Case Study / A tailored training curriculum that creates a culture of learning. 01/ The Client

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1 Case Study / Implementing a learning management system has increased employee loyalty and commitment and differentiated the agency from competitors. A tailored training curriculum that creates a culture of learning 01/ The Client Recently merged with OgilvyAction and JWTAction to form Geometry Global, G2 USA was an advertising agency under WPP. It specialised in direct marketing, internet and digital advertising, employed around 500 people and had offices in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and Downers Grove

2 Most of the training opportunities employees were given were from external organisations or happened very sporadically, so I wanted to build a culture of learning. 02/ The Challenge G2 USA was formed by a number of small agencies joining together. As a result there was a need to establish a consistent culture and way of doing business. There was also a requirement to develop people s leadership abilities, selling capabilities and associated soft skills in presentation and communication. When I was brought on board there was no structured curriculum or training in place, says Natasha Georgatos, Associate Director, Talent Development at G2 USA. Most of the training opportunities employees were given were from external organisations or happened very sporadically, so I wanted to build a culture of learning. 03/ The Solution Natasha Georgatos had worked with rogensi previously to roll out a training curriculum in a previous role whilst working in the Financial Services sector. She had already intended to approach the company as a Partner for this project and then discovered that rogensi was a preferred vendor of the network of agencies that G2 USA falls under. For this project it was important to find facilitators who had either worked in advertising or understood the industry and the facilitators provided by rogensi fitted the bill. What made them stand out was the variety of their personalities, backgrounds and experiences, says Georgatos. We knew that if we were going with a small pool of facilitators that each one would bring their own unique experiences and styles of facilitating to the table. The content that rogensi was able to offer also differentiated them from other potential vendors. What they bring to the table is very high quality and they really partner with their clients to tailor to the needs they are trying to address. rogensi spent a lot of time at the beginning of this project on the design of the courses and helping Natasha Georgatos to market it with other leaders in the agency. It was vital to the success of the curriculum to get buy-in from these key stakeholders to ensure that it was positioned appropriately before the courses were rolled out to employees. The courses rogensi designed formed part of the open enrolment curriculum for which employees mainly self-selected to attend and focused on a range of business, management and inter-personal skills. It also included sessions that were particularly tailored to the challenges faced in the advertising industry such as conflict management, driving activity, selling creative and a class on emotional intelligence that was branded as The X Factor. We introduced this course and had so much overwhelmingly positive feedback on it that we continued to run it, says Georgatos. For organisations that are client facing and client driven such as ourselves it s crucial to have a course on emotional intelligence, so we are

3 weaving the idea of being more emotionally intelligent through the whole curriculum. Over the past year around 70% of the agency s population attended training, and courses were typically full. 04/ Achievements Introducing this curriculum transformed the culture of the agency and brought a number of associated benefits months after the curriculum was rolled out the agency s employee opinion survey revealed that training and development was rated one of the top reasons why employees were satisfied. This was particularly pleasing, as we had a very low score in that area for the previous year, so it was a huge success for us and shows we are building a culture of learning, says Georgatos. It doesn t happen overnight, but people felt invested in and could see a change of behaviour. The development of a learning culture also enabled the agency to stand out in the market place. Having a dedicated learning management system in place that offered regular classes and e-learning courses supported by an in-house learning and development team gave G2 a significant edge in an industry where training is often not prioritised. Having a dedicated training team and a centralised place for learning is now part of our culture and our language, says Georgatos. It s something we pride ourselves on and differentiates us from other agencies. The investment in training also had a positive influence on other areas of employee engagement within the agency, particularly with regard to performance reviews and proactive involvement in personal development. We have seen an increase in the percentage of people completing performance reviews and having more career conversations with their managers, says Georgatos. Within advertising it s not really a standard thing for people to expect performance reviews so it is very positive that development conversations are becoming more common.

4 For me that is one of the biggest achievements, seeing how those departments are now responding more to training: it s a huge success for us. 05/ The Legacy The implementation of this training curriculum definitely changed the culture within G2 and behaviours and attitudes towards learning and development were completely transformed. In an industry where not many agencies have dedicated training teams or offer training courses, G2 stood out with its learning management system and range of tailored courses that helped creative employees pitch their ideas more effectively and get better results. As a result, employees at the agency were better motivated and believe that they are valued. I do feel employees are definitely more engaged now that we have training and tuition reimbursement policies in place where they feel that there is some sort of investment and they can grow their career in some way, says Georgatos. It works as a retention or recognition tool and has helped improve loyalty in an industry where people change jobs frequently. The quality of the courses designed by rogensi, particularly those focused on selling creative content, helped to get buy in from employees and even encouraged departments that did not typically attend training to get involved. Our employees are very conscious of billable versus non-billable hours and any time off the desk is time they can t bill for, so if we could convince that audience that it was worth it, then it was a huge benefit, says Georgatos. For me that is one of the biggest achievements, seeing how those departments are now responding more to training: it s a huge success for us.

5 06/ The Verdict I feel strongly that rogensi provides a world-class training service. I don t really see them as a vendor; I see them as a Partner. They truly care about the success of training and development opportunities. Even if I m bouncing ideas off them about training we are doing internally or with other vendors that doesn t involve them, they are always willing to brainstorm, give advice and act as a sounding board. To me that s what really makes them stand out and that s why I continue to partner with them. Whenever I have a training need rogensi is always one of the first organisations I think of. Natasha Georgatos, Associate Director, Talent Development, G2 USA What can we do for you? rogensi.com