Training Top 125 Best Practice: DaVita’s Spark!

The fully online program was designed for non-supervisory teammates seeking to develop foundational leadership skills.

Healthcare provider DaVita created Spark!, a fully online program designed for non-supervisory teammates seeking to develop foundational leadership skills. High-performing, non-supervisor teammates participate in Spark! with manager approval and manager support throughout the program.

Program Details

The course consists of six modules that introduce participants to leadership topics, including:

  • Leadership Mindset
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Managing Conflict
  • Communication
  • Planning for your Day
  • Preparing Your Leadership Development Plan

Teammates complete one module every two weeks using the teach, practice, and discuss model. During the teach portion, teammates watch an instructional video and complete guided journaling activities. The practice portion requires teammates to practice on the job the skills they learned in the teach portion. Each module ends with teammates sharing their experiences from the practical assignment in an online discussion post.

Through this program, teammates will build leadership competencies the DaVita Way, by engaging head, heart, and hands. After teammates finish the Spark! program, they are able to continue to reinforce what they’ve learned with numerous microlearnings.

Results

Teammates gave the Spark! pilot an average score of 4.63 out of 5. The application of learned data is 100 percent, and the program produced a recorded 46 percent skills increase.

Lorri Freifeld
Lorri Freifeld is the editor/publisher of Training magazine. She writes on a number of topics, including talent management, training technology, and leadership development. She spearheads two awards programs: the Training APEX Awards and Emerging Training Leaders. A writer/editor for the last 30 years, she has held editing positions at a variety of publications and holds a Master’s degree in journalism from New York University.