About
Impact partnered with Atos Poland Global Services to design and implement a talent development programme, which set out to help the transformation of the organisation towards a more consultative and digital model focused on developing new solutions and innovations.
Atos had already implemented internal leadership development programmes for top talents, but this year, along with the implementation of the new strategy, Atos decided to invite Impact consultants to conduct the next edition of the talent programme.
The aim of the programme was to develop leadership capabilities and proactivity at Atos while supporting and implementing the organisation's new strategy.
More specifically, the programme focused on:
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Liberating Brilliance - strengthening talent in terms of their strengths and exploration of new areas of knowledge and key skills from the perspective of the future of business (entrepreneurial attitude, mindfulness regarding changing business context, focus on creating new solutions).
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Effectiveness in action - developing the ability to implement ideas, engage and influence others through learning from the experience of implementing business projects.
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Dialogue and Networking - creating an opportunity for a dialogue involving different parts and levels of the organisation to share knowledge, best practices and to unify the understanding of how Atos works as an organisation.
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Employer Branding - showing participants the added value that the organisation creates for them (part of the retention programme).
The solution was a five-month process, delivered face-to-face to 30 selected top talents at Atos Poland Global Services.
Process elements:
- Cultural Immersion
- Module 0: Support for the managers and supervisors of the participants
- Three two-day training modules for participants
- Meetings 1: 1 with talent supervisors, verifying the implementation of development goals
- Business Groups: The implementation of business projects
- Final event (organised internally)
The most important aspect was that during the programme, participants were to implement real, strategic business projects to improve processes in the organisation.
Impact started designing the solution with Cultural Immersion – an in-depth study analysing the context and situation of the organisation. Numerous meetings and workshops were held with the talent group that took part in the previous edition of the programme, run internally by Atos.
An important element of the proposed solution was Module 0 for supervisors, which was implemented before the workshop and introduced supervisors to their role in the process.
Between the modules, the supervisors met with workshop participants for 1:1 conversations about the implementation of their development goals.
Then the participants went through a series of workshops on empowering leadership (three training modules), where they also developed ideas for business projects.
Between the modules, as part of the Business Groups, participants met with people from higher levels of the organisation for consultations, which aimed to help connect and adapt ideas to the organisation's strategy.
During the programme, six business projects were created and presented to senior leaders from the organisation, including heads of divisions. Impact designed this presentation in the formula of an interactive ‘fair’, after which heads of divisions made decisions about which projects would receive additional funding for practical implementation.
Ultimately, three projects were selected and are still being implemented, and the remaining three have become new components of other projects already taking place in the organisation.
Methodology and tools used during the workshop:
Impact used its expertise, methodology, tools and designs and fully adapted them to the planned goals of the programme:
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At the beginning of the workshop, the MBTI® questionnaire was used to make it easier for the participants to get to know each other, establish rules of cooperation, and start working on business projects more efficiently.
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During the next module, consultants used Impact's TPMTM, which focused on team efficiency.
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Throughout the process, numerous projects were carried out to strengthen the culture of feedback among participants.
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One of the modules was entirely carried out in the form of a Leadership Simulation.
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Each module was designed to have a space for dialogue about the Atos strategy, so that the participants thoroughly understood whether the projects contributed to its implementation,
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Impact designed tasks that emphasised the development of strategic thinking skills among participants. Strategic thinking was crucial as it will assist participants in the implementation of tasks and projects supporting the Atos strategy after the end of the programme.
The programme increased participants' self-awareness, as well as developing their skills around engagement, strategic thinking, change management, building strong teams, conflict management, and building a feedback culture. This is evidenced by the results of evaluations conducted both during the programme and six months after its completion:
Evaluation results (max score is 10):
1. Average answers from participants regarding skills and knowledge gain:
- 8.6 – The programme helped me deepen my self-awareness of my development needs
- 8.5 – The programme helped me understand my strengths
- 9.0 – The programme provided me with knowledge and new ideas about how to enhance team performance
- 9.1 – I know what to do to improve my effectiveness in communication and motivating others.
- 8.1 – I know what to do to perform better in a VUCA environment
- 8.7 – I have new ideas on how to strengthen implementation of my business project
2. Answers from the supervisors regarding the changes observed among the participants as a results of the programme:
Percentage of line managers who agree (somewhat and strongly) that they noticed positive change in the following behaviours of their top talents:
- 90% – Stronger networking and cross-functional cooperation
- 90% – More effective interpersonal communication
- 80% – Better understanding of the Atos business model and strategy
- 80% – Better personal effectiveness in their daily job
- 70% – More effective teamwork
- 70% – Proactivity and implementing new ideas
- 70% – Taking responsibility for problem solving
3. Evaluation six months after the programme ended:
- 41% of participants took on a new role, a new/bigger team, new clients, or new areas of expertise
- 18% of participants were promoted one grade up