Blended learning for leadership skills at Coats PLC
A blended solutions that helps managers build leadership skills through a range of training approaches.
The challenge
Replicating face to face learning online
Coats PLC set new strategic goals aimed at increasing its focus on product innovation. This made it essential for them to build leadership capabilities from within. Coats PLC partnered with Kineo and The Oxford Group to implement a global leadership program for frontline and middle managers, many of whom never had formal leadership training.
The solution
A blend of approaches
The blended solution involved a smart use of technology, while also building in appropriate face-to-face time, mentoring, and support for leaders. The 18 month blended leadership development program opened with a two-day face-to-face workshop with managers gathering together in cohorts of 20 from all over the world to learn the basics of Coats’ leadership framework.
Characterisation and personas
Over the next 16 months, participants are introduced to eight core leadership competencies. Each competency is given a two-month window, during which individuals complete about 45 minutes of self-paced elearning modules, broken into a series of shorter resources. The elearning provides an introduction to key concepts within the context of the Coats’ environment. Four virtual characters, each based on different Coats personas, are the key players in the elearning program, providing fertile ground for realistic examples and scenarios that people can apply to their situation at Coats.
Extend the learning
Activities within each module provide learners with the opportunity to extend their learning outside of the program and take it into the real world. For instance, in the module on decision making, the learners are asked to download the decision making toolkit from the resources tab, identify a decision that they need to make, and then use the toolkit to work through each step. This bridges from the learning experience into sustainable real world business application.
When a participant completes the elearning program on a particular competency, the learning management system sets up a triggered event: a coaching session for the learner with his or her manager. Conversation guides and tools are provided to help the manager coach and support the employee going through the program. Once the manager signs off on that employee’s progress, he or she can then move along to the next stage in the curriculum. So the manager’s vital role in coaching and mentoring is baked into the solution.
Added support
To provide the extra layer of support, all the course participants are assigned cohort groups within the LMS, along with a ‘buddy’. Through forum discussions in the LMS, peer-to-peer sharing sessions, and regular real-world check-ins, participants stay connected and share their experiences with each other. As learners progress through the program, webinars are made available to the course delegates on topics ranging from performance management to providing better feedback.
Halfway through the curriculum, a review and consolidation webinar is convened. These instructor-led virtual classrooms provide insight into tools and methods, give the learner a chance to check-in with an instructor, and keep the leadership concepts alive and omnipresent. Once the elearning portion of the program is completed, participants reconvene in their original group for a one-day consolidation workshop.
The result
A fully integrated blend
280 managers began their MCD (Management Capability Development) learning journey, with an additional 60 participants added in the year. MCD is now fully integrated in all parts of the business, with active cohorts in every region.
By the end of the, there will be two MCD cohorts in North America, two in Latin America, four in Europe/MiddleEast/Africa, four in South Asia, three in North East Asia and two in South East Asian with many more cohorts launching in all these areas the following year and beyond. It is also the winner of a Bronze award in the category of Blended Learning in Brandon Hall Awards 2014.
