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Background
The global media landscape continues to experience a profound shift in tandem with technological advancements and the ever-changing preferences of today’s audience towards media consumption.
With the use of machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence, customer insights can now be analysed more quickly and accurately – and businesses are able to make smart business decisions on producing and curating engaging content that appeal to various audiences.
At a Glance
Given the competitive business environment within the media landscape, it is vital for businesses in the industry to keep up with the ever-changing preferences and behaviours of the audience when it comes to media consumption.
For enterprises such as Mandate Communications Pte Ltd (Mandate), there was a need to keep up with the increased consumption of media across multiple devices, the pervasive use of digital marketing tools and technologies in filmmaking, storytelling, etc.
In pursuit of the above, Mandate embarked on a workplace learning project through the Learning Enterprise Alliance initiative by the Institute for Adult Learning Singapore (IAL)’s NACE@IAL.
How can organisations manage the change journey?
Source: Article by McKinsey, titled “How do we manage the change journey?".
Transforming the workforce through the Learning Enterprise Alliance (LEA)
Through the workplace learning project with CWLP, Mandate sought to rejuvenate its workforce with a "winning mindset” and align its transformation journey with the goal of integrating into a digital communications agency through the support of cross-functional teams.
"While serving on ASME’s Executive Committee, I came to know about the LEA initiative through a joint event by IAL and ASME. Mandate Communications was invited subsequently by IAL to participate in LEA 2022. After listening to the positive experience of some of ASME’s Council Members working with IAL CWLP’s certified workplace learning consultants, we decided to participate in this initiative."
Ms. Chew Lee Ching, Managing Director
“Prior to the implementation of workplace learning solutions, the project team had questions at the beginning of the journey but soon recognised the need for change within the company, with the starting point from their mindsets.”
Mr. Marcus Lim, General Manager
Identifying existing performance gaps
To successfully embark on the change management journey and get its employees onboard, the project team at Mandate sought to design the project based on Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, supported by practical workplace learning practices.
To kickstart the journey, the team first undertook the following:
- Implemented a 3-2-1 Climate Survey across all key employees and Heads of Department.
- Conducted a SWOT analysis to identify existing performance gaps.
Integration of workplace learning interventions
After the identification of gaps, the project team found that the organisation was lacking in competitive skillsets pertaining to social media management. There was also a lack of knowledge depth in the product portfolio.
Moreover, there was reluctance on the employees’ end in accepting their weaknesses and failures. Talents were slow in adopting trends, were not injecting new ideas, and had no willingness nor enthusiasm to try new ways of doing things.
To address the above, together IAL’s workplace learning consultant, the project team worked together to implement the following:
- Strategised the workplace learning project based on enterprise change management methodologies (i.e., Kotter’s 8 steps, Prosci)
- Rallied the organisation to heighten the urgency for change
- Involved core teams in the co-creation of the ‘Winning Mindset’ poster and establishing cross-functional teams
- Brought the ‘Winning Mindset’ to life by encouraging and rewarding supportive behaviours and positive demonstrations among employees
Identifying existing performance gaps
To successfully embark on the change management journey and get its employees onboard, the project team at Mandate sought to design the project based on Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, supported by practical workplace learning practices.
To kickstart the journey, the team first undertook the following:
- Implemented a 3-2-1 Climate Survey across all key employees and Heads of Department.
- Conducted a SWOT analysis to identify existing performance gaps.
Integration of workplace learning interventions
After the identification of gaps, the project team found that the organisation was lacking in competitive skillsets pertaining to social media management. There was also a lack of knowledge depth in the product portfolio.
Moreover, there was reluctance on the employees’ end in accepting their weaknesses and failures. Talents were slow in adopting trends, were not injecting new ideas, and had no willingness nor enthusiasm to try new ways of doing things.
To address the above, together IAL’s workplace learning consultant, the project team worked together to implement the following:
- Strategised the workplace learning project based on enterprise change management methodologies (i.e., Kotter’s 8 steps, Prosci)
- Rallied the organisation to heighten the urgency for change
- Involved core teams in the co-creation of the ‘Winning Mindset’ poster and establishing cross-functional teams
- Brought the ‘Winning Mindset’ to life by encouraging and rewarding supportive behaviours and positive demonstrations among employees
Scaling up on the workplace learning imperative
At the end of the project with IAL CWLP, Mandate was able to achieve the following outcomes:
As with numerous organisations, the implementation of workplace learning interventions did not come easy. The project team was faced with several challenges along the way.
Initially, there was confusion over what should be changed, and how the change could be made. Moreover, there were concerns over a lack of incentives to reward supportive behavior and positive demonstration of change.
To mitigate the above challenges, the team sought to make the change visible within the organisation – both physically and virtually. This was done through the co-creation of the ‘Winning Mindset’ poster, as well as the provision of examples of supportive behavior.
The guidance by IAL’s workplace learning solutionist was equally critical in aiding the project team in implementing solutions in motivating employees to embrace change. This was done through the provision of creative suggestions to rally employees for meaningful engagement sessions, as well as sharing good practices within the HR management space for processes, tools and techniques.
What’s next for Mandate
Following the completion of the LEA project with IAL CWLP, the team is looking at exploring relevant initiatives to further develop the workforce to one that is competitive, as well as expand on Mandate’s portfolio.
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