&pizza, a quick-service restaurant known for its innovative and bold pies, has never been afraid to embrace authenticity. This is apparent everywhere from their customizable oblong pizzas to their unique decor highlighting work by local artists to the generous benefits they offer team members, whom they call their F&M (pronounced “fam”).
So when they realized their traditional paper-based training program wasn’t keeping up with their dynamic, growing company, they decided to shake things up.
Challenge: Outdated, Costly, Inefficient Paper-Based Training
Like many other restaurants, paper-based training materials were initially the cornerstone of &pizza’s training program. Trainees at every level would receive packets and binders covering topics like onboarding, standard operational procedures (SOPs), and food safety training.
While the content was comprehensive, it was time-consuming to review — especially for employees who weren’t native English speakers. Reading through pages of text wasn’t exactly an engaging experience, either.
It was also expensive to constantly print thick packets for every F&M member who needed training. And as you can probably imagine, the paper didn’t always hold up well to the wear and tear of a restaurant setting.
Even more challenging, though, was the lack of visibility leaders had into their training program. Without a way to track employee progress, training completion went by the honor system. Leaders couldn’t easily verify which trainings F&M members had completed nor get feedback on the content.
To provide F&M members with the support they needed, &pizza leaders knew it was time to make an upgrade. They needed a modern training platform that could help them achieve operational excellence and continue expanding their business — so they partnered with Opus.
Solution: Streamlined Content Creation & Robust Reporting
McKinsey “Mac” Capitosti, Senior Manager of Training Development at &pizza, was immediately impressed by how easy Opus made creating dynamic content. With Opus, Capitosti was able to import existing training materials and rapidly convert them into a variety of modules for all different kinds of learners.
“Opus is so easy to use. As long as you have the information that you need, you can make your content engaging,” Capitosti said.
The microlearning modules — which feature bite-sized videos, mini quizzes, and gifs — make critical information significantly more digestible.
“We live in the TikTok era, where media is made up of quick bites of information. Opus aligns perfectly with that type of content.” - Mac Capitosti, Senior Manager of Training Development at &pizza
Opus can also instantly translate content into more than 100 languages and dialects with up to 99% accuracy, improving performance for its 6.7% non-English native employees
&pizza layers these microlearning modules with hands-on trainings where shop leaders walk trainees through activities like making pizzas, serving guests, drafting schedules, and ordering supplies.
And critically, Opus’ reporting features allow &pizza shop leaders and corporate teams alike to see who has taken which courses, what their score was, how long it took to complete, and much more.
Results: 99% Completion & a 2 Week Decrease in New Shop Leader Ramp Time
Faster Content Creation Supports Timely Marketing Initiatives
With an agile content production cycle, Capitosti can better support time-sensitive roll-outs like limited-time offerings (LTOs), product launches, and other marketing efforts.
Capitosti records videos and takes pictures of &pizza’s culinary director making their latest pies, which he can quickly adapt into Opus training modules. After the marketing team ensures the content branding is consistent with their vision, it’s ready to deploy.
Now that frontline F&M members are aligned with marketing plans, they’re equipped to execute the campaigns that drive higher sales on a store-by-store level.
Floor-Ready Shop Leaders in Less Time Than Ever
Opus has also helped &pizza accelerate their training cycle right from the get-go. The platform is integrated with &pizza’s scheduling system, so any time a new F&M member is added, they immediately receive Opus trainings tied to their job code.
F&M members now spend less time reading through the training material, which gives them more time to develop essential skills on the floor. As a result, the time it takes to get F&M members — especially shop leaders — store-ready has dropped significantly.
“Opus has helped us cut down the time it takes to get shop leaders up and running from seven weeks to five weeks.” - Mac Capitosti, Senior Manager of Training Development at &pizza
Higher Engagement Leads to Higher Performance
Any restaurant can tell you how critical training is to employees — and more generally, business — success. But when people aren’t truly engaging with your training, they won’t absorb the knowledge they need to thrive in their role.
The micro-courses on Opus are significantly more engaging than reading through training packets — a fact that’s reflected in &pizza’s trainee feedback score of 4.7 out of 5.
“Opus’ competitive edge is that it makes training fun, interesting, and engaging,” Capitosti said. “F&M members are becoming excited about training and as a result, moving in the right direction.”
Reporting Drives Operational Improvement
Opus has given &pizza’s corporate teams greater visibility into store-level training than ever. Rather than hoping or assuming F&M members have completed their training, they can actually see their progress.
Capitosti now holds a bi-weekly call with operations leaders to review store-level customer experience data, identify pain points, and assess how to support them with training. They might, for example, deploy a series of videos on food safety to a location that’s received complaints about kitchen cleanliness.
They’ve even created a certified training program to honor individuals and locations with top training results. Earning this distinction comes with benefits like pay raises, promotions, bonuses, and celebrations — an investment that ensures continued training and operational success.
“I'm Opus’ biggest hype person,” Capitosti said, summarizing his experience. “It changes the idea of what an LMS can be.”