An Inside Look into Deriv's L&D's Journey and Strategies

In a world driven by constant change and innovation, fostering a culture of continuous learning has become crucial for organisations to thrive. Meet Dhanya Vijay Menon , the Head of Learning & Development (L&D) at Deriv. In this exclusive interview, Dhanya shares her insights on Deriv's L&D philosophy, tracking training impact, supporting remote teams, and leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT to democratise education.?

Get ready to be inspired and discover how Deriv is transforming the way employees learn and grow.

Hi Dhanya! Can you share with us what sparked your passion for learning and development?

My educational background in Psychology helped me kickstart my journey with psychometric assessments and behavioural skills workshops. Over these 17 years of my career in multinational organisations, I realised I loved designing blended learning programmes and facilitating virtual and in-person workshops.?

Congratulations on your 1st anniversary at Deriv! What does your job as the Head of L&D entail?

Thanks so much, and yes, time flies!?

As the L&D team, our mission is to create a culture of continuous learning in Deriv.

Here at Deriv, my team, which consists of a set of enthusiastic and passionate individuals spread across our global offices, takes care of these primary areas:

• Onboarding - of new hires across our global offices?
• Role Skills matrix - Developing skills taxonomy for every department, which helps in skills assessment and personalised learning paths?
• Leadership Development - for people leaders using a blended learning approach and an assess-learn-assess cycle
• Gamified learning - to enhance employee awareness of Deriv’s products and platforms??
• Developing and implementing mandatory compliance - related training sessions
• Managing the licenses and maximising the utilisation of the learning platforms?

How would you describe Deriv’s philosophy when it comes to learning?

Our CEO is very clear about learning and development. Employees must spend at least 10% of their weekly time learning. In his organisation-wide communications, he consistently encourages everyone to upskill themselves continuously.??

In Deriv, we encourage:

• Formal learning through external certifications and courses as we’ve invested in learning platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, O’Reilly, A Cloud Guru, FrontEnd Masters etc., which help employees to take up self-paced courses based on their needs and feedback received from skills assessments.?
• On-the-job learning via stretch assignments and coaching by managers, among others
• Peer-to-peer mentoring to foster collaborative learning forums for discussions and perspective sharing within Deriv

How do you keep track of the completion/impact of training?

The impact is measured differently across initiatives. For example, mandatory compliance-related courses and a knowledge retention assessment (Kirkpatrick level one) tell us if the training has been effective.

For behaviour change programmes, such as leadership development, we rely on Kirkpatrick level 3 to gauge impact.

For our gamified learning initiatives, for example, the Bug Hunt tournament we recently concluded, the impact is direct since it was about finding high-severity bugs.

Deriv currently employs telecommuters around the globe. How do you ensure that remote and hybrid teams have access to L&D?

Our online learning platforms are SSO-enabled, meaning anyone anywhere in the world can access them anytime. We manage instructor-led workshops through two timezones, which we refer to as Timezone 1 and Timezone 2. Our L&D members across our offices globally enable us to achieve that.

L&D is critical for retaining and attracting top talent. How can companies support their employees’ career advancement?

Companies need to:

• Create a culture of providing growth-based feedback and continuous learning
• Develop the skills taxonomy and matrices for career pathways?
• Create opportunities for both formal and informal professional development?
• Enhance managers’ skills to mentor and coach the employees
• Design and encourage peer-to-peer learning opportunities?

How do you think L&D professionals can effectively collaborate with ChatGPT and leverage its access to global resources to democratise education and training?

In Deriv, we have already been leveraging AI tools such as ChatGPT and Synthesia (AI tool for video creation) in our teams! These tools have greatly enhanced the speed at which we can develop courses and ideas for workshops.?

??

What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of your job??

One of the challenges is for learning programmes to keep up with the pace of change within the organisation. The other challenge is to ensure that the Talent Development initiatives remain relevant to the business objectives, along with it being engaging and effective.?

What brings you the greatest satisfaction in your job?

The most fulfilling part for me is witnessing our learning initiatives have a tangible impact on our employees and the business. We gauge this impact through positive feedback from participants’ managers and by observing positive changes in behaviour and perspectives in post-learning assessments. Knowing that our efforts are making a real difference is incredibly rewarding.

What advice would you offer someone interested in starting or advancing their career in L&D?

The most important aspect to remember while building a career in L&D is understanding business objectives and aligning your learning initiatives with them. In order to remain relevant, you must continually evolve your thinking and approach to work.

I?recommend reading a comprehensive article from McKinsey that provides valuable insights for new and experienced L&D professionals. It’s a great resource to enhance your knowledge and stay ahead in the field. Article link.