How do you drive learning and development for 200,000 employees across 44 countries and, at the same time, deliver an impact on the business? As Chief Learning Officer at Capgemini University, this is one of my core challenges. Therefore we focus on providing a two-fold learning experience that not only develops an employee’s professional ability but also provides value for clients, providing a win-win situation.
Capgemini employees benefit from digital-age learning principles which are core to our creation, curation and delivery approach to enable learning that can be impactful and also be consumed based on the preferences of the learner. One example of this approach is our Business Priority Week, a quarterly event that combines an impactful and fun end-to-end learning experience that includes a challenge to solve a specific customer problem. A Business Priority Week is an opportunity to not only engage with peers and focus on developing skills through a specific course, but to also relate the learning experience to business context and strategy through a unified event theme.
To better visualize a Business Priority Week, imagine coming together with vanguard leaders and innovative experts with different domains, industries, geographies and role expertise at a historic French chateau for a week of intensive learning and networking. Sales people mingle with infrastructure architects, and management consultants find themselves engaging with software engineers – all building relationships with Capgemini executives and clients. A core part of the event is the Co-Creation Challenge – a unique opportunity to work together with peers and executives to solve a real client challenge. Through rigorous work sessions, participants join forces to find a solution from different perspectives based on their areas of expertise. The client then selects the winning ideas to take forward in their business. At Capgemini, we believe that providing such opportunities to apply innovation and capability building together fundamentally enhances the overall learning experience, drives greater retention and provides greater understanding of the business context. This creates a truly collaborative and global mindset for our employees to help them excel in their careers and apply in their current and future projects.
What kind of learning opportunities can you find at a Business Priority Week?
As a participant of a BPW, you will take part in a specific learning course that caters to your professional development; be it leadership excellence, consulting skills, business relationships, or more. The wide array of learning courses take many forms, often spanning multiple touch points, and can include face-to-face meetings as well as individual online learning as part of a continuous learning strategy. Learning throughout a BPW encourages you to think about how to engage at the human level and become a successful leader in the digital world in three distinct areas: Digital Transformation, Digital Mindset, and Digital Mindfulness and Wellbeing. You will participate in a variety of plenary sessions, a co-creation challenge, a carbon challenge, as well as numerous skills boosters and digital detox sessions.
Here’s a look into a recent BPW.
Beyond our BPWs, Capgemini University also hosts multiple other learning and mobilization events throughout the year, including Community Week, EMConnect and the Architect Summit, to name a few. Our power and ability to succeed in the market is based on people. I think that it is vital to channel every employee’s capability in the right direction to enhance their careers while meeting the business goals of our clients as well as those of our own organization.
You can be part of an upcoming Business Priority Week and experience the learning journey at Capgemini by exploring your career opportunities with us.