Evolving commercial capabilities following an acquisition

Client need

A German-based Crop Science organization needed to implement changes to its commercial strategy following an acquisition of another agricultural organization.

The newly combined organization’s overall goal of providing the best possible customer experience remained the same; but with an enlarged portfolio, changing organizational structures, and new strategic processes to implement, its people required additional support to execute strategic change.

The organization’s leadership team had previously partnered with BTS to build commercial capabilities in its people through in-person learning programs. Now, post-acquisition, the organization’s change and transformation teams needed to intensify the global reach of its learning programs and redefine commercial capabilities for a new era, but in a manner that remained relevant to individuals at every level and locale. Thus, the organization continued its partnership with BTS by designing a new digital learning solution for its commercial teams.

Solution

The organization’s change and transformation teams and BTS facilitators defined 22 new commercial capabilities, embedding them into a streamlined e-learning platform accessible by at least 7,800 people via their desktop and mobile devices.

These commercial capabilities — which comprised sales, marketing, and market development competencies — were region- and function-specific. They were also tailored to three types of learners: global and regional leadership teams, regional stakeholders, and end-users. The overall digital learning program intended to:

• Provide clear, role-specific expectations to each person
• Maximize customer value and success through efficient knowledge sharing
• Foster a culture of active, agile, and continuous up-skilling and development

Individuals built capabilities by progressing through the following pages on the platform:

1. Commercial capability frame: Tutorials, platform information, and general tips.
2. My learning journey – status: A hub for progress reports.
3. My selected function/archetype: Specifying one’s role through the following sub-pages.
4. Self-assess your level: Identifying current proficiencies.
5. My learning journey: A personalized sampling of development content.
6. Competencies for my function/archetype: Additional topics recommended for those in a specific role.
7. Commercial fundamentals and Content recommended to me: Additional topics recommended for all people in the organization.

BTS facilitators collaborated closely with the organization’s cultural change and transformation teams to deploy the digital learning program in a very short timeframe.

Results

So far, measurement has consisted of collecting information about the individuals who participated in the learning program. The learning program has ultimately reached over 15,000 individuals, 50.98% of whom logged in from EMEA, 18.69% from NAFTA, 16.78% from LATAM, and 13.54% from APAC. Currently, facilitators are measuring progress according to The Kirkpatrick Model of Four Levels of Learning Evaluation, and have also recorded the following measures of learning engagement:

• 13,000 performance searches
• 310,395 total clicks
• 3,316 program downloads
• An average session duration of 7.3 minutes

The facilitation team is continuously improving the e-learning platform with new content topics and essential features that learners can access in increasingly convenient ways.