“Future Leaders” in Australia

The Future Leaders program was launched in Australia in 2017 to develop a pool of future branch managers and leaders within our business. It is open to all employees, regardless of their position or management level. Each session brings together 16-20 participants for 32 weeks to study leadership, strategic change management, customer experience, business finance, pricing policy, logistics, and digital solutions.

The program's effectiveness stems from a blended learning approach including practical workshops, online training, written essays, virtual sessions (webinar, MOOC), and a social network for learning and sharing (Yammer). Each candidate's progress is supported through coaching and mentoring by a branch manager and a regional manager. Everybody contributes to the Future Leaders group on the internal social network. Throughout the program each future leader is required to complete three 800-word essays supported with an oral presentation. These assessments provide an opportunity for the Future Leaders to demonstrate their leadership abilities. The assessments can focus on a strategic customer experience (webshop training, new solution presentation), Strategic Change Management using our Branch Scorecards, and leadership learning strategies,

My Learning Path is another professional development initiative launched in Australia the same year. It gives all employees the opportunity to develop and achieve the autonomy they need to manage their career while improving their knowledge and expertise. A course catalogue is provided for each position to help employees gain confidence and skills in their current role while preparing for future career growth. The goal is to finish the program in two years with 15 minutes of training per week before advancing to the next program. At the end of 2018, all employees were registered for the program and were completing an average of 20 hours of training per year.