Making learning and sharing an integrated part of all we do
Initial Strategy and Implementation Plan
September 2014 CADEMY NGO Background GRS and M2M are joining forces to found NGO Academy: a staff development and training initiative that shares resources and ideas across the organizations to help the employees at each organization better achieve their mission. Grassroot Soccer and Mothers2Mothers share similar goals: Achieving their mission: Stopping the spread of HIV Through excellent program execution and consistent development and fundraising GRS and M2M have similar challenges: Staff are the primary resource at each organization Staff development is a strategic imperative, but a few aspects of both organizations make it difficult: Dispersed staff at sites across South Africa and other countries Staff from varied backgrounds with different levels of access to education Limited resources (budget, headcount, technology) Business Objectives of NGO Academy Grassroot Soccer: Create a culture of learning at the organization where individuals engage in their own development Achieve cohesive forward planning at site level, by site staff Use, further develop and share untapped skills of employees All staff engage in self-directed development and learning Retain employees, decrease absenteeism, and increase number of promotions, which quickens progress toward organizations mission Mothers 2 Mothers: Same? Philosophy of NGO Academy Organizations Goals Senior leadership team goals, including staff development goals Manager team goals Staff individual goals Staff individual goals Staff individual goals Manager team goals Staff individual goals Staff individual goals Staff individual goals Goals for growth must fit into the organizations broader goals. Each employee must be able to see how their individual goals for their role and their personal growth will help the organization achieve its goals. Philosophy of NGO Academy Learning happens by the 70-20-10 rule: 70% on the job through projects that grow the individual, 20% through coaching, and 10% through formal training Formal training happens in targeted, single-concept learning segments that can be delivered in a combination of in-person and mobile, low-tech, easy to digest ways Formal training gets reinforced in practice Managers are a key resource as coaches, goal-setters, and the primary deliverers of feedback; therefore, managers are the most immediate focus for training in 2014 We reinforce the importance of learning with 3 primary levers: Employee goal-setting, with one required goal around personal development Reports on progress toward goals through regular manager meetings throughout the year (at least one time per month) Annual performance review meetings We measure the success of NGO Academy activities using a 4-tiered approach: Reaction: surveys of employees regarding their feelings on the effectiveness of activity Learning: quizzes to verify learning happened Behavior change: qualitative measures of whether people deployed skills learned in activity Results: quantitative or qualitative measures of whether the organization sees desired benefit of behavior change
Goals and Topic Areas, Pilot (Sep-Dec 2014) Goals: (1) begin culture shift by (2) engaging managers, (3) building a virtual team of supporters across both organizations and (4) launching at least 1 visible initiative, scaffolded by supportive v-team. Target Audience: Managers (GRS: Community Program Coordinators; M2M: District Managers) Topic Areas: Coaching Skills ex. what coaching is and is not; how to deliver feedback; the DRIVE framework Communication Skills Relationship-Building Skills ex. importance of relational leadership Management Skills ex. using goals to increase intrinsic motivation Problem-Solving Skills ex. brainstorming three solutions to a problem and identifying the most feasible
Goals and Topic Areas, Launch (January 2015) Goals: (1) Deeply embed culture shift by (2) engaging the entire organization(s) in learning activities, (3) launching 2 more visible initiatives, (4) collecting feedback on the Academy, and (5) adjusting topic areas and tactics based on feedback Target: Managers, Individual contributors and leadership at each organization Topic Areas: Leadership Innovation Goal-setting Working across teams/organizations Facilitation Networking Presentation Task focus Technical: MS Office, Salesforce, time management, other tools
Two Key Activities in 2014 Discussion Forum Give employees a space to ask and answer questions of their peers and their leadership; collect bottom-up learning objectives Academy Lectures Primary avenue for formal training; short video or in-person presentations delivered by Academy Professors (leadership, managers or staff who have volunteered their time and expertise) 2014 topics should be directed at managers: why developing staff is important what is coaching (versus directive managing) process for setting goals and providing regular feedback See details at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_FWs3cSbZvRQTJvOHBQd2JqZ3M/edit?usp=sha ring Full Program of Activities in 2015 Discussion Forum [begun in 2014] NGO Academy Lectures [begun in 2014] Speaker Series [January 2015] Quarterly speaker event, organized by HR teams Mentorship Program [January 2015] Every new employee/newly promoted employee is assigned a mentor by their manager when they join (or start their new position). Board Advisors Program [February 2015] Recruit board members who volunteer an hour of their time every quarter to meet with a small group from their organization Managers and staff are selected (application process) to participate; consider a merit-based reward Book Clubs [March 2015] organizational support for staff book clubs: for every book discussion hosted, the organization will provide free lunch? free coffee? and a space to have the conversation. Virtual teams [March 2015] advisory teams formed across teams within an organization, or across organizations, to address specific projects or problems See details at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_FWs3cSbZvRQTJvOHBQd2JqZ3M/edit?usp=sharing Communication Plan, 2014-2015 1. Launch: A. Announce pilot launch via email: October 2014 Introduce goals, activities and timeline NGO Academy to all staff at both organizations Book Speaker Series event before email goes out, send as a meeting invite to all staff. email sent from HR leadership or senior leadership B. Speaker series kickoff event: January 2015 Use the first of the speaker series events to kick off NGO Academy, with goal of introducing two organizations to each other and setting the tone for a new focus on learning consider having senior leadership of both organizations speak jointly, panel format 2. Ongoing campaign: 1. Emails from HR team or Academy Professors with new content and topics from Academy Lectures perhaps a regular email newsletter 2. Events: 2 primary regular events: 1. Monthly touchpoint (conference call) with managers to reinforce importance of coaching, regular feedback, and give managers a chance to share best practices with each other 2. Quarterly speaker series in Cape Town 3. Social Media: Consider using organizations Facebook and Twitter feeds to promote gives outsiders and funders some view into the orgs new priorities for staff 4. Advertising: Consider promoting the site or home of content via banner ads on each organizations website, or via links on intranet sites 5. In-Office Promo: Build a small package of print material posters and SWAG mugs/waterbottles? for each office with reminder of link to site.
Timeline Summary Discussion Forum Academy Lectures Speaker Series Board Advisors Book Club Virtual Teams Mentor Program Sep-Oct: Seed Nov-Dec: Establish Jan 2015-ongoing: Maintain Oct: Seed Dec-Jan: Establish Jan 2015-ongoing: Maintain Oct-Mar: Seed Apr-Jun: Establish June-ongoing: Maintain 2014 2015 Site Go Live: Sep 22 First Lectures Live, Email Announce: Oct 15 Launch Speaker Series: Jan 2015 Prof Class 2, Mentor Program Announced Dec 15 Dec-Mar: Seed NGO Academy planning: Determine focus areas for 2015 Feb 2015 Apr-Jun: Establish June-ongoing: Maintain Dec-Mar: Seed Apr-Jun: Establish June-ongoing: Maintain Feb: Seed Mar:Es tablish April-ongoing: Maintain Mar: Seed Aug-Dec: Establish Dec: Maintai n Leadership meeting on v-teams Mar 2015 Key Dates Measurement
Whats the Ask? of Senior Leadership: of Managers: of all Employees: