The Fujitsu Management Academy – Global approach with local flexibility

By Liz Burt, Communications Management

This article has served as basis for an newspaper article in Financial Times Monday March 19 2007

Fujitsu Services has launched an ambitious management development programme: the Fujitsu Management Academy involves 2,200 managers based in 13 different countries, participating in a single programme delivered in 11 different languages. The scale and scope of this programme has involved as many as 35 facilitators making use of web technology to ensure a common approach, programme and support materials are provided.

Fujitsu Services has worked in partnership with a range of organisations to assist in the construction and delivery of this extensive people development programme, including leadership specialists Mannaz, who called on the resources of over 350 development professionals and offer a multi-dimensional and global approach, particularly when compared with traditional management development solutions of business schools.

Fujitsu Services have made this major investment to develop their people managers, many of whom are primarily ‘technical experts’. Such a significant venture will improve individuals’ capacity and capability and ultimately contribute to the continued performance and growth of this 21,000 employee and £2.4billion business.

Local impact on a European scale

“We are a professional IT services organisation and as such we sell the quality, expertise and excellence of our people. In a market where we sell our integrity, professionalism and reputation we needed to invest in our people development to achieve our business goals. Many of our managers are technical experts by nature and in some cases will require people management training to ensure they are effective in these key roles,” says Ian Williams, Head of Organisation and People Development at Fujitsu Services.

“We ran a management development programme for our people managers about three years ago because we recognised a business need to support this group of employees. This programme was very much a ‘one size fits all’ approach and whilst it was successful in delivering knowledge and understanding, it was clear that the organisation would benefit from further and continued investment in its managers,” says Ian.

“I spent some time talking with key stakeholders, including senior management, employees and a number of external reference points, to identify where management development might make the most business impact. These investigations identified an obvious need to be ‘straighter’ with each other and have direct and appropriate conversations with colleagues, clients and stakeholders. Failing to have these difficult conversations can impede our ability to do business and needed to be addressed. There was also a need to invest in our company values and beliefs and recognise those that will differentiate Fujitsu Services in the market and from its competitors.”

“The Fujitsu Management Academy was born from these investigations and the resulting programme has a broad remit of what it will address over a three year period. It is certainly ambitious in its scope and we felt that the most appropriate solution for the programme was a consortium approach, working with Mannaz, Oxygen Learning, leadership and teamwork specialists, and Track Surveys, specialists in the 360-degree feedback process. Mannaz offers us a real understanding of leadership and its impact on the business and they have demonstrated a real ability to flex the structure of the programme to a particular cohort and their international expertise has enabled them to deliver successfully at a local level,” explains Ian.

According to Jeremy Hill, former managing director of Mannaz in London, a key partner in the programme design and delivery, “Fujitsu Services’ programme is about raising the bar on the organisation’s people management skills. Any technology-focused business, like Fujitsu Services, is about maintaining and improving performance and enabling the organisation to get more from its people without necessarily investing additional physical resources.”

A straightforward programme to match real business needs

“The Fujitsu Management Academy is certainly a far-reaching development programme that we have simultaneously rolled out and delivered across 13 locations and 11 languages in the UK and continental Europe,“ explains Paula Graham, Fujitsu Management Academy Programme Manager (UK, EMEA & Nordic).

“We are an intelligent organisation and our people need to be able to match the needs of the business and the challenges presented to them. Despite its size and geographical reach, the Fujitsu Management Academy is a straightforward programme that is driven by the needs of the business. Good people managers will enable us to become more effective as a business and we anticipate that the programme will grow and adapt with the changing business priorities and environment,” says Paula.

“Taking more than 2000 managers through the programme in their local language across most of Europe was a huge logistical exercise that required impeccable organisation and took the programme beyond a traditional business-school model or solution,” comments Jeremy Hill.

“The Fujitsu Management Academy is one of the first development programmes within the business that relates to and is applicable to all managers across Europe. This approach reflects one of our key business principles: over one-third of our employees are based outside the UK and this encompassing programme will enable a shared outlook and management values to emerge,” says Paula.

The rigorous and demanding Fujitsu Management Academy is built around three modules:

“There are a number of key aspects of the Fujitsu Management Academy that I think stand out and are particularly innovative,” comments Jeremy Hill. “The rigorous design of the programme, under quite stringent time constraints, demanded that the content have immediate relevance and impact to the business.”

“This was achieved due to the investment of a great deal of time up-front, for example, by interviewing line managers for case study material and creating role plays based on actual challenges that regularly confront people managers in the business. The result was the development of modules that link theory directly to the business context, have activity-based elements and which clearly demonstrate what constitutes best practice in a global company,” says Jeremy.

“The human element of the programme has also been a key feature. Without the dedication and professionalism of a mutually supportive project team, drawn from Fujitsu Services, Mannaz, Oxygen Learning and Track Surveys, the programme would not have been the success it has been and continues to be,” he says.

“Web-based technology for all the programme facilitators has also enabled the sharing of ideas. Continual minor adjustments to programme content and delivery has meant that the programme has and can be adapted to different country situations. Furthermore, we have a variety of measurement tools to gauge impact, quality and organisational shift, although a very simple endorsement of the Fujitsu Management Academy is that approximately 95% of all participants have said that they would recommend the programme to their colleagues,” says Jeremy.

