Ken Chapman, SVP of Strategic Alliances and Channel Sales at D2L, gets it. He recently joined us for a LinkedIn Live conversation about rebuilding D2L’s channel program from the ground up. What made the conversation so valuable wasn’t theory or best practices, it was hearing from someone who’s in the trenches right now, figuring out how to prove channel ROI while simultaneously scaling into new markets.

Chapman came into his role about three to four months before our conversation, taking responsibility for D2L’s global channel sales program after spending years in product and engineering. His mandate? Transform channel from a transaction vehicle into a machine that generates leads, closes business, and helps the company identify where to make strategic market bets.

The insights he shared aren’t from a polished case study years after success. They’re from someone actively building credibility, managing limited resources, and making strategic choices about where to invest time and energy. Here’s what we learned.

Start With Internal Credibility, Not Market Expansion

One of Chapman’s first points hit home for anyone who’s felt like the channel team is constantly justifying its existence. Before you can scale externally, you need to build credibility internally.

“What I want to do is demonstrate to my organization that this channels org is an efficient engine that can drive growth in emerging markets,” Chapman explained. Notice he didn’t say his first priority was signing more partners or entering new geographies. It was proving value to his own leadership team.

This matters because channel programs often get caught in a cycle. You need resources to scale, but you can’t get resources until you prove results. Chapman’s approach breaks that cycle by focusing on efficiency metrics that resonate with executive leadership.

He specifically mentioned revenue per employee as a key metric he tracks. It’s a startup-minded measure that shows you’re generating results without bloating headcount. For a channel leader trying to make the case that channel is more efficient than direct sales in certain markets, this metric tells a compelling story.

The practical takeaway here is about sequencing. Don’t try to do everything at once. Build a track record with your tier one partners first. Show that your channel org is lean and effective. Then use those results as ammunition for expansion budget.

As Chapman put it, “I think I need a really strong reputation internally as a lean, effective group that delivers amazing partnerships. And, you know, ultimately we see the pipeline and bookings that come from it.”

The Tier One Strategy: Thin Slice and Deliver

Chapman’s approach to partner strategy is refreshingly focused. D2L uses a tiered partner structure, and Chapman is deliberately concentrating resources on tier one partners where they expect the most business results.

This isn’t revolutionary thinking, but it’s disciplined. Many channel programs spread enablement resources too thin, trying to activate every partner equally. Chapman is doing the opposite. Focus on partners that are strategically aligned with D2L’s ideal customer profiles. Put real energy into activating them. Prove the model works. Then expand.

He described this as “thin slice, deliver around those really strong tier one strategies we have now and then grow and expand.” It’s a crawl, walk, run mentality applied to channel program development.

What makes a tier one partner in D2L’s model? Chapman looks for partners with real regional expertise in markets where D2L has limited presence or is testing product-market fit. These partners have sector-specific knowledge, customer relationships, and local credibility that would take D2L years to build directly.

The enablement implication is significant. If you’re only deeply enabling a focused set of strategic partners initially, you can invest in higher-touch, higher-quality partner activation. You can validate that your enablement actually produces sales-ready partners. You can measure what works before scaling it across a broader partner base.

This approach also protects you from a common channel program mistake: declaring success based on the number of certified partners rather than the number of partners actually driving revenue. Chapman’s focus on tier one activation keeps the emphasis on outcomes, not vanity metrics.

Rethinking What “Activation” Actually Means

The word “activation” gets thrown around a lot in channel programs, but Chapman was specific about what it means at D2L. It’s not just about completing training or earning a certification badge. It’s about turning partners into a “machine that can generate leads and can close actual business for us.”

This distinction matters. Traditional channel thinking often treats activation as a binary state. Partner completes onboarding: activated. Partner gets certified: activated. But Chapman is measuring activation by behavior and results. Can the partner generate pipeline? Can they close deals? Can they help D2L identify strong product-market fit in their region?

When we asked how D2L determines when a partner is truly activated and ready to sell effectively, Chapman was candid about being in the middle of launching a new enablement program. There was an old way and a new way.

The old way relied heavily on knowledge transfer and traditional certification. Partners would complete training, check the box, and that was it. No real validation of whether they could pitch effectively or handle customer objections. No way to measure actual sales readiness versus completion rates.

The new way Chapman is implementing focuses on authentic skill validation. Partners practice the actual behaviors they’ll need in customer conversations. They get feedback. They iterate until they’re genuinely ready. The enablement program validates performance, not just comprehension.

This shift from completion-based activation to performance-based activation changes everything about how you measure channel program success. Instead of reporting how many partners finished training, you’re reporting how many partners can demonstrably execute the sales behaviors that drive results.

Using AI to Scale Personal Touch, Not Replace It

One of the more interesting parts of the conversation was Chapman’s perspective on AI in enablement. He made a point that’s easy to overlook: video assessment actually humanizes enablement rather than dehumanizing it.

