Client Spotlight: Wendy Wilson and Front Burner Society

HQ: Dallas, Texas | Restaurant Concepts: 10 | Locations: 25+ 

Wendy Wilson started at Front Burner Society as a server. Now, she’s a learning and development manager for their concepts Haywire and The Ranch. 

Her favorite way to train? Hands down, 1Huddle.

I’ve gone through all of the training that you can go through. 

“1Huddle has been my absolute favorite.“

As a server she confronted the rigidity of legacy LMS systems and manuals. “The old system,” she explained, “ requires you to be able to sit down, and spend time.” And that just wasn’t realistic for frontline workers. 

“I can’t talk to every single person that we hire and, and just kind of give them all of the knowledge I have.“

Wendy, in her role as a learning and development manager, knew they needed a platform for everyone– something that worked quickly and could meet workers where they were, whether they were a new hire or a veteran server. And that’s what they found in 1Huddle.

“It is a platform that is for everyone.“

Workers “learn so much just by playing it, seeing what they got right, what they got wrong, and playing it again. And it takes them a couple of minutes.”  

“Time is so valuable to people and the fact that they can learn so much, so quickly, I think you can’t beat that.“

Transitioning away from legacy LMS to 1Huddle changed the day-to-day reality of workers across her organization by changing what those workers could get out of their roles.

“I love the fact that they say, ‘1Huddle is the best training app I’ve ever used.’ I can walk in and someone will say, ‘Hey, did you see my score? I’m at the top.’ Or, ‘Hey, did you see how much I’ve gotten?’ And they play with each other. I get screenshots from people being like, ‘Hey, look at the leaderboard today.‘”

Watch Our Interview with Wendy

What follows is a full transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity.

Full Transcript

Wendy Wilson: I’m Wendy Wilson. I am the Learning and Development Manager for Haywire and The Ranch. We have been working with 1Huddle for about a year now. It is a platform that is for everyone. So we’ve worked with a couple other things before.

I was a server with our company before I worked my way up to this role. So I’ve kind of gone through all of the training that you can go through. 1Huddle has been my absolute favorite. One of my favorite things is when I walk into a restaurant a new server coming up to me after they find out who I am and know that I do training to say ‘I have learned so much more in 1Huddle than I have in any other restaurant I’ve ever worked in any other training I’ve ever done.’ 

What made you go with 1Huddle over LMS? 

WW: I can’t talk to every single person that we hire and, and just kind of give them all of the knowledge I have.

So 1Huddle is a great way to do that. I basically can put everything in there that I wanna make sure that they know, that our team needs them to know, that guests might ask. Full of information and they can play it on their own time and it’s fun for them to play. So it’s here. You can do this on your free time. You can do this on your ride into work. If you’re Ubering, you can do it before your shift starts. You can do it when you’re laying in bed, like they can do it at any time. Everyone is on their phone all the time, and so to be able to say, ‘Here, you’re on your phone already, go for it.’ I love that about 1Huddle.

If you were talking to someone and had to describe 1Huddle, what would you say? 

WW: With the old systems you have to be able to sit down and spend time. You have to do things quickly. And so with 1Huddle, that is what it is. It’s fast. 

They have never seen the information before. Could be their first time here, first time hire, and they could play a game and learn so much just by playing it, seeing what they got right, what they got wrong, and playing it again. And it takes them a couple of minutes. I just think that, that’s invaluable because time is money. Time is so valuable to people and the fact that they can learn so much, so quickly, I think you can’t beat that.

Is there something you’ve heard from a player that’s been surprising?

WW: I love the fact that they say, ‘1Huddle is the best training app I’ve ever used.’ I can walk in and someone will say, ‘Hey, did you see my score? I’m at the top.’ Or, ‘Hey, did you see how much I’ve gotten?’ And they play with each other. I get screenshots from people being like, ‘Hey, look at the leaderboard today.’

I actually got one server that told me he said, ‘Since I started playing 1Huddle’, and this is a veteran server like here from almost day one, and I honestly didn’t expect him to be super invested. He’s an older gentleman. But he told me, he said, ‘Since I’ve been playing 1Huddle, my tip percentage has increased drastically.’

And I love that because we want them to make money. Like that’s why they’re here. This is their livelihood. We have career servers that work here. And this is how they feed their family. So the fact that they can make more money because of this training app you really can’t ask for more.

Anything else you wanna add? 

WW: No, I don’t have anything. You guys are just doing so many great things and I’m so glad to be a part of it.

Check out our blog for regular updates on how 1Huddle is changing the game.

Until then, back to work!

About 1Huddle

1Huddle is a coaching and development platform that uses quick-burst mobile games to more quickly and effectively educate, elevate, and energize your workforce — from frontline to full-time.

With a mobile-first approach to preparing the modern worker, a mobile library of 3,000+ quick-burst employee skill games, an on-demand game marketplace that covers 16 unique workforce skill areas, and the option for personalized content, 1Huddle is changing the way organizations think about their training – from a one-time boring onboarding experience to a continuous motivational tool. 

Key clients include Loews Hotels, Novartis, Madison Square Garden, PIMCO, TAO Group, and the United States Air Force. To learn more about 1Huddle and its platform, please visit 1huddle.co.