Each year, Training magazine requires all Training Hall of Famers to submit an Outstanding Training Initiative that is judged by each other and shared with our readers. Aside from ensuring Hall of Famers aren’t “resting on their laurels,” this provides an opportunity for the Learning & Development community to learn from the “best of the best” and see some innovative solutions for challenges many face today.
Each Hall of Fame Outstanding Training Initiative submission could achieve a maximum total of 20 points. Submissions were scored on the following criteria:
- Level of potential business impact
- Level of difficulty of challenges faced
- Project scope
- Instructional design
- Innovation
- Business outcomes achieved/expectations met
The three initiatives that achieved the highest scores are detailed below (Verizon, EY, and Nationwide). The other 13 submissions will be profiled in 2022 print or special focus online-only issues.
VERIZON: WOMEN OF THE WORLD (WOW)
Verizon’s Women of the World (WOW) program is designed for women and gender expansive people who have a strong drive to succeed and are looking for development in the skill sets they need to advance their careers at Verizon. The five core competencies embedded throughout the experience are:
- Personal Brand
- Self-Leadership
- Effective Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Owning Your Career
The overall goal of this program is to enable more women and gender expansive people to prioritize their development and attain leadership positions.
Program Details
The 2019-2020 WOW program ran for seven months and was structured in a hybrid fashion with participants completing monthly online content in Verizon’s internal Learning Portal (which includes a learning experience platform and learning management system) and attending live-learning events in person. For 2021-2022, the duration increased to 12 months and all content and live sessions are being delivered virtually via the Learning Portal and Verizon’s videoconferencing platform, BlueJeans Events.
Program Elements
- Kick-off Events: These events featured C-suite women and other executive leaders. New in the 2021 program, participants independently explored a virtual environment that simulated a conference hall where they learned about the key elements of their 12-month journey.
- Monthly Squad Meetings: Participants were assigned to a “WOW Squad” led by members of the executive leadership team to engage in monthly enrichment activities and learn from one another.
- Live Workshops: The workshops were a blend of internally and vendor-generated content that addressed specific learning objectives within the core competencies.
- Career Expo: The virtual career expos showcased open roles and in-demand skills across each business unit, insights from leadership, and networking opportunities.
- Self-Paced Online Curriculum: Each month, participants completed a curated set of learning materials using Verizon’s Learning Portal that augmented the events/workshops. Participants then reviewed and discussed these materials during monthly squad meetings.
- Lighthouse Leadership Talks: Each quarter, a senior vice president discussed one of the five core competencies, serving as the “Lighthouse Leader” for their assigned core competency and illustrating how executives at Verizon embed the competency into their daily leadership practice.
- Identity Panels: Learners participated in optional monthly conversations structured around various aspects of their identities. These conversations were developed in partnership with the internal diversity Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).
- Social and Inspirational Events and Messaging: These events included fitness classes, inspirational communications, and volunteer events.
- Graduation: A face-to-face graduation was held for the 2020 graduates. For the 2021 program graduating in 2022, Verizon will host a virtual graduation event. After graduation, participants will become members of the WOW alumni network.
Results
- Some 1,479 participants graduated from the 2019- 2020 WOW program. An ROI study revealed a 184 percent return on investment from decreased turnover, increased promotions, and increased internal transfers compared to non-participant cohort groups.
- WOW participant turnover rates were 2.2x lower than those of non-WOW participants.
- WOW participant promotion rates were 2.5x greater than those of non-WOW participants.
- WOW participant lateral transfer rates were 1.7x greater than those of non-WOW participants.
EY: FUTURE ADVANTAGE
In this era of sustained global disruption driven by technological changes, EY U.S. developed a strategy to equip its professionals with the technological skills they need to succeed in this transformative age. The Future Advantage program is available to all 50,000-plus EY U.S. learners.
Program Details
All learning in the Future Advantage program is virtual, with participants accessing content through a Web portal and/or custom mobile app. The content includes a variety of internally and externally sourced learning opportunities, such as articles, videos, gamified quizzes, eLearning, coaching, reverse mentoring, and virtual instructor-led sessions.
