How To Design & Deliver A Digital Program For First-Line Leaders

First-level leaders hold direct responsibility for the majority of a company’s employees as well as its day-to-day interactions with clients. Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill writes in her book Becoming a Manager, “Managers on the front line are critical to sustaining quality, service, innovation, and financial performance.” When it comes to developing this keystone group of leaders, times are changing fast. Gone are the days of one-and-done programs and boot-camp-style courses. In their place, a much more digital, flexible, and sticky style of development is on the rise.

Mike Kennedy, the SVP of Leadership Development at IPG Mediabrands, offers a master class example of this new approach. Kennedy came on board as head of leadership development in early 2022. With 500-600 new managers entering frontline leadership in the U.S. each year, he and his learning team set out to design and deliver a development program devoted to this audience.

Kennedy and team strove to address three key needs:

1. To shift away from classroom-only programs and toward something digital.
2. To establish a curriculum of topics and skills specific to first-line leadership.
3. To pull learning through using multiple touchpoints for each topic.

Here’s a breakdown of IPG Mediabrands’ approach to each of these three needs.

Need #1: A digital solution.

Kennedy knew he needed a digital leadership development program. He knew a digital program would better fit busy managers’ schedules. Also, in-person programs were being phased out as the pandemic had highlighted their flaws and made them less practical.

That said, he didn’t want the program to be entirely self-driven and interaction-less (as many digital solutions are). He and the team wanted it to be:

• Cohort-based for peer learning, support, and networking.
• A prescribed coaching plan where leaders work through critical topics at a predetermined pace.
• Expert-driven, where leaders learn from and work with expert coaches.

Solution #1: Roll out a digital platform + monthly group coaching.

Their approach was built firmly around a cohort-based, prescriptive learner journey. In four months, the cohort went through four core modules broken into ten subtopics.

Each topic covered included a tailored path through the digital platform followed by a live group coaching session. Kennedy described his decision to design the program this way, saying, “In the past, I have led two-day, in-person boot camps, but delivering a program that way is a matter of expediency, not sound learning practice. You push the cognitive load envelope, and you don’t take advantage of tactics like spaced repetition and retrieval practice.”

To take a more sound learning approach, the learning team designed a program that would leverage a digital platform for reinforcement and spaced learning. Over the course of a week, leaders engage with and practice the subject matter at least four times in bite-size chunks that fit naturally into the flow of work. Here are some of the main ways this approach helped reinforce learning for these first-line leaders to change behavior and build positive habits:

• Microlearning: Deliver the essential learning in a short, digestible video clip.
• Nudges: Start sending out a trickle of behavioral nudges. These are personalized and focus on quick, actionable tips. They are NOT pesky reminders.
• Reflection activity: A fillable form guides leaders to think deeply about their natural approach to feedback.
• Job aid + practice: Leaders are equipped with a job aid and begin to practice feedback.
• Group coaching session: The cohort comes together to talk shop, practice, and learn directly from an expert.
• Ongoing: Leaders could message directly with an expert coach on an as-needed basis. This way, leaders get immediate support when they inevitably run into challenges when applying what they have learned. They can ask detailed Qs, get advice, and run through role plays.

By putting together a digital program in this way, the learning team was able to keep the program cohort-based, prescriptive, and expert-driven.

Need #2: A curriculum of skills specific to first-line leaders.

When Kennedy first came on board to head up leadership development, the existing leadership development was “level agnostic,” or one-size-fits-all. “I saw a lot of disparity in the levels of content. Some courses were clearly intended for more senior audiences, like ‘Creating a Vision,’ and others were clearly for more junior audiences,” Kennedy explained.

To create something specific to this audience of new managers, Kennedy and team went back to the drawing board.

Solution #2: Design four critical modules and deliver them at a pace that fits busy leaders’ schedules.

The first thing they did was gather data from prospective participants, HR business partners, and the supervisors of these first-line leaders. Soon, they had a sense of:

• Areas where new managers felt unprepared
• Disconnect areas between new managers and their supervisors
• Essential skills for successful first-line leadership at IPG Mediabrands

Equipped with this knowledge, Kennedy established a curriculum of topics that are critical to effective frontline management. High level, the program would cover:

• Self-awareness
• Transition to manager
• Driving performance and development
• Building team leadership

Each of these four modules would include subtopics for a total of 10 critical topics.

In terms of cadence, they found that a four-month sprint worked best (pictured in the previous section). It struck the right balance between sound learning practice and the urgency of new managers’ schedules.

Need #3: Make learning stick (without overwhelming busy leaders).

When it came to learning reinforcement, Kennedy knew he had to strike a delicate balance with this audience. On the one hand, he needed to greatly increase the number of touchpoints and longevity of learning to make it stick (one-and-done classes were insufficient). On the other hand, his new managers had urgent schedules. Too much additional work would overload and overwhelm them.

Solution #3: Pull learning through with AI-powered, personalized nudges.

Essential to reaching these busy leaders in the flow of work were AI-powered, personalized nudges. Based on behavioral science and learning theory, the nudges are designed to engage leaders and trigger them to practice and apply what they learned.

Participants received three main types of nudges per week throughout the four-month program:

1. Coaching plan nudge: A one-sentence nudge that delivers an activity, exercise, or reflection. This helped keep leaders on track with their coaching plans and practice.
2. Personality nudge: Since new managers completed the Deeper Signals Core Drivers personality assessment, Kennedy leveraged nudges that were personalized to each leader’s assessment results. Specific tips and suggestions helped drive home core insights.
3. Supervisor nudge: The supervisors of each new manager also received nudges based on the results of that manager’s personality assessment. The nudges focus on how to best lead that person according to their personality.

One of the most common fears around nudges is that they will begin to feel like “nags” or “pesky reminders.” Kennedy addressed this concern, saying, “Previously, I was afraid to roll out nudges. I was worried people might take the suggestions personally or find them annoying. What I hear from people now is that the nudges are very welcome. The tips help reorient them to critical actions and habits, and they can feel it helping.”

AI-driven personalization of nudges helped make them feel less annoying and more helpful. Kennedy said, “The personalization of the nudges is terrific. It advances awareness both personally and with direct reports. I got one this morning that said: Remember, when you give feedback to [Sarah], she’s going to perceive it this way. [Sarah] perceives feedback the opposite of how I do, so it would have been easy for me to overlook without a nudge.”

The Early Results: High Learner Engagement

As the first wave of new managers finishes the program, the early results indicate a highly engaging and useful program:

• 98% of participants activated the digital platform
• 78% earned a digital Credly badge (completed 6+ digital coaching plans and attended at least 1 group coaching session)
• 76% attendance at group coaching sessions

Self-reported improvement and satisfaction are high, and qualitative feedback confirms that the digital program is addressing manager needs. Examples include:

• “The one-on-one topic was practical and helpful. It gave me language to use and questions to ask in my one-on-ones.”
• “The microlearning videos with interviews provided on-the-ground tips from real life.”
• “Getting us together in groups was extremely helpful to think through examples.”

By shifting the focus from in-person events to an ongoing system of learning in the flow of work, Kennedy and team were able to effectively engage first-line leaders and help them build positive habits around critical skills.

Kevin Kruse is the Founder + CEO of LEADx, scaling and sustaining leadership behaviors with behavioral nudges, micro-learning, and live cohort-based workshops. Kevin is also a New York Times bestselling author of Great Leaders Have No Rules, 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management, and Employee Engagement 2.0.