Upcoming AI Training Course Aims to Help Onboard Floral Employees Faster
The Society of American Florists (SAF) has launched an online course designed to help floral businesses use artificial intelligence to streamline employee training, improve onboarding, and reduce the time managers spend answering repetitive questions.
NotebookLM for Florists: Build Your Shop’s AI Training Assistant teaches floral professionals how to use Google’s NotebookLM to transform existing employee handbooks, standard operating procedures, and other business documents into an AI-powered training system. The course shows participants how to create a searchable knowledge base, customized audio training podcasts, and other resources that help employees find answers independently.
“The technology itself can seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be,” says Joe Aldeguer, SAF’s IT Director and Course Instructor. “This course breaks the process down step by step so anyone can build a powerful training system using the documents they already have. You don’t need to be an AI expert; you just need to know your business.”
Once built, the knowledge database allows employees to ask questions such as, “What is our substitution policy?” or “How do we handle late deliveries?” and receive answers based on the business’s own procedures, reducing interruptions and helping ensure consistent training.
NotebookLM can also generate role-specific audio training podcasts, giving employees another way to learn company procedures and retain information.
Carma White, AAF, owner of Four Seasons Flowers & Plants in San Diego, participated in a pilot program for the course and has been using the NotebookLM knowledge base in her shop for the past year. She says giving employees access to information in multiple formats has made them more confident and accountable.
“It’s there in what they’ve read and what they’ve heard,” says White. “They can’t say, ‘I didn’t know that.'”
According to Kate Delaney, AAF, SAF’s Director of Education, effective employee training remains one of the biggest challenges facing floral businesses.
“Training is one of the biggest investments shop owners make, especially when hiring seasonal staff or onboarding multiple employees at once,” says Delaney. “This course helps businesses create a training system that’s easier to deliver, more engaging for employees and far more consistent than relying on shadowing or someone remembering to explain everything.”
In addition to building an AI-powered training assistant, the course covers best practices for organizing business information, managing employee access, protecting company data and maintaining the knowledge base as procedures evolve.
NotebookLM for Florists: Build Your Shop’s AI Training Assistant is available now through SAF’s Floral Education Hub.
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