Scaling Global Leadership Development

An international hotelier faced several challenges in developing its frontline leaders:

• The current program could not be scaled quickly and was cost-prohibitive.
• The organization operated in over 130 countries across 32 different brands, which meant that the frontline leaders had diverse backgrounds, needs, and expectations. 
• There was a high turnover rate among its frontline staff, which affected its customer service and reputation. 
• Their leadership philosophy emphasized leadership as an action rather than a title, which required a shift in mindset and behavior for the frontline leaders.

Design and launch an online cohort learning program for its frontline managers with less than 4 weeks lead time due to a quick platform shift. The program aimed to improve the retention, engagement, and performance of the frontline staff by developing their leadership skills and culture. 

Two separate frontline leader programs were created that targeted different levels of frontline managers. The first program was for new or aspiring frontline managers who wanted to learn the basics of leadership and management. The second program was for experienced frontline managers who wanted to enhance their leadership and coaching skills.

1. The cohort-based learning model grouped the frontline managers into small cohorts who shared similar roles, goals, and challenges. The cohorts met regularly via Zoom to discuss, collaborate, and support each other on various topics related to leadership and culture.
2. The platform enabled the participants to access the curriculum, assignments, resources, feedback, and progress reports. It also enabled the participants to interact with each other, their facilitators, and their mentors through chats, forums, polls, and surveys.
3. The curriculum covered the key concepts and skills related to leadership and culture development combining live sessions, eLearning modules, videos, readings, quizzes, and projects that were aligned with the hotel chain’s mission and values. The curriculum was also customized with content and examples of the local and sectoral context of the participants.

1. The content for the live sessions and the eLearning modules for the platform were mapped out to ensure they were accurate, relevant, and engaging.
2. Tools, methods, and content strategies for delivering the program to optimize learner experience and satisfaction on the cohort learning platform were utilized.
3. The cohort learning platform was configured and customized to support the cohort-based learning model, and integrated various tools such as Zoom, eLearning modules, videos, etc.
4. Managed project scope, timeline, budget, and resources, and coordinated with the hotel chain’s stakeholders in an extremely truncated timeframe.
5. Evaluated the effectiveness and impact of the program, and collected and analyzed various metrics and feedback from the participants, the facilitators, the mentors, and the hotel chain’s stakeholders.

The programs were launched before full content completion for a full agile development state. The programs improved the retention, engagement, and performance of the frontline staff by developing their leadership skills and culture. The platform helped create a community of frontline leaders who learned from each other and supported each other in their work. The programs grew into larger learner journeys that aligned with the hotel chain’s leadership philosophy that leadership is an action rather than a title, by providing continuous learning opportunities throughout their employment path.