Case Studies Archive

Advancing Inclusion through Feedback Training for Managers

Overview

Beverage Retailer Co.* stands as the nation’s most extensive independent fine wine retailer since its founding in 1991. Fast forward 30+ years and they’ve expanded to over 10,000 employees across the country. For the company, its commitment to supporting and developing its people is core to its strength as a business and speaks to its decades-long track record of being a market leader.

This commitment led the company to partner with Praxis Labs to prioritize feedback training for managers, aiming to foster a culture of inclusion and heightened performance. More than that, the company sought a solution infused with inclusive best practices, backed by the rigor of an evidence-based and skills-focused approach. Praxis Labs identified an opportunity to launch an immersive feedback solution for a targeted cohort of 30 managers.

Identifying the Need for Feedback Training for Managers

As part of its commitment to its people, Beverage Retailer Co. recognized the need for a comprehensive overhaul of its manager and leadership development training to address critical issues affecting its workforce.

A primary concern was employee retention, especially for people of color, with many citing manager behavior as a key reason for departure. In the past, Beverage Retailer Co. addressed this through e-learning solutions and in-person role-play. While these solutions provided foundational knowledge and awareness of key concepts and opportunities to learn as a group, they failed to spark lasting behavior change due to a lack of engagement, scalability challenges, and discomfort among participants.

Another critical issue facing the company’s Learning & Development team was that their go-to solutions failed to truly measure impact. While e-learning surfaced data on learner engagement and skills gained, it could not account for whether or not learners were changing their behaviors, nor what the overall impact was on company culture and team performance. Similarly, in-person sessions were evaluated through smile sheets and anecdotal reflections.

With a small L&D team supporting the company’s 350+ managers (both corporate and in the field), the company needed a feedback training solution for managers that would:

Improve leadership skills and behaviors in giving effective feedback
Achieve high learner adoption and engagement at scale
Be highly relevant and applicable to learners

In this new phase of training for Beverage Retailers Co., their Talent Development Manager wasn’t just looking for a stand-alone implicit bias training program, but one that was skills-based and deeply engrained with inclusive principles and best practices. She shares, “I got the call to look into unconscious bias and inclusive feedback training for managers, and I love that Praxis Labs has an element of inclusion infused into everything.”

Implementing Feedback Training for Managers: An Immersive Approach

To augment Beverage Retailer Co.’s plans to transform its manager training, Praxis Labs introduced a practice-based immersive feedback experience. This solution aimed to offer bite-sized practice opportunities embedded directly into the holistic manager and leadership curriculum that the company’s L&D team was developing. It enables learners to learn, practice, and refine their feedback and communication skills in a risk-free environment, supported by data and measurement tools to track progress and effectiveness.

The Praxis Labs learning experience pairs immersive real-world scenarios of giving feedback to a colleague with generative AI to provide real-time grading to accelerate learning and growth. The implementation of this learning program marked a turning point for their manager training, helping their managers translate learning from theory to action and setting a new benchmark for effective learning within the organization.

Improving feedback skills and capabilities

A core focus of Praxis Labs’ program was to enhance the ability of leaders to provide inclusive, actionable feedback. The results showcase the efficacy of combining the latest in immersive and AI technology to enable a practice-based approach:

Confidence in giving feedback jumped from 57% pre-training to 85% post-training.
Knowledge and application of giving structured feedback improved from 42% to 80%
The ability to ask open-ended questions, a critical skill for understanding and addressing a situation from a holistic perspective, increased from 79% to 95% post-training.

Learners recognized the value of this approach, with one learner sharing, “I liked the practice of asking questions – it helped me get more comfortable asking uncomfortable questions.” Especially as we head into a year of polarizing conversations, being able to ask questions that help employees navigate conflict and collaborate better together are going to be the hallmarks of every thriving business.

A safe and engaging way to practice skills

Praxis Labs’ research-backed learning design ensured high levels of completion through the engaging aspects of immersive learning, with participants exceeding the completion goal:

Intending to complete 30 experiences, Praxis Labs saw a 117% completion rate with 35 unique experiences, meaning that learners went back in multiple times to practice their skills.
Learners gave the training a satisfaction score of 71, 7 points higher than the industry average for e-learning.

This achievement was underscored by participant feedback emphasizing the safe, supportive environment the program fostered. One learner shared, “I really liked that I could take a risk and peers weren’t judging me even as I was practicing giving feedback.”

While in-person role-play scenarios can be helpful for learners to practice and learn together, they often feel more high-stakes for people who feel anxious about making a mistake in front of their colleagues. One of the greatest benefits of immersive learning is that learners get to practice in a simulated environment that activates feelings of being in the moment without fear or social anxiety.

High learner relevance

Ensuring the learning experiences were directly relevant to the participants’ roles was a critical goal of the program. Beverage Retailer Co.’s L&D team was excited to see that 95% of learners said it was relevant for their roles, and that they could directly apply the learnings to their day-to-day. Learned feedback highlights this, with one participant noting, “I’ve been on the receiving end of the feedback sandwich and it’s unclear what people are giving feedback on. This framework was very clear and felt actionable.”

By being able to see themselves in the immersive experiences, learners create deeper emotional resonance with the content. Over time, learners build the confidence and “muscle” needed to respond to these moments when they happen in real life.

Saving time while boosting impact

Especially for a lean team, the time needed to design a comprehensive curriculum and deploy it at an enterprise scale is daunting. In addition to helping managers give better feedback and have difficult conversations, the company’s Talent Development Manager was also tasked with digging through disparate data sets to measure the ROI of their programs, enhancing team effectiveness across corporate offices and the field, and supporting leaders in goal setting for themselves and their teams. Having a solution like Praxis Labs that delivers research-backed learning and shares insights on progress in real-time helps free up the Talent Development Manager’s time to focus on strategic priorities.

As they explains, “Right now, I’m facilitating 15 ILT sessions per quarter. I see Praxis Labs as a way to scale that learning and allow me to focus on our broader strategy.” Especially in a time marked by the need for agility and strategic focus, freeing up the team’s time to focus on the levers that are most important for the business is invaluable.

Embedding Inclusion

For Beverage Retailer Co., Praxis Labs delivered on the goals to improve feedback capabilities in a way that is highly engaging, relevant, and actionable. Especially in a transformational moment for the company’s leadership training — where the L&D team is honing in on improving manager skills and inclusive behaviors — having a solution they can trust to deliver impactful on-demand experiences is a must-have for their talent strategy in the year ahead.

According to their Talent Development Manager: “We’re shifting a bit to focus on inclusive leadership training and are a bit concerned about having to build this ourselves. The whole Praxis Labs program is built through that lens, which is exciting because we can embed this throughout the year.”

*Beverage Retailer Co. is a fictitious company name assigned to one of our clients.

Transforming Awareness into Action

The Challenge: Translating Knowledge to Action

Our client, an industry leader in e-commerce, is a forward-thinking organization that has gained recognition as a top employer for DEI. The company’s leadership has an understanding of how critical it is to cultivate a culture of inclusion and belonging. While the company had a robust calendar of unconscious bias and DEI training opportunities, it identified a critical need to bridge the gap between knowledge and action.

This realization came to the forefront when the company noticed a concerning trend — employees of color were departing at higher rates than their counterparts. Exit interviews revealed a common thread: they lacked sufficient coaching and feedback to progress in the professional journey. Managers, in particular, were identified as key influencers in shaping the professional trajectory of these individuals.

As part of a broader initiative to align DEI and Learning & Development (L&D) functions, the company set out to reinforce its commitment to diversity and inclusion. The objective was clear — not merely ticking off a check box for training sessions but fostering an active culture of inclusive management. This next phase of their learning journey aimed to instill confidence in all employees, and especially people leaders, ensuring they were well-equipped to navigate situations of bias and inequity with competence and empathy.

