Discover Goodwill of Southern and Western Colorado - helping people become independent through learning and the power of work

Discover Goodwill is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people reach their highest level of personal and economic independence.

Discover Goodwill changes the lives of individuals and families by eliminating barriers to opportunity and helping people become independent through learning and the power of work.

The organization offers customized job training, employment placement and other services to people who lack education or job experience, face employment challenges or have disabilities.

With its strong mission focus, it’s no surprise that Discover Goodwill is passionate about providing employees with the best opportunities for learning and development.

Recently, Discover Goodwill partnered with Go1 to improve the way employee training is managed across the organization.

The company

Discover Goodwill has more than 1,300 team members across its growing retail operations, contracts and mission programs, so the need for a consistent, engaging and efficient training program became increasingly apparent.

At Go1, we love working with companies who are making a significant and positive impact in the community – so we are very happy to be helping Discover Goodwill with their training and development needs.

We talked to Georgia Singleton, Discover Goodwill’s Learning and Development Manager, about how using the Go1 Platform has helped to improve the company’s corporate learning program.

The challenge

Prior to Go1, the company’s approach to learning was purely classroom-based, with employees coming in for face-to-face training from across the state.

“Before Go1, we were living in the stone age, with Excel spreadsheets and paper sign-in sheets. Go1 was my solution to finding a modern method for tracking training,” Georgia explained.

“As our organization was growing, I knew we had to find something that would allow us to engage our employees remotely and to ultimately deliver a better product for our customer. So we started searching!”

The solution

The Go1 Platform is the first Learning Management System (LMS) the company has used to manage their training and development.

When choosing an LMS, affordability was a key factor for Georgia.

“When you work at a non-profit, it’s often about getting what you can afford. However, time and time again, I work with other non-profits who are using tools that are not as robust and cool as Go1!” she said.

“It’s very visually appealing, user-friendly and interactive and professional. And it was one of the most affordable options we found. We’re getting a lot of value for our investment.”

Georgia believes Go1 was a great find and the perfect solution for the company’s training needs, allowing them the freedom to create their own content and deliver it to staff easily and effectively.

The results

Throughout the implementation process, Georgia was as impressed with Go1’s customer service as she was with the product.

“One of my favorite things about Go1 is the support from the help desk. It’s very friendly and fast, with a continual commitment to improving the service,” she said.

“Instead of spending 30 minutes trying to figure something out for myself, I can just shoot out a message, ask a question and get screenshots sent back to me with clear directions, allowing me to get back on track.”

She also found the ongoing assistance from Go1’s Solution & Delivery Manager, Camden McKenzie, to be particularly supportive and patient.

“I have no other vendor who is so solution-based and willing to spend so much time with me when I’m trying to implement a process,” Georgia told us.

For Georgia, in her role as Learning and Development Manager, one of the coolest things about the GO1 Platform is that employees can leave immediate feedback right within the system.

Using the Go1 Platform, employees can quickly and easily leave comments and feedback on the training experience.

“With Go1, there’s an ability to create a ROE – Return on Experience – for the learner right there in the system, instead of having to send out a survey, for example,” Georgia explained.

The future

Over 800 Discover Goodwill employees are now using the Go1 Platform, taking part in regular training around professional development, specific departmental training, policies and procedures, employee onboarding, and other information-sharing needs.

We look forward to hearing more positive results from the Discover Goodwill team as their learning and development program continues to grow with Go1!

Keen to learn how Go1 can help you improve the way employee training is managed across your organization? Reach out to our friendly 24/7 support team anytime for a chat.