Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids operates with a very focused mission — to change lives and communities through the power of work. Their retail operations provide countless jobs and their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program prepares people for jobs caring for others. Between 2010 and 2016, they opened 8 new retail stores in the region, allowing them to serve and help even more people.
Past CPR Program Challenges
Opening multiple new locations in a short period of time requires strong infrastructure and processes that can keep pace. As Goodwill Industries of Grand Rapids began rapidly expanding their footprint, gaps appeared in their third-party CPR training program. They could not effectively keep up with the growing number of employees needing training, especially as those employees worked in a broadening geographical area.
At the same time, the costs of group in-person CPR training began to climb, especially when managers were forced to hold multiple training sessions throughout the year to keep up with staggered expiration dates and new hires. This created a significant administrative burden, as each session required adjusting staff schedules, room rentals, and complicated recordkeeping. If either the instructor or a staff member missed a class, things got even messier — and more costly.
Goodwill also faced the added pressure of compliance with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), requiring them to keep their CPR training current.
Something had to change.
A New Approach
Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids teamed up with ProTrainings to launch a blended CPR training program across its retail operations. Employees simply take the online CPR course and, if required based on their role, complete hands-on skill evaluations led by staff certified to lead these evaluations.
Impact to the Organization
The combination of 24/7 availability of CPR training and in-house skill evaluators gave Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids exactly what it needed. They can expand operations knowing their CPR program can scale with the business.
Today, Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids enjoys:
- Healthy, growing and streamlined operations — they opened 8 new stores within 6 years of launching their new CPR program
- Program flexibility — they easily pivoted all retail employees to 100% online training during the pandemic without skipping a beat
- Compliance peace of mind — every training option meets or exceeds CARF requirements
- Consistent team productivity — eliminating the need for retail staff to leave stores en masse to attend group training keeps store operations going
Next Step
If you see your organization facing challenges similar to what Goodwill faced, we'd be happy to have a conversation today about how we can put your problems in the past.
To learn more about how ProTrainings can help with your training needs, call us today at 866-840-4331. Want to get started right now? Click here for a group quote. We’re happy to help.
