TrainingPros is proud to announce its collaboration with one of the nation’s leading insurance companies to win the prestigious Brandon Hall Group Gold Award for Excellence in Human Capital Management (HCM) in the category of Best Use of a Blended Learning Program. The award recognizes the innovative redesign of the insurance provider’s new hire onboarding curriculum for their contact center representatives, resulting in enhanced learner engagement, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

TrainingPros played a critical role in this award-winning initiative by providing highly skilled instructional designers and learning experience designers to support the insurance company’s Talent Development and Learning team. Together, the teams tackled a comprehensive overhaul of the contact center onboarding program to meet evolving business needs and address significant challenges with the legacy training approach.

The Challenge:

The award-winning program was born out of a multi-year effort that began in November 2021. The insurance company identified a critical need to redesign its outdated, in-person instructor-led training (ILT) curriculum, which had not been updated in over eight years. This effort was driven by shifts in business operations, including a transition to virtual instructor-led training (vILT) during the COVID-19 pandemic, changing customer service needs, and the company’s broader goal of enabling agents to handle “any-to-any” calls.

The Solution: 

TrainingPros contributed to the development of a robust blended learning program that incorporates multiple modalities, including:

• Virtual Instructor-Led Training (vILT): Four weeks of virtual training sessions supported by an anchor PowerPoint deck, participant workbooks, and live system practice.
• Scenario-Based Learning: Persona-driven exercises and role-playing activities to enhance customer experience and reinforce soft skills.
• eLearning Modules: Self-paced courses on foundational health concepts, product features, and software simulations to create a safe environment for system practice.
• Live Call Handling with Coaching: Two weeks of supervised live call practice with immediate feedback and debriefs.
• Updated Desk Level Procedures: Easily accessible and consistently maintained resources for ongoing support.

This blended learning program was meticulously designed to align with the insurance provider’s organizational objectives of strengthening customer experiences, ensuring compliance, and accelerating agent proficiency.

The Impact: 

The redesign yielded significant improvements across key performance indicators:

• 100% Increase in Practice Opportunities: Learners had double the opportunities to apply knowledge through scenario-based exercises and simulations.
• Faster Proficiency: The time to reach proficiency decreased from 6-12 months to under six months.
• Improved Customer Satisfaction Scores: Agents demonstrated enhanced call quality and greater confidence during live interactions, as reflected in higher scores.
• Increased Trainer and Learner Engagement: Blended modalities reduced trainer fatigue and enhanced learner participation, creating a more sustainable and effective training environment.

Supervisors also reported that learners required less post-training coaching, and consistency across training locations was vastly improved.

Overcoming Challenges and Driving Excellence

The transition to the new training model required a concerted change management effort, particularly with trainers accustomed to the legacy curriculum. TrainingPros instructional designers facilitated a smooth transition by conducting train-the-trainer sessions, piloting the program, and incorporating feedback to refine the content. The result was a scalable solution that not only improved learning outcomes but also established a replicable framework for future curriculum revamps.

Looking Ahead

Building on this success, the insurance company and TrainingPros are now applying the same methodology to redesign the Claims Examiner training program. This ongoing partnership exemplifies the power of collaboration and innovative learning design in transforming organizational training.

The Brandon Hall Group Gold Award highlights the exceptional outcomes achieved when talent and strategy converge. TrainingPros is honored to have contributed to a program that not only supports the insurance company’s operational goals but also delivers measurable value to its employees and customers.