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In this illuminating episode, journey with us as we explore the transformative power of the Transitions Certified Program with our distinguished guests, Brandi Kay and Roxana Dreger. Uncover a learning culture’s remarkable impact on organizations, enhancing innovation, productivity, and profitability. Discover the Harvey and Lewis Opticians initiatives that have catalyzed significant growth and learning. Immerse yourself in the detailed explanation of the Transitions Certified Program, a comprehensive educational strategy by Roxana Dreger.
The Profound Impact of Educational Culture in Organizations
Dr. Darryl Glover:
The Harvard Business Review discusses education’s critical role and personal and professional development. They emphasized how these aspects can profoundly transform your work setting, right? I want to share a quote from this article. It reveals that organizations with a robust learning culture are 92 percent more likely to develop innovative products and processes.
I want to emphasize that again: 30 to 50 percent higher. Let’s be candid; we can significantly elevate our patients’ lives when we have the appropriate education, tools, and resources. Moreover, we can ensure the contentment and loyalty of our office team members, making them eager to stay with us and contribute to transformative change.
Today, I am delighted to host two guests who have indeed been game-changers in emphasizing education, coaching, and professional development. Friends and family, it is both a pleasure and an honor to welcome my colleagues, Roxanna Drager and Brandi Kaye.
Ladies, would you be so kind as to share a bit about your background with us?
Introducing the Game Changers: Brandi Kay and Roxana Dreger
Brandi Kay :
I am from a quaint little town called Plainville in Connecticut. I’m employed with Harvey and Lewis Opticians, an extraordinary company with a rich history spanning 133 years, still managed by the Lewis family into the fourth generation, which is indeed quite remarkable, I must say. My passion for learning is ever-growing.
Currently, I am embracing the opportunity to further my education. Despite having my four children early in life, I’ve embarked on the college journey, immersing myself in the study of business operations, economics, and other exciting subjects. In my role at Harvey and Lewis, I proudly serve as the Vice President of Operations.
Roxana Dreger:
As a Marketing Manager at Transitions, I oversee the education division. My responsibilities include collaborating with various teams and groups, including our Eye Care Professionals, to develop and disseminate training content. This initiative empowers them to enhance their skills and knowledge, which benefits their patients.
Best Practices and Initiatives at Harvey and Lewis Opticians
Dr. Darryl Glover:
I want to have a conversation about some of the best practices because I know you’ve been doing this for a while, and I would love to know what are some of the best practices that you are doing over at Harvey and Lewis Opticians.
Brandi Kay:
I love that question. I’m so excited to share the answer with you because I’m genuinely proud of it, I really am. The whole team has rallied together to embrace everything, and it’s been fantastic. A little over ten years ago in Connecticut, a licensed state, we had numerous licensed optician employees, but some had been with us for a while and never pursued their licenses. We decided to establish our own school, the Harvey and Lewis School, offering classes for the ABO and NCLE and practical licensing exam preparation. This initiative has significantly aided our hiring process, allowing us to bring in individuals with no experience and provide them with the necessary education.
Professor Ed August oversees many of these classes. Just a few years ago, he was recognized as the Brand Ambassador of the Year at Transitions, making us incredibly fortunate to have him in our corner. Some of our seasoned opticians also conduct classes, which has been beneficial. Another fantastic development is our initiation of monthly company meetings, nine per year, taking a break in the summer and December.
Dr. Darryl Glover:
That sounds similar to transitions trivia, right? Is that a customized feature or just an extensive overview covering various questions or content? What does that look like, Roxanna and Brandi?
Roxana Dreger:
I think on the transition side, and then I know Brandy’s was a little different. So we do have a trivia game on Kahoot. We also, during special events like the Day of Education that we’ll have at the end of the year, we have that every year. That’s a virtual CE day of CEs. We’ll do it then as well with all of our participants. So I think last year we had maybe 300 people or people playing trivia with us using Kahoot! It’s a fun way to do it. We also do have the questions available so that if offices want to create their own, you know, let’s say they don’t have Liz come into their office, you know, in that situation. But we do have those questions available that they can add in. Even, I’ve seen offices where they take it, they build in transitions, and then they also build it specific to their office. So it’s actually a pretty easy user face to use. A lot of colleges and schools use it as well. So it’s a really fun game, and I’ll let Brandy tell how they did it as well. Yeah.
Brandi Kay:
What Liz did is she grabbed questions. I think, honestly, some of it came from the certification programs that you do, and she did, you know, all the academies and everything else. So we took some of the sort of what we learned at the academy through some of the presentations, and we just tied it into a little trivia game. And it was really fantastic. Our whole office is certified. So everyone’s gone through the training, and it was, it was just really fun. But it really just was customized. Like she just put together questions for us and ran it. And it was, it was really great. And you can keep people engaged like that, and it’s still educating them.
Dr. Darryl Glover:
What do you think, out of all these different things you have done, has really impacted the business the most?
Brandi Kay:
The monthly meetings, I think, it just gives a huge platform. Sometimes at our meetings, we’ll bring in a speaker. Like we have our Transitions rep, Herb Fletcher, who’s amazing, our Transitions ambassador. He comes in and does small-sided trainings. We have eight locations, so he’ll go into each location and do small-sided trainings with them, which is huge. But he also will come to the meetings where he can. So, if it’s a smaller practice and you only have a few of you, if you can just get together like outside of business hours, you can bring in different reps for all sorts of educational purposes. You can still give continuing education, and you can still do – a friend of mine has a business in New York, and he does his ABO classes at his night meetings. So, to me, if you just get the team together any way, shape, or form, you can make it look however you want to make it.
Exploring Transitions Certified Program
Dr. Darryl Glover:
Are there any turnkey options where there’s something that we could just kind of plug and play for doctors, opticians, front desk, eyewear consultants, where they can get the education and knowledge and be able to take it to the next level as well? Are there any options available for that?
Roxana Dreger:
Absolutely. One of my favorite programs that we have is the Transition Certified Program. A fun little backstory: I started it two weeks into my job. Rose Harris, my boss, came and said, “Hey, I think we could do this.” What’s great is that they can go on learn about transitions in four different modules. And I say transitions, and it’s more than that. We start with the light story because the light story is integral. We find that categorically, and I know we’ve had this conversation before, but we really take light for granted, and so I do it myself. I joke I live in Florida for those I didn’t – they were from, but I’m in Florida and I say I’m solar-powered. So I’m so used to it. And right now, it’s night out and I’m like, where’s my sun? But, so we kind of step back and we really explain so that when you’re talking to your patient, you really feel confident and understanding, and take a step back to understand what those light dynamics are because what’s, how I feel about light could be very different than what you feel and what Brandy feels as well. So we start there and then we go in and we do explain the products within that. So we have four modules. The first one is on light. The second one is on Transition Signature GEN 8. Our third module is on the Transitions XTRActive line, which I know is one of your faves.
