee needs to become engaged.

“Know Me. Grow Me. Include Me. Inspire Me.”

An engaged team is a team who will do their job and willingly and happily go the extra mile to make sure that their customers/clients are happy. It’s all about the “WHY.” When your employees understand that the positive impacts are endless.

LearnKey makes strategic acquisition

It gives me great pleasure to announce that LearnKey has acquired Know Your Talents (KYT), a long time sister company. This move enables us to grow our corporate business, through providing a comprehensive and customized Enterprise Development Solution for customers that further integrates leveraging ones behavior to benefit their learning & career experience.

The past year one of our goals was to connect our career pathways at LearnKey with matching behaviors of individuals who are successful in those careers. Therefore, when our students take a ProScan survey they will receive recommended career pathways that align to their natural talents. This is great for career exploration and upskilling.

The KYT team is passionate about helping companies develop a great culture that is unique and attractive to successful like-minded people in their organizations. Our teams (both KYT & LK) collectively have been working together for years helping our students complete their online learning programs and obtain employment. We are excited to take this to the next level with companies that want the best for their employees’ development.

Big Hit: Know Your Talents announces Chief Flourishing Officer

I am pleased to announce a new team member, Lara Skutt, who earlier this month joined the Know Your Talents (KYT) team. Lara’s role is Chief Flourishing Officer as her passion is leadership development, coaching/counseling, and training, which has brought her to join Melanie, Sarah, and Lori’s team. Her primary focus will be on growth of the business by enabling clients to meet their goals through leadership development and employee engagement.

Lara is a seasoned senior-level HR professional with over twenty (20) years of experience across multiple corporate industries/demographics. Additionally, she has extensive experience in all aspects of HR, which will also enhance the KYT offering. She lives in Arizona (has for over 22 years), works out of the KYT office in Scottsdale, and is the mother of three (3) amazing children. Her personal passions are family, health/wellness, and a drive for continued knowledge.

Here is a nugget…Those of you who are familiar with ProScan and the KYT offering might find it interesting to note that she has the exact same behavior/profile as Lori Coruccini.

Its a great start for 2018 and please join me in welcoming Lara to the KYT/Better Learning Systems family!

Newest EOM “rolls up her sleeves by writing away”

It is summer time, school is out, and the entire BLS/LearnKey family is totally focused on a successful second half of the year. One of our big productions at LearnKey this summer is a feature course on Internet and Computer Core Certification (IC3) GS5 that is an anchor learning program throughout our vocational and K-12 customers.

Because teamwork is the only way for us to achieve success in such a production it gives me great pleasure to recognize someone who has truly displayed TEAMWORK the entire way: Ms. Brittni Traynor from our Cedar City office!

This is what her nominating peer had to say about her “can do” attitude when it comes to her contributions: “Brittni Traynor exemplifies BLS/LearnKey’s core values of Ease, Value, and Trust. LearnKey’s production team has been feverishly working as we prepare our upcoming IC3 GS5 training and Brittni’s role as the lead writer has given her ample opportunity to demonstrate her dedication to the project and her team.

You can trust Brittni—during a recent conversation with a co-worker who expressed concern about making sure we were going to meet our writing deadline, she simply responded to him by saying ‘Of course we will, we’ll find a way and make it happen.’ And she did.”

We wanted to share not only Brittni’s success but also some recent Q&A with her about life outside of work:

Where were you born? I was born in Rexburg, Idaho. We didn’t live there very long, I claim Portland, Oregon as my home base, it is where I grew up and where my family still is.
What is your favorite type of Friday night? If I am not working, I usually spend my Friday nights with my two of my close friends. We usually go to the movies, or dinner, or sometimes go see bands play. It is really nice to kick back with some good friends and just spend some time detoxing from the busy week.
How did you find your way to BLS/LearnKey? I had a friend who had recently started as a Technical Writer; when there was an opening in the Quality Control department, I applied and got the job.
What is it that you like most about your job and why? The people hands down. We have such an amazing and talented group of people here in the Cedar office. I wish I possessed half the talent of the Designers, Writers, and Quality Control teams. We had an office lunch the other day and we were all chatting about some random things, and at one point I thought about what a diverse and amazing group of people we have working in this company. Everyone is seriously so very talented. It’s awesome.
Who at LearnKey taught you something, where after learning it you went “they are smart”? I really believe that I learn something from someone every day in this company. But, the person who I am constantly learning from is Wyett. From day one, he has pushed me to think differently and to look for the details other people may not notice.
Give us a dream vacation spot you want to visit one day? I would really love to go to Nepal with my BFF Jill. She went there a few years ago to volunteer with the Butterfly Home Project. I love hearing all of her stories and would absolutely love the opportunity to go and volunteer there.
What is your ideal dream job? Well, I am not totally sure what my ideal dream job would be. One of my biggest passions is helping other people find their potential and helping them to grow and become the best, most authentic version of themselves. Ideally, my dream job would allow me to incorporate that passion with whatever it is I am doing.
The boss is coming for dinner and wants you to cook the meal. What will you cook? I absolutely love to cook. My dad is a chef, so I was constantly interested in it as a child. If it were only Jeff coming for dinner, I would probably make some sort of pizza, because I know it is one of his favorite things to eat when he is traveling without Lori. If it were Jeff and Lori though, I would probably make Pollo en Mole. Because it is one of my favorite things to make.
If you could gift someone $100,000 who would it be and why? This is hard for me, because there are many charities that I adore. I would probably choose to donate some to the Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/, as well as to the Butterfly Home Project. The Butterfly Home is a center in Nepal dedicated to the children of imprisoned women. In Nepal, if a mother goes to prison, and no one can take her children, the child is also imprisoned and the conditions are terrible. I have been able to learn about it through my dearest friend Jill, who volunteered there a few years ago. It is such an amazing organization: https://ecdcnepal.org/newportal/about-us/

We really enjoy sharing these wonderful employees we have at Better Learning Systems and hope you will continue to check back and learn about other successes team members are having as we take our BLS Journey.

