‍What is the background to the 1 month 1 skill initiative launched at Pierre Fabre?

Our ambition at Pierre Fabre is to develop a learning corporate culture. With this in mind, we have launched the 1 Month 1 Skill project, during which a theme is given pride of place, and several training courses linked to this theme are organized and open to all employees. In addition to 1 month, 1 skill, we have created the "Instant formation" event, an inspiring one-hour webinar where experts come to talk about their subjects and answer employees' questions. It was in this context of corporate learning and the 1 Month 1 Competence scheme that we approached NUMA, as we had identified that the distanced, pragmatic and short format would work well for Pierre Fabre employees. One of the strengths of NUMA workshops is that they deal with specific skills and situations.

How do you identify which skills are highlighted each month?

Several things come into play when defining the year's themes. First of all, the needs and issues on which we are collectively expected to act, which are intrinsically linked to the company's strategy. Secondly, as we are in contact with managers and employees, we rely on the needs identified and/or reported by the teams to ensure that the training courses meet an existing need and improve not only collective performance, but also the daily lives of employees.

What were the objectives of the training?

The strength of events such as 1 Month, 1 Skill and Training Instant is that they are aimed at all employees without distinction.

We want to show and demonstrate that skills development is certainly a matter of training, but it is not the only one. Our macro objective is to cultivate the curiosity of employees, to invite them to take the reflex and impose a certain learning discipline on themselves. Our message at the launch of the initiative was: take the time. Take the time to participate in webinars on the topics that interest you and that you want to grow in. 

As for the themes and training courses themselves, the objective was to allow them to choose their sessions independently and to take back control of their learning with as few constraints as possible.
 

What specific needs did your company have? How did NUMA manage to adapt to it?

Traditionally, at Pierre Fabre we tended to start with the collection of needs (by the manager), and in the end most of the training courses were subject to validation by the managers and HR staff, which also led to a certain delay between this collection and the training itself. In order to instill the culture of a learning company, we would like to move towards: on our side, the presentation of training opportunities and on the side of the participants, the choice of their training (content, timing and methods), and therefore the choice of not systematically taking the prism of business priorities and the issues of the moment, but sometimes out of pure personal interest for the subject. 

However, this change means that we need to review the communication around the training offer, to ensure that we provide information at the right time and in the right way. For example, we organized a Skill Week last year to publicize the implementation of the programs and to showcase the skills catalog.

Your initial vision for success? Beyond the partnership with NUMA, what did you want participants to remember and implement?

We wanted to offer employees a response to the very precise and specific problems they encounter in their daily lives, all in a short and actionable format. As they already have several long courses in-house, not all employees may have the time or desire to devote entire weeks to improving their skills on other topics. 

Our vision of success was that they would be enthusiastic about the idea of freeing up 2 hours in their schedules to progress on a particular exercise on which they felt they were stuck. And it works, they really like to think that in 2 hours they will be ready to respond in a pragmatic way to an identified challenge.

What did you enjoy most about working with the NUMA team through the program?

I personally have a very good relationship with the 3 people in charge of the project at NUMA. I appreciate being regularly informed of the proposed new features and feel free to say if it is not the right time or if they are not identified topics, which is very pleasant.

NUMA is always looking for solutions to enrich its offer and meet our specific needs, which makes it an organization that listens to companies and the market.

What was the most important aspect of the program for your employees? What benefits do you perceive?

The participants appreciated being accompanied by coaches with experience of the company, its workings and its problems. Above all, what convinced them was the fact that they could project themselves onto concrete cases that spoke to them. You only have to look at the waiting lists we have for certain themes, such as Influence. It's clear that word-of-mouth is paying off!
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3 words to describe your collaboration with NUMA?

Fluid, Transparent and Trusted.