Marquie Lazaro

Senior Vice President, Learning & Development, GQR: Elite Global Talent Acquisition & Advisory Firm

Supernova Award Category: 
Future of Work - Employee Experience
The Organization: 

GQR is a global talent acquisition and advisory firm specialized in matching uniquely talented individuals with the world’s most innovative organizations. We are highly specialized in sectors that define the next phase of innovation: capital, natural resources, time and life. By specializing in Banking, Finance & Legal, Energy & Engineering, Technology, Life Sciences and Healthcare, GQR adds value to the world by identifying talent that transcends boundaries. Our globalization objective offers international relationships to increase market penetration and allows us to dip into an infinitely diverse pool of talent and resources. Internal and external talent mobility enhances our ability to take on projects with more complexity and size.

The Problem: 

We needed to improve how we teach our technology systems. We weren’t using our CRM to its full potential and our robust L&D team was focused on coaching and soft skills.

In the shift to remote work, we lost “learning through osmosis” and the in-person help components of training. We wanted to free our trainers from systems training and ease the burden on back office and support caused by unintentional user errors. We wanted to provide in platform help whenever needed and for all new hires to develop good habits from day one, rather than learning workarounds.

We needed a digital solution that was scalable and accessible from anywhere in the world;  it’s not sustainable for L&D managers to provide 1:1 system training for each new hire. We wanted to meet the learner where they are, in the system they use daily!

We also needed to improve our onboarding processes. Countless studies show how important the first few months of an employee’s experience is for success and retention, so it was crucial for us to ensure people have a solid introduction to their technology resources. Historically, we’ve only had data support tickets raised and time spent training to inform our technology systems training, but we wanted to apply the same funnel analytics we use for coaching and performance management to our technology training. We needed a scalable digital solution with analytics to advance our business.

The Solution: 

In 2021 we introduced a platform for contract management called IntelAgree, which was a huge step to ensure our staff felt a sense of ownership and autonomy; it’s all self-service allowing our end users to own each part of the process. We wanted a digital adoption platform that would echo the sentiment. We loved that we could introduce WalkMe as a platform that was on-demand and “self-service,” as well as bespoke – each learner needed to feel as if these solutions were in fact applicable to them and not just generalized topics. We integrated WalkMe invisibly into each learner’s day to day as an additional resource. We built out time in their training program for “systems training” where they were tasked to complete certain tasks (WalkMe Smart WalkThrus) in the Bullhorn CRM. We also created a “teach-back framework” where learners were graded on their ability to access and execute certain things in Bullhorn.

The Results: 

Our digital adoption strategy is beneficial to our end users by offering guidance right on their screens and automating repetitive workflows. WalkMe Smart WalkThrus also empowered employees to discover new functionality inside Bullhorn to do their jobs better. WalkMe validation made sure that deals that were previously lost due to improperly filled out forms were avoided, resulting in direct financial gain. For the L&D team, it’s freed up time to focus on more high impact items and WalkMe Insights provides data to measure and guide our efforts. We’ve also centralized the communication and training for system updates, using in-system prompts and tours vs. dedicated sessions, new wiki articles, and email blasts. Our digital adoption strategy and WalkMe enabled us to surpass our headcount growth and our revenue goals, and we also see financial benefits through the mitigation of risk and loss. WalkMe helps keep best practices top of mind, which is key in the human capital space where team members deal with sensitive information. Quicker onboarding has indirectly helped increase retention and become a selling point and differentiating factor when we attract new candidates. We’re confident hiring all across the globe, knowing that regardless of location, our learners will have a great experience. Our company values focus on autonomy, innovation, and ambition —and adding WalkMe to our digital adoption strategy checked all of the boxes for those values.

Metrics: 
  • We have seen a 50% decrease in support tickets in the past 90 days compared to the 90 days prior.
  • We have seen 3,000 validations in just 90 days (this has saved endless issues for back office credentialing, which has led to more nurses onsite in a timely manner).
  • We have seen a 75% improvement in our Bullhorn systems teach-backs.
    • For reference, “teach-backs” is an internal terminology we use on the GQR L&D team for sessions that the L&D managers host 1:1 with learners. Depending on what their focus is for the week, there are certain ‘work flows’ learners are expected to be proficient in within the Bullhorn CRM system. (We use a proprietary framework to “grade” learners, using a combination of Knowledge, Skill, and Behavior, to determine how proficient they are in the assigned task: 1 - Does not know, 2 - Partial Understanding, 3 - Demonstrates Understanding.)
  • We are seeing L&D save around 2 hours per week per user when it comes to systems help and/or re-training.

Due to this success and positive feedback, we will be adding WalkMe to more platforms. Being able to successfully launch WalkMe was instrumental in my success in my new role as Digital Learning Manager. Creating a scalable solution for a notoriously difficult topic for our business was a turning point in our path to a more robust digital learning strategy overall.

The Technology: 

WalkMe’s Digital Adoption Platform on top of (in this case) Bullhorn CRM, enabled us to build customized guidance within Bullhorn. For example, WalkMe “SmartTips” answer FAQs directly on screen and prevent user errors that historically caused inefficiencies, poor data quality, and compliance issues. As a numbers-driven business, we use data to guide our decisions and help training be as impactful as possible –WalkMe Insights help us find the right solutions.

Disruptive Factor: 

Gone are the days of 1:1 systems training at GQR. This project showed that we can build on-demand in-app guidance for our employees and the success and saved time and money have seeped into all areas of our business from reduced support tickets to better CRM performance and revenue. 

We had so much success implementing the WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform on our CRM that we are already planning the next system to improve. We have created a repeatable process, and thanks to WalkMe Insights, we can measure our adoption and usage to continuously optimize. 

We have taken the guesswork out of training. Replacing systems training sessions with on-demand in-app guidance - complete with data analytics! - is truly a game changer, not only for our L&D efforts, but also for harnessing digital adoption as a strategy for success across our business. 

This is a tremendous win for the us L&D professionals to show our impact throughout the company, in particular our positive effect on its bottom line.

Shining Moment: 

I built hundreds of solutions in a matter of months! I learned while doing, and, as someone with no technical training or background, this was a huge shining moment for me. More importantly, the feedback from across the business has really inspired me to continue on the mission to align our L&D and digital adoption strategy with our core values of autonomy, innovation, and ambition (which I believe this project truly embodies).

About GQR: Elite Global Talent Acquisition & Advisory Firm

GQR is an award-winning global talent acquisition & advisory firm specializing in talent solutions for the world’s most challenging sectors. We provide solutions for STEM institutions – Life Sciences, Tech & Trading, & Healthcare. Our holistic approach, confidence in navigating uncharted territory & accountability are what make our success a reality.