How Crayon Developed More Than 80 Future Talents Across Three Global Cohorts Through Practical Learning and Real Business Challenges
The short version.
Crayon (now SoftwareOne), a global software, cloud and IT services company, partnered with Innov8 to co-design and deliver its Global Empowerment Programme for emerging talent across multiple countries.
Crayon wanted to launch a global talent programme within just two months for participants from diverse roles, functions and countries. With many possible development topics but no clear learning architecture, the challenge was to create a focused programme that addressed the needs of the entire cohort while delivering measurable business value.
Working alongside the People & Culture team, we facilitated a short Design Thinking sprint using interviews, personas and co-creation workshops to identify the capabilities that mattered most. These insights shaped a practical five-month learning journey, combining virtual learning, coaching, peer collaboration and real business challenges.
To date, more than 80 participants have completed the programme across three global cohorts, achieving an overall participant satisfaction score of 4.83/5. Many participants have since progressed into leadership roles, while the programme received outstanding feedback from both participants and programme sponsors.
From concept to capability.
Understand the Need
Working closely with Crayon's Global People & Culture team, we explored the objectives of the programme and the challenges of creating a single learning journey for participants across diverse roles, markets and career paths. Through a rapid Design Thinking sprint, interviews and persona development, we identified the common capability needs that would have the greatest impact across the cohort.
Designing the Learning Journey
Using these insights, we co-created a five-month blended learning journey focused on the capabilities that mattered most. Together, we designed six connected learning modules, coaching sessions, regional learning groups and a real business challenge, creating a practical learning experience that balanced global consistency with local relevance.
Deliver & Apply
The programme combined virtual learning, individual coaching and in-person workshops. Rather than focusing on theory, participants applied their learning throughout the programme by collaborating on a strategic business challenge, culminating in presentations to executive leadership at Crayon's headquarters in Oslo.
Refine, Measure & Grow
Following each cohort, we worked closely with the programme sponsors to review participant feedback and continuously refine the learning journey. The programme achieved an overall participant satisfaction score of 4.83/5 and was successfully delivered across three global cohorts. One of its defining features—the team business challenge culminating in presentations to executive leadership—consistently received outstanding feedback and became a highlight of the learning experience.
By the numbers
The programme was designed in such a special way thanks to your contributions and the great teamwork of our team. The way you were able to share your knowledge and assimilate into the Crayon spirit and way of working was truly outstanding. We really enjoyed working with you and we look forward to many more projects in the future.
Thank you for this amazing collaboration! Thinking back to our brainstorming sessions and personas workshop almost a year ago and seeing how it all came together for the final module on-site with this outstanding group of participants—I just feel so grateful. Thank you!
You have made a significant impact on my learning journey. With your style of coaching and mentoring, you made the experience more valuable and supportive. Thank you for your knowledge and for enabling us to think creatively!
Thank you so much for facilitating all six training sessions with calmness, openness, structured methodology and flexibility. You were incredible!
I can't thank you and the team enough for this experience. It was fun, exciting and daunting at the same time, but your excellent guidance helped us shine. I feel like this isn't a goodbye—but an 'until next time'.
Services behind this engagement
Hover or tap a card to see how the service was applied on this engagement.
Leadership & Capability Development
Developing confident leaders and capable teams takes more than training alone. We design tailored leadership programmes, learning journeys, coaching and practical development experiences that build the competencies needed to lead, collaborate and grow.
Leadership & Capability Development
This was the primary service delivered throughout the engagement.
Learn more about this service ›Organisational Insights & Discovery
Every successful learning journey starts with understanding the current reality. We work with organisations to identify capability gaps, explore leadership and team needs, and design targeted development initiatives based on real organisational challenges.
Organisational Insights & Discovery
This was the secondary service delivered throughout the engagement.
Learn more about this service ›Create space for the conversations that matter.
The strongest teams don't just focus on what they deliver—they also invest in how they work together. If your team is ready to strengthen collaboration, communication and trust, let's explore how a tailored team development journey can help.
