Training and Development

Grounded in the core value “Each Person Counts,” ADP has a robust strategy to enable the growth, development, and career success of our ~63,000 associates across the globe.

Leadership development and performance

ADP is a strengths-based organization because we know that focusing our leaders on what makes them strong, and on what makes those they lead feel alive and engaged, produces much better results and effort from all associates.

Our integrated leadership development approach addresses the unique and shared needs of all levels of leaders, from those who are exploring leadership for the first time in their careers all the way up to experienced leaders and executives. We are intensely focused on their development and success because we know the exponential impact leaders have on our associates, clients, and business results.

Our strategy is based on three core principles of design and leadership expertise:

  • Creating development journeys instead of single training events to sustain long-term behavioral change
  • Leveraging experiential activities and simulations of real life situations, both live and by leveraging technology, to model decision-making and practice applying the leadership practices we expect
  • Using learning measurement theory and technology to provide performance and behavior change insights to HR Business Partners and Business Unit Leaders

Accelerating performance through StandOut

Standout, powered by ADP, is an innovative talent platform designed to facilitate strong connections in teams and help leaders maximize the engagement and performance of their teams. The tool is built on an initial strengths assessment of each team member, supported by weekly check- ins that enable alignment on priorities for the week and reflection on activities associates love and loathe. This information allows our leaders to utilize the different strength profiles of their team members more effectively and provide targeted coaching. Our associates benefit through an increased understanding of their talents and interests and productive interactions with their managers, which also helps them identify learning and career growth opportunities. In addition, the tool regularly provides targeted tips both to the associate and their manager based on individual strength profiles.

In today’s world of work, making sure that an employee is engaged and “all-in” at work is more important than ever. Through StandOut’s Engagement Pulse, leaders receive frequent insight into the engagement levels of their team along with personalized coaching insights that help them address the factors that matter most to their team members.

We also conduct an annual culture survey, myVoice, which provides another opportunity for our associates to share their opinions on important topics, including ethics, social responsibility, innovation and leadership. Particularly during the challenging events of the last several years, it was extremely important to hear our associates’ thoughts on working at ADP. The results remain overwhelmingly positive, with an overall culture score of 83% favorable in 2023.

CAREER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Growth and development are top engagement drivers for any associate. ADP’s strategy is to enable our associates to move forward toward accomplishments that excite and energize them while simultaneously elevating the company.

Grounded in a clear Career Growth & Development (CG&D) philosophy and framework, ADP’s internal CareerDriver tool enables associates to take their career into their own hands by putting resources, tools, and guidance at their fingertips for every stage of their career journey – new in role, developing in role, exploring career options and prepare for the next role.

A combination of technology, self-paced learning, and instructor led sessions for both associates and leaders are used to provide resources and support to when and where they are needed. Programs center around fundamental career topics like relationship building, branding, networking, leaders as career partners and more. ADP also has career advisors who undergo rigorous certification programs and use our CG&D philosophy and framework to give associates guidance and resources to further their career. We also encourage our associates to look for developmental experiences in addition to formal learning.

Our new hire outreach program allows us to connect with our new associates rights as they join ADP so they can focus on their growth and development right from the start, and help them see their future career possibilities. Additionally, we use our HCM technologies and analytics to identify key moments in associates’ careers to provide them and their managers with tools and resources when it matters the most.

Advancing Women in Leadership (AWL)

To support the career advancement of women leaders, ADP hosts a program for women in management who want to take their careers to the next level. ADP’s global Advancing Women in Leadership (AWL) program is designed to fill our pipeline of future executives to be equitable and reflective of the workforce population. It gives high-performing women, starting at the manager level, the opportunity to define and bolster their career aspirations with a focus on branding, executive presence, exposure to senior leadership, and strategies for gaining sponsorship.

