Groupon partners with Skyline G for consistent, flexible, and effective leadership development training on a global scale

by Thuy Sindell, PhD. and Milo Sindell, MS.

Situation

For Groupon, having easy access to a source of high quality coaches for executive development engagements is a priority.

In the past, various members of the HR team would tap personal relationships with different coaches and members for executive coaching engagements. This was a major challenge for reliability and consistency in the quality of coaching they were able to provide.

There was no shared set of expectations for engagement standards and coaches were not consistently briefed on how to work effectively with Groupon leadership.

Solution

Groupon partnered with Skyline G to offer two programs, both of which are customized to the specific development goals of the individual leader.

The first is a 6-9 month executive coaching solution for senior leaders, which includes an interview-based 360 assessment. The second program is a 3 month engagement for the director level, which is a virtual program with a survey- based 360 assessment.

The high quality of coaching from Skyline G is consistent and optimized for Groupon’s leadership development.

Skyline G’s coaches have a fundamental understanding going into engagements. They understand our enterprise leadership competency model and our culture. Knowing what makes people successful gives them a good context when working with our leaders,” said Eliza Wicher, Head of Global Talent Development at Groupon.

Benefits & Results

• Customization - Groupon’s senior level program is custom-built to focus on the skills each specific leader needs to develop.
• Consistent Expectations - Thanks to the consistency of Skyline G’s program and the professionalism of the coaches, Groupon is able to clearly communicate internally what leaders can expect from the experience and know that Skyline G will execute.
• Diverse, Experienced Coaches - “[Skyline G] coaches are of the caliber that I would want to see for these engagements. There is a nice diversity of coaches globally and in terms of background,” said Eliza Wicher, Head of Global Talent Development.

Case Study Subject

”Groupon executive leadership has observed things like our leaders having much better executive presence, really being able to command a meeting, and demonstrate better ownership; a real clarity around their priorities and what they are trying to achieve in their role.”

Eliza Wicher,
Head of Global Talent
Development at Groupon