The Solution

The company sought out a partnership with Praxis Labs to reshape how they approached DEI training with the following objectives:

Integration into the Talent Development Lifecycle: The first goal was to embed Praxis Labs’ learning experiences seamlessly within the talent development lifecycle, focusing on critical junctures such as new manager onboarding and new hire training. This strategic motion ensured that equity and inclusion principles and best practices became foundational to every employee’s journey from the outset.
Amplifying Inclusion in Practice: Building on this foundation, the partnership aimed to double down on the practical application of inclusion principles. The goal was not only to impart knowledge but to ensure that every employee, at every level, possessed an ability to identify and take action against bias, creating a workplace culture where these values were actively practiced.
Behavioral Change for Equitable Experiences: The ultimate objective was to witness a tangible and sustained shift in behavior, particularly among people leaders and managers, by proactively translating their knowledge into action and setting inclusive team practices.

The Results

Embedding Praxis Labs’ immersive experiences into the company’s existing learning framework yielded measurable outcomes that emphasize learners’ growth in key competencies and improvements in team and company cultures of equity and inclusion.

Praxis Labs learners saw:

83% completion rate (5x industry average for e-learning)
79% satisfaction score (15% points above average for e-learning)

Learners gravitated toward the realistic, experiential, and interactive nature of the learning experience, with one participant noting “[Praxis Labs’] learning journey evoked real emotions, immersing me in moments of bias that led to me feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. The interactive nature of the platform made responding and experiencing interruptions feel authentic. Overall, the experience was very eye-opening.”

The immersive approach not only elevated completion and satisfaction rates but, more importantly, facilitated a deep understanding and application of inclusive practices within the organization.

Growth in core competencies

The perspective-taking learning experience not only elicited emotional responses but also demonstrated significant growth in key core competencies:

89% Growth in Empathy: One learner emphasized the impact, “The interactive and immersive nature of the experiences was great. Feeling like I was really ‘in her shoes’ emphasized the empathy I built for the character experiencing bias.”
82% Improvement in Identifying Inequities: One learner noted, “It was illuminating to see how the experiences of the person we’re roleplaying don’t reflect the experiences of other people in the same group.”
81% Boost in Confidence to Take Action: The shift in mindset was captured by one learner who shared, “The experience made me more confident to take action. It felt like a safe space to practice making a difference.”

These core competencies are essential for inclusive leadership in practice and lay the bedrock for taking informed action.

Improving Company Culture by Inspiring Behavior Change

Praxis Labs’ impact extended beyond individual competencies, influencing a positive shift in company culture, as evidenced by the following insights:

Agreement on Impact: 90% of learners either agreed or strongly agreed that Praxis Labs’ learning experiences would contribute to making the organization more equitable and inclusive. Importantly, learners from diverse communities demonstrated the highest percentages of agreement, reflecting that the program had a sizeable impact on the people who encounter bias the most.
Behavior Change in Action: More than half of learners approached situations differently, both within and outside the workplace, as a direct result of Praxis Labs learning.

These outcomes underscore Praxis Labs’ role in not just imparting knowledge but inspiring tangible behavior change, fostering a culture where inclusivity is part of the company’s DNA and individual’s ways of working.

Redefining Inclusion

In pursuit of redefining an active culture of inclusive leadership, the company’s partnership with Praxis Labs showcased the need and impact of going beyond status quo DEI training. An embedded and intentional approach to skill development yields higher completion rates, satisfaction scores, and growth in core competencies, than stand-alone e-learning and in-person training.

As the company’s L&D director shared, “I love Praxis Labs’ platform and I see the value it provides. Our learners love the experience.”

Fostering Inclusive Leadership with Immersive training

The Challenge

Our customer, a Fortune 100 technology company whose business includes e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and AI, embarked on a mission to transform its approach to leadership development. Their mission was threefold:

Empower people managers to become empathetic and inclusive leaders
Equip these leaders with the tools to lead diverse teams and drive retention
Enable managers to embrace their unique identities as a source of strength in authentic leadership

These objectives required a holistic solution that would reshape the way leadership development was approached.

