In 2015, the Learning & Development (L&D) team at relocation services company Cartus collaborated with 20 global internal employees comprising a broad range of experience levels, tenure, and background to develop and implement an Account Management Development Program (AMDP).
Account Managers are the day-to-day contact for Cartus clients. It is imperative that this audience is proficient at creating and maintaining relationships, while also understanding Cartus’ internal systems and processes in order to implement a client’s relocation contracts and policies correctly. Accurate client contracts and policies impact how Cartus’ customer files are set up, and ultimately how its employees counsel their customers on relocation benefits. This has a direct impact on Cartus’ year-to-date overall service rating of 94 percent, as well as on productivity.
The program was unveiled to the Account Manager audience in early 2016.
Program Details
The AMDP is a blend of classroom, online, and self-study opportunities with global access via the learning management system (LMS). All classroom facilitation is recorded and uploaded for future access. Account Managers around the world created additional posted videos, as this community has a vast amount of knowledge and was able to generate considerable interest in these videos.
A Learning Roadmap accompanies the training, which allows employee supervisors to identify specific priorities and individualize training for each employee.
Because relationship-building skills were already high, prioritization was given to the technical details in Phase 1 of the AMDP. The next phase will focus on improving relationship-building even more.
The AMDP curriculum comprises more than 100 offerings in seven categories:
- The Client: Implementation of a Client; Working with Global Clients; Preparing for an Annual Review
- Financial: Client Invoicing Funding Alternatives; The Impacts of SOX
- Policy/Revisions: Revising a Client Policy
- Reporting: Internal Reporting Tools; Advanced Excel Skills for Reporting
- Service Delivery: Product and Service Information
- Systems: Navigating and Presenting Cartus Systems
- Tools and Resources: Meeting Preparation Checklist; Beginner’s Guide to Annual Reports
Results
This new training allows employees to stay connected with the most current topics, helping them to invest in their own career on an ongoing basis. Within six months of the program being implemented, 85 percent of Cartus Account Managers had utilized the training site and taken more than 36 different courses in 25 locations globally (including work-from-home employees).
A hot spot for retention is the Account Management group in Cartus’ Singapore office, which is located in a culture with the common practice of switching jobs amid much competition for talent. The AMDP has had a positive impact on this audience, contributing to two promotions and a low turnover rate of 5.8 percent since the program was introduced.
