Creating a Community for HeadHunter ➝

Context

HeadHunter, a#nbsp;big#nbsp;IT company, was interested in#nbsp;the professional growth of#nbsp;heads of#nbsp;all departments. HeadHunter’s L&D team wanted to#nbsp;work with#nbsp;the#nbsp;heads throughout the#nbsp;year to#nbsp;empower them.

The L&D team decided to#nbsp;create an#nbsp;expert community where the heads of#nbsp;departments could get instant feedback from their coworkers, discuss difficult cases, share best practice, get to#nbsp;know each other and strengthen their social relationships.

The community would also help the L&D team identify the learning needs of#nbsp;their internal customers at#nbsp;different stages of#nbsp;corporate life.

Objective

Create the#nbsp;environment for#nbsp;a#nbsp;self-learning community.

Who worked on the case: Julia Selezneva and Kristina Gegeliya

Research

A#nbsp;series of#nbsp;in-depth interviews with potential community participants: managers (HiPo) who had worked with the company for 1−10 years.

Research Goals

Identify the company’s key values for the community.
Understand the current communication structure among managers.
Explore working and non-working learning practices and self-development.
Gather expectations for the community.
Assess the company’s interest and desire to#nbsp;develop the community.

Solution

We#nbsp;designed a#nbsp;workshop based on#nbsp;research and held the workshop for managers, HRD and the head of#nbsp;the L&D team. During that workshop participants developed the concept, the strategy, and the implementation plan for a#nbsp;self-learning community.

Results

A#nbsp;2 strategic roadmap of#nbsp;a#nbsp;self-learning community for managers (HiPo).

The roadmap included values, rules of#nbsp;behavior, tone of#nbsp;voice, community manifesto, as#nbsp;well as#nbsp;administrative and organizational aspects: launch timeline, presence platforms, entry and exit points, community management team, event directory, launch costs calculation and carefully selected metrics for community success and health.

Additionally, we#nbsp;developed a#nbsp;unique positioning for internal communication: "We are not just building a#nbsp;community. We#nbsp;are transforming our team’s needs into relevant actions. We#nbsp;are helping our team stay flexible and build upon experience".

Feedback

"It was clear that our middle management had not upgraded their skills in a long time. So we wanted to train them and help them develop their people management skills.

We ran a mastermind group and realized that traditional training was outdated. Instead we decided to create a learning community. After joining that community our middle management could share their experience, help each other and learn in a new native way.

I brought this idea to LLLab because it is one of the most useful communities I have ever joined. Julia and Kristina proposed an inspiring and comprehensive strategy for launching the community. Now we can launch it any time".

Darya Barova, Head of T&D, HeadHunter

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