Enabling all employees to drive their own development
BlueOptima technology supports successful software development.
Originally delivered by Talupp, a technology firm occasionally offering bespoke solutions, these projects are now part of Esendia’s distinct, consultancy-first approach, powered by Talupp’s Diagnostics platform.
Enabling all employees to drive their own development
The challenge
BlueOptima technology supports successful software development. Its analytics platform empowers software developers and their companies to create better software in the most time- and cost-efficient way. The organisation is growing rapidly and that means it needs its people to accelerate their own careers quickly too.
BlueOptima operates with transparency and objectivity. It has a strong focus on detail, and this is why David Gorton, head of people at BlueOptima, describes the organisation as “an exacting business”. This applies just as much to its analytics as it does to its internal HR and people development activities.
The organisation’s attention to detail had already been applied to its competency framework, as David explains: “We had created the competency framework to outline all roles in the business. It covers a wide range of different areas and levels of responsibility, but we wanted it to live beyond being a document.”
At the same time, Esendia (formerly Talupp) had provided leadership development for BlueOptima’s leaders. This had included training around coaching techniques for resilience, assertiveness, and behavioural development.
In this context, BlueOptima was looking for a solution to accelerate the careers of its young workforce. The desired solution not only needed to drive fast people development using the competency framework, but it should also enable everyone to ‘own’ their development.
“We knew that what we wanted to achieve would be incredibly difficult to administer through a spreadsheet.” Explained David Gorton. “We needed a platform to enable the information to live beyond a document, to provide people with their own development plans. However, crucially, we needed a solution that would accommodate our competencies, be precise enough for our exacting standards and do all that at speed.”
The solution
Esendia’s experiential development platform provided just the solution BlueOptima was looking for.
The fact that Esendia can work with an organisation’s existing competency model in some detail was a key differentiator for BlueOptima, as David Gorton explains:
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What excited me was that the Esendia platform would accommodate our competencies rather than impose its own. It would also help drive employee and manager actions. You really make an impact with employees when you have that kind of follow through.
The result
According to David Gorton, “The Esendia platform has really baked in our people development process.” With the average age in the organisation just 28, David acknowledges that for many, their roles at BlueOptima are unchartered territory.
“There is huge scope for people to grow and develop at our organisation and we need to support them through that. The Esendia platform provides a structure to see that development through and it has enabled development conversations to become the norm.”
Being an analytics organisation, the data provided by the Esendia platform is something that especially appeals to BlueOptima. “The information provided by the platform is not only helping our employees to manage their own development, but it’s also enabling us to see how our managers are interacting with their direct reports.
We now have a great insight into those critical development conversations. The conversation no longer lives on a file, leaving us to guess if anything is happening as a result, now everything is visible – for us and for the employees. And that visibility drives action.
“Using Esendia has solidified how our people approach development. It has helped to crystalise our competencies and open up new experiences to help our people develop.”
Some organisations may be reluctant to take on a new HR platform, app or technological solution, with concerns around push back from employees. For BlueOptima this proved to be an unwarranted concern. “Before Esendia, we had people filling in spreadsheets. Now they have a much nicer UI and they can clearly see our investment in their careers. It’s evident that the intent is to help them develop and this prompted a really positive reaction from everyone introduced to the platform.”
The support from the Esendia team has also enabled a smooth adoption process at BlueOptima. “We’ve had a combination of support from Esendia; this includes how to use kit and how the platform is informed by science-led best practice. This is hugely reassuring. It’s proof that what you’re doing is the optimal approach to employee development. Esendia's evidence and academic backing have provided a compelling argument for our managers to get behind the new approach.”
BlueOptima is now continuing its phased roll-out of the Esendia platform to the whole organisation. It is using the feedback from the sales function to fine-tune its deployment
David Gorton is excited about the Esendia platform as he recognises that his teams are only just starting to explore its potential: “We expect to see an even greater impact as our people take actions to meet their learning objectives and are guided by the platform to reflect on what they’ve been doing and embed their learning.
“The self-led user journey in Esendia has been designed around our competency framework, and it will be interesting to see how people start to engage with the Esendia Platform content, such as the short videos. This microlearning is something we’re used to anyway ,and while we’ve not pushed people to access it just yet, it will be fascinating to see how that good content is engaged with and benefits our people.”