Reflection – Storytelling (Module 2)

Challenge  My department has a very young demographic profile with a lot of young first time manages aspiring to  take on leadership roles within the company in the future. But the challenge was how to motivate them  to retain them in our firm and help them realise their dream. Managers including myself were being  constantly challenged to look at their succession planning and develop a leadership pipeline within their  teams.    In order to support this exercise HR has been partnering with the leadership team and Managers to  explore options. The feedback that was coming from managers was that the second line - the team  managers - lack some skills to be able to take on the next role.  While HR and L&D collaborate to deliver  leadership programs at senior levels there was an apparent gap at the team leader level for which  similar program/s are not available.      I took up this initiative to fix this apparent skill gap. Now here comes the challenge, how do I sell this  idea to my peers in the Leadership team and their directs to be make a value proposition that will  address the problem area of preparing the leadership pipeline.    So I embarked on this initiative, with the blessing of my Manager and leader of this department to  create a program for the first time managers and aspiring leaders at the team leader level who had 5-7  years of work experience and potential to take on a bigger role.    Selection of tool  Firstly, I got with HR head to discuss the proposition that I had. Here I used the Storytelling approach.  This aligns itself to what Adrian Martin, Global Leadership Development Director at Mars Inc. mentions  when he talks about storytelling being a powerful tool to communicate with various stakeholders and  effectively address the “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me) factor.    Application of the tool  I quickly pulled together a PowerPoint and shared a story board of the approach I had in mind. In that  process highlighted the gap in the L&D repertoire and the skill gap need that needs to be bridged which  was acknowledged. This was a small win.     Having convinced HR the next step was to go my peer group – senior leaders and explain my story, Again  I appealed to them of their felt need of developing a leadership and managerial pipeline. By this time I  had conceptualized a high-level concept of the program that I was creating.     In the meanwhile, I hired an external professional Training consulting company to infuse flesh and blood  to the concept. I showcase the program to contain five modules with a day off-site module included. I  then asked the company to do a pre- program screening study with inputs from the employees as well  as their immediate managers on their where they rated themselves across various competencies that  were required for a entry-level leadership role.    Armed with the findings from the exercise I further strengthened my story with that data on “What is”  the current eligible population that we require provide L&D intervention to. I showcased the program  structure/ modules, how many hours of training spread over 5 weeks. Here I impressed upon the fact  that their staff will not need to be away from their productive time beyond a day per module across 5

weeks.  I also shared a timeline for implementation and, cost and administration of the course to the  employees in a University type pattern, complete with attendance requirement, graduation and award  ceremony upon graduation with a Graduation Shield made of wood with the Logo of the program in  brass pasted on the shield. After a few iterations with my peers I also presented my story board to my  Global HR head considering that this is the first time that this type of program is being tried. She was  excited and wanted to implement this across the global locations if this program became successful.    Next step was to take the story board to and share it with the immediate Managers of the employees  who will take part in the program. I highlighted their role in the program. They needed to be part of this  exercise and provide feedback on any change post the program intervention that they observed in their  staff. I did this to ensure that these managers had a skin in the game since this will be added to their  goals for their performance for that year.    Post this, I scheduled a time slot on our regular Monthly departmental townhall and shared the story  with the entire departments’ employee population (1200 employees) directly addressing their “WIIFM”.  Immediately after the townhall I had employees walking up to me and expressing to be part of this  about this program. This was another win for ma s as my final customers were bought-in to the concept.


Reflection – Storytelling ( Module 2 ) Challenge My department has a very young demographic profile with a lot of young first time manages aspiring to take on leadership roles within the company in the future . But the challenge was how to motivate them to retain them in our firm and help them realise their dream . Managers including myself were being constantly challenged to look at their succession planning and develop a leadership pipeline within their teams . In order to support this exercise HR has been partnering with the leadership team and Managers to explore options . The feedback that was coming from managers was that the second line - the team managers - lack some skills to be able to take on the next role . While HR and L&D collaborate to deliver leadership programs at senior levels there was an apparent gap at the team leader level for which similar program / s are not available . I took up this initiative to fix this apparent skill gap . Now here comes the challenge , how do I sell this idea to my peers in the Leadership team and their directs to be make a value proposition that will address the problem area of preparing the leadership pipeline . So I embarked on this initiative , with the blessing of my Manager and leader of this department to create a program for the first time managers and aspiring leaders at the team leader level who had 5 - 7 years of work experience and potential to take on a bigger role . Selection of tool Firstly , I got with HR head to discuss the proposition that I had . Here I used the Storytelling approach . This aligns itself to what Adrian Martin , Global Leadership Development Director at Mars Inc. mentions when he talks about storytelling being a powerful tool to communicate with various stakeholders and effectively address the “ WIIFM ” ( what ’s in it for me ) factor . Application of the tool I quickly pulled together a PowerPoint and shared a story board of the approach I had in mind . In that process highlighted the gap in the L&D repertoire and the skill gap need that needs to be bridged which was acknowledged . This was a small win . Having convinced HR the next step was to go my peer group – senior leaders and explain my story , Again I appealed to them of their felt need of developing a leadership and managerial pipeline . By this time I had conceptualized a high - level concept of the program that I was creating . In the meanwhile , I hired an external professional Training consulting company to infuse flesh and blood to the concept . I showcase the program to contain five modules with a day off - site module included . I then asked the company to do a pre- program screening study with inputs from the employees as well as their immediate managers on their where they rated themselves across various competencies that were required for a entry - level leadership role . Armed with the findings from the exercise I further strengthened my story with that data on “ What is ” the current eligible population that we require provide L&D intervention to . I showcased the program structure/ modules , how many hours of training spread over 5 weeks . Here I impressed upon the fact that their staff will not need to be away from their productive time beyond a day per module across 5 weeks . I also shared a timeline for implementation and , cost and administration of the course to the employees in a University type pattern , complete with attendance requirement , graduation and award ceremony upon graduation with a Graduation Shield made of wood with the Logo of the program in brass pasted on the shield . After a few iterations with my peers I also presented my story board to my Global HR head considering that this is the first time that this type of program is being tried . She was excited and wanted to implement this across the global locations if this program became successful . Next step was to take the story board to and share it with the immediate Managers of the employees who will take part in the program . I highlighted their role in the program . They needed to be part of this exercise and provide feedback on any change post the program intervention that they observed in their staff . I did this to ensure that these managers had a skin in the game since this will be added to their goals for their performance for that year . Post this , I scheduled a time slot on our regular Monthly departmental townhall and shared the story with the entire departments ’ employee population ( 1200 employees ) directly addressing their “ WIIFM ” . Immediately after the townhall I had employees walking up to me and expressing to be part of this about this program . This was another win for ma s as my final customers were bought - in to the concept .