EY: Global New Partner Program 2012 – Beijing, China
EY’s Global New Partner Program is the global organization’s annual training program that commemorates newly promoted partners’ significant career milestones and achievements by delivering targeted course and speaker content that helps its new partners from around the globe prepare for the challenges that lie ahead. This training program focuses on what it takes to be a partner and what it means to be a leader. It also recognizes the significance of the personal and familial support network. All 540 new partners—and their significant others—from every EY service line/line of business and from member firms in approximately 150 countries were invited to attend the 2012 Global New Partner Program in Beijing, China.
The program brings together a global and culturally diverse audience every year in a different location. During the threeday program, EY member firm partners share knowledge based on client, industry, and market experiences and enhance their global mindset by networking with colleagues from around the globe. In 2012, the EY Training team connected with the EY Mobility team to coordinate the visa process for more than 1,000 partners, significant others, and instructors, as well as support staff from all corners of the world. Collaboration among EY teams from around the globe, including those based in China, as well as in-country external suppliers, helped overcome linguistic, cultural, and operational challenges.
Pre-Program
EY developed a series of Webinars that were delivered to the newly promoted partners approximately two months prior to the 2012 Global New Partner Program. The Webinars spotlighted the upcoming program and helped the new partners prepare mentally and emotionally for the changes in their:
- Financial relationship with their EY memberfirm
- Goal-setting process and performance measurement process
- New and highly visible leadership role
As such, the Webinars emphasized the importance of leveraging EY’s expanded support system and explained EY’s dedicated one-on-one executive coaching infrastructure.
Program Content and Delivery
During the 2012 program, EY delivered the core content with specific themes:
- Being a partner
- Account leadership
- Leading our people
The program’s format alternated between large and small group settings and networking activities. Examples include plenary sessions focusing on a diverse range of topics, geography-based and service line-based breakout discussions, polling during sessions with Q&A content adapted in real time to respond to polling results, and classroom settings that reinforced the program’s themes.
In addition, significant others were encouraged to attend sessions that focused on what they could expect during the partner transition period and beyond.
Reinforcement
To reinforce the learning objectives, one-on-one coaching sessions between each new partner and a dedicated EY-employed executive coach occurred throughout the year after the Global New Partner Program. The coach focused on helping the partner:
- Execute on key topics discussed at the program
- Recognize typical issues and challenges, and leverage the appropriate professional and personal tools to address them
Regular discussions with the new partner’s sponsoring partner provided focused opportunities to adjust or reinforce behaviors learned during the program, in relation to the partner’s performance objectives.
Measurement
On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest), new partners rated the program 4.57 overall, with 64 percent giving a 5 rating.
SCC Soft Computer: Clinical Laboratory 101 I Lab Basics
Laboratory information systems (LIS) provider SCC Soft Computer has grown rapidly in the last 15 years, from a global company with just 401 employees in 1998 to 720 in 2001 to nearly 1,700 in 2013. SCC’s hiring rates were helping to keep its turnover levels low, but for those who did leave, the company learned from exit interviews that 50 percent of departing employees cited lack of training as a key reason for resigning. Upon further investigation, SCC discovered that although it was training them on how to complete tasks, employees without clinical lab backgrounds or medical experience were frustrated because they lacked a basic understanding of the unique language, culture, and day-to-day activities that exist in a medical lab. This made it difficult for them to communicate effectively with both clients and colleagues.
Content Development and Delivery
In 2010, SCC introduced a new in-house certification course, Clinical Laboratory 101 | Lab Basics, to address the challenges faced by staff members who didn’t have clinical laboratory backgrounds and help them understand the processes and workflow of a clinical laboratory. SCC retooled the program in 2012 as a fully blended learning solution in response to feedback received.
SCC’s team of instructional designers, multimedia specialists, and LIS trainers created a multi-module e-learning program using Adobe Captivate and input from subject matters experts (SMEs) and loaded it onto the learning management system (LMS). Forthe instructor-led portion, SCC created games in PowerPoint to reinforce concepts and terminology introduced in class and to prepare students for self-study. A Skillsoft course introduces learners to the health-care environment. Captivate simulations of SCC’s LIS software demonstrate how health-care professionals use the software applications in the lab. The program consists of the following courses:
- Medical Terminology (blended self-study course featuring a one-day interactive instructor-led session, textbook, and related online exams)
- The Healthcare Industry Overview (e-learning course)
- Introduction to Medical Laboratory (e-learning course chunked into modules)
- Terms and Acronyms (quick reference tool)
To reinforce the training, managers from SCC’s Client Services/Technical Support business unit administer quizzes, monitor client phone calls, and suggest follow-up training to reinforce areas of difficulty.
Developing this training in-house enabled SCC to tap into its wide SME network to deliver information and knowledge that is typically only available at the college level and with a high investment in terms of time and money. In addition, the program has reached SCC staff from across the organization, from Technical Support to Programming; from Clearwater, FL, and across the U.S. to Poland and Ukraine.
Results
On average, SCC’s 90-day onboarding period costs $25,000 per employee. During this time, SCC must invest time and materials to train. Since 2012 and the implementation of Clinical Laboratory 101, more than 75 percent of newly created positions have been filled by internal candidates (up from 36 percent the previous year), which creates openings for other employees to move into, as well as positions for new hires. With the original Clinical Laboratory 101 program, launched in 2010, SCC trained 60 students in its U.S. headquarters. With the 2012 relaunch, it trained an additional 127 students globally. These positions have saved SCC $3,675 million in onboarding costs alone, allowing SCC to focus on other training efforts.
This ongoing initiative has resulted in a steady increase in SCC’s retention rate, and lack of training no longer is mentioned as a factor for departure. Employee self-evaluations show steady improvement in self-confidence and job knowledge. And SCC’s clients are noticing the difference in the ability of SCC staff members who don’t have prior clinical lab experience to communicate more effectively with them and “speak” their language.
