How Safe Management Group puts de-escalation training in frontline workers’ pockets with TalentCards

Founded in 1991 in Ontario, Canada, Safe Management Group (SMG) specializes in violence prevention and crisis intervention training and consulting. SMG has trained over 100,000 staff, students, and volunteers via online learning alone. Add to that an even higher number through classroom-based learning, and it’s clear that SMG has found the formula to engage people in learning how to deescalate volatile situations in healthcare, education, in-home care, out-of-home care, custody, autism, and other risk settings.

Wade McKone, SMG’s Director of Training & Development, has been using TalentLMS since 2016 to deliver online training both to internal staff and thousands of the company’s customers. By combining online courses with in-person instruction, the company has scaled to train upwards of 3,000 users per month.

As the company grew, Wade began to think about how SMG could provide a mobile-first training experience to its learners, who are largely deskless and need access to resources directly in the field. It was at that moment that the idea of integrating TalentCards into the company’s training suite arose.

The problem

With the majority of SMG’s customers being deskless employees— clinicians, educators in hospitals, home staff, and frontline workers— it became clear that adding a mobile-first learning app to the company’s training offering would not only engage learners more, but also set the company apart from its competitors.

“We realized that we wanted to provide more hands-on resources to our trainers. The minute you say you have an app, people are way more engaged. That’s why we added TalentCards. We wanted to put ourselves above other training companies by providing all of these resources.”

Why TalentCards

By adding TalentCards to the company’s training resources, Wade has found a way to put resources at staff’s fingertips, particularly for the company’s train-the-trainer initiative.

“We use TalentCards to give trainers a resource they can access directly in the field. We’ve added all of our videos that explain the physical techniques staff should use, so trainers can reference the app as they’re training their staff.”

TalentCards’ microlearning, flashcard-style approach to training makes content not only easy for learners to understand, but fun to engage with.

“We show a technique on the one side of a card, and on the other side there’s a link to the video so they can see it. They read the steps, then watch the video, and they learn the technique. It’s a great way for a trainer who’s in the field, and not in a classroom setting, to have instant access to the resource on their phone.”

How SMG uses TalentLMS & TalentCards together

Using TalentLMS, SMG delivers intensive online courses that are about three hours in length, followed by in-person training sessions delivered by subject matter experts. With TalentCards, learners continue to have access to resources and videos for months after completing training on TalentLMS. “If they’re in the field dealing with a patient who’s highly escalated, they can quickly open the app, and find the answer to ‘How do I talk to this person?’” Wade explained.

This persistent availability ensures that SMG’s best practices remain just a tap away whenever trainers need a quick refresher.

The results

Since adopting TalentCards alongside TalentLMS in 2023, SMG has helped hundreds of frontline professionals reinforce their learning directly in the field.

While the app offering is an optional resource for learners, SMG has seen an adoption rate of over 60%, a clear signal that mobile microlearning resonates with deskless users. Learners are passing quizzes within the app with an average score of 82%, and in-app learning sessions last an average of nine minutes, highlighting the power of short, recurring training sessions.

By keeping essential knowledge in the palm of their hands, SMG ensures that every trainer feels prepared and supported, wherever they may be working next.