“When I see it threaded into an enablement in the learning experience, it very much humanizes it,” Chapman explained. “It’s an actual interaction that happens in real life and helping me better understand what’s happening from that outside of my own perspective.”

Think about what he’s describing. Partners aren’t just clicking through slides or taking multiple choice tests. They’re practicing actual customer conversations. They’re getting feedback on their delivery, their messaging, their ability to handle objections. The assessment method mirrors the real work they’ll be doing.

The AI component provides instant feedback at scale. A partner in Singapore can practice a pitch at 2am their time and get immediate coaching on their approach. The D2L enablement team doesn’t need to be available 24/7 across every time zone to provide that feedback.

But Chapman’s point about humanization is key. The AI isn’t replacing human judgment. It’s scaling the opportunity for practice and immediate feedback so that human reviewers can focus on final validation and more nuanced coaching.

This is how AI-powered enablement should work. Technology handles the repetitive, scalable parts (providing practice scenarios, giving immediate feedback on objective criteria, tracking completion and performance data). Humans handle the parts that require judgment, context, and relationship building.

For a lean channel team trying to enable partners across multiple regions without adding headcount, this division of labor is essential. You get the operational efficiency leadership wants to see while maintaining the quality that actually produces sales-ready partners.

Watch the full conversation with Ken Chapman to hear more about how D2L is using video assessment to validate partner readiness.

Measuring What Actually Matters to Leadership

Chapman’s focus on specific metrics reveals how he’s building the internal business case for channel investment. He’s not just tracking partner metrics. He’s tracking metrics that leadership cares about across the entire organization.

Revenue per employee is one. This metric shows operational efficiency in a way that resonates with finance and executive leadership. If your channel org can generate $X in pipeline with a team of five people, and direct sales needs twenty people to generate the same pipeline, you’ve got a compelling efficiency story.

Pipeline generation from partners is another obvious metric, but Chapman’s emphasis on “pipeline that they actually close” shows he’s focused on quality, not just quantity. It’s easy to pad pipeline numbers with deals that never close. Chapman wants to see conversion rates that prove partners aren’t just identifying opportunities but actually winning them.

For partners specifically, Chapman looks at their ability to activate and turn on emerging and expanding markets. Are partners opening doors in regions where D2L doesn’t have strong presence? Are they helping validate product-market fit before D2L makes larger direct investments? That strategic value is often harder to quantify but critical for proving channel’s role in company growth.

The enablement metrics matter too. How many partners are truly ready to sell, not just certified? How long does it take to get a new partner from signed agreement to first deal? These operational metrics show whether your enablement program is actually working or just creating busywork.

What Chapman is doing is connecting channel program activities to business outcomes that matter to people outside the channel org. When you speak the language of efficiency, growth, and ROI rather than just partner satisfaction scores and certification completion rates, you get different conversations with leadership.

The Crawl, Walk, Run Reality Check

Perhaps the most valuable insight from Chapman was his honesty about where D2L’s channel program actually is in its development. “I think we’re sort of in the crawling to walk phase right now,” he said.

This candor is refreshing in a world of polished case studies that only showcase finished success stories. Chapman is in the middle of the work. He’s making strategic choices about where to focus resources. He’s building proof points with tier one partners before scaling broadly. He’s implementing new enablement approaches and measuring their impact.

The crawl, walk, run framework he described isn’t just a catchphrase. It’s a practical approach to building sustainable channel programs. In the crawl phase, you focus on tier one partners and prove the model works. You validate that your enablement produces sales-ready partners. You build internal credibility through early wins and operational efficiency.

In the walk phase, you expand to tier two partners with the proven playbook from tier one. You start scaling enablement because you know what works. You have metrics that demonstrate ROI. You’ve earned the resources and trust to grow.

In the run phase, you’re operating a mature channel program that’s recognized internally as a strategic growth driver. You have the budget, the team, and the operational systems to scale efficiently across multiple tiers and regions.

Most importantly, Chapman’s approach acknowledges that you can’t skip phases. You can’t go straight to “run” by signing 100 partners and hoping for the best. You build credibility through disciplined execution, prove value with focused results, then earn the right to scale.

What This Means for Your Channel Program

If you’re a channel leader facing similar pressures to prove value while scaling efficiently, Chapman’s approach offers a practical blueprint. Start by getting clear on what metrics will build internal credibility with your leadership team. Revenue per employee, pipeline quality, and operational efficiency resonate with executives in ways that pure partner counts don’t.

Be strategic about where you focus enablement resources. You probably can’t deeply enable every partner equally, at least not initially. Identify your tier one partners based on strategic fit and potential business impact. Put real energy into activating them properly. Use those results to justify broader investment.

Rethink what partner activation actually means. Completion-based metrics (finished training, earned certification) are easy to track but don’t prove readiness. Performance-based metrics (can demonstrate key sales skills, can close deals) are harder to measure but actually predict results.

