Inkling Customers Earn 17 HCM Excellence Awards from Brandon Hall Group

Jack in the Box, Orangetheory Fitness, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Project Lead the Way, and Whole Foods Market Honored for Learning and Development Achievements.


Inkling, a global leader in digital learning solutions, today announced that five of its customers won 17 coveted 2022 Brandon Hall Group Human Capital Management (HCM) Excellence Awards, for their innovative work in learning and development supported by the Inkling platform. Inkling customers Jack in the Box, Orangetheory Fitness, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Project Lead the Way, and Whole Foods Market garnered eight gold, six silver, and three bronze awards in the Learning and Development category in this annual program, which honors organizations with the vision, agility and innovation to succeed in the new hybrid workforce. Inkling was also recognized as one of several companies that received more than 10 awards this year.

“Our customers faced new challenges this year in the wake of the pandemic, with continued supply chain shortages, shifts in customer buying behavior, and competition for talent – all while ensuring that learners have the necessary tools and job aids for a variety of frontline jobs,“ said Mike Parks, CEO of Inkling. “This recognition demonstrates that our customers are committed to meeting these challenges by improving their learning and development strategies in partnership with Inkling. We are honored to be named as one of the top winners by Brandon Hall Group, and we want to congratulate Jack in the Box, Orangetheory Fitness, Popeyes, Project Lead the Way, and Whole Foods Market for their awards and innovative work in the area of digital learning.”

Inkling and its customers earned the Brandon Hall Group honors across multiple categories of learning for the following projects:

Jack in the Box

  • Best Advance in Creating a Learning Strategy – Gold – “Jack in the Box Delivers a Learning Feast with Digital, On-brand Employee Training”
  • Best Results of a Learning Program – Gold – “Jack in the Box Cooks Up Delicious Business Results with Better Learning”
  • Best Advance in Creating an Extended Enterprise Learning Program – Gold –  “Jack in the Box Delivers a Learning Feast of Modern Digital Training for Its Franchises”
  • Best Advance in Learning Technology Implementation – Silver – “Jack in the Box Spices Up Its Training with a New Modern Learning Platform”

Orangetheory Fitness

  • Best Advance in Creating an Extended Enterprise Learning Program – Gold – “Orangetheory Fitness Keeps Franchise Growth Healthy Throughout the Pandemic with a New Training Strategy”
  • Best Advance in Creating a Learning Strategy – Silver – “Orangetheory Fitness Keeps Growth Healthy Throughout the Pandemic With a New Training Strategy”
  • Best Use of Mobile Learning – Silver – “Orangetheory Fitness Combines BYOD, TikTok and Modern Mobile Learning Content to Drive Business Growth”
  • Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program – Bronze – “Orangetheory Fitness Keeps Growth Healthy Throughout the Pandemic with a New Training Strategy”

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

  • Best Advance in Creating an Extended Enterprise Learning Program – Gold – “Popeyes Drives 92%+ Compliance Training Rate for Enhanced COVID Procedures (ECP’s) Across Extended Enterprise of 99% Franchise-owned locations”
  • Best Learning Program Supporting a Business Change Transformation Business Strategy – Gold – Enhanced COVID Procedures (ECPs) Save the Day During the COVID Pandemic

Project Lead the Way (PLTW)

  • Best Advance in Establishing Governance to Guide Learning Decisions – Silver – “PLTW: Riding the Subway to Better STEM Curriculum Governance”
  • Best Use of a Blended Learning Program – Bronze – “PLTW: The Subway Map to Better Blended Learning”

Whole Foods Market

  • Best Advance in Competencies and Skills Development – Gold – “Whole Foods Formalizes for All Departments and Levels with Skills and Competency Training in Operational Learning Pathways”
  • Best Advance in Creating a Learning Strategy – Gold – “New Operational Learning Pathways Strategy Helps Whole Foods Carry Out Its Mission and Stay Different in Difficult Times”
  • Best Certification Program – Silver – “Better Enterprise-wide Certifications Delivered by Operational Learning Pathways Decreases Costs and Stress, and Increases Performance and Satisfaction”
  • Best Learning Program Supporting a Business Change Transformation Business Strategy – Silver – “Whole Foods Market Takes Its L&D Content and Processes to the Next Level After Being Acquired by Amazon”
  • Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program – Bronze – “Easing Talent Shortage Pain with Operational Learning Pathways”

“Excellence Award winners distinguish themselves through their growing understanding that all the functions of HCM are integrated and must work together to move businesses forward,” said Brandon Hall Group Chief Operating Officer Rachel Cooke, leader of the HCM Excellence Awards program.