The Solution

Learning leaders at the company revamped their New and Continuous Manager Training Academy with an intentional focus on empathetic and inclusive leadership. The program embedded three of our immersive experiences paired with our wrap-around reinforced learning opportunities:

Perspective-taking: Learners took on the perspectives of folks with intersectional identities in authentic workplace scenarios and explored the complexities of leading diverse teams. The courses focused on two crucial aspects of leadership development – mentorship and sponsorship and setting inclusive team norms.
Reflections and action-taking: Following each scenario, learners went through guided reflections, reviewed concept overviews to reinforce the learning, and made commitments for micro-changes they can implement in their workplace.
Interactive Group Conversations: Participants engaged in small and large group conversations. These discussions provided a platform for sharing insights from the perspectives taken and ways to translate the learning into action within the organization.
Hybrid Implementation: To meet the needs of a hybrid workforce, participants had the flexibility to gather in person while benefiting from virtual facilitation. This approach ensured accessibility and engagement for all, regardless of their geographic location or work arrangement.

The integration of these elements into the company’s existing training framework laid the foundation for a highly engaging and impactful leadership development program.

The Results

The impact of this program is best illustrated by the learners themselves. 94% of participants successfully completed the program (the average completion rate for e-learning is 15%).

Beyond completion, the program achieved a learner satisfaction score of 87, surpassing the industry average for e-learning programs, which typically stands at 64.

From the perspective of the program administrator, a Senior Learning and Talent Development Program Manager, the impact of the program is profound. They shared, “I love hearing testimonials from participants. So many of them give specific examples about how they have applied what they learned — and most importantly — that they think differently and have learned to challenge their own beliefs.”

These insights highlight the program’s transformative effect: encouraging leaders to challenge their assumptions and adopt more inclusive, empathetic, and authentic leadership styles that drive retention for diverse team members.

Growth of core competencies needed for empathetic and inclusive leadership

The company’s leadership development program has demonstrated significant growth in core competencies essential for effective leadership. The following statistics, paired with learners testimonials, highlight the tangible impact of the program:

65% of participants reported a noticeable surge in empathy. One participant shared, “Seeing it from the person’s perspective makes it feel more like it’s happening to you.”
77% could better identify inequities. A learner recognized, “This module has given me a heightened awareness of potential [biases].”
78% felt more confident in taking informed action. A participant’s reflection echoed this sentiment, “I believe that this training module will make me more aware of how to ensure I do my part to create an all-inclusive environment.”
79% approached situations differently due to the training. A learner candidly stated, “This [felt like] a real-life experience. I will work on thinking before I speak moving forward.”

Fostering a team culture of inclusivity and retention with authentic leadership

One of the core objectives of the company’s leadership development program was to foster a culture where employees are not only empowered but also inspired to stay and contribute to the organization’s growth.

Improving company-wide equity & inclusion: 75% of learners agree that the training program will help their company become more equitable and inclusive.
Intent to Stay: 68% of all learners express a heightened intent to stay as a direct result of their participation in Praxis training. Below is a breakdown by demographic:
- White Employees: 69% express an increased intent to stay due to the Praxis training
- African American and Black Employees: 75% attribute their intent to stay to the Praxis training
- Latine Employees: Similarly, 75% of Latine employees reported their intent to stay because of the Praxis training

These outcomes signify that the program not only equips individuals with valuable skills but also contributes to a broader organizational culture where employees feel supported, valued, and committed to their roles. They also underscore the program’s effectiveness in engaging and retaining underrepresented talent.

Insights to drive future strategy

The company’s commitment to continuous improvement and inclusivity goes beyond the immediate impact of its leadership development program. With Praxis Labs’ data dashboard, Pivotal Insights, the company has gained valuable insights that will guide its future DEI and learning strategies.

These insights not only encompass competency growth and module completion rates but also delve into DEI hotspots — areas where targeted improvement is needed at the organization.

While the overall top opportunity areas were compensation and rewards and learning and development, the story changes when you filter the data by race and gender.

