Powering an Innovative Employee Engagement Strategy at Keysight Technologies
Keysight utilized ExecOnline Coaching to rapidly increase the capability of key managers to engage their teams.
Keysight Technologies is no stranger to innovation. Some of the world’s best-known companies rely on Keysight’s cutting-edge solutions to power product design, manufacturing, and testing. The company employs a global workforce of forward-thinking tech and engineering professionals.
To maintain their strong employee retention rate amid volatile dynamics in the larger talent market, Keysight met the moment with an innovative approach to developing managers.
The Challenge
Engage employees with the statistically highest risk of turning over
Keysight has long benefitted from high employee retention rates due to a strong company culture. However, as the effects of the “Great Resignation” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic made ripples in the broader talent market, Keysight’s talent team proactively sought solutions to keep their strong talent pipeline intact.
Through in-depth data analysis, Keysight leaders identified employee groups with the highest risk of turnover in their first five years, which included Gen Z and Millennial workers. They needed a solution to ensure these valuable talent groups stayed engaged — and they needed it fast to stay ahead of the curve.
“Given the climate, we were very clear that the solution needed to deliver results quickly,” said Leslie Camino, senior director of corporate leadership development and culture at Keysight. “We didn’t have the luxury of implementing a six-month or nine-month program with multifaceted components. We wanted a focused audience and outcome, as well as a focused timeframe.”
The Solution
ExecOnline worked closely with Keysight to provide flexible, one-on-one coaching for leaders managing teams of employees at a higher risk of turning over.
Keysight conducted additional data analysis to identify managers with the largest number of direct reports who fell into the at-risk turnover groups. The goal was to support these leaders with individualized coaching to help them engage their teams. Keysight sought out a fast, targeted solution that could scale to reach their managers across the globe.
They leveraged ExecOnline’s 90-day, one-on-one new manager coaching program for leadership development. Keysight had previously partnered with ExecOnline to implement a program developing high-potential employees. Based on the success of that initiative, Keysight was confident that ExecOnline’s flexible coaching solution would deliver rapid results across their globally distributed cohort of managers.
“We needed a partner that could support a range of leadership capabilities across a global group of managers,” said Camino. “For some, English was their second language and they had never had a leadership coach before. We decided to work with ExecOnline because their coaches are a diverse group of experienced educators with global expertise.”
Once ExecOnline matched managers with coaches, they assessed the Keysight leaders’ capabilities and built customized plans to further develop managers’ skill sets via real-world deliverables.
The Impact
New manager development and coaching led to higher employee engagement.
The coaching program quickly delivered results. An impressive 96% of participants confirmed they applied learnings from the coaching sessions to their daily responsibilities, and 90% reported improvements in their job performance.
At the end of the 90 days, managers expressed gratitude for having an ally to help them navigate real-world challenges and day-to-day obstacles. Some even asked for extensions of their coaching program.
“It was a big hit. They felt supported; they felt seen,” said Camino. “They were given valuable tools in their moment of need.”
The Takeaway
Employee retention starts with managers.
Frontline managers play a significant role in helping retain employees under their supervision. One-on-one coaching is a rapid, high-impact way to develop managers and build their capabilities to engage and retain their teams.
Forward-thinking companies can leverage coaching to quickly address potential workforce and leadership challenges on the horizon — before they become a problem.
Learn more about ExecOnline’s approach to enhancing leadership development through flexible online coaching solutions.