ADAPTit SA, an innovative ICT company with extreme high growth rates desired to train its managers in management & leadership issues.
Challenge
ADAPTit set new strategic goals aimed at increasing its focus on product innovation. This made it essential for them to build leadership capabilities from within and in a short time period. ADAPTit partnered with Mathemagenesis to implement a leadership program for frontline and middle managers, many of whom never had formal leadership training.
Solution
We develop the blended learning solution - Leadership Development for managers - that gives managers the tools they need to succeed by building leadership skills through a range of training approaches. The blended solution involved a smart use of technology via Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) sessions, while also building in appropriate face-to-face time, mentoring, and support for leaders. During VILT sessions participants were introduced to three core leadership modules. The first module was titled “Developing myself”, the second one “Developing my People” and the third one “Strategies for effective collaboration with my people and my supervisors”. Four virtual characters, each based on different manager personas, were the key players in the live eLearning sessions, providing fertile ground for realistic examples and scenarios that people can apply to their situation at ADAPTit. Supplementary learning activities were also designed to provide learners with the opportunity to extend their learning outside of the program and take it into the real world. For instance, in the unit on coaching, the learners were asked to download the coaching toolkit from the resources tab, identify a case (person) that they need to coach, and then use the toolkit to work through each step. This bridges from the learning experience into sustainable real world business application.
Results
The “Leadership Development for managers” program met ADAPTit’s timeline objectives and was delivered to the management and administration (M&A) audience, with very positive feedback and uptake. To provide an additional level of support, follow-up sessions are scheduled once a month to give the managers the chance to check-in with the instructor, exchange ideas or concerns on certain issues and keep the leadership concepts alive and omnipresent.