Friedman’s Home Improvement

Building a Better Learning Program

Founded in 1946, Friedman’s Home Improvement started as a lone store in Petaluma, CA, and has expanded to become a prominent regional presence with four establishments throughout Northern California. The company is dedicated to providing unparalleled service, products, resources, and value to its diverse customer base, catering to DIYers, small businesses, and professional contractors.

As the company expands, its corporate learning and development (L&D) department is leveraging Schoox—Friedman’s, people-first workplace learning platform—to deliver impactful training experiences to their frontline employees.

Learning moves to the cloud

When training resources are online, administrators and managers can share them quickly and securely across the organization. Managers can assign personalized training programs with just a few simple clicks, then learners can access the content they need, whenever they need it, on their preferred devices.

Friedman’s reduced the time to create compliance courses by 92% with Schoox.

Before: For decades, Friedman’s Home Improvement relied on a paper-based training system, where “tribal knowledge” was passed down from one employee to the next. This approach hindered Friedman’s ability to onboard new employees efficiently and didn’t meet the demands of a rapidly evolving retail landscape.

With Schoox: The user-friendly platform is a centralized learning hub with over 1,600 courses tailored to Friedman’s business needs. Schoox houses a comprehensive library of product information, customer service training, compliance, management training and safety resources accessible by employees at all four locations.

Optimized compliance training

At Friedman’s, safety comes first. Organizations that must meet strict safety, security, and compliance standards need to ensure that all employees receive proper training, know how to perform their jobs safely, and are up-to-date on certifications, new information about products, processes, and equipment.

Before: Without proper documentation and tracking, Friedman’s was potentially vulnerable to compliance violations, safety incidents, and even liabilities related to employee training. Training materials were often outdated and needed more standardization. Employees received varying levels of instruction, and tracking compliance and employee progress was a recurring challenge. Furthermore, before implementing Schoox, creating specialized harassment or compliance training courses could take over three months.

With Schoox: Friedman’s L&D team revolutionized the approach to compliance training, transforming it into a streamlined digital process. With its intuitive content tools and extensive library of customizable templates, Friedman’s can develop critical compliance courses in just one week—a remarkable 92% reduction in time. This allows the company to respond faster to changing regulations. Managers also have 24/7 access to reports, data, and dashboards with compliance and training activity information.

Onboarding is a breeze

Retailers strive to make a positive impression on new hires from the start and ensure they remain engaged in continuous learning throughout their employment. Using a modern LMS for onboarding training helps employees understand that learning is an ongoing aspect of their roles and can be enjoyable and rewarding.

Before: Friedman’s lack of a central learning management system (LMS) made it difficult to efficiently onboard new employees. This prolonged their ramp-up period, impacting productivity and hindering the retailer’s ability to deliver exceptional customer service.

With Schoox: Friedman’s Home Improvement now welcomes all new employees with comprehensive onboarding training via Schoox. Video lessons, interactive content, and social learning activities foster meaningful, immersive learning experiences for employees from their first day on the job.

Learning on the go

Research shows that frontline workers prefer captivating learning experiences through familiar, intuitive interfaces that make learning fun. A flexible mobile learning app can allow employees to access training during downtime on the sales floor, in a warehouse, during breaks, or outside work hours, if permitted.

Before: Without mobile access to training, employees had trouble accessing materials when needed, reducing productivity and negatively impacting customer service. For the L&D team, updating training materials was time-consuming and involved reprinting and redistributing documents to all physical locations.

With Schoox: The Schoox mobile app, branded as the GrowZone by Friedman’s, makes it easy for employees to navigate courses, complete interactive training modules, and track their progress. Learners can access training materials, work through courses, and interact with real-time data on their own devices (or the shared tablets provided by each store).

Making learning fun

Paper-based training is one-dimensional and restrictive. Friedman’s wanted to think big and embrace creativity to design learning experiences that resonate with learners across a variety of age groups and proficiency levels. They were also interested in offering social and gamification features to further amplify learning experiences by introducing an element of competition and collaboration.

Before: Training was often inconsistent across different locations, and there was no way to ensure all employees received the same quality of instruction. This approach was particularly challenging for a predominantly deskless workforce, as employees had to be physically present for training sessions. This often interfered with their regular duties and affected normal store operations, making learning feel more like a chore rather than a beneficial experience.

With Schoox: Schoox empowers Friedman’s to create interactive, multimedia-rich content that caters to various learning styles. Social learning features encourage employees to share insights, ask questions, and discuss course content with colleagues through forums and chat, transforming learning into a collaborative, community-driven experience. Schoox also incorporates gamification by allowing employees to earn points for completing courses, achieving high assessment scores, or participating in competitions—motivating them to stay engaged.

Connecting learning to development

The L&D team at Friedman’s knows that the value of a learning program is ultimately determined by its ability to influence positive changes for individuals and the organization. By connecting learning to development, they knew they could empower employees to reskill, upskill, and chart their career journeys to help drive business growth.

Before: Without the right learning technology tools to facilitate professional development, learning at Friedman’s was limited and could not be standardized. Training primarily focused on necessary safety and compliance coursework rather than individualized skill development and career progression.

With Schoox: The platform revolutionized Friedman’s approach to career development with personalized learning paths tailored to each employee’s skills, interests, and aspirations. Robust skills assessment tools allow employees to identify their strengths and areas for improvement, creating a baseline for their development journey.

Schoox utilizes these evaluations and the employee’s position in the company to recommend suitable courses and materials automatically. This personalized approach ensures employees can access targeted training that aligns with their career aspirations, areas of interest, and Friedman’s business targets.

Additionally, Schoox enables Friedman’s to outline clear paths for advancement in different roles within the organization. This empowers employees to envision potential career trajectories and strive toward gaining the necessary knowledge and skills to progress to their desired roles.