Established in 1999, WW Academy is the group’s strategic educational institution. It tailors learning and development programmes which help to ensure that employees can reach WW’s commercial goals and satisfy customer requirements. WW invests through the WW Academy in human capital. Competent personnel are regarded as a strategic competitive advantage, based on the conviction that companies and businesses with the ablest people are those which will succeed in future.
Educational programmes offered to employees by WW Academy are tailored to a person’s career and work. Courses cover such topics as shipping, sales, project and process management and leadership. A master’s programme in innovation and management is also being run in cooperation with the Norwegian School of Management. Comprising four modules, this is taken in Oslo, Singapore and San Francisco respectively.
eLearning
The WW Academy uses a combination of traditional classroom teaching and eLearning, this combination is known as blended learning.
A Learning Management System (LMS) (online portal), is used to distribute eLearning programmes which can be accessed by all WW employees. Management reporting is available through the LMS. Through a virtual community, course participants can collaborate over assignments, hold discussions and receive guidance before, during and after workshops.
Completing eLearning modules prior to taking part in classroom training gives the participants a common knowledge platform as the basis for further learning. In addition, they are better prepared and more motivated.
At the same time, eLearning provides new opportunities to create good communication in the organisation when changes need to be made. This form of education has become a natural part of WW’s approach to implementing new ideas and solutions.
Increasing multicultural expertise
Since WW Academy’s launch in 1999, over one thousand employees from the WW group has taken part in its programmes. WW wishes to expand the target audience to include other companies in the group, including WW’s partners, in addition to the eLearning programmes available to all employees.
Lectures on subjects specific to WW are given by key in-house personnel, while external lecturers are used to cover more generic subjects such as strategy and communication.
The WW Academy helps to enhance the multicultural expertise of group employees. Its global scope and cultural diversity make this a unique institution. Courses are held in such locations as Singapore, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Zeebrugge in Belgium, Zeist in the Netherlands, Baltimore in the USA, and in Norway.
The average number of nationalities represented at each programme is 15. The educational part of a programme will be supplemented by social events intended to build relationships across national borders, develop multicultural understanding, boost knowledge of different business areas in the group and – not least – establish a shared cultural diversity within WW.
WW Academy also provides an arena for developing relationships and networks which often prove to be of great importance for participants in their future work with the group. New business opportunities and ideas are hatched when people from various parts of the organisation and from different cultures and nations participate in shared learning experiences. And the academy contributes not least to strengthening WW’s culture and identity.
Managers of personnel who have attended learning programmes play a key role in the wake of such programmes, since the object is to see specific behavioural changes and results. In addition to expectations of new behaviour, the manager will support further learning by following up and providing suitable tasks in relation to the individual’s competence.
Development of WW Academy is closely monitored by an advisory board, and group CEO Ingar Skaug chairs this advisory board. New courses are developed by project teams in which specialists, leaders and pedagogic advisors are represented to ensure that programmes satisfy the WW group’s learning requirements.