Why we built our own manager development program at Oscar. | hioscar Blog | Oscar
Why we built our own manager development program at Oscar.
We believe that effective leadership is critical to our overall success as an organization and to achieving our goals.
Behind the ScenesOur Culture
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By April M. Anderson, Talent Development at Oscar Health
At Oscar, we believe that effective leadership is critical to our overall success as an organization and to achieving our ultimate goal of refactoring health care. We invest in our leaders by building the core skills and behaviors that have compounding effects. Our philosophy is that if you can get good at these core behaviors, then you can amplify other areas of performance, too!
In 2018, our employee growth rate averaged 31% and it would not be slowing down any time soon. Our less experienced managers were leading sizable teams without any formal training and we were at risk of increased communication breakdowns and overall employee disengagement. We knew we had to do something to support our future employees and maintain Oscar’s reputation as a best place to work. We also knew that strong management and leadership skills have long-term positive effects, including more satisfied employees, higher retention rates, and more impactful employee engagement. For Oscar, it was the perfect time to invest in our managers by developing them as humans and focusing on building core behaviors that continually attract and retain the best talent when practiced in an ongoing manner.
We designed Amplify, the first learning and development opportunity of its kind at Oscar, to focus on five key areas of development that we find to be pivotal for our people leaders:
When creating Amplify we set out to achieve four key objectives. First, we wanted to ensure managers were providing others with feedback that helped them improve performance. Feedback is a gift if given and asked for in the right way with the right aim in mind. Next, we wanted to ensure managers knew how to provide good opportunities for others to learn and grow at Oscar. This skill requires a strategic mindset and thoughtful partnerships. Third, we looked to Amplify to programmatically develop internal networks through cohort-based communities of shared knowledge and a deeper understanding of the work being done across the company. Spending time learning from others is part of the overall process. Finally, we wanted to build managers and leaders for the future. At such a fast growing company like Oscar, it’s essential that we are supporting our employees to lead Oscar into our next evolution.
Today, Amplify provides the space for people leaders to learn, practice, reflect and receive continuous feedback allowing for an on-going learning process to take shape. We’ve baked in accountability partners, expert-led lunch and learns, community touch-points and communication vehicles, such as a dedicated Slack channel, to support the learner’s continued growth. Compounding skills are great when they’re done well and can have negative effects when they aren’t. It’s imperative to keep the learning loop going as managers and leaders continue to face new challenges.
To date, we’ve Amplified over 200 managers! We consistently hear feedback from attendees about the value of spending time on manager development with a cohort of your peers, as there’s so much to learn from each other. Participants get as much out of the Amplify content as they do the relationships as real learning takes continued practice, reflection and feedback to make it stick. As we continue to grow and scale our team, it will be this team of people leading the way.
As a talent development leader, I am so proud of how far this program has come. There’s always a cohort of managers eagerly awaiting their opportunity to attend Amplify and we’ve been able to keep the learning going with Amplify “Lunch & Learns”, on-going opportunities to share challenges and communicate ah-ha moments through our Amplify slack channels, and an overall culture that values and respect the art of great people management. If you are working for a fast-paced, growth-stage startup like Oscar, I’d recommend you start thinking about building a program like Amplify to help your employees thrive for the long-run. Their happiness, leads to more productivity, and eventually the success of the company. Don’t estimate the power of leadership!