Enterprise Learning

ADP believes empowering clients and associates through learning is integral to the company’s and associates’ success, evidenced by the influence learning has on strategic organizational goals. Enterprise Learning (EL), ADP’s functional learning and performance division, thrives on its mission to drive an effortless and dynamic learning experience that puts our stakeholders in the position for ultimate success. By expertly guiding clients and associates through product, technology and business practice transformations, they are well-equipped with the up-to-date knowledge they need to achieve their learning goals.

Redesigning training with AI

To help associates and clients maximize the full benefits of ADP’s solutions, we implement state-of-the-art learning solutions that provide the right support at the right time. We optimize personalized, modern learning experiences and outcomes throughout ADP by leveraging technology, data, design and talent to ensure our programs are engaging and accessible to all learners. Most recently, this has been an acute focus on leveraging both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI to enhance the learning experience at multiple stages of the learning lifecycle. In part, this is achieved through our investments in digitized learning solutions that help associates and clients do their jobs efficiently and effectively, including (but not limited to):

  • NextGen Knowledge Management: This online knowledge base stores critical information that helps associates service clients. It uses modern authoring techniques and advanced search technology, leveraging AI, to quickly answer queries with relevant and personalized search results that are easy to scan and quick to consume.
  • In-product Learning: We embed guided walk-throughs within ADP’s products that provide easy instructional support to clients and associates in the flow of work. By embedding this tool into our products, we help both associates and clients reduce unnecessary stress and empower them to gain optimal use of our products while completing their day-to-day tasks. These guided walk-throughs are consistently maintained, enabling us to deliver updated instructions whenever there are new features or legislative changes.
  • Learning Management System (LMS): This virtual content library houses on-demand and instructor-led training courses that we design, deliver, and manage for associates (myLink2Learn) and clients (myLearning@ADP) alike, providing resources on everything from product knowledge to core professional and technical skills.
  • AI and Generative AI-enabled Training Tools: By incorporating the latest innovations in technology into our training and development tools, we are maximizing the effectiveness of our learning. Through our implementation of AI-based simulation role-play, we empower associates to practice interacting with our clients in a safe environment while learning problem-solving skills, as well as creating an engaging experience that supports learner’s unique needs and language requirements. As ADP prioritizes the incorporation of the latest technology, it’s equally imperative that we adhere to governance as well as maintain the human element when training associates and clients.

ADP believes empowering clients and associates through learning is integral to the company’s and associates’ success, evidenced by the influence learning has on strategic organizational goals.

Worldwide Sales Operation Learning and Leadership

ADP pays special attention to our client-facing sales organization in regard to on-boarding, tenured and leadership training. We support over 8,500 sales associates, as well as additional sales support staff.

Our focus on modern sales contains an emphasis on ethical selling including a diverse and inclusive approach to our buyer personas, roles, industry and market needs. We believe this creates a salesforce that can fit ADP’s solutions to each unique buyer for a positive and productive future for all.

With new salespeople added to ADP’s sales teams each year representing ADP’s products and services in 140 countries, each sales associate experiences a blended on-boarding journey involving their manager, mentor, peers and sales learning consultants, engaged with digital self-paced and instructor-led coaching and classes. We also use the latest machine learning technology to give them AI-generated feedback as well as human feedback on their performance. To ensure that we are supporting our newly hired associates and ramping them up to be successful during their first year, our digital and live classes extend across their entire first year at ADP.

By maximizing data-driven sales, modern tools and a robust technology stack, we place a large emphasis on sales and leadership training. Sales Leadership starts when our successful salespeople mentor their first peer. Entering a multifaceted leadership development program, intertwined with career growth planning, our sales leaders value the unique characteristics of each of their team members. From the formal classwork for developing leaders, new leaders and executive leaders, they engage in role supportive, timely and relevant on-demand classes, connection calls and leadership mentoring sessions to fine-tune their leadership skills.

With a strong emphasis on promoting great talent within ADP, our commitment to learning and development is a keystone to ADP’s future success. By making significant and impactful connections with our associates and partners, and employing effective and appropriate communication, we create a dynamic team culture that will drive performance.

Our commitment to learning and development is a keystone to ADP’s future success.