Case study

Reimagining Workforce Training

How Fairfax County Scaled Digital Readiness for 16,000 Employees

The County of Fairfax, Virginia

The County of Fairfax, Virginia, is one of the largest and most recognized counties in the state, known for its excellent education system and high quality of living. With a workforce of 16,000 employees across various departments—from facility management to transportation—the County's Organizational Development & Training Division (OD&T) is tasked with ensuring that each employee is equipped with the skills they need to excel in their roles. This includes their ability to do great work using their various software applications.

county of fairfax virginia office building image

In-person technology classes filled up fast

Adding more training classes was expensive

Employees found it difficult to fit popular classes into their schedule

Some managers couldn’t afford to approve a half-day training class when employees were needed in person

Employees would sit through an entire class to review one particular topic

Employees would take a class twice to get a refresher on the material

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues, as many employees suddenly required urgent training on new tools for remote work. Departments unaccustomed to digital tools faced even steeper learning curves, making it clear that the county needed to re-think their employee training and adoption strategy.

County of Fairfax’s OD&T team needed to find a scalable way to expand training access to more employees and create a more relevant training experience for individuals. They needed a way to enable all 16,000 employees to master their everyday tools so they could continue and improve engagement, productivity, time efficiency, collaboration, and more.

“

It was a really pivotal time for us as an agency and as a department when we realized that we needed to invest more in our technology training.”

Lalja Hammons

Senior Learning & Development Specialist

The Solution

The County of Fairfax identified BrainStorm—an end-user engagement and adoption platform—as the right solution to address these needs. BrainStorm helps organization’s scale technology training and learning among employees making it easy for admins to onboard employees to their technology, transition the organization to new software, remediate undesirable behaviors, and optimize software usage. With pre-built courses on The County of Fairfax’s essential software tools, BrainStorm was able to help scale the training employees needed most right when they needed it.

The OD&T team leveraged BrainStorm as a complimentary training resource alongside their existing LMS and training classes. Some of the challenges they faced like over-flowing training classes and employees taking a half-day class to review one topic, were eliminated once they started to advertise BrainStorm courses and QuickTips as a complimentary training option to an in-person class. These complimentary training solutions worked great for employees who were looking for a refresher on “how to” topics but didn’t need a deep dive into the technology.

“

When people visit our learning and development website, BrainStorm is prominently featured as an alternative learning resource in the course descriptions of our software application training offerings. It's highlighted on our desktop training page and mentioned in our LMS. When we add desktop training classes to the LMS, we include a note in the course description that says, 'Don't have time for a whole class? Need a refresher? Visit BrainStorm.' We've noticed a positive impact, especially on our workload and budget.”

Moira Folsom

Technical Training Manager

Integrating BrainStorm within the learning ecosystem with strategic communications:

With newsletters spotlights and targeted email campaigns, employees consistently stayed in the loop on training opportunities powered by BrainStorm.

Driving engagement with technology learning events:

At company-wide learning events, BrainStorm representatives shared tips and best practices, helping employees discover new ways to leverage the platform and maximize learning.

Empowering managers with virtual lunch & learns:

Managers received hands-on guidance on creating skill paths and managing communications, enabling them to easily distribute training across their teams.

Bringing learning to everyday workspaces:

By integrating BrainStorm into their LMS and Microsoft Teams instance, training resources became accessible right where employees already go to learn—creating a seamless learning journey.

A proactive approach to ongoing success

The OD&T Division believes continual education at the employee level is key and takes a proactive approach to driving a modern digital workplace. They send out monthly technology tip emails and Teams messages from the built-in communications tool within the BrainStorm platform to reinforce positive digital technology habits at the county.

For larger technology initiatives, the team creates multi-channel campaigns creating additional resonance with end users. They drive the message home by creating custom executive sponsor videos delivered through BrainStorm which highlight the importance of the new initiative to the organization and why employees should take action. This proactive training increases the success of technology change among employees.

County of Fairfax’s best-in-class training program success

Fairfax County has long been considered the “gold standard” in government organizations, and its commitment to employee development plays a big role in that reputation. By partnering with BrainStorm, OD&T has successfully elevated its training programs, making them more accessible and impactful.

The OD&T team has seen a substantial increase in technology adoption through their partnership with BrainStorm.

Fairfax County has achieved the following key results:

Reduced live training time

Employees now spend less time attending live training sessions, freeing up time for productive work.

Cost savings

With an average live training class coming in at $3,000, OD&T has saved money by reducing the need for additional live training classes.

Increased employee engagement in BrainStorm

The county has experienced a 102% increase in employees taking part in their learning development with BrainStorm events, tips, and courses.

Improved workforce efficiency

Users reported saving an average of 38 minutes each week after taking BrainStorm technology adoption courses, creating a more efficient and digitally empowered workforce.