Background
The client, a major entity within a prominent global energy company, operates in the digital technology domain of the energy industry. This sector requires both high technical proficiency and essential soft skills for success, as individuals must navigate large-scale, cross-functional projects and rapidly changing digital transformation initiatives. The client is focused on equipping its early career talent, newly-hired graduates, with the professional acumen needed to manage demanding projects, collaborate with diverse stakeholders, and maintain a high standard of professional presence.
The Challenge: Preparing Graduates for the Hybrid Workplace
The client needed a targeted solution to equip their newly-hired graduates with core competencies necessary to thrive in a modern, often hybrid (physical and digital) workplace. The challenge was to deliver training that went beyond technical expertise to instill foundational soft skills such as:
- Effective communication and collaboration across blended workspaces.
- Emotional intelligence and self-leadership for managing demanding environments.
- Critical thinking and strategic decision-making for complex scenarios.
- An innovative and adaptive mindset to embrace change and uncertainty.
- The principles of professional presence, business etiquette, and personal branding.
The programs needed to be tailored to specific objectives and delivered within the required timeframe, ensuring practical application and measurable outcomes.
The Solution: Kaplan’s Customized Multi-Module Training Program
Kaplan MENA proposed a multi-module 10-day training program designed to deliver high-impact training customized to the client’s defined objectives. The accelerator focused on key areas, including:
- Communication and Collaboration: Strengthening competencies for success in hybrid environments.
- Self-Leadership: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to enhance self-awareness, emotional regulation, and personal resilience.
- Strategic Thinking: Sharpening the ability to think critically, solve complex problems, and make sound strategic decisions.
- Adaptability and Innovation: Developing a growth-oriented mindset and the ability to adapt effectively to a fast-changing world.
- Professional Presence: Equipping participants with the principles of Business Etiquette and the skills to build a consistent Personal Branding.
The program formats were designed to be fully customizable, ensuring knowledge transfer, hands-on engagement, and measurable outcomes
The Impact: Accelerating Early-Career Success Through Soft Skills
The Soft Skills Accelerator program provided the client’s early career talent with the foundational skills to immediately contribute to organizational goals.
Key impacts include:
- Seamless Hybrid Collaboration: Participants gained the ability to foster trust and collaborate effectively across physical and digital settings by practicing inclusive and transparent communication.
- Enhanced Self-Management: New hires were equipped with self-regulation and motivation techniques to navigate stress, uncertainty, and high-pressure situations.
- Strategic Decision-Making: The program ensured graduates could move beyond instinctive decision-making to use analytical frameworks and root cause analysis for solving real-world challenges.
- Agile Adaptability: Talent learned to apply core Agile values and the Scrum framework to improve collaboration and value delivery, even in non-technical and cross-functional teams.
- Professional Polish: Graduates understood how to enhance their professional presence, apply corporate etiquette, and proactively build a credible personal brand.
The effectiveness of the program was reflected in exceptionally strong participant feedback, with an overall course rating of 98%, a 99% rating for subject-matter knowledge and professionalism, and a 97% likelihood of participants recommending Kaplan services to a colleague.
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