Michal Shoval, Head of GIA’s HR EMEA region, says the training gave her team a new level of confidence
Who is GIA?
Established in 1931, the Gemological Institute of America is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls. GIA’s worldwide locations include 11 labs staffed by expert diamond graders and gemologists, campuses offering gem and jewelry studies, and cutting edge research centers.
CHALLENGES:
What challenges led you to get communication training for your team?
“We work in a very fast-paced global environment that is saturated with information from our sites across the globe. Our management staff found it difficult to present and deliver complex messages and presentations to the rest of the team in a way that created curiosity among their peers and compelled them to listen,” says Michal Shoval, Head of HR, GIA’s EMEA region. “I realized that what we need is an external communication consultant with a global business orientation to lead us to excellence.”
Main team challenges:
Creating concise and compelling messages that drive others to action despite an overload of stats and charts
Increasing the management team’s ability to confidently present in front of senior peers in a global environment
Connecting the management team to organizational goals during meetings
Given your challenges, what training tracks did your team complete?
APPROACH:
How did the process work?
Michal: Talli joined our management meetings in order to learn our content, observe and assess the delivery of presentations, and get a sense of our discussions. She gave thorough feedback regarding our messaging and delivery and created a communication training plan that detailed how she would train our team through individual and group sessions.
The training included sessions with the leading management staff of our organization, including myself. She assessed the needs and pain points of each manager - whether it was creating more effective, razor-sharp messages, distinguishing between critical and non-critical information, creating engagement with the audience, or building confidence. She also looked at our communication formats - the length and frequency of our meetings, how we are delivering the information, and the impact on our staff.
She actually helped each one of us embrace the process fully. She sets a high bar and she is very determined.
She started off by shining a light on the communication patterns we were using every day, but that we were unaware of.
RESULTS:
What are the changes you see in the organization today?
less frequent and shorter management review meetings that lead to action (quarterly instead of monthly)
presentations that are guided by a story and address numbers and charts as a part of that story
greater involvement of team members in global management forums with increased knowledge-sharing
Michal: I can honestly say that Talli made a serious change here and that our communication today creates an impact on our employees. There is a clear understanding of our priorities at the organizational level and this is because management is able to deliver strong key messages. They are able to engage and lead colleagues to complete specific tasks. They connect them to our organizational goals.
We have also brought in real creativity and out of the box thinking in our management meetings thanks to Talli’s unique workshops. One of the key changes that I see in our day to day is the management team’s confidence level - this is a game changer for us. Their new confidence level also clearly affects their staff and creates a more stable work environment.
ENDORSEMENTS
“I made a significant change in my ability to confidently deliver effective messages in a global environment and I owe it to Talli. Talli is the best in this field!!!”
— Katia Slobodnik, HR Specialist
“We had to present in quarterly meetings and my biggest challenge was to tell a story instead of just throwing out numbers and results. Talli knows how to identify your barriers and how to break them down in order to help you succeed.”
— Jessica Ittah, Customer Service Representative
“I was struggling with creating clear and concise messages. The sessions with Talli increased my level of confidence and raised the bar in terms of my communication abilities and professionalism. Now I aim higher.”
— Neal Nasraldin, Team Lead