One of MasterCard’s most critical objectives is enhancing its People Manager effectiveness by providing managers with the right level of learning support and skills training. Because of their sheer volume of work, MasterCard’s 2,000-plus People Managers struggle with finding the time to invest in their development. As people are strapped for time and have shorter attention spans, more and more individuals are seeking out useful information in small chunks. In response, the Global Talent Development & Organizational Effectiveness (GTD&OE) Team introduced “Take 5—Energize Your Mind,” a month-long pilot program in August 2014, followed by enhancements in October 2014 and again in spring 2015.
Program Details
Take 5 is a two-week management development program that invites managers to take a simple five-minute daily break at a time that works for them so they can energize their minds with insightful tips and encouragement through mostly videos featuring business leaders and some case studies/scenarios. The GTD&OE Team curated the micro-learning video resources that were based on time-relevant management topics (e.g., preparing for the year-end conversation).
The first week is sent via a calendar invitation for managers to view, rate, post comments, and generate discussions on the relevant, bite-sized content. The second week invites managers to participate in peer manager chats that are limited to 10 people to drive a more intimate, informal dialogue. The GTD&OE Team also created a “People Manager Global Learning Community” as the hosting place to serve up the content, as well as a social platform to connect, share ideas, and collaborate with other People Managers around the world—a movement to an inclusive and interactive engagement channel one or many managers could use to learn from each other.
Results
Employees from 35 cities in 26 countries with a community of more than 2,000 managers have participated in the program. The two-week push generated more than 1,400 views across the videos on the People Manager Global Learning Community.
- 97 percent of survey respondents were able to apply something they learned from the Take 5 program to their job.
- 95 percent of survey respondents found the Take 5 resources to be relevant to their role as a People Manager.
- 80 percent of survey respondents found the length of the Take 5 program to be just right.
- 95 percent of survey respondents would recommend the Take 5 program to their colleagues.
- 80 percent accessed the People Manager Global Learning Community two to three times a week.
Inspiration during and following the two-week journey came directly from the audience, unprompted, as they interacted with each other. Unsolicited qualitative feedback highlighted the impact of the community:
- “Establishing global connections enables the sharing of best practices, collaborating on projects and challenges within our business, as well as supporting the key development of our people and their future career goals.”
- “Every time you interact with another manager, you learn something new that you can take back to your team and add to your own personal management toolbox!”