Consider how technology can help you scale without proportionally scaling headcount. AI-powered enablement tools can provide practice opportunities and immediate feedback that would be impossible to deliver manually across a global partner base. This isn’t about replacing human judgment. It’s about amplifying your team’s impact.

Most importantly, be honest about what phase you’re in. If you’re in crawl mode, own it. Build the foundation properly. Prove the model works with a focused set of partners. Then scale from proven success rather than hoped-for potential.

Chapman’s LinkedIn Live conversation offered something rare: a real-time look at how an experienced leader is building a channel program with all the constraints and pressures that come with the role. No perfect case study. No glossy outcomes. Just strategic thinking, disciplined execution, and a clear-eyed focus on proving value before asking for more resources.

Ready to see how video assessment can help you validate partner readiness at scale? Book a demo to learn how channel programs are using AI-powered enablement to prove ROI while scaling efficiently.

The post How One Channel Leader is Proving ROI While Scaling into New Markets appeared first on Bongo Learn.

Your certification completion rates look good on paper. Partners are passing their exams. Yet when it comes to actual performance in the field, results are inconsistent at best. Some certified partners close deals confidently and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Others struggle to position your solution effectively, miss opportunities in discovery calls, or fumble objections that should be straightforward.

The gap between “certified” and “customer-ready” is costing you revenue. And when you’re managing a lean team (73% of partner teams have five or fewer people, according to recent research), you don’t have the bandwidth to manually coach every partner through the readiness gap.

Traditional certification programs built on multiple-choice tests and theoretical knowledge checks aren’t designed to drive revenue. They’re designed for compliance. But when nearly 46% of partner teams drive over a quarter of their company’s revenue, compliance isn’t enough. You need certification programs that actually move the needle.

Let’s break down exactly how certification quality impacts your bottom line and what you can do about it.

The Hidden Cost of “Certified But Not Ready” Partners

When a partner earns certification through a traditional knowledge test, they’ve proven they can recognize correct answers. That’s not the same as proving they can deliver your pitch, handle objections, or navigate a complex buying committee.

Partners enter the field with credentials but without genuine confidence or competence, and the impact shows up in several ways.

Certified partners should accelerate sales cycles, not slow them down. But when partners lack real-world readiness, they hesitate in customer conversations, miss buying signals, and take longer to move opportunities through the pipeline. Every delayed deal represents lost revenue and increased customer acquisition costs.

Most channel programs tie certification to partner tier levels, which unlock higher margins, co-sell opportunities, and access to enterprise deals. When partners achieve certification without true readiness, they can’t capitalize on these higher-value opportunities. You’re essentially giving away tier benefits without getting the corresponding revenue performance.

When certified partners can’t deliver independently, your internal sales engineers and customer success teams end up doing the heavy lifting. This defeats the entire purpose of the channel model and limits your ability to scale.

Every partner interaction represents your brand in the market. When a “certified” partner delivers a subpar demo or mishandles a customer objection, it doesn’t just lose that deal. It damages customer trust and makes future sales harder.

The State of Partnership Leaders report reveals that budget constraints are the top challenge for partner teams. You can’t afford to certify partners who aren’t truly ready to generate revenue.

Want to see how leading companies are solving this? Download our white paper: “Smarter Partner Enablement: How AI Video Assessment Is Transforming Channel Certification”

The Onboarding Bottleneck That’s Killing Your Growth

Even when your certification program produces genuinely ready partners, there’s another revenue problem. Speed, or rather, the lack of it.

Traditional certification processes are slow by design. Manual evaluations, scheduling constraints for live assessments, inconsistent feedback loops, and lengthy review cycles all add up. When it takes months to certify a new partner, you’re losing revenue every single day they’re not actively selling.

Consider the math. If your average certified partner generates $500K in annual partner-sourced revenue, every month of delay in certification costs you roughly $42K per partner in unrealized revenue. Multiply that across a pipeline of 20-30 partners awaiting certification, and you’re looking at millions in delayed revenue.

The administrative burden compounds the problem. When your small enablement team is manually reviewing assessments, scheduling role-play sessions, and providing individual feedback, there’s a hard ceiling on how many partners you can certify simultaneously. This capacity constraint directly limits your revenue growth potential.

Speed matters in channel sales. Your competitors are recruiting from the same partner pool. The faster you can onboard and certify partners, the faster they start generating revenue for you instead of someone else.

What Performance-Based Certification Actually Looks Like

The solution isn’t to lower your standards or fast-track partners through inadequate training. That makes the readiness gap worse, not better. Instead, the answer lies in changing what you measure and how you measure it.

Performance-based certification shifts the focus from theoretical knowledge to demonstrated capability. Instead of asking partners to identify the correct answer from multiple choices, you’re asking them to actually perform the skills that drive revenue.

Partners record themselves delivering a product pitch, handling a specific objection, or walking through a discovery call scenario. These are the actual situations they’ll face with customers, not abstract knowledge checks.

AI-powered assessment evaluates submissions against clear success criteria derived from your own training content and best practices. Did they cover the key value propositions? Did they address the customer’s pain points? Was their messaging clear and confident? This gives you consistent, measurable standards across every partner evaluation.

Partners receive instant AI-generated feedback on their performance, highlighting specific strengths and areas for improvement. This allows them to iterate and improve quickly rather than waiting days or weeks for manual review.

When AI handles the initial assessment, your enablement team can focus their time on higher-value coaching conversations with partners who need additional support. You’re not choosing between scale and quality anymore. You can have both.

ServiceNow faced exactly this challenge. Their certification program had manual review processes, inconsistent feedback, and lengthy program cycles that limited capacity. Partners were completing certification, but the time-to-readiness was too slow, and the administrative burden on their enablement team was unsustainable.

The ServiceNow Story: Doubling Capacity While Increasing Revenue

When ServiceNow integrated AI video assessment into their partner certification program, they weren’t just looking for incremental improvements. They needed to fundamentally transform their ability to scale enablement without sacrificing quality or adding headcount.

The results speak for themselves.

By automating assessment and feedback workflows, ServiceNow doubled the number of partners they could certify simultaneously. This wasn’t about lowering standards. It was about removing administrative bottlenecks that had nothing to do with partner capability.

When partners receive continuous AI feedback throughout their learning journey, they arrive at final certification better prepared. They’ve had more opportunities to practice, more chances to improve, and clearer visibility into what success looks like. ServiceNow saw certification exam pass rates increase by 30%.

This is the number that matters most. More certified partners, reaching readiness faster, translating directly into measurable top-line impact. ServiceNow achieved a $1 million increase in annual revenue. These aren’t just efficiency gains. They’re revenue gains.

Perhaps most telling was the qualitative feedback. Shellie Grieve, Director of Learning Innovation and Emerging Technology at ServiceNow, noted that students now “anticipate and actively seek AI feedback in their weekly submissions, recognizing its value in enhancing their work. They incorporate it promptly and even revise their submissions before the deadline if time allows.”

When partners are actively engaged in their own skill development, certification stops being a hurdle they need to clear and becomes a tool they use to improve performance. That mindset shift drives better outcomes across the board.

See the complete ServiceNow case study and implementation framework in our white paper on AI video assessment for partner certification.

Building a Revenue-Focused Certification Framework

If you’re ready to move beyond compliance-based certification and build a program that actually drives partner revenue, start by identifying your revenue-critical skills.

Not everything in your partner training deserves performance-based assessment. Focus on the capabilities that directly impact deal outcomes: solution positioning, objection handling, demo delivery, discovery questioning, and competitive differentiation. These are the skills where the gap between knowledge and performance costs you the most.

Vague rubrics lead to inconsistent evaluation. Work with your top-performing partners and internal sales leaders to document exactly what “good” looks like for each critical skill. What key messages need to be communicated? What customer pain points must be addressed? What tone and confidence level is expected? Your AI assessment is only as good as the criteria you define.

Partners shouldn’t face high-stakes assessment without adequate preparation. Build in low-stakes practice opportunities where partners can record themselves, receive AI feedback, and iterate before submitting for formal evaluation. This approach dramatically improves both pass rates and actual readiness.

Your certification program doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It should connect seamlessly with your LMS, CRM, and partner portal. Look for solutions that can embed directly in your current workflows rather than requiring partners to navigate yet another platform.

When you have objective performance data on every partner assessment, patterns emerge. Which scenarios do partners struggle with most consistently? Where are gaps in your training materials? Which partners might need additional coaching before customer-facing activities? This visibility allows you to continuously improve both certification and enablement.

Measuring Partner Certification ROI

Channel leaders are increasingly being asked to justify enablement investments with hard ROI data. Performance-based certification makes that calculation much more straightforward.

Track these key metrics to demonstrate impact. How quickly do partners close their first opportunity after achieving certification? Shorter time-to-first-deal indicates genuine readiness and translates directly to faster revenue realization.

This is your core metric. Are certified partners generating more revenue than before? Is there a measurable difference between partners certified through your old process versus your new approach?

If you’re reducing the time-to-certification while maintaining or improving completion rates, you’re expanding your revenue-generating partner base faster.

How quickly do newly certified partners advance to higher tier levels? Faster progression indicates stronger foundational skills and confidence.

Revenue-ready partners require less hand-holding. If support requests decrease after certification improvements, it’s a signal that partners are truly prepared for independent customer interactions.

When you shift from compliance metrics (completion rates, test scores) to revenue metrics (deal velocity, partner-sourced revenue, tier progression), the business case for better certification becomes crystal clear.

From Cost Center to Growth Engine

For too long, partner certification has been treated as a necessary expense rather than a revenue driver. But when you think about it, certification is one of the highest-leverage investments you can make in your channel program.

