ChoiceU Sees Record-Breaking Engagement with Franchisees During COVID-19

Choice Hotels recently ranked first place in this year’s Learning! 100 award list by ELearning! Magazine which recognizes high performing organizations for excellence in learning development, culture, innovation and collaboration. Choice Hotels was the only hotel company to make it on the list and was joined by powerhouse brands such as FedEx, NFL, PBS and more.

The company’s e-Learning platform, Choice University (ChoiceU), was particularly beneficial at the beginning of (and throughout) the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospitality brand was able to use ChoiceU to develop additional learning content including the Disaster Recovery Website, Revenue Management training and Commitment to Clean Education Hub. As a result of the company’s quick adaptation, ChoiceU.com has seen record-breaking franchisee engagement across the entire ChoiceU platform and modules, with over 300,000 sessions during the height of the pandemic.

To learn more about ChoiceU, how the hospitality brand is using this technology, and the positive effect it has had during the COVID-19 pandemic, HT spoke with Jeneane Becker, Dean, Choice University, Choice Hotels International.

Please give us a little background on ChoiceU.

ChoiceU was established in 2007 when Choice Hotels leadership recognized that hotel owners and associates needed a more modern learning platform that could effectively lead them into our evolving digital world. At that time, the company was expanding, and thousands of new hotels were joining the Choice system. It became evident that ad hoc training aids such as newsletters and video cassettes were a way of the past.

Since then, the award-winning training portal has evolved into the dynamic platform it is today, which provides customized learning content to all property-level associates, from the front desk staff to general managers and hotel owners. Our goal is to help hotels drive performance on-property by supplying franchisees and associates with a wide variety of content modules, eLearning, interactive activities, videos and webinars catered to their job function and brand. It’s been shown that our role-specific resources help users prioritize items most relevant to their responsibilities. Choice Hotels’ strategy with the platform is built upon four principles: democratization of learning; individualized learning based on specific needs; partnership with the business; and results-driven success.

Based on a study conducted by Choice Hotels’ analytics team, engagement with ChoiceU content drives hotel performance. Hotels that are actively engaged with the materials perform higher on several KPIs, including Likelihood to Recommend (LTR) and other service scores, as well as  RevPAR, across brands. The content is created by our dedicated in-house team of designers and facilitators, whose sole responsibility is to provide relevant content to drive learner engagement.

Tell us about the launch of ChoiceU TV and its effect on learning.

We launched ChoiceU TV, a YouTube-style video delivery platform, last year based on learner needs and preferences. This new resource has been extremely well received by users because it allows us to deliver short-form video content on a mobile responsive site. Over 70% of associates said they prefer video as their primary learning format. Over time, the learning management system (LMS) increasingly hosted more dynamic learning experiences, ultimately becoming the Learning Experience Platform (LXP) we have now.

ChoiceU Live videos, among several other learning methods including job aids, webinars, etc., have all evolved based on effectiveness, learner needs, and available tools and business objectives. The shift towards remote learning and blended learning formats has progressed over the years, and that groundwork allowed us to rapidly develop ChoiceU videos with a higher volume with the rise of COVID-19. In the latter half of 2019, we began to transition the ChoiceU Live learning format, which was previously structured in a standard classroom style at specific events, to a completely virtual environment. Choice’s early adoption to virtual learning laid the foundation for successfully maneuvering during this unprecedented time. Coronavirus prompted us to move faster and experiment with new technology.

How did ChoiceU respond to COVID-19?

From the outset of the pandemic, our ChoiceU educators were rapidly learning themselves, gathering subject matter experts from all around us – internally and externally – to package and deliver bite-sized, relevant information and learnings to franchisees and hotel associates. We also had the opportunity to leverage in-house SBA/lending experts to help us navigate the various disaster relief financing options.

By quickly mobilizing our efforts, the team formulated a strategy to identify and develop new content with faster turnaround times than before due to the ever-changing environment. We were able to pivot the existing ChoiceU Live brand, which had always been an in-person interview format, to a virtual video interview that maintained its interactive nature. Choice Hotels also built out a Disaster Relief Education Site within the ChoiceU platform for franchisees to have quick, one-stop access to pandemic-related resources. This educational site further democratized learning for our franchisees by helping them access this critical, constantly evolving content as efficiently as possible. Our team has the flexibility to revise or add fresh content multiple times a day, providing owners with the opportunity to stay up-to-date.

