This blog series provides a comprehensive look at the LIFT certification process from two critical perspectives: the peer reviewers who evaluate and endorse the certification and the company that has successfully achieved it. Through firsthand insights, we will uncover how LIFT-certified learning functions embedded impactful learning into their organisational framework and the benefits that ensued.

In May 2023, the Sopra Steria Academy, France, was awarded the Learning Impact Certification, LIFT. As part of the certification process, the Academy conducted a self-assessment report which provided a framework for reflecting on how it delivers impact to its organisation, learners, and society. Following this, a virtual discussion was organised between the Academy, its stakeholders, and an EFMD peer review team to understand how the Academy implemented its approach and engaged stakeholders through three key learning solutions.

Based on these inputs, the EFMD peer review team, composed of a former CLO and current partner responsible for the leadership development offer at Heidrick & Struggles, the head of impact at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), and the head of EFMD’s LIFT certification examined how Sopra Steria Academy integrated impact into its learning value chain against international standards. The team provided a benchmarking report highlighting the Academy’s strengths and offering suggestions for further enhancing its approach.

The peer review team recognised that the Academy was well positioned within Sopra Steria and received strong engagement and support from executives to position learning as an essential part of the organisation’s DNA. The Academy aligns its offer to Sopra Steria’s global career framework and uses dedicated teams that include business sponsors, practitioners and learning team members to ensure that their offer responds to both the strategic ambitions of the organisation and its operational realities. It also ensures that the impact of the learning solutions is measured based on data coming from the business and the participants. All of this is further underpinned by the Academy’s design and delivery approach involving recognised professionals from the field as subject matter experts as well as learning facilitators known as “practitioners for practitioners”.

Johanna Leppavirta, Head of Impact at IMD Business School and a member of the peer review team, provides insights into her institution’s approach to impact and the LIFT process for the Sopra Steria Academy:

What does learning impact mean for you?

Learning impact is measured on several levels. Firstly, we need to make sure participants are satisfied, engaged, and confident in putting the learning to practice after completing the programmes. The impact then happens (or does not happen) later on once participants return back to work. We need to understand how participants have been able to apply the knowledge and skills in practice and whether there have been any barriers and possible enablers helping them in the process. And finally, when they are doing things better or differently, that creates business impact. Measuring the business impact requires collaboration with the client because these measures often need to come from the clients. This means that there needs to be open communication and collaboration when measuring the final business impact and ROI.

How does your organisation (IMD) ensure it delivers impact?

We at IMD take measuring impact very seriously because we think this is the only way to actually demonstrate the value we create to our individuals, teams, and organisations. We have a dedicated Impact office and a credible and widely used impact assessment framework. The results not only demonstrate the value to clients but also help us improve and develop our programmes going forward.

IMD is a renowned business school with deep connections to the business world and a strong emphasis on impactful education. The school’s pedagogy is rooted in experiential learning that brings participants into direct contact with real business-related problems. IMD’s dedication to impact is reflected in its rigorous evaluation of programme effectiveness through a recognised worldwide impact assessment framework. This expertise in measuring impact has also been shared in the LIFT certification review.

At IMD, our strap line is “Real Learning, Real Impact”, which underlines the importance that we give to ensuring that learning delivers real impact. When looking at the work the Sopra Steria Academy does to ensure the same, I was impressed by their openness and willingness to measure impact, the work they have done to align with the business and engage their learners as well as the data they shared. It demonstrated that both the organisation and the participants recognised the link between learning and organisational/professional development. In addition, they demonstrated that they used the data they collect to continuously improve their learning solutions.

What strengths did you find the learning function at Sopra Steria Academy have in the way it approached learning?

I think their two core strengths were their openness and willingness to measure impact and their very well-aligned collaboration with their business sponsors to understand the business needs and align those with the business impact outcomes.

For further insights into the LIFT certification process and how Sopra Steria’s Academy is using it, read the interview with its leader, Frederic Godard.

About LIFT

The EFMD LIFT certification allows learning functions to evaluate and benchmark their maturity in how they deliver impact. It enables them to engage stakeholders, analyse impact, and align practices with industry best standards, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

To find out more on how EFMD’s Learning Impact Certification (LIFT) can help your learning function benchmark its approach to delivering impact and receive insights into how it can further mature, check out the LIFT website or contact Shanshan Ge.

For additional insights, announcements, and perspectives about LIFT, visit the conversation here.