Every certified partner represents potential recurring revenue. The quality and speed of that certification directly determines how much of that potential you actually capture. When you improve certification effectiveness by even 20-30%, the compounding impact on partner-sourced revenue over multiple quarters is substantial.

The question isn’t whether you can afford to modernize your certification program. It’s whether you can afford not to. Your competitors are recruiting from the same partner pool, targeting the same customers, and fighting for the same deals. The vendors who can onboard and enable partners faster, with demonstrably higher readiness levels, win.

ServiceNow proved it’s possible. They doubled capacity, increased pass rates, and added seven figures to their bottom line without increasing headcount. That’s the kind of ROI that gets attention in the boardroom and proves the strategic value of partner enablement.

If your current certification program is built on theoretical testing and manual evaluation, you’re leaving revenue on the table. Partners who are certified but not truly ready, onboarding processes that take months instead of weeks, administrative bottlenecks that limit your capacity to scale—these aren’t just operational inefficiencies. They’re revenue killers.

Performance-based certification powered by AI video assessment changes the equation. It gives you the scale you need without sacrificing the quality that drives results. More importantly, it gives you objective data proving your partners are genuinely ready to represent your brand and close deals.

Ready to see how this works in practice? Schedule a demo with Bongo to explore how AI-powered video assessment can transform your partner certification program.

The post How to Improve Partner Revenue Through Better Certification Programs appeared first on Bongo Learn.

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A – Creating course content 

B – Generating quiz questions

C – Providing real-time feedback and coaching 

D – Powering authentic assessments

E – All of the above

If you didn’t answer ‘E – All of the above,’ you might be missing out on the full potential of AI in education.

More and more folks are getting comfortable using AI to whip up course outlines, create and polish engaging content, and develop quizzes. It simplifies the tedious development process and gets the task done in record time without sacrificing quality. A no-brainer for today’s instructors and instructional designers!

But here’s what’s often missed: AI offers more advantages than just the usual content crafting and question generation. When you tap into ‘C’ and ‘D’ – AI-powered coaching and assessments – this transformative technology doesn’t just contribute to course-building; it actively enhances your teaching experience.

Supercharge Your Teaching with AI Coaching and Assessments

So, how can you use generative AI to amp up your teaching? When you draw upon its coaching and assessment capabilities, AI helps you support and prepare students better and faster. This isn’t about a typical virtual classroom setup – it’s more of a partnership between instructors and AI-powered tools like video assignments and assessments. 

The Power of Video-Based Coaching and Assessment

Video-based coaching and assessment tools are a dynamic duo. They combine the analytical power of AI with the engaging visual and auditory elements of videos to create a personalized, dynamic learning experience. 

See this video for how it works.

This powerful combo of AI and video tools enhances the learning and skill development process plus enables instructors to take a more personal approach with more students in less time. Let’s take a look at how:

Improved Engagement – Video assignments aren’t mundane tasks; they’re engaging, interactive experiences that encourage students to demonstrate their understanding creatively and create a sense of ownership in their learning. AI-powered feedback on these videos goes beyond regular assessments by offering timely and personalized insights in direct response to a student’s performance. This guidance transforms learning from a passive experience into an interactive process, giving engagement and motivation a hefty boost and promoting continuous growth.

Authentic Assessment – We all know traditional assessments don’t always reflect real-world knowledge application. But did you know video assessments can provide tangible proof of skill mastery? They enable students to show off what they’ve learned and how they can apply that knowledge in a more authentic manner than a multiple-choice quiz or paper exam. This method leads to deeper learning experiences where comprehension is reinforced and skills are refined through continuous practice. There’s an added bonus for institutions too: authentic assessments act as credibility aids, showcasing the effectiveness of your educational programs!

Career Readiness – It’s time to shift the focus from memorization-focused exams to practical application. Creating video assignments pushes students to go beyond theoretical knowledge to articulate and apply their learning in real-world scenarios. This pivot deepens their understanding of course material and equips them with practical skills and effective problem-solving abilities. As a result, learners grasp the subject matter more fully and emerge well-prepared to apply their knowledge in future careers.

Long-term Retention – Memorized information often fades quickly after exams – it’s just the way our brains are wired. Yet, video assignments provide a powerful antidote by using active learning to help information stick. The act of creating videos not only enhances learners’ understanding but also significantly contributes to their sustained knowledge retention. Immediate feedback on these videos serves as a reinforcing mechanism, solidifying knowledge and quickly addressing any misconceptions or errors. This proactive approach ensures students clearly understand the right concepts and anchor them firmly.

Time-Saving Scalability – Auto-graded video assignments significantly reduce the time and effort instructors spend on grading, allowing them to allocate more time to other essential tasks such as personalized feedback, student engagement, or instructional planning. The more time educators have to spend crafting meaningful learning experiences and providing guidance in their areas of expertise, the higher the quality of the learning experience. Plus, Smart Scoring enables the assessment of a large number of assignments efficiently, making it practical for courses with a high volume of students.

“Bongo has transformed how we conduct international student teaching interviews, shifting from synchronous to asynchronous methods. It’s a tool we truly want to keep because we’re saving so much money.” 

Craig Engstrom, Director, Center for Education Excellence, Southern Illinois University

Consistency and Insight – Automated assessments ensure each student’s work is evaluated using the same criteria and standards, eliminating any variations in assessment that may occur with manual grading. Additionally, it aids in reducing unintentional biases often associated with manual grading, ensuring a fair and objective evaluation process. Instructors can then check the auto assessments and provide a final decision, as well as comments and additional coaching. They also receive detailed analytics that pinpoint areas where learners may need extra support or guidance that can enhance coaching strategies and enable a more personalized and effective learning experience.

Transforming Education with Bongo Learn

Bongo’s video-based assessment platform redefines the boundaries of artificial intelligence in education with generative AI-powered tools for coaching and assessment. 

• AI Coach delivers around-the-clock feedback and coaching tips for students’ video assignments. As learners record their videos, they receive instant, tailored AI coaching on factors like tone of voice, speaking rate, content delivery, and more. The immediate feedback motivates students to practice, refine, re-record, and perfect their skills in real time. 

• Smart Scoring automatically evaluates learners’ final video submissions against each learning objective to ensure consistent and unbiased evaluations. This approach showcases proof of mastery and frees instructors from the time-consuming manual grading process.

A Blended Approach

While AI is undoubtedly transformative, nothing replaces the human touch. Bongo offers a perfect blend of AI-powered, automated feedback and the personalized engagement of human interaction. Video assignments submitted by students can undergo Smart Scoring for consistent and unbiased evaluation, or instructors can opt for personal reviews, offering unique insights through grades and feedback.

• Automated feedback ensures immediate insights and objective analysis, fostering rapid skill enhancement.
• Human interaction brings essential elements such as empathy, mentorship, and the ability to address nuanced queries. 

This integrated approach shapes a learning experience that’s both efficient and compassionate – a powerful collaboration propelling learners toward success.

Prioritizing Privacy

Privacy and keeping your data safe is a top priority at Bongo. With AI Coach, your personal info stays private – actual videos and data aren’t shared and transcripts aren’t used to train the AI models. It’s all about keeping things secure and respecting your privacy.

Elevating Excellence through Innovation

When you use AI-powered video coaching and assessment tools, it shows a dedication to technological advancement that ups your institution’s standing and appeal. The resulting actionable data and accreditation proof stand as a testament to the quality of your program as well as your institutional credibility. 

Furthermore, when seamlessly integrated with analytics tools, these resources become a strong strategic asset, offering valuable insights into student performance, learning patterns, and areas that could use extra support. This solidifies your institution’s dedication to comprehensive education and amplifies its effectiveness.

Realizing AI’s Full Potential

It’s time to go beyond the conventional realms of course outlines, content creation, and quizzes. AI-powered coaching and assessments are the teaching companions of the future, reshaping the learning landscape for educators and students alike. By implementing these tools, you can establish an educational environment that’s flexible, adaptable, and scalable to large groups of students. 

Ready to unlock the full potential of AI in education? Bongo is a comprehensive and user-friendly AI-powered video coaching and assessment platform designed to engage students, streamline instructor administrative tasks, and enhance learning retention. 

Book a Demo

The post The AI Advantage You’re Overlooking: Beyond Content Creation and Quizzes appeared first on Bongo Learn.

What is Speed to Skill and Why Does it Matter?

Every employee requires a necessary investment of time and money for onboarding and training. Until they reach proficiency, organizations can’t harness their full business value. This is where ‘speed to skill’ becomes crucial – it measures the time needed to onboard and upskill individuals or teams, equipping them with the essential abilities and confidence required for competence in their respective roles.

Swiftly bridging the divide between training and proficiency is paramount. Accelerating onboarding and skill development boosts return on investment (ROI) and profitability and directly impacts key business outcomes such as reducing employee churn and amplifying overall productivity.

22% of staff turnover occurs within the first 45 days of onboarding, with the cost of losing an employee in the first year estimated to be at least three times the salary.²

5 Ways to Accelerate Speed to Skill

Fast-tracking skill development can be a bumpy road. Common hurdles to speed to skill include time-consuming instructor tasks such as one-on-one coaching and personalized feedback. Moreover, confusing training completion with competence presents another challenge, underscoring the crucial role of assessment in effective skill development.

In a study of 70 companies spanning 42 industries, Dr. Raman K. Attri, an accelerated learning scientist, discovered that even top-performing organizations face challenges in achieving efficient training with a focus on speed. Many noted their training programs, contrary to expectations, hindered the overall pace of skill development. The main problems cited were insufficient training, poor learning design practices, and subpar support systems.³

To pave the way for efficient and effective learning and development (L&D) programs, incorporate strategies that proactively address competency gaps, help learners quickly retain new information, and foster a dynamic learning environment.  Increasing the speed at which skills are acquired will, in turn, accelerate the time it takes to see an ROI by enhancing organizational efficiency.