Top Opportunity Areas by Race:

Top Opportunity Areas by Gender:

These granular insights enable the company’s DEI and Learning leaders to tailor their strategies to specific demographic groups within the organization. By addressing these areas, the company aims to create a workplace where all employees feel valued, empowered, and supported in their professional journeys.

Conclusion

The company’s pursuit of redefining leadership development has borne fruit in the form of tangible outcomes. It empowered individuals, fostered inclusivity, and offered actionable insights for the organization’s future. As one insightful learner aptly put it, “Every new manager needs a training like this.”

This case study illustrates the company’s unwavering commitment to innovation, empathy, and continuous learning, setting a benchmark for organizations worldwide seeking to cultivate inclusive and effective leadership.

How a Fortune 100 Tech company drove lasting behavior change and a culture of active allyship

The Challenge

When TechStorage Inc.* found Praxis Labs, they were looking for a DEI learning solution that would help foster more inclusive teams, boost confidence in acting as an advocate for equity and inclusion, and promote inclusive interviews.

TechStorage Inc. had made significant strides toward creating a culture that prioritizes DEI prior to partnering with Praxis Labs. Many of their employees had already benefited from DEI and unconscious bias training. Despite their team’s alignment on the value of DEI training, they struggled to translate learning into informed, measurable action.

The Solution

TechStorage Inc. recognized a need for a training solution that would attract and engage learners, provide a skills-based and action-oriented approach to training, and provide actionable data and insights to drive change. They wanted to move beyond “one-and-done” training approaches, and instead, sought to embed a solution that could spark sustained behavior change and help create an equitable organization.

Praxis Labs offers curated learning journeys, including immersive experiences, continuous learning resources, and social learning features. This comprehensive approach enables learners to practice navigating real-world workplace scenarios. Throughout the immersive experiences, learners are faced with instances of bias and inequity and have to make choices that impact scenario outcomes. This real-time feedback builds an automatic response that changes how learners react in real life.

Our team provided TechStorage Inc. with a learning journey intentionally designed to meet the needs of its employees. We onboarded over 4,000 learners into our Active Allyship journey where learners completed courses on Inclusive Hiring, Mentorship & Sponsorship, and Leadership & Career Growth.

“The innovative modality draws learners in and then the content imprints upon them a greater sense of empathy and ability to take action. It’s a game changer when it comes to DEI learning.”
Program Administrator

Throughout Active Allyship, learners build core skills like collaboration, navigating difficult conversations, and cross-cultural communication. As learners progress throughout the immersive experiences, they encounter opportunities to advocate for themselves or on behalf of their colleagues.

This practice-based approach to skill-building doesn’t just educate learners, it gives them the confidence and frameworks needed to translate the learning into informed action. That’s why more than 72% of TechStorage Inc. learners say that Praxis Labs training is more impactful than other DEI trainings, and why their learners have a 75% completion rate (nearly 4x the industry average).

“The innovative modality draws learners in and then the content imprints upon them a greater sense of empathy and ability to take action,” a Program Administrator at TechStorage Inc. explains. “It’s a game changer when it comes to DEI learning.”

The Results

One of the biggest challenges DEI and L&D leaders face is tracking and measuring the success of their training programs.

With Praxis Labs’ Pivotal Insights, program administrators have the data they need to see how learners progress through their learning journeys. They also gain access to rich insights that measure behavior change and business impact.

By the end of the program, TechStorage Inc. saw significant improvements across key skills and competencies.

78% of learners could better identify bias,
80% of learners built empathy,
77% of learners felt more confident taking informed action, and
Learners made nearly 19,000 commitments for equity and inclusion.

Learners’ experiences help bring the impact to life. One learner shares, “as a bystander in a difficult situation, it is important to take action. This experience helped me to gain confidence during difficult situations.”

In particular, TechStorage Inc. has seen measurable change across hiring practices, team management, and overall employee experience and company sentiment.

