OI Academy is our home-grown leadership development programme.
First launched in 2018, the goal is to nurture our future leaders by developing participants’ individual and professional skills as well as their executive presence. Now we have relaunched the programme as OI Academy 2.0, together with The DO School and 16 OI participants from across our global locations.
OI Academy participants are assigned to tackle a tangible OI organisational challenge. This year, they will take it on by applying their existing and newly acquired skills developed over three workshops, and through constant collaboration. The first workshop will be held online and begins today Tuesday, March 2.
Real Problems, Real Solutions
OI Academy enables participants to tackle a real challenge that has a direct relation to OI’s core business functions, and it enables them to see the solutions they propose be fully implemented.
In 2018, the first OI Academy cohort proposed setting up iData, a transparent, centralised OI vendor and sourcing knowledge pool. With iData our merchandisers can now easily find the perfect match for our customer orders anywhere within our global sourcing network.
iData helped facilitate our customer-centric and global transformation, and this year’s challenge is about solidifying it. This year’s participants will discover their challenge during the first workshop.
Working with each other and The DO School
DO School facilitators and our own People Development Team will facilitate this meaningful 9-month learning journey together. The DO School’s international team empowers companies and individuals to gain new skills and mindsets to solve the big problems of our time.
For Katherin Kirschenmann, The DO School’s Founder and Managing Director, collaborating on OI Academy 2.0 is a perfect opportunity for the current moment: “This past year has shown the need for leaders to be able to quickly adapt to change, to find ways to positively collaborate and lead online and to use purpose to align and motivate their teams.
“We are therefore excited to co-create and deliver OI Academy 2.0 in a hybrid format which will ensure participants can take the most out of the experience and apply all they learn to their own dynamic work settings.”
We are equally excited to be working with The DO School again on this major initiative.
Preparing for the First Workshop
To set our participants up for the first workshop, our People Development Team sent out a welcome package with essential supplies and a few extra treats:
Along with writing equipment and a “Do Not Disturb” sign, participants also received motivational notes and Bingo cards they will use in the first workshop.
In our next OI Academy 2.0 update we will introduce our participants from all over OI and hear their thoughts on the beginning of the project. Stay tuned for more!