Here are five best practices for fast-tracking speed to skill:

1. Establish Precise Learning Goals 

Start by defining clear expectations. Align your objectives with training materials to optimize the learning journey. Well-defined goals enhance engagement, keep learners focused, and fuel a desire to learn and retain information quickly. 

2. Provide Timely, Personalized Feedback 

Boost speed to skill through real-time, contextually relevant feedback. Provide immediate feedback within the learning flow to affirm positive behaviors, correct mistakes, and heighten learner engagement. Learners can promptly adjust their actions by receiving instant feedback, promoting timely and relevant knowledge retention so they are performing their job at their highest potential. 

3. Facilitate Skill Development through Practice

Skills are honed through practice, and deliberate practice reigns supreme in expediting the journey to proficiency. Ensure your training program emphasizes and consistently delivers measurable opportunities for practice, allowing learners to engage with and reinforce their newly acquired skills. Additionally, provide a safe environment where they can fail fast but safely, fostering an atmosphere conducive to effective learning and skill development.

4. Create a Consistent Evaluation Process

Set up a solid evaluation process that aligns with your learning goals to catalyze effective skill assessment and fast-track your employees’ competency. It keeps you from going down the wrong training paths, ensuring both individuals and your organization stay on track and progress toward your desired skill proficiency levels. 

5. Leverage Tools  

Harness the power of tools (especially now that we have AI-powered ones) to accelerate skill development. Tools can act as a force multiplier across your organization. And AI tools can multiply that again by quickly pinpointing learning objectives and offering scalable feedback for unlimited learners, saving significant instructor time. They can also ensure the continuity of consistent learning and practice experiences and streamline skill assessments. This technological edge increases the speed of skill acquisition while scaling training efforts across your entire organization.

Boost Speed to Skill with Bongo’s AI Coach 

As you can see, speed has powerful business impacts on your organization when it comes to skill development. Bongo is an AI-powered platform designed to expedite speed to skill. It automates time-consuming processes, optimizes learning experiences, and propels employees toward competence. With Bongo, you get evidence of acquired skills while automating time-consuming tasks tied to course creation and feedback and maintaining the rigor essential for effective assessments.

“Before we were working with so many different systems in this complex process and there were a lot of blockers for us. Bongo fit perfectly for what we needed it to do and helped eliminate those tedious steps for us. On average, our turnaround time before was 10 days from learner submission to approval; we actually managed to compress that time down to 5 business days.” – Sean Chen, Senior Technical Trainer, Celonis

“We are certifying people faster and more efficiently. A year ago, they were taking up to 3 days to get certified. Recently I was told an entire class was certified on the first day. They aren’t making as many errors and I know Bongo is a major reason for that. – Head of Training, Nielsen

SUCCESS STORY Brain Aware Training Achieves 50% Time Reduction with Bongo’s AI Coach Brain Aware Training, a leading developer of brain science-based training programs, leveraged Bongo to provide prompt, scalable feedback and assessments for learners’ practice training videos. Leveraging AI Coach’s data-driven insights, Brain Aware Training is able to swiftly identify knowledge gaps, key terms, tone, phrase usage, and more, regardless of team size. This innovative approach has resulted in a 50% reduction in staff time and a 25.5% increase in the quality of video content.

Tips for an Easy Transition to AI-Powered Learning 

Transitioning to an AI-driven platform like Bongo requires careful planning and communication. Here are some critical steps to ensure a smooth adoption:

• Conduct training sessions: Equip teams with the knowledge and skills to navigate and utilize AI features.
• Highlight user-friendly interfaces: Showcase how complex processes are simplified for ease of use, ensuring no technical background is needed.
• Communicate the benefits: Share the advantages of AI adoption – it enhances efficiency, reduces administrative tasks, and enables a more strategic focus on employee development.
• Establish feedback channels: Encourage open communication channels to share experiences, concerns, and suggestions.
• Iterate based on feedback: Demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement by actively incorporating feedback into your implementation strategy.

Ready to fast-track speed to skill for your employees with AI?

Sources
¹ https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/corporate/newsroom/realizing-2030-dell-technologies-research-explores-the-next-era-of-human-machine-partnerships.htm#:~:text=An%20estimated%2085%20percent%20of,valuable%20than%20the%20knowledge%20itself.

² http://thewynhurstgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Help-New-Hires-Succeed.pdf

³ https://trainingindustry.com/magazine/winter-2022/training-for-speed-to-proficiency-pitfalls-to-avoid-when-designing-training-and-learning-interventions-for-speed/

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From the sales team to the customer response department, there is no doubt that training all employees in soft skills can have a big impact on the bottom line—not only by helping teams work together more effectively, but by allowing them to achieve better business outcomes. 

