First Time Manager. From stepping into the new role with uncertainty to unleashing full potential

Karolina Dworniczak, Marta Skiba

Learning project specialist and Senior specialist

Marta Skiba i Karolina Dworniczak w biurze Play

Challenges and conclusions, or how the programme got made

The PLAY Group is where cutting-edge technology and great opportunities meet.

We are the leading mobile operator in Poland. Since we began in 2007, we have been trusted by over 17 million customers.

From the very beginning, we have been providing our customers with advanced technological solutions and setting the course for the entire industry. We also continuously grow the PLAY Group while maintaining a stable position in the market as a service provider and employer.

That trust among customers cannot be earned without the trust of employees. We take care of it by addressing their true development needs. That is why we strive to give them access to the necessary knowledge and programmes at the right time - to this end, we launched the HCM Deck platform, dubbed 'Skillbox' by our employees in September 2022.

Another way we care for their growth are internal promotions. Our male and female leaders are primarily former professionals from within the Play ranks who have aspired to leadership roles, have performed highly and have shown great potential to manage a team.

Up until the launch of Skillbox, we had been introducing newly minted managers to their new role with the help of classroom-based 'Leadership in Action' workshops.

It was not the perfect solution though. A group of participants had to be formed for workshops to take place. As a result, new male and female managers did not have, or did not have, access to the necessary knowledge immediately, but only from the moment they attended the workshop, which could take place up to six months after promotion. Although managers had access to open trainings, they weren't adapted for the needs of the person who is just beginning as a manager. Our HR Business Partner were flooded with their questions,
and beginner leaders felt overwhelmed with new responsibilities. So the waiting period for a tailored workshop was eating up HR Business Partners' important time in the organisation, and putting new managers in a situation of confusion that could easily lead to reduced job satisfaction and lower performance.

In 2022, Play merged with two large companies - UPS and 3S - resulting in the size of the group's
employee base increasing by 40 per cent, its structures
and strategy changing, different organisational cultures clashing, and many new people coming into leadership positions. Inspired by Play's HR Business Partners who had been sending our information to our managers through a dyi newsletter and with the HCM Deck platform at hand we decided to
create an engaging programme right away.The goal was to introduce Players to the new role right after the promotion. That's how our First Time Manager programme came into being.

Playboarding
for managers and Skillbox
in the first year
after the launch

  • 138

    managers assigned
    to the programme

  • 4,5

    programme evaluation on a 1-5 scale

  • 3000+

    SkillBox platform users

Karolina Dworniczak i Marta Skiba z programem playboarding dla managerów

First Time Manager stage by stage

Here's your new programme!

Every new person in a managerial role, as a first step, receives a notification in the HCM Deck platform and in the company email inbox. The participant in the programme therefore gets access to a structured induction plan and all the information at the time of promotion - exactly when they need it. At Play, we believe that each of our employees realises his or her potential best when left free to do so. This is why we recommend completing the programme at SkillBox in 3 months, but we do not restrict managers to completing Playboarding by a specific date.

What is the difference between a manager and a specialist?

We used meetings with business, HR Business Partners and in-depth interviews with managers conducted according to a scenario based on Design Thinking to develop the content and logic of the programme. These helped us to understand, among other things, the particular situation in which a person entering the role of manager finds himself. He or she is starting to manage a team in which he or she was previously a colleague, taking responsibility for it, while still performing tasks within his or her area of expertise. Their priority is therefore to find out how to build up authority among colleagues. For this reason, we have included a section of the programme dedicated to this issue first.

Essentials

Other parts of the programme include relevant materials, regulations, tasks and short e-learning courses on what cannot wait. Important issues of employment law for the manager, holiday plans or working time planning are knowledge that a newly minted manager previously needed the time of an HR Business Partner to acquire - now, on the platform, it is available to him/her immediately and at any time. This is quite a relief for the organisation, especially when as many as 138 professionals are promoted to the role of manager at the same time. On top of that, this part of the programme is rated the highest by all participants.

The key moment of Playboarding – meet your partner

After a dose of essential knowledge, comes an important moment in the process. The new manager receives a task of meeting her HR Business Partner. At this point, he or she can ask her questions and find out how their collaboration will work.

How to gain new team members?

We believe that all hiring managers' familiarity with our good recruitment practices across the company translates into a positive experience for every person who wants to join the Players' ranks. That's why a new manager learns about Play's standards and process for sourcing new talent.

MBO, D&I or SMART

Te acronyms and concepts are no longer unknown to Players after completing the last five parts of the programme at Skillbox. We have translated the needs of the organisation and our managers into literary inspiration, practical assignments, courses and knowledge pills in the areas of delegating tasks, setting and revising goals, giving feedback, employee development and inclusivity in management.

Live

That's not all! After completing the work on the platform, the manager receives information about a series of onsite workshops that he or she signs up for at HCM Deck. 8 days of engaging training courses synthesise the knowledge gained online and provide new information on topics such as change management, employee motivation or personal effectiveness.

A competent manager on a way of self-actualization

The second part of the workshop is a time to get to know yourself better as a manager. All participants do an Insights Discovery test, that helps them understand their behavious and lead authentically. Workshops are meant for managers who have been in their new role for about 6 months
and can present their first cases at the workshop,
which they would like to analyse at the last part of the programme - the Action Learning session.

The platform drives us forward

Just a few months after launching the programme at Skillbox, we can see what a good decision it was. Instead of indications of feeling insecure in a managerial role, we are hearing that First Time Manager is a good compendium of knowledge to learn new topics for a management role. The platform allows us to make it available in a number of formats that allow for active and effective learning and fit in with the microlearning that Players particularly love.

With HCM Deck at hand, we were able to rise to the challenge and properly prepare our leaders at such a challenging business moment as Play's merger with two large companies. With the platform in place, our entire training team is motivated and energised. Content personalization is not just a trend, but a necessity in such an expansive organisation. Playboarding for managers is just one example of the 30 learning programmes already available on the platform, similarly tailored to the needs of specific professional groups. With Skillbox, we want to continue to build an engaged, learning community of Players, automate processes and introduce even more topics and forms of learning.

Marta Skiba, Karolina Dworniczak

Learning project specialist and Senior specialist

Karolina Dworniczak i Marta Skiba na tle napisu Welcome to Play Harder
prezentacja widoku strony głównej platformy szkoleniowo-rozwojowej HCM Deck na leżącym ukośnie tablecie

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