Case Studies

We help employees build skills and help organizations change culture

We’ve solved client needs with custom solutions that range from standalone workshops and eLearning simulations to multi-year skill-development journeys.

We serve our long-term Fortune 500 partners across industries.

  • High Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Finance
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Retail
  • Hospitality
  • Manufacturing
  • Food
  • Healthcare
  • Energy
  • Transportation
  • Insurance

“Costco is always looking for value and quality, so Handcrafted Learning was a perfect fit for our needs. The hallmark of working with Handcrafted is their professionalism, transparency, and personal touch. The cherry on top is that they create custom products that truly help our learners.”

– National Trainer

Costco

Industry: Technology / Fortune Rank #79Award: Gold Brandon Hall Award for Best Advance in Leadership DevelopmentAudience: All new people managers worldwide

Groundbreaking Innovation in Leadership Development

Intel needed to retain and activate talent in a changing landscape. Newly promoted managers were technical experts who lacked management experience. Handcrafted Learning shifted the traditional paradigm for leadership development from ‘classes’ and ‘homework’ to a 10-week on-the-job skill accelerator where managers do experiments with their real teams, observe the impact, then try something different—exchanging feedback with other managers as they grow.

The Need

  • Upskill new managers without taking time away from their teams
  • Turn skilled individual performers into managers of people
  • Create the conditions for organic peer connections and a culture of experimentation to emerge

The Strategy

  • Design a method for new managers to build skills in the flow of daily work
  • Empower managers to choose skills and experiments relevant to their challenges
  • Provide guided real-world practice and manager-to-manager feedback

The Outcomes

  • 100% Net Promoter Score in Europe, Asia, and the Americas
  • Statistically significant increase in 15 out of 16 on-the-job behaviors
  • Improved team performance and retention during global transformations

Partner Quotes

“What’s unique about this program is that managers actually apply new behaviors in the real world with their real teams. We were in our pilot when we first noticed the extraordinarily high rates of completion for on-the-job activities. At an almost 100% rate, new managers were putting these techniques into practice in the real world.”

— Chris Munson, Intel Program Manager

“A great use of my time. Any new manager would benefit because the content is so relevant and being put into a cohort of ‘similar stage’ managers is key. We were able to share our challenges.”

— Participant in Manager Essentials

“Handcrafted Learning assisted us with developing a world-class curriculum tailored to our global needs. Despite the varying demands of our multiple brands, they successfully worked with us to cater to all our brand stakeholders. They helped us launch a leadership development program that resonated with participants from over 90 countries, ranging from first-time frontline managers to seasoned Ship Captains. This program was unprecedented for us; it brought uniformity to people management across all continents while feeling personalized for each learner through its customized and practical approach.”

– Director of Global Learning

Carnival

Industry: Financial Services / Forbes Rank #11 (Private Companies)Award: Gold Brandon Hall Award for Best Advance in Leadership DevelopmentAudience: All 70,000 employees

Unlocking Allyship in a Global Workforce

After publishing its first D&I report and committing to workforce inclusion goals, Fidelity Investments needed a strategy for helping all employees adopt allyship behaviors. Handcrafted Learning transformed expectations for what eLearning could be by creating interactive, accessible “choose your own adventure” experiences that led associates, managers, and senior leaders to name it the best workplace training of their careers.

The Need

  • Serve a global workforce from varied backgrounds and belief systems
  • Activate self-identified allies while respectfully engaging skeptics
  • Prove that interactivity and accessibility are not at odds

The Strategy

  • Create realistic scenarios based on the experiences of Fidelity associates
  • Build nuanced choices reflecting how team members think, talk, and act
  • Design for accessibility with assistive technology from the first prototype

The Outcomes

  • Highest satisfaction rating for any required training: 97% among 20,000+ respondents
  • Employee engagement results showed an increase in the belief that Fidelity creates a culture of inclusion after Activating Allyship was launched

Partner Quotes

“The Activating Allyship and Unlocking Allyship learning programs have advanced our firm’s inclusion strategy by building skills and behaviors that foster inclusion and belonging across our workforce. This helps associates feel valued and that they can thrive at Fidelity, which also supports our firm’s retention efforts.”

— Wendy John, Former Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Fidelity

“I thought it was fantastic. The options were great. From an accessibility standpoint, it felt so natural. I felt included.”

— Jeff Wissel, Chief Accessibility Officer for Disability:IN, the global nonprofit that advises Fortune 500 companies on accessibility

“Our collaboration with Handcrafted Learning was the highpoint of my career at Microsoft. We created a completely custom tabletop board game that fit the specific needs of our sales team. During onboarding, it was incredible to experience the energy in the room: people were laughing, having personal breakthroughs as they built new skills, and—I’ll never forget—one woman came up to me afterward, thanked me, and cried. She said the sales simulation had given her the practice and confidence to be successful here.”

– Worldwide Learning Leader

Microsoft

Industry: Pharmaceutical / Fortune Rank #10Award: Gold Brandon Hall Award for Best Culture Transformation, Best HR Strategy, and Best Measurement ApproachAudience: All 50,000 employees in 50+ countries

Driving Culture Change With Data

After a series of acquisitions, the newly named Cencora became one of the largest companies in the world and needed a strategy to evolve into a truly global culture. Handcrafted Learning partnered with Cencora’s C-suite to design a multi-year cultural transformation that measurably changed behavior for frontline workers, managers, and senior leaders—accelerating Cencora’s ability to meet rigorous environmental, social, and governance targets.

The Need

  • Nurture a global culture that represents the 50+ countries where Cencora has distribution facilities, pharmacies, and patients
  • Unite AmerisourceBergen, Alliance Healthcare, World Courier, and all other brands under the new name: Cencora

The Strategy

  • Establish and rigorously track 8 cultural index metrics, measured bi-annually and analyzed year round
  • Operationalize behavioral practice through enterprise-wide experiences
  • Design and tailor experiences to regions and roles based on data

The Outcomes

  • Reached ESG targets, including female representation at VP levels and above
  • Maintained organization-wide cultural index score of 70% during period of change with 10% rise in participation year over year

Partner Quotes

“I don’t know of anyone else who’s measuring inclusion the way we are and crafting behavior-oriented training to drive objective, measurable outcomes.”

— Ann Anaya, SVP and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer

“I came into the interactive module so confident. I thought, 'This will be easy. I know what to do.' But after making choices and seeing the reactions, I realized, I don't know the best approach! I was surprised, but I paid attention to the feedback. It coached me on what to change. I kept practicing and it was actually challenging. I recommend it to everyone because I learned a lot and I wasn't expecting that.”

— Senior Leader in HR

“The team at Handcrafted Learning brought dull (but important!) subject matter to life for our learners, creating customized and engaging e-learnings and job aids. The team’s willingness to meet and exceed tight deadlines, pivot gracefully when change requests arose, and deliver best-in-class products is why the Ralph Lauren team will continue to partner with Handcrafted in the future.”

– Director of Digital Learning

Ralph Lauren

“How an organization approaches learning is a leading indicator of how its culture will evolve. Our clients are proof of that.”

– Dorothy Cafino Finnigan, Founder

Handcrafted Learning