Future Advantage allows learners to personalize their learning journeys by choosing to develop skills using four approaches across selected hot topics related to transformative mindsets (data analytics, design thinking, innovation, Lean Six Sigma, storytelling, and virtual collaboration and technology) and technology topics (Agile, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, cybersecurity, and robotic process automation):
- Learn the foundation: Essentials offers ondemand “snackable” content on technology and transformative mindset topics to better enable conversations with clients. Each topic features articles, videos, podcasts, and links to learning elements from internal and external sources.
- Deepen your knowledge: Pathways provides a guided and deeper dive into key topics through a series of on-demand courses and facilitated virtual, live conversations with subject matter professionals.
- Change tomorrow: FutureHack is an intensive, immersive hackathon event that brings together people from across service lines and ranks to address clients’ real-world challenges. Teams collaborate and compete to build prototypes for solutions to pitch a panel of leaders. Winning solutions progress through the EY Americas Innovation team and business sponsor incubation process toward real-world implementation.
- Build bridges: Reverse mentoring pairs experienced executives with young professionals in a “flipped” mentoring relationship focused on topics such as technology, future of work, transformative leadership, and multigenerational differences.
Results
In the first year of Future Advantage, six of the 53 ideas began processing through the incubation process and heading toward real-world implementation.
- Curated Essentials and Pathways content allowed learners to find appropriate and targeted learning materials more efficiently, resulting in 20,000 hours saved.
- Since January 1, 2020, with the support of Future Advantage, 32,844 EY Badges and 7 EY Tech MBAs have been awarded in the U.S.
- In the 2021 EY Global Brand Survey of 4,400 global clients and prospects, EY U.S. was ranked as a leader in 13 of the 17 brand attributes measured, including exceptional client experience and building trusted relationships.
NATIONWIDE: CAREER PLANNING AND RESKILLING-FOCUSED TRAINING INITIATIVE
In 2020, Nationwide invested $60 million over five years in its Future of Work (FOW) initiative to help its employees upskill and reskill in digital literacy and future capabilities. This initiative began with the launch of the FOW Center, which provided upskilling courses for all 25,000 associates that targeted the development of future skills the organization identified as critical to its strategy by 2026.
Following the FOW Center Upskilling launch, Nationwide added a full Career Planning training initiative in late 2020 to meet associates’ individual needs for their careers. In addition, a two-part Reskilling training component was developed to focus on business unit-specific skills needed in today’s quickly evolving workforce due to automation, technology advancements, and other competitive forces.
Program Details
Career Planning is self-directed in five key areas:
- Identify Your Strengths
- Plan Your Future
- Explore Your Possibilities
- Expand Your Network
- Make Your Move
Through leadership conversations and associate interviews, key content needs were identified, including:
- Personal development plan
- Skills inventory
- Growth mindset assessment
- Preparing for interviews
- Building career portfolios
- Determining brand awareness
Career Planning learning is delivered through selfdirected asynchronous digital learning in the Future of Work Center with the opportunity to practice skills. Delivery includes opportunity for self-assessment, individual career planning tools, and curated LinkedIn Learning courses that align with the five key areas.
Reskilling features training opportunities for associates whose roles are impacted by automation and technology advancements. Through reskilling, they can learn new skills and explore new career paths.
Reskilling pathways include: Project Management, UX (user experience) Design, Data Analyst, and IT Support. All four of these pathways are Google Certificates offered through Coursera. Courses in the Reskilling Learning Paths are self-directed, so associates can start when it’s convenient for them and they can determine the number of hours per week they want to devote to reskilling courses. All of the programs are designed to be completed in less than six months.
Associates can complete a certificate individually or as part of a cohort. Learners meet weekly with an internal Nationwide Technical Coach and every other week with a Nationwide Career Coach.
Results
- From December 2019 to October 2021, Nationwide exceeded its goal of filling position openings internally per quarter by more than 3 percent.
- Nationwide also exceeded its voluntary turnover goal by 2 percent.