The Training Award: AXA PPP Healthcare

The rules of attraction

In a market where employees are constantly moving to rival competitors, training continues to be viewed as a priority for all insurance companies. Despite a commitment to delivering training on an ongoing basis, it has often been a burden for many firms due to time constraints and costs. In addition, the insurance sector is now faced with further consideration relating to the Financial Services Authority's requirements for training and competence. Despite this, many companies are aware that they need to offer an attractive career development path for their employees - and training is a fundamental part of that.

The winner of this year's award for training, AXA PPP Healthcare, not only realised the almighty task behind the training responsibilities of companies but also the risks surrounding the effectiveness of traditional training methods. AXA PPP believed that many of these traditional training techniques were accompanied by a growing weariness with questionnaires and online learning, plus a reluctance to take employees away from their everyday duties. Therefore, it sought a solution that was more innovative, economical and engaging.

Project Julie was a company-wide initiative that looked to promote awareness of employment law, employee diversity, key procedures and appropriate conduct. In particular, it addressed a range of issues in relation to bullying, harassment and religious discrimination. What made it stand out was the original way in which this was approached.

Mixed-media approach

Project Julie was, on the face of it, a mixed-media approach to raising awareness of the significant aspects of employment law and company procedure. While AXA PPP admitted that this was an exercise with potential to be as costly as it could be dull, it maintained that it needed an unorthodox approach. This approach centred around a selection of live drama techniques, combined with a variety of intranet-based facilities, and a wide range of unorthodox promotional and marketing activities.

Over 10 days, the project played out a fictitious series of events concerning an imaginary employee, Julie Scumming, that were drip fed as a gradually unfolding story. The exercise was primarily communicated through AXA PPP's intranet, as well as less formal and traditional methods of interaction, including the use of professional actors to perform video-based elements and live drama within the company's offices.

Through daily-released diary entries - punctuated by staged breaches of security by actors playing Julie's family - dummy tabloid articles, faked pictures of graffiti on the Midlands sales offices, stand-up rows in the canteen, Julie's story unfolded in a manner that led her to take out a claim against the company on the grounds of religious discrimination. Events climaxed in a mock employment tribunal, reported to all employees on the intranet and staged live for line-managers.

Employees got involved, mainly through online voting areas and discussion forums, where they were able to influence the story. By the time the mock tribunal was staged, few in the company were unaware of the underlying issues that led to the situation, and most had considered how they felt it would, and should, conclude. While the events leading up to the tribunal had been engineered and scripted, the tribunal chairman and panel were not following a script.

The end result was a partial victory for the claimant, which sparked continued debate among staff at all levels and it has remained embedded in the minds of the majority of employees.

The project has already generated substantial amounts of positive media coverage, and won the Chartered Institute of Professional Development Award for Innovation in Training and Development. Apart from this award, it is difficult to talk about Project Julie in terms of it being benchmarked against external standards set, as this type of initiative has never been attempted before.

According to AXA PPP, the project generated impressive awareness by getting employees to actively consider a plethora of issues surrounding the relationships within companies. In a workforce numbering less than 2000, the online poll on the tribunal verdict alone got in excess of 1200 intranet hits.

The approach meant costs and disruption were minimal but employee engagement appeared optimal. In a survey conducted afterwards, 78% of respondents believed they knew considerably more about the support that was available to them in situations involving bullying or discrimination; 93% professed an increased awareness of discrimination issues; and 79% expressed an interest in learning more about employment law.

The main reason for Project Julie was for employees of AXA PPP to debate what it means to be a responsible employer and employee. More cynically, perhaps, AXA PPP Healthcare admitted that should it ever have a tribunal claim taken out against it with regard to an area of employment law, it is hard to imagine a more impressive opening to a defence than to cite Project Julie.

FINALISTS 2007
- AI Claims Solutions
- AXA PPP Healthcare
- Garwyn