How does a groundbreaking, industry-leading technology company utilize GlobeSmart throughout its organization? Recently, Aperian Global had the pleasure of hosting Lauren Rollins, a Learning and Development Specialist (II) at Akamai Technologies, to explore that very topic.
Here are some of the key insights from the webinar:
GlobeSmart is available to every one of Akamai’s approximately 8,000 employees (including contractors).
“It’s available to all employees anytime and anywhere, which is fantastic,” Rollins says. At Akamai, GlobeSmart is embedded in the company’s robust internal intranet as part of a quick links drop-down menu on the home page and is accessible from the company’s learning and development page. “I’m certainly a GlobeSmart advocate,” Rollins says. “I’ve been using GlobeSmart for some time. I don’t work for Aperian, but I love the tool.”
Akamai integrates GlobeSmart into its “Leadership Academy” programs.
At the company, the “Leadership Academy” and “Advanced Leadership Academy” tracks deliver a “learning journey” to employees throughout the organization – including senior managers and senior directors. GlobeSmart is an integral part of the program’s learning journey. “Folks have to complete their profile as part of pre-work to one of the sessions,” Rollins says. “Then, we do a deeper dive with debriefing their profile, and understanding how to leverage that profile with their teams – how do you compare that profile against some of your colleagues and team members? How can you learn to communicate and collaborate better with your peers, as well as your direct reports?”
For employees, GlobeSmart insights are often eye-opening.
At a globally-focused organization like Akamai, the insights gained have had a positive, wide-reaching impact on the culture. “We’ve been finding folks absolutely love the tool,” Rollins says. “They’re cascading the program through their teams, and beyond. They’re finding that there are things they were not aware of in themselves – maybe things that they were doing that they didn’t realize may be offending somebody from a different culture.”
GlobeSmart is especially relevant in the current world environment.
The spotlight on Diversity and Inclusion that GlobeSmart provides is beneficial to an international organization like Akamai. “Diversity and inclusion has always been a focus at Akamai,” Rollins says. “Given everything that’s come to light around the globe, even more so now. So we’ve added in Diversity and Inclusion as a learning module, specifically for our leadership academies.”
There are a few specific GlobeSmart modules Akamai finds helpful for bolstering the virtual environment.
Rollins points to two in particular. “Inclusive Virtual Meetings, given that we’re all in this virtual environment that hasn’t been changing and likely won’t change drastically in the next couple of months,” she says. “Folks have been finding that learning module helpful, as well as Why Culture Matters. There are a lot of different opinions on culture and definitions of culture and what it means to us as employees and managers, and how they can have an open culture and open mindset with their teams.”
Akamai has found creative ways to utilize GlobeSmart throughout the organization.
Rollins suggests weaving GlobeSmart into team meetings, encouraging direct reports or peers to take the profile, and then empowering colleagues around the globe to do the same. “We all come from different backgrounds, different cultures, and that’s what makes us all unique,” Rollins says. “We can leverage those differences to accomplish more, and a way to do that is to use the GlobeSmart profile and understand how to better work with your peers and your colleagues – and how to understand how you might be able to bridge those gaps.”
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