Achieving personal impact and real insight

Kevin Hutchins is a Service Delivery Manager with Fujitsu Services and has completed Modules One and Two of the Fujitsu Management Academy. “Module One was all about challenging conversations and having the conversations that you don’t want to have but that are a key part of moving the business forward. I think that the messages in this Module were good ones and are a key Fujitsu business principle. I was subconsciously aware of the importance of doing this, but I think that the programme heightened my awareness of it. That’s one of the core elements of development programmes like this: you can get stuck in a routine so it’s good that these principles are reinforced and brought to the fore,” explains Kevin.

“Prior to Module Two all people managers participate in 360-degree feedback. Operating this type of feedback on such a massive scale certainly has the potential to create barriers to success – particularly when you consider that over 80% of Fujitsu Services employees will be touched by this appraisal process in some way – but even given the demanding timescales to complete this process and the different workplace cultures involved, there has been no backlash or negative response. I think this underlines how appropriate the programme content and design is to the organisation.”

“Module Two definitely made me focus on what I do and how I use my time on a day-to-day basis. Some of the activities during the Module encouraged me to review the activities I do each day and categorise them as, for example, people management or business development activities. Looking at my use of time in this way has enabled me to make choices about how I use my time and be more decision-led than reactive in what I do. As a result of the Module I also now spend at least half an hour each day on my personal knowledge acquisition which ensures I am more aware of sector and industry issues and as a result makes my interaction with customers more valuable,” says Kevin.

“The feedback from the 360-degree tool was excellent, well done and managed excellently. Module participants were brought together in a group that didn’t include our immediate colleagues, so we were able to discuss issues arising from the feedback in a secure and safe environment. The feedback I received was useful and insightful and has enabled me to reassess and refresh my approach to people management. I look forward to doing the 360-degree feedback at the end of Module Three to see how much things have changed,” he says.

Creating a one-company culture

Rob Pols is Country Operating Officer for Fujitsu Services in the Netherlands. He is a keen supporter of the Fujitsu Management Academy and has been involved in the pilot programmes, as well as a participant on Modules One and Two. “The Fujitsu Management Academy is a significant investment in development, but if you want to be the biggest player in the market you need to act as one company, not as separate country locations. To get this message out and chase the vision we need a reputation programme and people development programme to enable all employees to share a common language, management behaviours and attitude.”

“The subject of having difficult conversations gives you real insight into how you act as a manager and a colleague and gives you the opportunity to review how you respond to others. I think that many participants of the Fujitsu Management Academy found it insightful that there is a push to be so straight talking within the business and that they can see real benefits of this for the business.”

“The 360-degree feedback in Module Two was a good exercise and I think that the majority of participants regarded it as a valuable opportunity to understand their behaviours that other people see. Although they might have been aware of these behaviours at the back of their minds, it was refreshing for them to confront their behaviour and they were forced to think about changing them.”

“I think that delivering the Fujitsu Management Academy in the local language and at a local level was good and a positive thing for the company to do. The programme has certainly encouraged a more ‘one company’ culture and in Holland I have been conscious to emphasise when we talk about Fujitsu Services we are one unit, not individual operating countries: we may build teams locally, but we are part of a global company,” says Rob.

Delivering positive results and real business impact

“The Fujitsu Management Academy has enabled the business to introduce continuity and a strong European focus in our management development, creating a consistent and common language for people managers throughout the business” says Roger Leek, Fujitsu Services’ Group HR Director.

“By working in partnership with a selection of specialist organisations as opposed to working with a sole provider has meant that Fujitsu Services has been able to deliver a positive impact and value in terms of people development and ensure that we have a leading edge outlook in the market.“ says Roger.

“The Fujitsu Management Academy has enabled us to develop a performance culture throughout the organisation, in which we openly encourage and act on feedback to strengthen our leadership and support our management,” he says.

“Despite being midway through the programme, the results are already positive. We are starting to see different management behaviours and a readiness among the management population to have ‘difficult’ conversations with teams, colleagues and clients. I think this shows how the programme is impacting on individuals’ people management capabilities and addressing their varied needs,” comments Paula Graham from Fujitsu Services.

Ian Williams agrees: “The programme’s impact has been very positive from my point of view and the business has proved itself to be up to the challenge we presented them with. The anecdotal feedback we’ve had from participants, on their learning outcomes from the programme, for example, has been great and participants have easily been able to identify how the programme has impacted positively on their work. This type of informal feedback has been collated by the project team after every module and fed back to the Board, who are keen to know how the programme is affecting the business.”

“The evaluation of the programme is more sophisticated following Module Two because of the use of the 360-degree feedback. We have aligned the 360-degree tool and feedback to the business’ Reputation Programme, which communicates the organisation’s values and beliefs, as well as desired management behaviours and reputation-building factors to ensure it is wholly relevant to the needs of the business. To achieve a real understanding of how the programme has impacted on individuals and the business, the results of the Module Two 360-degree feedback will be compared to another 360-degree feedback undertaken at some point in the future and I look forward to seeing how our people managers have ‘moved’ in terms of their behaviour and their teams’ perception of this,” says Ian.