Hilti Custom Program
I think the length of IMD’s online programs and the peer element are important parts of why they work so well. The peer element is motivating. If you’re alone, it’s easy not to do an online course. Also since they are studying for six weeks at a time and not, say, a year, it’s not so daunting. IMD is great at offering the type of learning in the cloud that wasn’t available to companies before. The modular nature of the program with IMD enabled us to adapt it to our company’s strategy.
Hilti: Capability building program
Context
Construction technology giant Hilti commissioned IMD to create a business education segment for its graduate trainee program. IMD had to provide the best and most impactful learning experience, while allowing participants to continue to do their jobs wherever they were in the world.
The use of components that can be separated and recombined has been a game-changing development for industries from cars to computing. Known as ‘modularity’, it has been the subject of many a lesson at IMD business school. Now IMD has begun experimenting with what modularity might mean for training executives because organizations increasingly want to combine the best of digital online courses with the best of face to face.
Challenge
The challenge was providing the best and most impactful learning experience but also allowing participants to continue to perform at their jobs all over the world.
IMD’s Global Leadership in the Cloud online-based programs made it possible for individual online units to be used on their own or combined with other modules and offerings supporting on-campus sessions. IMD provided individualized feedback throughout and there was ample opportunity for group and pair work with other participants. The modular nature of the program made it possible to adapt it to Hilti’s company strategy.
Custom approach
IMD responded by taking parts of its highly-personalized online-based programs and adding on-campus learning to create a curriculum that was 100% tailored to Hilti’s needs.
The program involved 24 Hilti participants with graduate trainee seniority. The program began by undertaking the ‘strategic thinking’ and ‘being innovative’ units of IMD’s Global Leadership program over six weeks in their own locations. The participants then travelled to Lausanne for a week of intensive sessions at IMD on subjects like strategy, emerging markets, speed, leadership, digital transformation and organizational change. They also spent a day in the mountains that tested their limits, leadership skills and self-awareness.
Impact
Eivind Slaaen, Head of People and Development at Hilti, said the course successfully combined theory with experiential and peer learning. Participants were given a theoretical basis up front and then went to IMD to work on applyingand consolidating it. The modular nature of the program made it possible to adapt it to Hilti’s company strategy, he added. Participant Jerome Darbre, who works for Hilti in Zurich, said the online segment allowed him to learn a great deal without taking time away from the office. The on-campus part gave him an opportunity to build on the virtual interactions and connect face to face with colleagues from his company’s far-flung offices.
