AB InBev: A Virtual Leadership Development Case Study

About

Leading @AB InBev was a business-critical program that closely aligned with AB InBev’s 10-year plan to Lead Future Growth.

A global face-to-face program was developed in 2015 but as the landscape of 2020 began to unfold in the face of COVID-19, the decision was made to re-develop the program to a fully virtual delivery format.

Using virtual delivery methods, AB InBev needed to transition and deliver a world-class program that would not only move their leaders forward in their ability to lead, but also empower them to think differently about the future needs of the business.

The resulting program is an innovative, fully virtual senior leadership solution, targeted at AB InBev’s Band 5 employee population, who are made up of senior managers from across all functions in the business.

Objective

The objectives of Leading @AB InBev are to empower people and elevate their confidence, enabling them to lead powerful teams.

Working in partnership, Impact conducted interviews with key stakeholders to generate specific and valuable outcomes and define the agreed purpose of the program.

Rooted in Emotional Intelligence, participants explore the concept of leadership action to build capabilities and enhance team performance. The aim is to provide leaders with the tools and opportunities to:

Build emotional and social intelligence
Enhance team performance
Advance coaching skills
Deepen understanding of the AB InBev Leadership Capability Framework
Develop agile leadership capability
Increase awareness of bias and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)

Solution

Leading @AB InBev is designed to embody the organization’s driving mission of Dream Big, Develop People and Live their Culture.

The program consists of a mixture of methodologies, including experiential learning, leadership action, VUCA and being agile, and coaching. The curriculum is elevated by adding Emotional Intelligence (EI), which serves as a red thread throughout the program.

Participants engage with each other across multiple avenues in the virtual space. Development groups allow for colleagues to build rapport, and peer-to-peer learning provides a hands-on approach for participants to share and engage with the learning. The program is split across six sessions, with a ‘plaza café’ style break between each, which encourages participants to network and dive deeper into the learning together.

The experiential learning approach is varied, with a combination of skills sessions, short videos, and active virtual tools that keep participants engaged. The program culminates with a generative dialogue session in which participants share current EI challenges and seek advice from peers.

Result

For this programme, AB InBev and Impact won a coveted silver Brandon Hall award for best advance in leadership development.

Net Promotor Score: +64

100% of participants found the course materials useful for their learning.
93% of participants identified learning from the program that could be incorporated into their personal development plan.
100% of participants either agreed or strongly agreed that, overall, the program was valuable for their role.

Leading @AB InBev has been such a success that another program has already been initiated with Impact, which continues to honour the adoption of Emotional Intelligence and has an even greater focus on DEI. This will allow AB InBev to further drive their employer brand, maximize their leadership, and bring to life their goals for the future.