An unforgettable year of learning

Credit & Reference: e-Gate newsletter (12 Dec'2019)

Congratulations are in order for the 13 ‘graduates’ of the first ever APAC Talent Acceleration Program (TAP)!

Philosopher and statesman Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” This has certainly been the case for the Electrolux employees involved in TAP, a one-year training program designed to develop high-performing employees into top quality leaders. 

From mentorship from the APAC leadership team to market and office visits, the past 12 months has provided the very first batch of TAP participants with a learning experience like no other. To further stretch their learning, the 13 employees from seven countries visited the Mastercard Innovation Labs and Visa Innovation Centre, attended workshops run by external training providers, and worked on business challenge projects to hone their leadership skills. 

Hear what the facilitators and participants of TAP say about the program.

As part of their practical training, each TAP participant worked on a business challenge project that tested their understanding of consumers, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and commitment to SOCx.

The Experiential and Commercial Engagement with Fabric Care Consumers project led by Gaurav Julka from Singapore found that consumers are more willing to forgive a brand that provides prompt service to solve problems and replace or upgrade broken appliances. Through testing and cross-functional collaboration, the project team is now working towards a pilot launch of Premium Care, a priority support and maintenance service, in Q4 2019. 

Similarly focusing on the consumer journey, Indonesia’s Hendra Pawitra and Vietnam’s Alex Nguyen analyzed the Electrolux website user experience to understand how to better engage site visitors and increase their time spent on the site. The first implementation of the improved user journey on the Malaysia and Vietnam websites resulted in an uplift of consumers clicking on “Where to buy” as compared to the site averages. 

“I was impressed to see the insights and solutions that the TAP participants derived from their analysis of the business challenges we face,” said Adam Cich, Interim Head of APAC & MEA. “Such learning tools aim to help our employees achieve their career goals. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to the next level of their professional expertise as they get access to the organization’s senior leaders and a firsthand exposure to different markets.”

Are you ready for TAP 2020?#

Following the highly successful TAP 2019, next year’s program will focus on accelerating the growth of high potential employees with an improved format and trainings. The call for nominations will be posted in the first half of 2020, so keep an eye out for it if you would like to nominate either yourself or a high-performing colleague! 

The learning doesn’t stop here. Participants share their best learning takeaways from the TAP

• Watcharapol Juengprasertkul: “Believe in yourself with a CAN DO attitude. You CAN improve, but you must be willing to stretch yourself to the next level. Don’t be shy to ask for help or support from others to move forward, keep an open mind to listen, speak up and exchange your thoughts and ideas. This program is a great chance for those who want to challenge and stretch themselves to see how far they can develop – it will change your mindset forever.” 
• Gaurav Julka: “Be bold, ambitious, and fail. My biggest learning came from setting myself a very ambitious target for my project and then not achieving it. It grounded me but at the time, took away my insecurity of failing.” (Read about Gaurav’s learning experience here). 
• William Zhang: “Good quality self-awareness is often painful, but once you have true self-awareness, you start to look at things positively and differently. So be yourself in all assessment and training sessions, so as to give others and yourself a chance to know the real you.”
• Ellen Shou: “Change takes place anytime and anywhere! We have to realise and accept that change is the future, and develop the ability to think and act fast. Start to see things from a big picture perspective instead of simply focusing on details, which will help you to think logically.” 
• Brendan Macarthur: “The time that you will receive to engage with senior managers who are focused on your development is priceless. Keep an open mind to new ideas and concepts, and learn.” 

OOTMAN WALKER