When a business rapidly expands, skills development plays an important part in the talent retention strategy. A large UK oil and gas company found themselves in exactly this position, having evolved through several acquisitions. Their global presence was due to expand further, with another significantly sized acquisition on the horizon. As a result, a need to re-skill and upskill their workforce became a top priority. This inclusive and future-focused strategy aimed to develop successors who could step up into future leadership positions. Alongside this, leadership mentoring would encourage learning from each other.
The business wanted to establish a unified way of doing things, using best practices they’d learned from their acquisitions, along with fresh new ideas. Part of their ‘learning for all’ strategy was predicated on the belief that by treating their people well, they would be more likely to stay. This talent retention strategy was both a clear way to influence employee engagement and a response to employees requesting greater development opportunities.
Specific to this client was also a need for high quality global education, with minimal effort. Their Global Head of Talent Learning favoured ‘concise, well-executed sessions,’ or ‘soundbite learning’ for its accessibility. However, this was an area where they lacked experience and needed external expertise to help bring it into their learning strategy. Their need was for short, impactful sessions which could be delivered across a broad range of topics. With access to a wide range of expert facilitators, Alchemist was shortlisted to deliver these micro sessions alongside fulfilling their leadership mentoring needs. In partnership with Alchemist, they co-created two highly successful programmes:
Soft Skills Development
Using the company’s talent data and insights, a highly engaging programme of micro sessions was created, called ‘Smart Skills.’ These were centred around key topics which employees could vote on depending on preference. Soft skills were singled out by the organisation as a key focus, with topics such as communication, emotional intelligence and confidence-building on offer.
The series consisted of six 90-minute virtual Espresso Sessions™ monthly, covering 3 new topics each month. Sessions were branded to the business, so they felt personal – complete with a toolkit to help embed learning. Themes such as ‘Increase Professional Confidence’ and ‘Thriving Through Change’ were rolled out globally to participants across the UK, Indonesia and Vietnam. Up to 17 attended each session, representing a diversity of roles and skill sets across the business.
Learning From Each Other
Alongside the Smart Skills Series, a Mentoring Enablement Programme provided opportunities across the business to learn from each other. A full in-depth introduction, along with expectations for each role kicked off the programme. Mentees led the relationship, choosing their preferred mentor to have an initial chemistry call with. They were able to set the agenda for each meeting, and there was a mid-point check to assess the relationship and progress made. Four facilitated ‘mentoring essentials’ classes were run for mentors, while mentees received three. Interactive guidebooks and E-Learning supported the mentorship journey, and the relationship ended when there was no more value for both mentee and mentor.
Self-Reflection and Practical Skills Application
Following both programmes, it was evident that participants had made noticeable progress in their skills development. Feedback highlighted the potential for immediate practical application of what they had learnt. Many participants left feeling confident they now had what they needed to implement meaningful change. Comments referenced how engaging the content and facilitators were, enabling self-reflection and many lightbulb moments for participants.
The Smart Skills Sessions proved popular, with a 96% positive feedback score and participants asking for more. Described as “very motivational” and “extremely engaging and an eye-opener,” it was equally encouraging to hear the impact sessions made on follow-through. Comments such as, “left feeling like achievable improvements can be made quickly” and “it provided practical and realistic tools that I could use going forward” reflected an overwhelmingly positive result which fulfilled its own objectives and more.
The leadership mentoring matched the success of Smart Skills, with an overall 96% positivity score. Participants’ feedback was very strong. This emphasises on how much they enjoyed the sessions and how well they were facilitated. One participant shared: “very well designed and a great reset baseline. I’ve been a mentor for a long time, but this is a fantastic opportunity to set off on a successful journey as a mentor at this company. Fantastic rapport with a community of mentors on the call.”
Learning for Talent Retention
One of the main business goals and objectives for this client was to respond to their people’s growth appetite. Evidence that this has been achieved is reflected by the overwhelmingly positive feedback. This forward-thinking organisation is a role model for the conscientious employers of today. A strategy which recognises the changing needs of its people in a fast-moving world and adapts accordingly is in the best position to help the business thrive. To discover how Alchemist could support a learning strategy with skills development in your organisation, get in touch today: