Announcing A New Chapter in Fostering a Culture of Learning at Adobe
The world is changing rapidly as digital continues to shape how we connect and engage at work and play. Organisations that want to excel in this dynamic environment must be proactive about building the workforce of the future – giving employees the support, resources and latest technologies they need to be successful in today’s hybrid work setting. In addition, they should create a culture of continuous learning and collaboration where everyone’s voice is valued. By investing in its people, companies can cultivate a workforce that is performing at the highest level and ready to conquer the challenges of tomorrow.
At Adobe, we know we have the best and brightest talent in the world. As we think about how to deliver a world-class experience for our employees, we’re focused on ways we can scale our talent development programs with the north star of making Adobe the best place for everyone to learn, grow their careers and make an impact by doing their career-best work. Today, we are proud to announce two new initiatives that will help us towards this goal.
New Ways to Empower Our People Leaders
Our people leaders are at the heart of delivering a great employee experience every day, embodying our values and serving as anchors of stability for their teams. We are only able to be on the bleeding edge of innovation thanks to our employees and the people leaders who encourage, organise and inspire them daily.
A recent report by UKG found that managers have a greater influence on an employee’s mental health than doctors or therapists. It’s clear that people leaders are the lens by which employees see their organisation, and having a great manager can be hugely important to the health of the company. But great managers are not created in a vacuum; they must be supported and encouraged as well. And a number of studies have shown that burnout is hitting people leaders after they have spent recent years guiding their teams through the global pandemic, leading the charge for implementing new ways of hybrid work and navigating increasing business demands, often with fewer resources.
The research shows what may seem intuitive: A workforce is at its best when it has happy, healthy people leaders setting the tone. That’s why this year, we’re strategically investing in our thousands of people leaders globally with new and expanded programs, as well as coaching and resources to help them grow their skills, better support their teams and raise the bar in all areas of work.
Core to this is our new Adobe Leader Experience, a quarterly, “learn it when you need it” sequenced training for our people leaders that clearly and practically defines how to be a great people leader at Adobe. This cornerstone program provides people leaders with coaching, access to on-demand sessions, curated hub of people manager resources and peer-networking activations to empower them to become the best people leader possible. The sessions are focused on key leadership qualities that our founders Charles Geschke and John Warnock have identified as essential to drive maximum business impact and scale. They’re also tightly integrated with Check-in timeline and thematically connected to our recently unveiled company values, including guidance for inspiring employees to raise the bar, giving genuine and effective feedback, creating high-performing team dynamics and rewarding performance based on contribution.
The first sessions of the Adobe Leader Experience kicked off this spring with a focus on teaching people leaders how to set quality, impactful goals that are aligned to our business priorities and raise the bar for their teams. Following the sessions, people leaders were able to apply their learnings as part of Q1 Check-in conversations around helping their employees set effective goals for the year that include both individual business goals, as well as professional development goals. The first set of sessions sparked stellar feedback from people leaders as they allowed them to immediately incorporate what they learned from Leader Experience as part of Check-in conversations, which helped increase our Check-in completion rate to 95% in Q1.
Launching Our First Career Fest Globally
I’m also excited to share details about how we’re helping our employees build new skills, connections and ideas at our first ever global Career Fest, which kicks off today.
During Career Fest, Adobe employees will have access to two days of inspiring speakers, hands-on workshops, and engaging in-person networking events, all designed to help them own their personal development and career growth. The workshops that make up Career Fest are based on direct feedback and input from our employees about the skills, knowledge, and experience they’re looking for to help them do their best work and love their job. For our inaugural year, the sessions will focus on a myriad of topics ranging from mastering the art of communication to bolstering everyday resilience, to making meaningful connections with people across our businesses, and more.
Drawing from the success of tentpole employee events such as Adobe for All Week, we have seen firsthand how collective experiences can strengthen connections and build community. With Career Fest, our hope is to inspire employees to take a pause from their day-to-day work to invest in themselves and their careers and come together to celebrate the joy of working at Adobe.
Closing Thoughts
Adobe’s 40-year track record of innovation, transformation and continuous reinvention didn’t happen by accident. It’s a result of our unwavering focus on our employees, rooted in the belief that our people are our most important asset. I’m excited to come together with my team to introduce a bold new approach to talent development with a strong focus on curating powerful connections, empowering our employees to build their dream career, and helping to propel the business forward.