“It is a pleasure to see more organizations collaborating across functions and getting more sophisticated and accomplished at delivering measurable benefit through ground-breaking HCM practices,” she said. “For example, it was inspiring to see how diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are increasingly embedded into people and business strategies and cultures. We saw more alignment between HCM and business objectives than ever before.”

Entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran, independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group analysts, and executives based upon these criteria: fit the need, design of the program, functionality, innovation, and overall measurable benefits.

Excellence Award winners are scheduled to be honored at Brandon Hall Group’s HCM Excellence Conference, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2023, at the Hilton West Palm Beach, Florida. Select winners will also serve as presenters in breakout sessions, sharing their leading practices during the conference.

About Brandon Hall Group

Brandon Hall Group operates the largest and longest running awards program in Human Capital Management. As an independent HCM research and analyst firm they conduct studies in Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Talent Acquisition and HR/Workforce Management. These benchmark studies help organizations by providing strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and business results.

Coupling the research studies with the best practice from the awards, Brandon Hall Group has helped more than 10,000 clients globally and more than 28 years of delivering world-class research and advisory. At the core of our offerings is a membership program that combines research, benchmarking and unlimited access to data and analysts. Membership enables executives and practitioners to make the right decisions about people, processes, and systems, coalesced with analyst advisory services which aim to put the research into action in a way that is practical and efficient.

Brandon Hall Group has also launched professional certifications for business and human capital management professionals to upskill themselves and gain credentials for career advancement. (www.brandonhall.com)

About Inkling

Inkling is a global leader in digital learning solutions, designed for today’s learners and today’s work. The company delivers your most critical knowledge to your people in the flow of work, anytime, anywhere, and on any device. With easy content authoring, simplified learning paths, a modern learning experience, and meaningful insights, Inkling’s operational learning platform delivers learning flawlessly and with simplicity. Leading brands trust Inkling to help them efficiently onboard employees, ensure continued performance enablement, and successfully execute corporate initiatives while providing new levels of visibility into critical operating metrics. Inkling has earned numerous industry accolades including the Aragon Research Innovation Award for Learning two consecutive years, and a total of 20 Brandon Hall Group awards last year spanning the Human Capital Management (HCM) and Technology categories. Founded in 2009, the company is based in San Francisco.

For more information about Inkling, visit www.inkling.com.

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Mike Cooke

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Mike Cooke

Chief Executive Officer of Brandon Hall Group Mike Cooke Prior to joining Brandon Hall Group, Mike Cooke was the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AC Growth. Mike held leadership and executive positions for the majority of his career, at which he was responsible for steering sales and marketing teams to drive results and profitability. His background includes more than 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, management, and operations in the research, consulting, software and technology industries. Mike has extensive experience in sales, marketing and management having worked for several early high-growth emerging businesses and has implemented technology systems to support various critical sales, finance, marketing and client service functions. He is especially skilled in organizing the sales and service strategy to fully support a company’s growth strategy. The concept of growth was an absolute to Mike and a motivator in starting AC Growth, in order to help organizations achieve research driven results. Most recently, Mike was the VP and General Manager of Field Operations at Bersin & Associates, a global analyst and consulting services firm focused on all areas of enterprise learning, talent management and talent acquisition. Tasked with leading the company’s global expansion, Mike led all sales operations worldwide. During Mike’s tenure, the company has grown into a multi-national firm, conducting business in over 45 countries with over 4,500 multi-national organizations. Mike started his career at MicroVideo Learning Systems in 1992, eventually holding a senior management position and leading all corporate sales before founding Dynamic Minds. Mike was CEO and Co-Founder of Dynamic Minds, a custom developer of software programs, working with clients like Goldman Sachs, Prentice Hall, McGraw Hill and Merrill Lynch. Also, Mike worked for Oddcast, a leading provider of customer experience and marketing solutions, where he held a senior management position leading the company into new markets across various industries. Mike also serves on the Advisory Board for Carbon Solutions America, an independent sustainability consulting and carbon management firm that specializes in the design and implementation of greenhouse reduction and sustainability plans as well as managing the generation of carbon and renewal energy and energy efficiency credits. Mike attended University of Phoenix, studying Business Administration and Finance. He has also completed executive training at the Chicago Graduate School of Business in Chicago, IL.