Just in time for learning

At Datacraft Asia, HR (or the People and Culture function) is an organisation-wide responsibility. The HR function develops the tools, processes and content, but implementation and individual development is everyone’s responsibility. By Lisa Cheong

When it comes to learning and development (L&D), the HR (or People and Culture) function in Datacraft does not work like any other company. Unlike other companies where only HR or the learning & development function is responsible for ensuring employees’ development, Datacraft does not adhere to the regular status quo.

That isn’t to say that employees’ learning & development is an undervalued subject for the information technology and services provider. On the contrary, actually.

With the aim of being a world leader in the provision and management of specialist IT infrastructure and solutions, Datacraft prides itself on its leading-edge employee leadership and professional L & D opportunities. L&D is a key aspect of its overall employee value proposition (EVP). The other EVP elements include an emphasis on employees’ health and a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility.

When asked to describe the overall L&D strategy, Johan G. van Vuuren, director of HR at Datacraft Asia says his function’s role is to provide the infrastructure, tools, platforms and services for the amongst others the company’s L&D programs. However, unlike many companies, line managers in Datacraft are expected to take ownership of employee development.

To make learning easy and pain-free for line managers and employees, the company has taken a shift from traditional classroom training towards a greater focus on e-learning and virtual classrooms. This shift is largely due to the time and location constraints employees often face, says learning and development manager Liana Teo. As such, Teo adds “we want to bring learning closer to the people.”

One such tool is Datacraft’s e-learning platform, SABA, which provides employees with a wealth of e-learning titles they can access at any time. For instance if a Datacraft employee needs to brush up on his or her negotiation skills or any particular kind of interpersonal skill set, the employee can access online modules such as Harvard Manage Mentor on SABA. In addition, employees are able to download tools, templates and podcasts on priority topics.

“We also provide case studies, references to big Datacraft deals, et cetera, in various ‘neighbourhoods’ on our intranet” Teo adds. Describing the intranet as a bridge between various business units (BU’s), Teo often advises BU’s to share their views and knowledge so that colleagues can benefit from peer wisdom. Employees are also encouraged to participate in various virtual Communities of Practice.

Datacaft is particularly proud of the series of leadership programmes it has developed and deployed. These aim to support the development of leadership and engagement skills at all levels in the organisation.

“We’ve developed a basic model covering key things leaders have to do, irrespective of their level in the organisation,” describes van Vuuren. After undergoing training in these leadership competencies, leaders can then access specific tools on the company’s intranet, that underpin the leadership model. “The nice thing is that we provide continuity from the classroom into the workplace by making available all those tools in exactly the same format as initially presented.”

The company also has leadership programmes for targeted individuals involved in various transitions – be it middle management employees moving to more senior roles or someone earmarked for a position in the broader Dimension Data parent company.

Leadership skills are not merely limited to employees who have to manage direct reports, says van Vuuren. As the working structures within the company become more intertwined and more people work across functional boundaries, van Vuuren says even having individual contributors undergo self-leadership programmes is crucial to their individual success.

With time constraints and the requirement to be highly attuned to the needs of business leaders, how does the People and Culture team ensure line managers encourage employees to learn and develop continuously?

The first step is to ensure leaders do not simply view L&D as a nice-to-have, but understand the underlining rationale for building employee development into their ongoing management work.

And because employee engagement underpins the company’s extensive leadership programmes, the People and Culture team first used external empirical data to illustrate the importance of L&D and how it related to employee engagement, productivity levels and retention rates within the company.

Furthermore, the relationship between L&D to the business needs is often strongly emphasized by the People and Culture function. “If they can clearly see that learning and development will improve their function, performance and earnings,” this would make employees more inclined to participate in L&D activities, says van Vuuren.

The People and Culture function also provides tools such as newsletters to help employees keep learning and development top-of-mind. For instance, in a recent newsletter, the key theme was employee time management. In addition to brief tips on fighting procrastination the issue also contained links to recommended readings, time management podcasts and even a quiz with prizes for the winners.

“We also incorporated accountability for leadership behaviors into our annual employee performance management process,” adds van Vuuren. Under this, managers and leaders are measured on several areas such as employee development, employee retention and how well a leader is a role-model for the company’s desired traits. In fact, van Vuuren says these measurements are so important that they also feature in leader promotion decision.

“So Datacraft provides the awareness, the tools and education, but hold leaders accountable for employee learning,” says van Vuuren.