IT/technology company Open Table & KAYAK’s Managing Essentials training program aims to provide managers with the foundational tools and frameworks required for managing their teams effectively. It helps employees understand the expectations to progress in their career and how to identify their own career growth areas.
Some 19 percent of the workforce has completed this training program since its launch in first quarter 2022.
Program Details
The cohort-style, blended learning program was designed and developed to align directly to Open Table & KAYAK’s Leadership Principles: a set of four principles that were created to guide managers on the leadership expectations they are each held accountable to exhibit in their roles. These principles are:
- Owns & Empowers
- Drives Results & Vision
- Champions & Collaborates
- Inclusive & Transparent
The Managing Essentials curriculum ties all concepts taught to one of the four principles, highlighting how applying the content in the program will ensure managers are exhibiting the expectations of leadership they are each held to by senior leadership.
Participants complete six bi-weekly modules consisting of a self-paced 15-minute eLearning that includes written content, videos, and case studies, followed by a two-hour live workshop facilitated and attended virtually. Topics include:
- Transitioning into management
- Giving feedback
- Holding one-on-one meetings
- Managing engagement and motivation
Participants work together within the same group of attendees at each workshop. Post-work is assigned after each workshop; it is reviewed and discussed at the next session. The program is bookended by a 360-degree survey—one completed prior to the program start, and one completed four weeks after program is done.
Cohorts are hosted twice annually, with open enrollment for any interested manager and reserved seats for all newly promoted managers, who are highly encouraged to attend.
Managers of participants are provided with a “Manager of Manager’s Guide” after each workshop is complete. The guide includes an overview of the workshop, ways to debrief the content, and suggested questions for managers to ask their reports to understand what they have learned and how they are applying the concepts.
Managers are encouraged during the end-of-year performance review process to revisit the participants’ learning and development completed that year, especially the Managing Essentials program, and discuss what behavioral changes have occurred and how they have affected the production of participants’ direct reports.
Results
Managers who have completed the Managing Essentials Program show a statistically significant improvement of 10 percent in Engagement Survey scores compared to the company standard of less than 1 percent improvement survey over survey. This indicates that behavior change can be documented by the participant’s direct reports, as those groups are completing the Engagement Survey for their leaders and are reporting increased engagement.
The company also has seen an increase in scores for the Engagement Survey for the question, “I have access to the learning and development I need to do my job well.” In second quarter 2022, the score was 71 percent. It rose to 79 percent during the fourth-quarter 2022 survey, and to 81 percent for the second-quarter 2023 survey.