Enabling more inclusive interviews

Praxis Labs’ course on Inclusive Hiring follows Carlos & Christina. Carlos is a Latinx man applying for a management position as a software engineer who experiences race-based microaggressions during the interview process. In contrast, Christina is an Asian-American woman on the talent acquisition team who is in a position to address the inequities.

Learners first experience the interview as Carlos. Then, as Christina, learners witness how the all-white interview panel conducts interviews differently across several candidates. The differential treatment highlights the race-based microaggressions that Carlos encounters. Later on in their experience, as Christina, learners have the opportunity to give the hiring manager feedback.

For some learners at TechStorage Inc, Carlos’ story inspired them to think critically about their company’s hiring process. “It makes me ask what opportunities I have, and my organization has, to identify and ameliorate obstacles to success and advancement for potential employees before they show up as candidates,” one learner shares.

For others, it helped validate and give a name to their lived experiences. “I had a similar experience when interviewing for a job myself,” one learner reflects. “I think this highlights the inappropriateness of biased behaviors and helps hiring managers take the interview process very seriously.”

Praxis Labs training offers frameworks that teach learners how to conduct equitable interviews. This research-backed approach gives hiring managers and recruiters the information and confidence they need to embed objective guardrails into their hiring process.

Encouraging active listening and inclusive team norms

Praxis Labs’ learning sparked changes in learners’ daily lives that informed how they showed up for their colleagues.

One learner reflected on how setting norms improved interviews and led to more collaborative discussions, “I still think about the disrespect of checking email during an interview. I have implemented laptops down since and the improved conversations have been a rewarding result.”

“I am much more conscious about making sure every voice is heard during team meetings.”
Praxis Labs Learner

After experiencing our Mentorship & Sponsorship course, in which the protagonist Kia is interrupted several times by a colleague during a group conversation, one learner explained how he became more mindful during meetings, “I am much more conscious about making sure every voice is heard during team meetings…[for example, if someone is] saying anything that might be biased or unconsciously excluding someone from the conversation.”

Feeling heard and valued is not just an interpersonal problem, it’s a business one as well. Inclusive workplace cultures that prioritize belonging see greater returns on productivity, collaboration, and innovation.

Demonstrating commitment to DEI

Praxis Labs training helped TechStorage Inc. employees see that their company is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. When organizations prioritize DEI, they signal to their employees that they care about them as professionals and as people. This includes creating space for follow-up conversations and real dialogue about changes that need to be made.

As a core pillar of our learning design model, Praxis Labs pairs on-demand immersive training with research-backed group discussion guides that are created by our internal experts in facilitation and social psychology. This form of social learning provides learners with opportunities to build community, practice skills, and reflect on their experiences in a safe space.

“More conversations around DEI are happening and people seem to be genuinely excited to keep the conversations and actions going,” one learner shares. “It’s evident that it’s important to the organization, which is awesome.”

On the aggregate level, more than half of learners expressed that they were more likely to stay at their company because of Praxis Labs training.

Conclusion: Building DEI skills for long-term business impact

By now, it’s well known that when companies prioritize their people, they see big returns in value for the overall business. Retaining your employees can save companies trillions, especially during turbulent times

Yet, many companies struggle to find a long-term, holistic solution that drives impact at scale. As a result, they’re missing out on key opportunities to foster more collaborative, resilient, and innovative workplaces where people want to stay.

Immersive learning is the next frontier of DEI training and is helping companies make workplaces more human and engaging. It works by building core skills and the confidence needed to apply them.

Even eight months after completing the training program, TechStorage Inc. is seeing sustained results.

More than 75% of learners continue to take regular, informed action to create a more inclusive organization,
75% shifted their actions, behaviors, and mindsets, and
Nearly 50% of learners notice changes in their organization as a whole.

As one learner puts it: “[Praxis Labs trainings] made me rethink how I would react in certain situations. Normally I would take a non-confrontational approach to uncomfortable situations, but I’ve seen how stepping forward and taking action can change the outcome for the better.”

*TechStorage Inc. is a fictitious company name assigned to one of our clients.

Curious about how you can drive lasting impact for DEI at your company? Chat with a member of our team.