Behind the Curtain of Healthcare Technology Training At Mercy
With several large hospitals, community hospitals, and clinics in four states, staying on top of ever-changing technology is a huge priority.
THE CHALLENGE
The organization’s IT leaders knew they needed an ongoing solution within the Technology Services department to stay competitive and offer employees training and growth opportunities.
But with 11 organizational units in the IT department, that’s no easy feat. “When you have 1,100 people, changing culture and habits is a process that takes some time,” says Ed Wichmann, Director of the Mercy Technical Services Center.
“We’re always trying to stay ahead of the next trend,” says Stephanie Linde, Mercy Lead Technology Trainer. “We want to make sure we’re upskilling our workforce to address the next challenges coming forward.”
Those challenges specifically include cloud development, app development, and different ways of managing storage. When it came to learning, Mercy Technology Services (MTS) would historically send employees a database with disparate courses Linde described as “spaghetti,” without any clear organization or path.
For MTS, the answer was to organize them into technology journeys.
INTRODUCING ORGANIZED LEARNING
By partnering with Skillsoft, MTS was able to take its learning content — once wavy spaghetti — and organize it into easily digestible course packages — think neatly-sealed ravioli. The packages were renamed MTS Learning Journeys and housed within Skillsoft’s AI-driven learning platform.
Within these journeys, learners start with a Skillsoft Skill Benchmark diagnostic assessment to measure their current knowledge, which serves up personalized content recommendations based on questions answered incorrectly. “It allows people who aren’t sure what they need, to learn where to go,” Linde explains.
Wichmann agrees that beginning with a Skill Benchmark is crucial:
“There’s nothing worse than signing up for a course, getting 30 minutes in, and then realizing ‘I already know all this,’” Wichmann says. “Taking the assessment upfront is key because then you’re not wasting time.”
Once the Skill Benchmark is complete, the learning begins.
A CLEAR PATH
“In Cloud Fundamentals, for instance, we get into the certification tracks available, using Skillsoft technology to pull it all in,” Linde says. “We also have Bootcamps and Azure administrator courses available. We created custom badges for these different journeys and even pulled in optional resources.”
Skillsoft also allows MTS to color-code the journeys so that learners know which path to choose. Within the cloud area, for example, blue denotes introductory/aspiring coworker journeys for those new to cloud development, while green identifies specialized coworker journeys that dig deeper into higher-level concepts.
ALL IN THE NUMBERS
9
Badges per learner
30K
Completions
$62,046
Estimated cost savings with their Skillsoft partnership
People like the different formats, the searchability, the journey format, the mobile app, and the integration with Microsoft Teams. We’re organizing information so it’s easily consumable. We’re saying to our coworkers: ‘Here’s a map. Follow the map, and you’ll be fine.’
Stephanie Linde
Mercy Lead Technology Trainer
HOW IT’S GOING
MTS’s learning journeys launched in the summer of 2022. While still new, they are getting big thumbs-up reviews across the organization.
“Our CIO believes in education,” Wichmann says. “It’s a requirement of all MTS coworkers to complete 40 hours of training every year, so in June, there’s a mad dash.”
With the move to Skillsoft’s latest platform, that learning becomes more integrated throughout the year, more targeted, and — with a mobile app — available whenever and wherever it is convenient to the learner. Not to mention, it’s now easy to see how learners are progressing.
“The beauty of the Skillsoft platform is that it lets leaders run their own learning reports,” Wichmann says. “We communicate and spread the word as much as we can that managers can see the progress of journeys that have been assigned and see how much training has been completed by coworkers.”
BEYOND TECH TRAINING
Along with strictly technical courses, MTS promotes business and work-life courses that benefit and apply to every team and position.
“We publish the ‘Course of the month,’ so at least 12 times a year, we remind our learners ‘here’s a course you can take,’” Wichmann explains. “These are subjects like time management, work-from-home learning, training on virtual tools, and even a course called “Thriving in Anxious Times.” It not only keeps coworkers engaged, but it’s also a reminder to check out Skillsoft.”