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Jiffy Lube International, Inc., put the training pedal to the metal, roaring into the No. 1 spot on the 2014 Training Top 125. The 100 percent-franchised organization’s aligned and focused approach to training—in particular, training on new services, customer service skills, and leadership— has resulted in a 900 percent increase in the number of stores at 100 percent certification, a reduction in turnover, and a 93 percent approval rating by franchisees.

Over the years, I have had the privilege to work with several senior learning leaders whose organizations regularly earn a spot on the Training Top 125 list. While pondering what separates those who consistently achieve the pinnacle of success in Training and Development, I isolated three key areas I believe contribute significantly to their achievement:

A new year brings excitement and commitment to bettering our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, the excitement soon fades, and according to research from VitalSmarts, only 10 to 20 percent of employees reach their career resolutions by the time the ball drops the following year. So what stands in the way of career success?

Jiffy Lube International, Inc., was firing on all cylinders as it earned its first No. 1 spot on the Training Top 125. Keller Williams Realty, Inc., moved into the No. 2 spot (up from No. 41 last year), while CHG Healthcare Services inched up a notch to No. 3. Top 5 newcomers Capital BlueCross and Mohawk Industries, Inc., took Nos. 3 and 5, respectively.

Most of us have either sat around a campfire ourselves and sang the words or we’ve joined along with our own or other people’s children in a sing-along of “If You’re Happy and You Know It…” followed by the random actions chosen by each singer depicting what makes him or her happy.

It seems everyone in training is getting agile these days. I’ve found at least four distinct uses of the word, “agile”—each of which is useful to instructional designers and learning leaders (and some of which I’ll discuss during my Training 2014 session, “How to Get Started with Agile Project Management Methods for E-Leaming,” at 8:15 a.m. February 4)

Farmers Insurance and Verizon are the newest inductees into the Training Top 10 Hall of Fame, joining the ranks of the 12 companies named to the hall since its inception in 2008 (Wyeth Pharmaceuticals subsequently was acquired by Pfizer Inc. in 2000).

How do you prepare for your training sessions? How do you prepare the subject matter experts (SMEs) to present in your classes? Often, we are eager to give people course content and assume the presentation process will take care of itself. That’s a mistake we can’t afford to make—especially when a training program is using multiple presenters.

Jiffy Lube International Inc., takes the No. 1 spot.

Recently, a Learning professional colleague asked us, "Why is workplace learning so complicated? Isn’t it simply about improving people's performance?"