Autodesk wanted to provide individualized support to their employees
Autodesk, headquartered in California, employs 12,000 people worldwide and is a pioneer in industries like architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and entertainment. Facing the goal of creating a supportive and inclusive environment, they researched employee coaching as a potential solution. Initially rolling out Bravely’s coaching platform to half its workforce, Autodesk soon expanded this resource to all employees. As a cutting-edge innovator in the tech industry, Autodesk is walking the walk when it comes to innovating for their greatest asset: their own people.
This case study explores how Autodesk partners with Bravely to provide individualized support to their employees in an effort to prioritize creating a culture that cares about their employees’ well-being and development. Terry VanQuickenborne, Global Head of L&OD at Autodesk, confirmed the success of this partnership in a webinar How Autodesk Transformed Their Employee Experience During a Time of Massive Change, stating,
“We’ve been very fortunate to bring Bravely to all of our employees.”
A Culture Transformation
About a year before the pandemic, Autodesk began their culture transformation. They built a Culture Code that defined what it means to live out the company values and sought to embed that code into the foundation of the organization. By committing to the value of a healthy culture, Autodesk enabled its employees to be adaptable, flexible, and resilient even as the pandemic brought unexpected challenges. Their timing was essential for Autodesk, and because their plan of action was solidly in place, they were able to design pandemic-specific initiatives around the Culture Code.
Terry emphasizes the importance of listening. “We’re doing a lot of listening. Understanding the data points from engagement and pulse surveys, while also looking at technology to listen to [employees’] wants and needs.” The leaders at Autodesk looked at the employee experience journey and asked themselves how they would continue creating opportunities for people to thrive.
This plan of action gave Autodesk’s employees the level ground they needed and allowed their People Team to recognize the continued need for greater individualized support, particularly for managers responsible for checking in on the well-being of their teams. Autodesk leveraged Bravely Coaches to help prioritize manager resources effectively and alleviate some of the pressure of supporting their people.
Human-centric leadership begins with individualized support
One significant challenge for companies is finding ways to communicate with employees about what’s going on in their personal lives and how to work with them so their professional lives aren’t negatively impacted. The line between work and home is incredibly blurry these days, but by implementing professional coaching for every employee, Autodesk is now able to offer an objective listening ear so that employees can confidentially talk through anything that might be impairing their ability to show up fully at work.
With this individualized support, Autodesk employees now have an additional tool that may help them tap into their strengths and talents. Bravely became the evident solution when Terry asked: “What are the resources we can offer at scale while tailoring to the individual?” Terry noted it’s success,
“To democratize [coaching] across the organization has been really critical and really well received in terms of people getting additional individualized support, outside of what they’re getting from their manager.”
Unexpected Benefits of Bravely
Via regular, curated reports, Bravely offers insight into the themes that an organization’s employees are bringing to our Bravely coaches. Autodesk’s leadership was surprised to find that their employees were not talking about stress, but instead were talking about career development,
“What we quickly recognized is we were getting such positive feedback on having an outlet around individualized coaching, and sometimes in areas that we didn’t expect, as we go through our QBRs, were like ‘Oh, a lot of people are…not necessarily talking about stress, they’re talking about careers.'”
Managers have been experiencing the weight of burnout differently from individual contributors, and offering more pathways of support for employees lightened the load for managers. Between early 2020 and that summer, Bravely saw a 700% increase in sessions about stress and burnout. Yet what was still present in these conversations was the employee’s desire to learn, grow, and move forward with career development. Autodesk reaps the benefits of proactively providing access to individualized support.
Conclusion
By investing in its workforce and acknowledging the importance of individualized support, Autodesk is fostering a supportive, resilient, and growth-oriented workplace culture. This case study highlights the importance of human-centric leadership and the positive impact of Bravely professional coaching on both employees and organizational success.
