Context
A regional insurance company wanted to make the development of its employees’ skills a strategic focus for its business performance.
However, its competency development model faced several structural limitations: an approach that did little to integrate competency development with on-the-job support; a wide variety of disparate training practices, making it difficult to manage the program; and an overburdened training department, limiting its ability to meet continuing education needs.
Objective
In this context, the insurer has retained Vertone to:
1. Conduct an assessment of the initial model and propose target scenarios using a two-pronged approach:
- Identify, in the short term, how to reduce the backlog in the training department
- Develop a long-term strategy that ensures skills are leveraged to enhance company performance and enables the development of strategic training plans
2. Implement and oversee the new skills development program, which is based on three key areas:
- The creation of a competency framework, the development of a corresponding catalog, and the overhaul of annual performance reviews
Our approach: taking an objective look at the present to build the model of the future
Our project consisted of three key phases:
1. Assessment of the current situation:
- An assessment of current systems and processes based on 30 on-site interviews and 2 questionnaires distributed to all employees, enabling the mapping of stakeholders in skills development according to different life stages and levels of intervention
2. Developing a target operational scenario:
- Prioritizing optimization levers: engaging employees through ideation workshops, benchmarking market practices, and analyzing potential solutions to identify and prioritize the optimization levers with the greatest impact
- Defining a New Operational Model for the Training Department and Developing a Broad Transformation Roadmap
3. Implementation and Oversight of the Program:
- Establishment of a skills governance framework responsible for evaluating, steering, and prioritizing key skills and related initiatives
- Reorganization of the training department to refocus it on its core mission: simplifying the process for requesting group training sessions, updating the onboarding program, and expanding access to the LMS
- Embedding the approach in managerial practices, including a redesign of the annual performance review to focus on competencies and empowering managers to coach and support their employees
- Testing the end-to-end model through a proof of concept (POC), involving the implementation of a group training session on a priority skill at a local school
Team engagement: a key factor in the success of the transformation
The transformation was driven by strong commitment and a high degree of transparency on the part of the teams, which made it possible to carefully analyze the activities and expenses of the Training Department and to collaboratively develop a realistic, shared target model.
Results
- Validation of the target operational model that transforms the Training Department into a “University”—a body that ensures the consistency and quality of skills development programs—and the establishment of complementary local schools that closely align with on-the-ground needs
- Proposal and approval of a three-phase roadmap, including the implementation of target operations, the creation of a competency framework, and the launch of a new training program
- Launch of an initial phase to generate quick results and lay the foundation for the transformation, including:
1. Validation of objectives and the phased rollout of competency governance
2. The creation of a competency framework, developed in collaboration with business units, for the entire sales division
3. Preparation for the rollout of the new annual performance review process and change management for the sales division
4. The launch of an experiential proof-of-concept (POC) for group training in one department, paving the way for a company-wide rollout
To find out more, contact our team
