The Guthrie Clinic is a non-profit integrated health system located in north- central Pennsylvania and upstate New York, serving patients throughout a 12-county area. Comprised of a research institute, home care and hospice, five hospitals, and a multi-specialty group practice of more than 500 physicians and advanced practice providers, The Guthrie Clinic provides a wide range of services and programs designed to enhance the health and well-being of those it serves.

To maintain its high levels of service and quality, The Guthrie Clinic invests in the continuing training and education of its workforce of nearly 7,000 employees. OpenSesame is the elearning solution The Guthrie Clinic relies on to efficiently and effectively extend training to its large, distributed workforce.

Targeted training approach

When Jeff Grenzer joined The Guthrie Clinic as its head of training and organizational development, the company had just implemented a new learning management system (LMS) and had included OpenSesame as its premier content provider. The duo provided a powerful platform to accelerate the organization’s elearning initiative, but the project initially lacked the necessary momentum to take hold.

94%

utilization rate after implementing the targeted elearning initiative, up from 3%

40

hours additional training received by each IT employee using OpenSesame after general workforce success

“We had the right idea, but just not quite the right execution,” says Grenzer. “OpenSesame was providing more than 5,000 courses to our managers but the elearning program was severely underutilized.”

Grenzer decided on a more targeted approach. With input from managers and employees, the organization worked to define its overall learning strategy, outlining distinct learning paths that would simultaneously meet employees’ career development goals as well as The Guthrie Clinic’s training and workforce educational goals.

“Next, I worked directly with our customer success manager at OpenSesame to identify the best courses to meet the objectives of each learning path,” he says. “They were very helpful as we fleshed out our programs. Our training is now anchored to what’s important, both to the organization and to its workforce.”

“We’re giving our employees the tools to be better at what they do, to expand their skill sets, and advance their careers.”

Jeff Grenzer, Head of Training and Organizational Development, The Guthrie Clinic

Centralization promotes consistency and cost savings

With OpenSesame, all elearning information is tracked automatically, including the time and date an employee completed a course, and scores if there were tests, instantly becoming a part of employees’ HR records.

Before OpenSesame, much of the organization’s management training was done in classrooms at the main offices, which meant that those individuals working at one of The Guthrie Clinic’s satellite locations would have to take the time to travel to attend training. Now, with OpenSesame, employees at every location can access the training online, on their own schedule.

“OpenSesame is part of the success of our training and development program—a vital part of the solution,” says Grenzer. “They have great follow-up, and really seem vested in how well we utilize our training options.”

94% utilization rates

The Guthrie Clinic’s workforce is embracing the refocused elearning initiative. Utilization rates have soared from 3% to over 94%. Feedback from employees shows they appreciate being able to train on their own schedule, and from their own devices. They also like that many of the courses are quick and easily digestible so they can fit them into their busy schedules.

Based on the success The Guthrie Clinic had with its general workforce, the internal IT team selected OpenSesame as their curriculum provider too, with each employee receiving an additional 40 hours of training, drawing from the hundreds of specialized technical courses available.

“OpenSesame is part of the success of our training and development program—a vital part of the solution.”

Jeff Grenzer, Head of Training and Organizational Development, The Guthrie Clinic

Promoting an engaged workforce

In addition to the practical benefits of an elearning solution like OpenSesame, including time and cost savings, one of the primary benefits is a more satisfied, happier and engaged workforce. “We’re giving our employees the tools to be better at what they do, to expand their skill sets, and advance their careers,” concludes Grenzer.

‍