The tech giant’s achievement in upskilling thousands of employees to keep pace with changes in demand for digital skills helped it scoop the Talent Management Award. Here, we look at how it overcame the challenges it faced and those tackled by the runners-up, Coca-Cola HBC and Lloyds Banking Group.
WINNER
Ricoh Europe
Ricoh is a global technology company that employs more than 90,000 people. In recent years, a reduction in the use of printers has meant the company must shift towards more digitally focused solutions, and the pandemic further accelerated this. Ricoh Europe needed to build a talent pipeline that would support the organisation’s transformation to a digitally-focused business, as well as identify and upskill talented print-based employees.
The SCALA programme is open to Ricoh employees across EMEA but aimed primarily at print employees, a target audience of around 4,000. It is a nine-month learning programme where employees could acquire an industry-recognised qualification such as Microsoft Azure, Office 365, SQL and ITIL. Delegates must also spend three months in a growth area of the business. The programme started as a pilot of around 70 people after an intensive attraction campaign to sign people up. Applicants had to complete cognitive ability tests and a behavioural styles questionnaire to identify those individuals who would be most successful.
Work councils and employee groups were consulted on the roll-out of the programme and around 200 people were identified as suitable. To date over 100 employees have already been placed into new permanent roles in growing areas of the business. Ricoh expects the vast majority of delegates from the first two cohorts to move into new roles before the end of the year. A third cohort is planned for early 2022.
RUNNERS-UP
Coca-Cola HBC (CCH)
Like many other food and beverage companies, Coca-Cola faces changes in consumer habits reducing consumption, as well as disrupted supply chains due to the pandemic. This means the company must make the most of the hidden skills and talents of employees, ensure work is distributed equally and there are increased opportunities for learning and development.
The organisation created a gig-work platform called the Opportunity Marketplace to match talents with opportunities. Every employee can create their own profile, detailing their skills, availability, and the types of projects they’d like to work on. Project ‘owners’ can create projects lasting up to four months and anyone can apply, and there is limited involvement from HR.
The marketplace was delivered in just six weeks in April and May 2020 and was scaled up across 28 countries. The team delivered sessions with country general managers and senior leaders to explain the concept and garner support, while country champions helped to sustain adoption. More than 1,600 profiles have been created on the platform, and employees have rated their satisfaction as 4.5/5.
Coca-Cola estimates it has unlocked the equivalent of 13,200 person hours, worth €220,000 in value. Because employees can get involved in cross-functional projects it will help them build modular careers and gain intercultural experiences without relocation.
Lloyds Banking Group
A review of organisational capability at the bank revealed the need for a structured development programme for leaders. The review found that aspiring managers were keen to move into leadership but found it hard to introduce learning alongside their day job; there was a lack of clarity on leadership skills needed; and there was a lack of solid leadership role models.
In response, it created the Leadership and Management Accelerator (LAMA), a predominantly online learning solution. This would give delegates a clear understanding of what a leadership role at the bank would involve, build their confidence in people management tasks and processes, help them to understand the scope of their impact and where they could get support, to build networks and easily access learning modules alongside their usual job.
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LAMA was launched in March 2020 just as colleagues’ working practices were beginning to be impacted by Covid-19. Managers feeling confident that they have the skills to lead has seen a ratings increase of 19%, and 21% for those stating they know what is expected of them as a leader. To date, around 25,000 modules of LAMA content have been accessed by over 6,000 colleagues. Many leaders who have completed the programme have recommended it to others.
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