Not every manager is trained for their role. Many are elevated to the position without any formal guidance, and are forced to navigate the job alone—to the detriment of their direct reports. But one company has a popular crash-course program teaching supervisors how to lead.
Canva launched its own internal learning and development strategy called the Leadership Academy in April 2023. The 12-week “coach essentials” course is available to all middle-managers at the 5,000-employee company, and teaches skills like delivering actionable feedback, managing hybrid teams, and building trust among staffers. There are several ways supervisors can learn, from virtual classes, to peer-to-peer sessions with Canva’s people leadership executives. So far coach essentials has been well received by managers with a sky-high 92% NPS score: a type of user approval rating.
Sarah Nanclares, global head of people at Canva, tells Fortune the idea for the Leadership Academy came about by listening to employees. From one of the company’s bi-annual pulse surveys, they found that managers needed a lot more tangible help when it came to leading teams. When creating the course materials, Canva was sure to encompass the entirety of the talent cycle—from onboarding, all the way through the end of a staffer’s stay at the company.
One of the biggest concerns Canva initially heard from managers was about leading through change—whether that be the dawn of AI or navigating a shifting DEI climate. People were also struggling with how to lead different generations; for instance, supervising a Gen Z staffer is different than managing a boomer. For younger staffers in particular, it’s important that “they don’t just feel like a cog in a wheel, but like a real integral part of what the company is building.”
Nanclares says that the Leadership Academy is core to Canva’s overall talent strategy. After all, managers have an outsized effect on employee experience, and therefore engagement and retention.
“The [Leadership Academy] makes sure that everyone has all of the context, all of the information they need to really lead their teams incredibly effectively,” she says. “Information can get bottlenecked if you’re not really intentional.”
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
Today’s edition was curated by Brit Morse.
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