Agents at this organization are required to provide inclusive and culturally sensitive service to customers and counterparts both locally and globally. The agency came to Aperian Global with the desire to expand and improve cultural learning and training programs.
— Member of Agency Leadership
Aperian Global consultants conducted diagnostic interviews with leaders and managers across agency programs. The following high-level needs were discovered:
The agency could only offer a very limited number of employees cross-cultural training with their in-person facilitation format. As almost all agency work has an international component, the organization set a goal to make cross-cultural training available to all employees.
By moving from in-person training to the GlobeSmart online learning platform, the whole organization was able to achieve access to valuable international and cultural awareness training.
Interviews and exploration indicated a consistent lack of understanding of all the parties involved in getting agency work done. Findings also showed that employees often struggled to see beyond the silo of their agency work and failed to see the bigger picture of connections to other linked organizations.
To help employees understand the bigger picture of agency work on a global scale, we developed the custom eLearning module [Agency’s Name] at Work Internationally. This module provides an overview of all organizational programs, safety protocols and policies for traveling internationally, and why collaboration with other agencies is critical.
Many employees lacked a baseline understanding of self in terms of how they came across in communication via email and teleconference; what biases they had, and their personal work style preferences. We developed several learning components to help prepare staff members to act as responsible global agents:
A general lack of protocol, including cultural-specific protocol, led to a lack of consistency in actions across employees. Several learning components were established that covered best practices for effectively communicating, negotiating, and trading with international partners. With all employees having access to such training, more consistent employee behaviors were able to emerge. Training segments included:
The agency has a strategic goal to promote domestic products and expand international trade opportunities. Learning components were developed to address this objective and expand employee understanding of international trade policy, equipping them to have more productive trade discussions:
To help develop the next succession of agency leaders, several targeted training components were created:
“The agency has reported positive long-term outcomes including improved employee work performance based on a stronger capacity to facilitate business on an international scale, due to the skills gained and knowledge learned through this program.”
— Member of Agency Leadership
Over the last four years, 1,300 agents were trained through engaging learning experiences, practical research, and impactful online tools that drove meaningful behavior change. This behavior change has empowered employees to be professional global representatives of the agency while at home and abroad.
Here’s what one participant had to say about the program:
“Aperian Global and this training have been one of the best experiences I have had in my almost thirty years of service. I wish we had the opportunity to have this type of training many years ago, but it is never too late to learn new skills. Thank you for this training opportunity. Your team has done an excellent job!”
Out of a sample of 231 federal agency training participants:
