Employee Skill Excelerator

When I became a manager at Ministry of Supply, there was a new skillset that I had to learn: how to guide, invest in, and grow talent. However, there wasn't an clear or easy way to gain these skills. 

When I connected with fellow leaders to ask how they learned new skills, I was directed toward a slew of external resources. As I began looking through the information, the insight was helpful but I found it generic - none emphasized the link between culture and talent cultivation. 

Given this missing link, I hypothesized that we needed an internal learning & development program founded on our cultural principles. 

1. Validated the hypothesis
   I connected with employees in all levels of the organization, leaning on the five whys, to discuss learning and development needs. Most notably, employees revealed that they didn't know where to start in finding resources or an accepted method for internal learning & development. 

2. Lobbied for and received C-suite support for project

   1. In order to convince the C-suite that learning & development was a valid need, I planned and executed a test of the learning and development plan. 

   2. Using myself as a test case, I formulated a program with SMART end goals for my growth. The suggested program was driven by the learner who set SMART goals and guided feedback sessions with mentors. For the test case, the C-suite acted as my mentors. 

   3. I met with the C-suite to perform a retrospective. We determined that I had exceeded my goals for personal growth. In doing so, I had grown to be able to fill business needs.  

   4. At this meeting, I also proposed and won support for development of a learning & development program that would be available to the entire team. 

3. Research and development
   Using our test case as the starting point, I researched the most effective learning & development methods. I iterated on the program used in the test case based on my findings, adding external sources for generic learnings and free tools for guidance. The new draft of the program included provisions for collaborating on growth opportunities with both the mentor and the manager.  

4. Iterating based on feedback from mentorship team
   I presented the proposed learning & development process to the mentorship team. I iterated and tweaked the final outcome based on their feedback. 

5. Presentation and implementation
   The final program was presented at a quarterly business update and was received warmly by the team. My mentee became the first to join the program. 

The program led to a YoY increase in internal employee development resulting in a decrease in new hires needed over the 12 month period.     

1. Learning & development cannot be completed in a vacuum.
   Company culture plays a key part in determining how to successfully implementing soft and hard skills. This project was proof that the best learning & development programs are designed to fit both the cultural and business needs of a company. 

2. Getting leadership buy-in for an idea requires proof, and that proof can come in many forms.  
   As a data-driven operations leader, I often lean on historical data to drive tangible business decisions. In the case of intangible decisions, I learned to make the results tangible for leadership via a proof of concept (POC) which may include "testing" the product (or program!) yourself.