After almost 1,5 year in the Young Potential (aka YoPo) Program at Movify, it’s incredible what I’ve learned and experienced already, and best of all, how much fun I’ve been having!
Once upon a time
It all started (with a little bit of stress and lots of excitement) on a sunny Monday morning in September 2019 when Charline, Louise and I had our first day as YoPo’s at Movify. We were invited for a nice breakfast, so we could start getting to know the colleagues at the office already over some croissants and coffee. When I think about it now (with the corona monster still very present) it even feels more like a world away, even just to have a cozy breakfast with your colleagues.
The ice breaker was followed by some information sessions by CEO Louis, Head of Talent Acquisition Adrien, and Senior Business Manager Michiel. We got submerged into the comings and goings of Movify, its history, about what we can expect, and off course about the YoPo program.
The Program
The Young Potential Program consists of 3 phases of 8 months. UX (User Experience) Designer, Product Owner and the Business Management bootcamp. After 24 months, YoPo’s become fully fledged Movify Business Managers. At Movify, we care that everyone can drive their own career path, so the program can be interpretated with some flexibility.
The three parts have been chosen carefully, to develop the most important skills as a Business Manager, being:
- As UX Designer, getting to know UX and the life of a digital consultant at a corporate client
- As Product Owner, discover people management and leadership skills
- As Business Manager, acquire Sales and Talent Acquisition skills
With loads of trainings, reviews, lunches and ‘A day in the life of a Business Manager’, YoPo’s also get extra knowledge, guidance and preparation on the Business Manager role.
UX Designer consultant @ BNP Paribas Fortis
After the onboarding day, we had two days of UX bootcamp by the Head of Design at Movify, Xavier. During the training, we were completely immersed into the aspects of UX: we learned how to work with personas, how to use storytelling, how do usability tests and interviews, and much more.
On Thursday -the fourth (!) day of my professional career- I started my project at BNP Paribas Fortis. Luckily, I was ‘dropped’ in an awesome team and under the wings of Jacqueline, my Movify mentor that was on the same project. At the biggest bank in Belgium, I joined the team that was in charge of developing the new intranet (the most important internal platform for news, product information, commercial support, tools and much more).
The first big part of the project was to design the content architecture, by creating personas and by gathering usability information with workshops, interviews, tests and many iterations. After that, we determined the features and how the UI should look like, we did the massive content migration from the old intranet to the new, and finally we established a communication plan with news articles, videos, ‘train the trainer’ and onboarding sessions, for good change management.
After the launch of the new intranet and the aftercare, I got the opportunity to start a new role at BNP Paribas Fortis, as Project Manager. Part 2 of the YoPo Program…
Project Manager @ BNP Paribas Fortis
Since April 2020 (yes, during the first corona lockdown), I started with project management at the department of communication of BNPPF. I was responsible for the portfolio of all projects that have to do with Sustainability and Financial Coaching. A concrete example of a project was to create a new environment on the public website with all the necessary external and internal communications, devoted to Social Entrepreneurs. The most important parts of the role consist of sprint & capacity planning, coordination, stakeholder & resources management, meetings facilitations, etc.
From September on, I got some more responsibilities at BNPPF, so I had a two-sided role from then on. On the one hand, I was Platform Content Manager (PCM), and on the other hand, I was Digital Project Manager (DPM). As a PCM, I was the SPOC for all internal and external platforms for the ‘Individuals’ client segment, concerning content architectures, guidelines, communications, etc. As a DPM, I had one big project: the development of a new public platform for entrepreneurs.
Business Manager
The third part of the Young Potential Program is the bootcamp to become a Business Manager at Movify. As a Business Manager, there are three important parts of the job: Business Development, Talent Acquisition and People Management. In other words, you’ll grow your client portfolio by finding new clients and projects, and hire the right talented people to become a consultant on those projects. For that reason, the bootcamp is also divided into three big parts, with many dedicated (on the job) trainings on Business Development, Talent Acquisition and People Management.
I’m starting with the Business Manager bootcamp today. I’m super excited and I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going!
Grow from a fertile home ground to a uniquely crafted future
Movify is so much more than a workplace. It’s a fertile home, where everyone can grow, enjoy and develop him or herself. All employees have an extensive training budget, that they can spend on trainings of their choosing. The YoPo’s even go to London in their first year, to have trainings at the Nielsen Norman UX Conference. Furthermore, there are monthly design and development meetups, where specialists talk about their experiences and knowledge.
Another hot topic is the knowledge sharing evenings, where colleagues at Movify share some particular experience or expertise to the rest of us. Every year, Movify also organizes a hackathon weekend for its employees, where we have to come up with a concrete, disruptive idea around a certain theme. Last year’s theme was the Sustainable Development Goals!
Off course, all of these things are often linked to a nice drink and bite, because that too we like a lot at Movify! Therefore, there are a lot of after-works as well, such as game nights, beer tastings, kicker tournaments, etc. and the highlight of the year is off course the ski trip! Sadly, the well-known reason made us cancel lots of these events in 2020, so let me just say: COME ON 2021!
Your own journey at Movify?
Interested in writing your own story at Movify? Check out the YoPo Program!
