In an exciting development for HR and Learning & Development professionals, Culture Amp has announced a strategic partnership with LifeLabs Learning, a renowned expert in manager development. This collaboration aims to equip HR teams with the resources needed to effectively support and cultivate high-performing managers in today’s demanding work environment. The modern manager’s role has evolved significantly, requiring a new approach to leadership development, and this partnership is poised to deliver just that.
The contemporary manager is navigating unprecedented complexity. Beyond traditional responsibilities, managers are increasingly expected to address a wider range of employee needs and concerns. Studies indicate that approximately one-third of manager-employee conversations now delve into areas traditionally handled by HR. These conversations encompass critical topics such as employee mental health and wellbeing, navigating social justice issues, and understanding political sensitivities. Discussions around employee anxiety and fostering resilience have become commonplace in routine one-on-one meetings. All of this is layered on top of their existing duties, including individual meetings, strategic team planning, performance management, and reporting to senior leadership, creating an incredibly demanding and multifaceted role.
Traditional learning and development methodologies often fall short in preparing managers for these evolving challenges. While training videos or occasional workshops might offer temporary inspiration, they often fail to translate into lasting behavioral change. Unless learning is seamlessly integrated into a manager’s daily workflow and consistently reinforced, it risks becoming just another item on an already overflowing to-do list. This is where a more impactful and practical approach is needed to truly develop effective leadership skills.
This is precisely where Lifelabs Learning steps in to revolutionize manager development. LifeLabs Learning has dedicated itself to identifying the essential skills that differentiate exceptional managers. Comprised of over 100 specialists, LifeLabs Learning collaborates with organizations globally, providing a curriculum grounded in scientific research and validated through real-world industry application. Their mission is to make high-quality training and development solutions readily accessible and scalable for organizations of all sizes. Through rigorous research into the behaviors of highly successful managers, LifeLabs Learning has pinpointed the key attributes and practices that contribute to outstanding leadership. Their approach focuses on “tipping point skills”—small, targeted behavioral adjustments that yield significant improvements in both performance and employee engagement. These are actionable skills that managers can quickly learn and implement to create a substantial positive impact within their organizations in a short timeframe.
These critical skills encompass areas such as effective coaching techniques, providing constructive feedback, mastering prioritization strategies, and conducting impactful one-on-one meetings. By integrating LifeLabs Learning’s research-backed methodologies, expert instruction, and live training programs with Culture Amp’s robust diagnostic tools, measurement capabilities, and reinforcement technology, a comprehensive and scalable solution for manager development has emerged.
The integrated approach to manager development can be effectively broken down into a five-step process:
- Build the Case: Initiate the process by leveraging existing feedback mechanisms, such as employee survey results, peer feedback, or performance reviews, to pinpoint specific areas where manager development is most needed within the organization.
- Identify a Focus: Utilize AI-powered algorithms to analyze feedback data and recommend specific, targeted areas for individual manager improvement. This includes identifying the relevant “tipping point” skills that will facilitate growth in those areas.
- Learn the Skill: Activate Culture Amp’s Skills Coach, which is underpinned by LifeLabs Learning’s scientific research and practical expertise. To amplify the learning experience, organizations can also incorporate LifeLabs live training sessions to accelerate skill development and provide a more interactive learning environment.
- Apply in Practice: Encourage the practical application of newly acquired skills through daily micro-learnings delivered via Skills Coach. These brief, two-minute exercises serve as daily reminders, prompting managers to actively implement their new skills in their daily interactions and workflows.
- Sustain Behavior: Reinforce newly developed behaviors through ongoing prompts and reminders from Skills Coach throughout each month. This spaced repetition, combined with Culture Amp’s guided one-on-one meeting tools and continuous feedback features, helps managers solidify their new skills, making them an integral part of their regular management practices.
This innovative manager development loop moves beyond generic, pre-recorded training modules that may not align with a manager’s specific development needs. Instead, it delivers a personalized coaching experience grounded in core behavioral science principles. Managers not only learn new skills but are also actively prompted to practice and refine them over time. Furthermore, the micro-learning format is designed to seamlessly integrate into busy schedules, requiring only a few minutes per day and delivered directly through platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email. Early results have been overwhelmingly positive, with 94% of initial Skills Coach users reporting improved management skills and enhanced team leadership effectiveness after completing their first course. This positive impact is also recognized by their peers, with 68% of peers observing positive behavioral improvements in participating managers.
According to Laura Nichols, Learning & Organizational Development at HelloFresh, “We’re so excited that Culture Amp and LifeLabs Learning are partnering. Not only are they both a wonderful fit for our fast-paced culture here at HelloFresh, but this is going to allow us to give our employees access to more high-quality and relevant leadership development content from LifeLabs Learning throughout many of their regular touchpoints with the Culture Amp platform.”
To discover more about how to accelerate your manager development programs through the combined power of Culture Amp and LifeLabs Learning, we encourage you to explore the available resources.