The content evolved and we have continued to enhance it throughout the pandemic in close collaboration with our franchise services team. Through constant communication and direct feedback from franchisees, we had specific insight into what hotels needed and used that knowledge to inform the modules and videos including length and cadence of content. Additionally, we utilized relationships with internal groups across the company to further cultivate content specific to franchisees’ needs and allow them to directly share new ideas, tips and best practices, in a short and digestible format. For example, we worked directly with our internal SBA subject matter expert to create content guiding our owners through the process of applying for loans.

What was the response from staff members/franchisees using ChoiceU for help during COVID-19?

Within the first few months of the pandemic, we had seen record-breaking engagement on the platform as a response to the COVID-19-related content. Our learning professionals were attentive to feedback from franchisees and the materials were developed based upon their learning preferences. Our first indication of heightened interest was through engagement metrics on the Disaster Relief Education site, with more than 36,000 completions to date.

As previously mentioned, our franchise services team has kept owner communication top-of-mind. Regional town hall webinars were held across the country to gauge area-specific needs. Simultaneously, the team promoted content available on the site, strengthening our feedback loop and enabling what franchisees saw on the platform to reflect their real-time operational needs. 

Can you provide an example of a COVID-19 specific course that was launched, the topics it covered, the way it aimed to educate users, etc.?

Choice took a holistic approach to addressing franchisees’ pressing and anticipated needs throughout the pandemic. Courses were created to help franchisees secure funding – such as through SBA loans and the CARES Act – manage their finances, create operational efficiencies, generate and tap into demand, recover revenue and implement the Commitment to Clean program on-property – including a Commitment to Clean Captain learning track. We remain mindful that not all franchisees need the same resources at the same time. A recovery timeline will always look different for everyone, so while some franchisees still need content on receiving and stretching funding or other operational efficiencies, others are further into the recovery cycle where they are seeking content on generating demand.

For example, our courses on securing funding through our Disaster Relief Education Site included several ChoiceU Live videos with subject matter experts, infographics, regional webinars, a dynamic FAQ section and external resources. The tracks for operational efficiency also included several ChoiceU Live videos, infographics and external resources – all covering the management of overall operational expenses, as well as front desk, breakfast, housekeeping and maintenance operations.

Training for our Commitment to Clean initiative includes ChoiceU Live videos, training videos and a Commitment to Clean Captain learning track. The track not only covers training content but also acknowledgment tasks that reinforce existing Room Condition training and resources hosted in ChoiceU. The track also references videos from Ecolab, a Choice Hotels Qualified Vendor, industry expert and global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention technologies and services.

Why do you feel training is so important during this time?

Our approach is always that learning helps drive performance, and that has never been more important than right now. ChoiceU is in place to ensure our franchisees have all the tools and resources they need in a single, easy-to-access place, aiding in owners' ability to maintain their operations and drive recovery in this new and uncertain environment.

With Choice Hotels’ franchisees working to keep their hotels running efficiently as essential businesses, it was important for us to provide short-form content specifically tailored to their immediate concerns. Our training platform also provided us with an engaging way to stay connected with owners, as the pandemic increased virtual interactions.

We regularly roll out enhanced systems, technology and resources to better support hotels. It is important that hotels have the resources as quickly as possible to help them understand, adapt, and implement those changes to help bring in and keep more revenue, satisfy guests and drive loyalty. This is quantifiable – hotels that have a high level of engagement with available learning resources, relative to the brand, average 15% higher LTR, 13% higher customer service scores and 13.7% higher revenue per unit.

About the Author

Jeneane Becker is the Dean of Choice University, the multiple award-winning learning organization that serves franchisees and hotel staff of Choice Hotels International properties across the globe.  Under her leadership, Choice University has recently achieved the #1 spot for the 2020 Learning! 100 award and has been named a 2020 ATD BEST winner.  Jeneane is a lover of learning and hospitality, with more than two decades of experience in learning, leadership, and operational excellence.   Jeneane holds a master’s in business management and executive leadership, and is an accomplished executive panel moderator and keynote speaker.