Balancing Technical Proficiency with Behavioral Growth for the Employees of an American Multinational Computer Technology Company
Authored by:
Rabab Haider | KNOLSKAPE Editorial Team
An Organization with the Mission to Revolutionize the Way we See Data
Industry
Technology
Headquarters
Austin, Texas, USA
Revenue
USD 53 billion (FY2024)
The client is an American multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company sells database software and cloud computing. With over US$53B in revenue in FY2024, their mission is to continue helping people see data in new ways, discover insights, and unlock endless possibilities.ย
The Challenge of Balancing Technical Proficiency with Behavioral Growth
The client’s Product Development Team comprises some of the most technically proficient employees in the organization. These individual contributors (IC5) are at the forefront of innovation, driving the creation and refinement of the client’s cutting-edge solutions. While their technical expertise is undeniable, the client recognized a critical gap: the need to complement this technical prowess with behavioral and attitudinal growth to maximize their potential as well-rounded professionals.ย
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The Technovate program was designed to address this challenge. Our client identified that while these employees excelled in delivering complex technical solutions, they often faced hurdles in areas such as collaboration, effective communication, adaptability, empathy, and leadership. These behavioral competencies are essential for fostering innovation, improving team dynamics, and enabling employees to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.ย
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The challenge lay not only in addressing these gaps but also in designing a program that resonated with a diverse, highly skilled audience. They needed a solution that would:ย
01. Integrate Behavioral and Technical Growth:
Ensure the program aligned with the employees’ career paths and didnโt detract from their core technical focus.ย
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02. Engage a Tech-Savvy Audience:
Deliver a learning experience that appeals to individuals already adept at navigating complex concepts, requiring innovative and interactive approaches to drive engagement.ย
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03. Sustain Impact Beyond the Program:
Create a transformation that extended beyond the sessions, embedding behavioral growth into everyday interactions and long-term career development.ย
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The Technovate program aimed to bridge this gap by helping employees not just to solve technical problems but to navigate the broader organizational challenges, communicate effectively, and influence stakeholders, ensuring our clientโs continued leadership in a competitive industry.ย
Enhancing Learner Capabilities
with Targeted Assessments and Experiential Learning
with Targeted Assessments and Experiential Learning
As part of the program, the clientโs learning team collaborated with KNOLSKAPE to run Assessment Centres to check the capabilities they must target for their learners. The following competencies were identified in the assessment:ย
- Change Agilityย
- Collaborationย
- Communicating for Impactย
- Mastering Complexityย
- Competitive Edgeย
- Inspirational Leadershipย ย
The program was thoughtfully structured to deliver a comprehensive and impactful learning experience. It began with competency-based assessments to evaluate participants’ strengths and areas for improvement, establishing a baseline for measuring progress and customizing the learning journey. The core of the program comprised 3 to 4 simulation-powered workshops, where participants engaged in immersive, scenario-based simulations designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice. These workshops focused on key behavioral competencies such as critical thinking, decision-making, and influencing without authority. Each workshop was followed by detailed group debrief sessions, led by expert facilitators, where participants reflected on their experiences, shared insights with peers, and connected learnings to their organizational contexts.ย ย
KNOLSKAPEโs Immersive Simulations Adding Value to the Program
To address the identified gaps in behavioral and attitudinal development for the client’s IC5 employees, KNOLSKAPE integrated cutting-edge experiential learning solutions into the Technovate program. By leveraging immersive simulations, the program provided a practical, hands-on approach to building essential skills in critical thinking, decision-making, and influencing without formal authority. These simulations effectively bridged the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application, ensuring impactful and sustained learning.ย
| Grand Prix: Critical Thinking for Better Decision Makingย
The Grand Prix simulation was designed to enhance participants’ critical thinking and decision-making capabilities. By placing participants in a dynamic and high-pressure virtual environment, this simulation replicated real-world scenarios where they had to:ย
- Analyze and interpret complex data sets to identify actionable insights.ย
- Navigate competing and sometimes conflicting priorities to achieve predefined objectives.ย
- Balance short-term wins with long-term strategic goals, requiring a clear understanding of trade-offs and their consequences.ย
The simulation encouraged participants to think on their feet, fostering a deeper understanding of how critical thinking principles could be applied to solve business problems effectively. By tackling these challenges, participants learned to make informed, data-driven decisions under uncertainty, a skill crucial for their roles in the company’s Product Development Team.ย
| ChangeQuest: Influencing Skills for Leading Without Authorityย ย
The ChangeQuest simulation was instrumental in developing participants’ ability to influence and lead within the complex hierarchies of a virtual organization. This immersive experience challenged participants to:ย
- Drive change initiatives without formal authority, emphasizing the importance of soft power and persuasion.ย
- Manage resistance to change by understanding and addressing stakeholder concerns.ย
- Build relationships and navigate interpersonal dynamics to align stakeholders with organizational objectives.ย
Participants were tasked with implementing strategies that relied on effective communication, empathy, and negotiation skills. The simulation highlighted the importance of understanding diverse perspectives and adapting influencing techniques to suit varying situations. By the end of the exercise, participants were better equipped to lead projects, inspire collaboration, and drive results without relying solely on positional authority.ย
| TrustSim: A Simulation for you to Build Trust with External Stakeholdersโฏย ย
Trust Simulation is an innovative experiential learning tool designed to help participants develop trust-building strategies with external stakeholders. This enables them to reflect, adapt, and build practical skills for real-world trust-building. The simulation:ย
- ย Challenged participants to manage stakeholder expectations while balancing team capabilities.ย
- Encouraged them to achieve a defined trust level to win the next contract.ย
- Offered insights into the impact of decisions on trust levels for reflection and improvement.ย
In this simulation, participants take on the role of an account manager tasked with achieving a specific trust level between their client and their virtual team to secure the next contract. By navigating realistic scenarios, participants gain a deeper understanding of trust dynamics and learn how factors such as communication, reliability, empathy, and integrity influence stakeholder relationships.ย
Impact
95%
Learning was relevant to their current job role
95%
Feels confident to implement competencies
90%
Simulations were effective and relevant
96%
Trainer was effective in delivering the session
93%
Content was relevant and engaging
94%
Trainer engagement
ย
95%
Learning was relevant to their current job role
95%
Learning was effective
ย
96%
Has improved communication skills
96%
Overall
feedback
94%
Trainer
feedback
92%
Content
feedback
Testimonials
โIt was a very nice session. The trainer was very good in helping understand in effective wayโ
[Learner]
โAll the aspects of transformation were explained very well.โ
[Learner]
โIt was a very interactive program, and more useful for further personal growthโ
[Learner]
โOne of the best learning experiences Iโve had so far and an eye opener as well for me to how I look at things now.โ
[Learner]
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About KNOLSKAPE
KNOLSKAPE is a global leader in experiential learning with a mission to help organizations and employees become future ready. Using a large award-winning portfolio of simulations aligned with 100+ competencies and cutting-edge talent intelligence, KNOLSKAPE produces stellar outcomes for more than 375+ organizations across 75 countries. Driven by research and thought leadership, KNOLSKAPE offers its products and solutions in a flexible subscription model powered by omni-channel delivery.
ยฉ2021 KNOLSKAPE. Developed by:ย Xenia Consulting