PriceWaterhouseCoopers
The Issue
PriceWaterhouseCoopers ran a two-week induction programme for new staff, averaging around 35 people monthly. The first week was for orientation, with internal speakers describing their areas of interest. In the second week participants had to master the basic skills of consultancy, which C&L defined as assignment interviewing, writing and presentation. The requirement was to teach these skills in an exciting, individual way.
The Solution
We devised an integrated week of learning, called 'Communicating For Results'. 'Assignment Interviewing Skills' was a two-day workshop for 16 participants covering relationship building, listening skills and questioning skills, handling information and some realistic role plays.
On the 'Persuasive Writing' workshop, participants learned what makes a piece of business writing persuasive, how to get inside a potential reader's head and ways to avoid the spoilers that can undermine credibility.
Finally, participants attended our two-day 'Performing with Presence' workshop, acquiring confidence to convey their message with passion and commitment.
The challenge was to provide a high-quality learning experience for the considerable numbers involved, catering for varying levels of experience amongst participants whilst tailoring workshops to be relevant to Coopers & Lybrand. We always had between two and six workshops running simultaneously, requiring considerable attention to planning, logistics and quality.
The Result
By the end of the two weeks, participants had developed in all the key areas of communication, and were able to start their jobs prepared to contribute to the success of the business. The programme ran for several years. This, combined with our other development work for the company, has meant that we have contributed to the development of at least two thousand people at Coopers & Lybrand.
