SweetRush Inc.

Your best performers get promoted into management. Then they’re handed a budget, a schedule, and a team, and told to figure out the rest. It’s one of the most common and costly gaps in any industry. Just look at what the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) did about it. When skilled clinical nurses become nurse managers, they’re suddenly accountable for staffing, budgets, compliance, and retention. Most programs available to them were expensive, in-person, and light on practical skills like financial management. So AACN partnered with SweetRush and asked: Does leadership training still reflect how busy professionals actually learn? After surveying 1,000+ healthcare professionals, they built Fundamental Skills for Nurse Managers, a mobile-first journey designed “by nurse managers, for nurse managers”: 🔹 40 story-driven micro-lessons, each under 30 minutes 🔹 33 branching scenarios to practice high-stakes decisions risk-free 🔹 9 job aids to apply learning in the flow of work 🔹 Continuing education credit earned module by module The results: 📈 450% increase in financial management knowledge 📈 400% increase in applying financial management skills 📈 220% increase in applying core leadership practices 📈 210% increase in core unit management knowledge For L&D and HR leaders, the takeaway is clear: first-time manager training works when it’s practical, bite-sized, and built around the real decisions managers face on day one, not just soft skills in a classroom. 👉 Read the full case study to see how it was done: https://hubs.la/Q04BZv5J0

Some of the best learning solutions come from asking a simple question: Does this still reflect how our people actually learn? That’s the question we asked alongside the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) when skilled nurses were being promoted into manager roles with little more than a title and a budget to figure out. The existing options were expensive, in-person, and light on practical skills like financial management and staffing. So we helped AACN build something different. After surveying 1,000+ healthcare professionals, we created Fundamental Skills for Nurse Managers, a mobile-first journey designed “by nurse managers, for nurse managers”: 🔹 40 story-driven micro-lessons, each under 30 minutes 🔹 33 branching scenarios to practice high-stakes decisions risk-free 🔹 9 job aids to apply learning in the flow of work 🔹 Continuing education credit earned module by module The results: 📈 450% increase in financial management knowledge 📈 400% increase in applying financial management skills 📈 220% increase in applying core leadership practices 📈 210% increase in core unit management knowledge At SweetRush, this is how we approach every learning challenge: start with the learner’s real world, then design an experience that fits into it. If you’re rethinking how your organization develops its first-time managers, or any role where the stakes are high and time is short, this is how we’d do it. 👉 Read the full case study to see how it was done: https://hubs.la/Q04BZxTj0

Every learning experience offers a window into how people think, feel, and make decisions, yet traditional metrics often stop at completion rates. In our upcoming session with eLearningIndustry, our own John Cleave shares practical, human-centered techniques to capture meaningful learner signals and continuously refine your L&D craft. Join us to explore how intentional data gathering and thoughtful simulations can help shape richer, more impactful learning. Save your spot to join the conversation and elevate your learning strategy below!

Traditional accessibility training can teach guidelines. But knowing the rules doesn’t necessarily help learners recognize barriers…or understand what those barriers actually feel like. The learning innovators at AAFP took a different approach: first-person WebXR simulations that placed family physicians inside the experiences of patients facing mobility, sensory, and hearing challenges. Immersion was just the beginning. Learners then reflected, shifted perspective, identified accessibility barriers in their own offices, and created a concrete improvement plan. The principle was simple: 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. The result? 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗱-𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲-𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗧) 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. A browser-based desktop/laptop experience available on demand to AAFP’s distributed audience of𝟭𝟯𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

Our client-partner faced a familiar L&D challenge: Its new bankers needed to build expertise in products, systems, regulatory requirements, and customer-service skills without spending too much time away from the workflow. That meant less reliance on classroom training and instructors…and more flow-of-work learning. Using a design-thinking-style experience to explore business and learning needs, we right-sized the onboarding journey to deliver the right knowledge at the right moment. The transformed onboarding experience features simulations, social learning cohorts, gamification, and plenty of performance supports…and reaches new hires across 1500 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 serving a total of 𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀. Onboarding time was reduced by 50%, and dependence on in-person, instructor-led training dropped by over 80%. Learners gave it an impressive 𝟵𝟲% 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and a 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝟵𝟴.𝟰%. Just 30 days after completion, learners: -Contact 𝟯𝟬% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 -Initiate over 𝟰𝟬% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 -Submit over 𝟲𝟬% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Get more onboarding inspo from this award-winning program in the full case study:

Is your foundational HR training built for how professionals learn today? A leading global HR association—home to over 340,000 members—looked at its flagship introductory HR program and asked a question: Does this still reflect how professionals actually learn today? Their answer was bold. They reimagined the entire experience as a Spotify-style hub: six competency-based "playlists," each blending podcasts, videos, and story-driven microlearning featuring a cast of 15 characters facing real HR challenges. The goal wasn't just modernizing a course. It was reshaping how emerging HR professionals see their own function—from administrative and reactive to strategic and essential. The results validated the vision: 📈 7,300+ learners, 80% average score 📈 80% learner satisfaction, NPS of 50 📈 5,200+ new members gained for the association 📈 89% likely to renew their membership This transformation didn't just improve outcomes—it's been recognized as an award-winning learning experience. For L&D and HR leaders rethinking foundational training, this is a blueprint worth studying.