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are important personal attributes that are related to how a person interacts with others and performs in the workplace. They include traits such as communication, critical thinking, empathy, and teamwork. Also known as “human skills” or “people skills” because of their relation to how a person interacts with other people, they are a huge indicator of personal success at work—with another study showing that 85% of a person’s workplace success is reliant on having well-developed soft skills. 

Fortunately, when it comes to developing these human skills among your own team members, it’s not all that complex.  There are five main competencies—curiosity, listening, persuasion, empathy and resilience—that, if developed, can have some significant returns in your company’s outcomes.

Curiosity

Curiosity is the desire to seek out knowledge and understand things better. It is associated with having an inquisitive mindset and a willingness to explore new ideas and concepts. Training in curiosity can help individuals think outside the box, ask meaningful questions, and come up with creative solutions to problems.

Listening

Listening is the act of paying close attention to what another person is saying. It involves understanding and interpreting the speaker’s words, tone, and body language. Training in listening—and especially active listening—can help employees become better communicators by improving their ability to understand and respond to their colleagues.

Persuasian

Persuasion is the ability to influence or convince someone to adopt a certain point of view. It involves using logic and evidence to make a case for a particular idea or opinion. Training in persuasion can help individuals become better communicators by developing their persuasive skills.

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It involves being able to recognize and appreciate different perspectives and points of view. Training in empathy can help employees build stronger relationships with their colleagues by helping them understand each other’s feelings.

Resilience

Resilience is the ability to stay focused and productive in the face of adversity. It involves learning from difficult experiences, managing stress, and bouncing back from setbacks. Training in resilience can help employees become more flexible and better able to handle challenging situations.

How Do Soft Skills Impact Business Outcomes?

The importance of training in soft skills cannot be overstated; it is essential for employee success in the workplace. For that reason, training should include both formal and informal approaches, such as workshops, team-building activities, and regular assessments of soft skills competency. With a focus on developing these essential skills, organizations can create a culture of collaboration, creativity, and productivity. 

For example, strong communication skills allow team members to collaborate more effectively, helping to increase efficiency and subsequently reduce the amount of time that is wasted. Training in listening skills can also foster a more trusting relationship between co-workers and help build empathy, as employees are more likely to develop innovative solutions to problems when they understand each other’s motivations and challenges. 

Let’s look at two different examples of how these soft skills can affect the outcomes of different departments.

In a sales team, having curiosity about the customer’s challenges and listening to the effect those challenges have on their team is critical to understanding and building empathy for their situation, but also for being able to persuade them that they can help solve that problem with their product or solution. In the end, having the resilience to deal with the “no” or “not now” can help build up a stronger team that isn’t disillusioned or beaten down by the job itself. 

Similarly, an HR team could also use these same human skills, although they may look a bit different. A solid HR team should be able to listen intently to the issues brought before them by prospective employees and current team members alike, and should share a curiosity for how the organization is perceived and actually operates in real life. Having empathy for those people they work with, and being able to teach or persuade them to take a certain path over another may be helpful in dealing with issues of conflict resolution or even disengagement, and building resilience can help an HR team member push through new hires, onboarding, and daily obstacles while maintaining an approachable demeanor. 

As you can see, soft skills are highly flexible and can be used across the company for positive effects throughout.

How Can Organizations Train Their Employees in Soft Skills?

One approach to soft skills training is to incorporate the training into existing onboarding and professional development processes that already exist. This can include facilitating workshops, role-playing exercises, team-building activities, and even incorporating assessments that measure an individual’s soft skills. 

Regardless of how or when the training is conducted, it should focus on the specific skills that are most important to the organization. Empathy training might include activities such as “walk a mile in my shoes” and “understand the customer” exercises. Active listening training could include communication strategies, active questioning techniques, and learning to interpret body language. Persuasive speaking courses could cover topics such as public speaking, writing for influence, and storytelling, and resilience-building sessions might involve working with a professional coach or counselor to develop personal coping strategies. 

As part of the training, organizations should also have a robust assessment process to measure the effectiveness of their efforts. For example, employers can use personality tests to assess an employee’s natural strengths and weaknesses when it comes to soft skills. This can help organizations identify areas of improvement and tailor their training programs accordingly. As an example, with Bongo’s video-based assessment and training tool, trainers and managers alike can develop assignments in a variety of presentation methods that illustrate the skill best in either synchronous or asynchronous lessons, and can additionally help trainers assess at scale with automated feedback. 

In any case, regular assessment of soft skills can help organizations identify areas where additional training is needed, ensuring employees have the tools they need to meet the company’s goals. 

The bottom line is this: training and assessing employees in soft skills is a powerful way for organizations to improve their team performance, and with comprehensive training and assessment processes in place, team members can increase their performance and ultimately contribute to improved business outcomes. 

Want to learn more about how Bongo’s training and assessment tool can help you build a soft-skills program that provides you with great outcomes? If you’d like to know more, visit bongolearn.com or schedule a demo to see how we can help you reach your corporate goals. 

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