Case
Learning Experience Design, Culture Design, Facilitation
Individual Convers(Actions)
To provide the Zurich Portugal Human Resources team with conversation skills to leverage and to develop talent.
Conversation is where we learn
How do you align a team in order to know how to promote the development of others through conversation?
Based on global guidelines, Zurich Portugal decided to implement locally a program that viewed conversation as the preferred means of people development.
For this to be possible, it was important to align the people on the HR team on which characteristics and conversation skills provide the best learning context. Furthermore, it was important that all these people, while refining and respecting their individual style, would show coherence and consistency in the conversations they would promote and conduct with their colleagues.
All this with the aim of developing the talented people already identified at Zurich.
An inclusive mix: Structure with Flexibility + Theoretical models with Improvisational capacity
One of the goals was for these conversations to go beyond the technique and the models already identified. The conversations should truly be about people and for people. There were 3 moments that we designed for this partnership, which took place over 8 months.
#1 Reflecting and Knowing
In the first instance, we leveraged work already done by Zurich, which compiled a"Career Discussion Toolkit". From this document and model, we created a form that would allow each person, in their own time, to critically reflect on the development points necessary to feel comfortable conducting these conversations internally. In addition to this objective, the answers to the questionnaire allowed us to know what room for evolution there was, in the individual and group contexts, educating and influencing the design of the second moment.
#2 To Talk in order To Align
In the second moment, we were together for 4 hours. We created a conversation workshop in which we aligned concepts and talked about the technique and the practice. Most of all, we talked about how people wanted to talk at Zurich.
But it was not "just talking"! Each person had to find, define, and make public his or her chosen area of improvement when it came to conducting these special conversations.
In closing, the team talked to align themselves on what to do about preparing for each conversation, what aspects they would pay attention to and develop during the conversation, and how they would"measure" the effectiveness of their conversations.
#3 To Continue Learning, as a Group
The third moment was the one that lasted the longest. Inspired by the Balint Groups, we created a group consisting of people from the Zurich's Human Resources team who were responsible for facilitating one-on-one conversations, so that they could share their achievements and difficulties, particularly in terms of being able to support each other, in order to maintain and strengthen the alignment. In short, to learn together.
We facilitated 3 sessions of this group. The initial idea was that this group would progressively become autonomous and self-sufficient and so it happened.
What the Human Resources team said:
"What I appreciated most was the connection between the methodologies used at Zurich (GROW, Zurich Oxygen, PDI...) and the techniques learned in the training context."
"I liked the fact that the program was completely aligned with our reality and largely met our expectations, meeting our real needs."
"Overall, the program was of great use to me. I would highlight the fact that we created a guideline script for the development talks. Because I haven't had any one-on-one conversations with an employee, I feel a little insecure. The program helped me gain that confidence and demystify some of the more practical issues."
"I find it very enriching to be able to work on a concept and a methodology, with the aim of introducing it and applying it to the organizational reality in which we find ourselves. Personally, it was important for me to work on acquired concepts and increase my self-awareness in terms of how I can apply them. As the person in charge of the team, I feel it was important to enhance this experience together, both from a relational point of view and in terms of individual skills."
What the talented people of Zurich said
"What surprised me most about the career talk was the introspective moment itself. Normally, in day-to-day life, there aren't many moments when we allow ourselves to reflect on our development and career, and this moment served that purpose. Another aspect that surprised me in a positive way was the quantity and quality of actions that I have taken over the years at Zurich: I felt very satisfied with the fact that I reflected on them and concluded that I have benefited from a lot of knowledge."
In my view, it makes sense for all employees to have this opportunity so that everyone can benefit from the potential that this conversation can have. Employees can change small details in their daily lives and these changes can bring significant changes to their lives."
"The Career Conversation I had with the Resources Unit helped me in that it was very guiding and helped me stay focused on my goals.
I think it's important for all employees to have guidance on the path they can take with their careers. HR, with the knowledge they have, can help employees to look ahead and make medium and long-term plans."
"It was a joint reflection session. I had the opportunity to talk about my professional career and the difficulties I've been experiencing. I can't say that I came to a conclusion on the basis of this conversation, but I recognize that it was important to think about various issues and, after a while, some of the topics that were discussed were resolved.
I don't know if all employees are mature enough (willingness on the part of the person to understand their relationship with others and to know how to deal with this, in their sphere of action, in a business context) to take advantage of the potential of these conversations. People need to be predisposed to holding these sessions with a culture of transparency."
Beyond theory and practice: the art of conversation
The result of this partnership met what both Zurich and Way Beyond had envisioned. A mix of concepts and experiences, which were translated into a specialized practice with a visible expression in the organization's reality.