Expat Academy members since June of this year, BHP were big fans of MyGMPD from the get-go. For them, an opportunity to connect and share from their Global Mobility hubs in Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and The Americas. Global Mobility Head, Michelle Morris, saw MyGMPD to be a particular driver for their membership and a brilliant tool for enabling her team to invest in their own development.
Fast forward two months and here we have Paul Martin, one of BHP’s Global Mobility Specialists working from Manila on shifts and managing inbounds for Chile, already proudly displaying new letters after his name, which makes him one of our fastest members to reach accreditation. So what’s his recipe for success?
- Supportive managers: Undoubtedly a good starting point; Paul’s managers are keen for their GM Specialists to have more of an understanding of Global Mobility as a whole whilst promoting individual career growth, so in fact, the benefits are two-fold. Paul’s accreditation has not only been hugely motivating for him personally but also he is able to immediately apply his new knowledge and confidence to his interactions with the business and help them understand the causes and impacts of policy creation and the assignment itself.
- Identifying the learning style that works best for you: It is up to the individual how, when and what they learn and MyGMPD is able to respond to these preferences in every way. For Paul, he has been able to learn from Manila because the online material is so easily accessible and the fast majority is not time-zone constrained. He is the type of learner who prefers classroom sessions to solely reading articles. Favourites for Paul have been the Essentials modules which present a mix of learning types and he engages well with all the various webinars on offer too, loving the fact that he can connect with others from different locations, when local GM events and networking are very limited.
- Find your time: Some might carve out time on a Friday for MyGMPD, others acknowledge that the best time for learning is when it is off-peak for Global Mobility deliverables and like many, Paul has taken advantage of his local lockdown and quieter social life to do something for himself. He organises himself by bookmarking articles that are of interest and goes back to them when other demands allow.
- Passion: Whilst there might be certain gaps in your knowledge that you are looking to fill, also remember to make yourself feel good by reinforcing what you know too and what genuinely interests you. As Officer of the Pride Network at BHP, Paul has a particular passion for LGBT issues so the array of learning material on this important topic has been appealing to him. He saw that he could wear two hats through his GMPD learning – one as a GM professional and another which enables him to share ideas with his employee network group.
- Self-motivation: Paul considers himself lucky that BHP have signed up to MyGMPD and ultimately, it is his attitude and own self-motivation that have made him a star learner. Whatever way you decide to drive the programme and make it work for you, don’t forget we are with you, with the backing of a Learning Coach who is available for support, encouragement and recommendations. Here’s to many more Pauls.