Woman Who...innovates through technology
You can probably imagine how proud we were, when last Friday, Helen Routledge won a ‘Woman Who’ award for the second time. In 2016 Helen won Women Who inspires for her work and passion and we heard on Friday 5th May that she had won the Women Who Innovates through Technology’ award.
According to ‘Woman Who…’ the woman who will win this award must prove that she embraces technology in the work that she does and she must be able to demonstrate the use of technology within her business and/or her clients’ business. All the above definitely describes Helen; she is very passionate about blending technology with learning and she proves it daily with the quality of the work she produces. She is constantly developing her knowledge and she wants people to love what she does as much as she does.
The Judges selected our Winner as she quite simply “blew them away” in this category.
She is a leader in her field, constantly innovating and at the same time developing herself personally.
2016 and 2017 have been a tremendous year Totem Learning. Most recently we were awarded Digital Learning Company of the Year in the Coventry Telegraph Awards 2016 and Helen was awarded the 2016 Women Who Inspire Award which was a fantastic achievement. We have also won Best Serious Game for Business 2 years running (2015 and 2016) in the Serious Games Society Awards.
Helen says: In terms of my designs I typically have to address subjects that are challenging to design for, typically because they are very dry subjects, but these are the areas in training that show the most need; the courses that have the lowest retention rates, the poorest satisfaction levels of the areas where businesses are losing money. Two recently projects Unlock: Leadership and Unlock: Project Management were real passion projects and very challenging both from the design perspective but also from a development perspective
Like many people in the L&D industry, I’m driven by a desire to help people fulfil their potential and I hope that by creating games that learners want to play repeatedly, our end users will rediscover that natural love of learning.
What has become clear to me as I have progressed through my career is the need to demystify technology for our clients; both in terms of production process and what is possible with games hardware and software to realise what they can achieve in their business. Therefore I made the decision to write a business book, ‘Why Games Are Good for Business’, to speak the language of business men and women to speed up the sales cycle. The book is a practical toolkit for those who want to learn about more serious games and how to apply them in the workplace.
It is my goal in life to push the boundaries of what learning platforms can do and to challenge learning and development culture in terms of technology and design principles. It sounds almost cliché but I truly do aim to affect the lives of learners, to make training and learning more enjoyable and to help businesses succeed through knowledgeable and engaged employees.
Woman Who… launched in 2016 and are delivered in partnership with the FSB. The women who awards is a much needed platform which recognises the achievements of Women in Business and Rising Stars who are still in education or training and working toward a first career.