The Arc of North Carolina Improves Efficiency With Relias

One of the things that sets Relias apart in the market is the level of support our Client Success team offers to partners. So, when The Arc of NC needed to improve how they used the Relias Platform, they found more than just a customer success team — they found a true partner in Relias.

Working closely with Sarah Vaccaro, Principal SMB Client Success Manager at Relias, The Arc of NC improved how they were using the Relias Platform, especially related to assigning training.

“I remember there were quite a lot of issues with people who were confused about why they were assigned things or managers who were mad because their staff were assigned to the wrong thing,” Vaccaro said.

To help resolve this, Vaccaro worked with David Gale, Administrative Assistant for Quality and Compliance at The Arc of NC. Through this partnership, Vaccaro not only answered questions Gale had about the system, but helped him create a solution to make the platform more manageable.

Leveraging custom training plans

Though The Arc of NC had used Relias solutions for over a decade, parts of their work, like assigning and tracking training requirements, were still done manually. As staff increased, this process became challenging to maintain.

“With everybody doing everything manually, people were doing training but not getting marked complete because they were never officially enrolled in it,” explained Gale. “It was like the Wild West.”

With the help of Relias’ Client Success team, Gale began the work of automating how staff are assigned courses in the Relias Platform. Using custom training plans, Gale assigned The Arc of NC’s staff training based on their job function instead of job title. Rather than having dozens of roles in the system that each needed their own training plans, this streamlined method of assigning training plans allowed Gale to pare this down to just 12 job functions.

“For example, there is a LIFEguardianship training plan. But there are two types of LIFEguardianship staff that need training: supervisor and a non-supervisor. Assigning training by these job functions created a much more streamlined way of looking at it. Rather than trying to cover three to five different LIFEguardianship job titles, you could just streamline it by their function instead,” explained Gale.

This streamlined training assignation process has led to more trainings being completed and eased the burden on administrators. Between 2022 and 2024, the Arc of NC increased the amount of courses assigned by 60% and improved their compliance rate from 67% to 73%.

Centralize external certifications

Staff members at The Arc of NC often take training through MAHEC and AHEC to receive specialized certifications. While this helped their providers improve their on-the-job skills, it proved difficult for administrators to properly track.

Using the Relias Platform, The Arc of NC found a solution. Now, Gale and his colleagues upload all the certifications their staff earn outside the platform. This enables The Arc’s management and administration to see the entirety of a staff member’s training, allowing them to ensure compliance in a glance.

Increasing operational efficiency

By using the Relias Platform to improve the efficiency of their training process, The Arc of NC saves a tremendous amount of administrative work hours. Their administrative staff no longer need to track training completions via pen-and-paper or spreadsheet-based methods. By using one centralized system that can assign and track training across their entire organization, one administrator is able to do the work of five – saving The Arc of NC approximately 160 work hours a week.

“Without Relias’ support, The Arc would need at least 5 more staff members to do all that work in ensuring training compliance,” Gale said.

The Relias Platform also allows providers to spend more time in the field with their clients. By offering a platform that can be accessed from anywhere on a computer, tablet, or phone, the system makes it easier to complete trainings on their own time. This way, providers don’t need to worry about coming into the office to take their training, making it faster and less stressful to remain compliant and improve their skills. All of this adds up to more time serving their clients and community.