At a virtual awards gala on October 13, 2021, Chief Learning Officer revealed the winners of the 2021 Learning in Practice (LIP) Awards, bestowing the Buffalo Wild Wings Training Team with two honors.
First, What’s Hot at B-DUBs earned the Innovation Award, given to learning executives who “have marshaled resources and applied innovative practices, processes and/or technologies in a new and groundbreaking way to address a significant business or organizational opportunity.”
What’s Hot a B-DUBs is a fully-produced live, monthly TV show created to fuel excitement and encourage dialogue around what’s happening in the sports bars. It provides strategic insight into the “why” of programs and allow teams to hear directly from leadership, subject matter experts and program creators.
“There is a ton of talent that goes into creating this show every month, and I am truly thankful for all the collaboration, from the training and operations teams to the multiple departments across BWW and Inspire Brands,” Rachel Richal, Director, Learning and Team Member Activation, said. “We just produced our 13th episode celebrating our one year anniversary of What’s Hot and we are extremely excited to celebrate this award.”
Buffalo Wild Wings also received the Trailblazer Award for the Blazin’ Games competition. This award is given to learning executives “who have either launched a new enterprise learning function or completely overhauled workforce development initiatives in the past year.”
Blazin’ Games is a nine-month competition that embraces the values of sportsmanship, hustle and fun to encourage continuous learning. Twelve hundred sports bars with more than 60,000 team members participated, looking to score points based on their knowledge and execution of front-of-house, heart-of-house and beverage topics. The teams with the most points advanced through four rounds, with the top 10 teams competing in a final round consisting of a knowledge bowl, a culinary competition and a bartending competition in Las Vegas in late October.
“We collaborated with multiple cross functional teams and vendors, including our title sponsor, Pepsi, to create a unique experience for our team members that aligns with our value of comradery,” Richal said. “Not only are we excited about the business objectives this program achieved, but also we get to recognize and celebrate our team members. And now, we also get to celebrate an award-winning training program. Thank you so much on behalf of the entire B-DUBs training team.”
The Learning in Practice Awards have recognized learning leaders since 2003 who demonstrate excellence in the design and delivery of workforce training programs. Broken out into two divisions based on size, Buffalo Wild Wings is in Division I, designated for organizations with 10,000 or more employees.
“In a time full of uncertainty, it’s amazing to see so many learning leaders put their best foot forward to ensure employee development programs continue to be strategic and exceptional,” said Ashley St. John, chief content officer and editor in chief of Chief Learning Officer. “The ingenuity and dedication of these individuals over the past 12-18 months has proven how influential a learning strategy can be to the performance of a workforce. We’re honored to help recognize these individuals for the eighteenth time.”