Kind Regards,
Jeff Coruccini, CEO

Brighton College – Newest Addition to the BLS Family

LearnKey recently acquired part ownership of Brighton College in Scottsdale, Arizona. Brighton is now one of the sister companies to LearnKey.

Brighton is an online college that offers Diploma & Degree programs for in demand jobs like Medical Billing & Coding, Criminal Justice, Paralegal, & IT. Brighton is flexible and can accommodate the needs of the student with one on one instructor support, payment options, and some of the best curriculum to prepare you for new career pathway. For a minimum investment and in months you can be on your way to a new career.

And each student enrolling at Brighton will receive a ProScan and Motivation Review to support them on their journey!!

Pictured below are members of the BLS Team, following a workout session this past week at Brighton!!

Left to right: Matt Tidwell, Brighton Vice President, Kimberly Johnson, LearnKey Client Services Manager, Brian Tremelling, LearnKey Veteran & Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Sarah Blik, Executive Consultant, Seth Boyack and Kelly Woods, both LearnKey Veteran & Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors.

This post originally appeared on KnowYourTalents.com.

BLS Executive to Speak at I/DD Event

On May 6, Lori Coruccini, co-founder of Better Learning Systems and LearnKey’s sister company Know Your Talents, Inc., is scheduled to speak at Riding the Wild Haboob, an event for intellectual/developmental disability (I/DD) providers.

Lori’s presentation will cover employee engagement and driving company success through the passion and commitment of employees. Other presenters include John Dacey, a health law attorney, and Tom Schramski, PhD, President of Vertess Advisors.

For more information about the event, visit knowyourtalents.com.

Boots 2 Suits Program Matches Veterans with Mentors

Know Your Talents partners with ASU’s Pat Tillman Center to Support Boots 2 Suits Program

The Boots to Suits Program through the Pat Tillman Center at ASU is designed to assist veteran students by taking their military skills and education and training and connecting them with the right sources that can help them leverage opportunities for career placement.

The goal of the program is to match veteran students with Corporate Executive Leaders within the community that will mentor them towards reaching their goal of that dream job. Students are matched with mentors based on their natural behaviors as well as their intended career path. In February, the initial launching of the program, a mentor/mentee matching event took place. An estimated 30 students were paired with Executive Leaders from all types of industries, with both the mentor and the mentee receiving a copy of their individual ProScan reports. The ProScan was part of the initial introduction – what an awesome way for them to get to know and understand one another!!

If you are interested in becoming a Mentor, please call us today! 480-349-8900

This post originally appeared as part of the Know Your Talents Spring 2015 Newsletter.

Using Company “Wellness Checks” to Improve Performance

You’ve probably heard the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” We all know that eating right and exercising regularly are important to our health, but how many of us go to the doctor regularly just to get a checkup? Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t automatically guarantee you will be healthy, so regular health checks are important.

The same concept applies to your workforce. Many companies assume that their employees are content with their jobs and enjoy their work, but without a regular “checkup” there is no way to know for sure.

A checkup can be something as simple as setting up a regular time to meet one-on-one with each employee. Meetings can include both formal evaluations and unstructured time. These meetings can help supervisors gauge the satisfaction level of their employees and reveal issues that managers were previously unaware of. Some employees are more comfortable sharing ideas in a one-on-one setting than in a group, so these times can also provide valuable employee insight into improving your company.

Sometimes, a company wellness check requires a more in-depth examination than can be done in one-on-one meetings. Programs like those offered by LearnKey’s partner company, Predix, can help you learn about your employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Predix’s Know Your Talents^TM model can help you leverage your employee’s strengths and ensure you have the right people in the right positions. You can learn how to better communicate with each employee and tap into their talents in the workplace. Not only will you increase productivity, you will increase employee satisfaction as well.

Employees are the number one asset to an organization and their professional development is key to growth and success. You may have all of your employees in the right positions, but some of them may still require training to know everything they need for their job. This happens frequently when employees are promoted. An employee may excel at their job in the Human Resources department, but a promotion to Human Resources Manager could find them lacking in essential skills that were unnecessary in their previous position. LearnKey’s wide selection of training courses can provide the proper training which your employees need to succeed.

LearnKey provides Know Your Talents course to Middle School students and staff

You know those times when you are a part of something good and it makes you feel proud to be a part of it? Today is one of those days. LearnKey announced that we will be offering our Know Your Talents course ($50 value) free to Middle School students, teachers, and counselors. How awesome is that? This course will help students understand their talents and behaviors, while teachers and counselors will learn how to maximize a students learning and enjoyment by understanding behavior.

You are probably wondering why we are doing this.

Did you know that more than 500,000 children drop out of high school each year? When I see this number I think about all of the opportunities, experience, and growth these children will miss out on as a result of their choice. Recent studies show that proactive measures can be taken during middle school years that can dramatically decrease the likelihood of a student dropping out during high school. We see it as our responsibility to do something about the problem.

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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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