Growing the leader within: how we built an internal management training in only five weeks
It was one year ago, October 2022. The Web team, in charge of Qonto’s web apps, had grown from 25 to 45 engineers in one year. But we had an issue: over that same period, the number of managers had remained flat.
We were sailing in dangerous waters. With more engineers under their responsibility, managers had less time available to dedicate to each of them. They could put in more hours to maintain high-quality management, but they would risk exhaustion.
Facing this conundrum, we naturally turned to hiring. In Qonto’s Tech team, the Lead is not only expected to support engineers in their craft, guide technical discussions, manage delivery, and improve operations, they are also responsible for hiring, motivating, challenging, and growing their team members. All of this whilst working in a hyper-growth environment where ambition and mastery are the norm. We had trouble finding candidates who could check all these boxes, and the clock was ticking.
That’s when we realized the solution was right in front of us. Those 45 engineers in need of top-notch managers? Each of them had different strengths and aspirations, and it was obvious some of them could grow to become Leads. They had developed an intimate knowledge of the product, the codebase, and the team. They were infused with our work culture. They were recognized as leaders by their peers. Their managers relied on them to pull the team forward. In many ways, they already displayed the primary qualities of a good leader. All they needed was… training.
Fired up by this new outlook, we rolled up our sleeves and got down to business. Together with the existing managers from the Web team, we agreed on a set of design principles for our training:
- we would offer a diverse panel of trainers to each trainee,
- we would deliver theory in writing instead of in-person presentations,
- we would set a standard structure for all modules, making them easier to consume for the trainees.
After debating the key skills a new manager would need, we aligned on the content of the training, broken down into so-called “topics” and “modules”:
Realizing the other Product Engineering stacks were facing the same challenge, we joined forces with their managers to deliver the successive training modules. Denis, who co-designed the training, took care of the Manager’s fundamentals module. Gabriel, Pierre, and Frédéric collaborated to develop the Delivery management module.
We set up the logistics of the training, agreeing that each candidate should have a personal Notion page allowing them to visualize their progress:
and a private Slack channel to interact with their trainers and celebrate successes:
On Nov. 30, 2022, five weeks after launching the initiative, we kicked off the first training with Lucas, then a senior software engineer in the Web team, closely followed by Anastasia and engineers from the Back-end and Mobile teams.
Fast-forward to September 2023. Both Lucas and Anastasia have completed the training, and they are now fully-fledged managers in the Web team. Here is how they described their experience:
The program was a rare opportunity for me to spend high-quality time with experienced managers. I was able to progressively identify my individual strengths, and areas of development. The training helped me gain new skills, and gave me the confidence to approach difficult management situations head-on. — Anastasia
I learned a ton, at an extremely fast pace in the Lead fast-track training. The combination of theory, and live simulations with experts really provided the kind of hands-on experience needed to be prepared for the difficult situations that I already see myself facing on the job. — Lucas
Our training graduates are now recognizable by their sweater, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who takes pride in seeing them wear it!
We were impressed by the stances Lucas and Anastasia took towards the challenges they met in their very first months as managers. Several times I thought to myself: “wow, I would never have pulled that off as a junior manager”. We also see how the mere existence of that training empowers more engineers to step forward and express their motivation to become a Lead at Qonto.
We haven’t reached the end of the road for management training at Qonto. We still need to onboard more trainers, to streamline some training modules, and to strengthen the links with the other management trainings offered by our People team.
Taking a step back, I realize how the collective investment into this initiative reflects a deep commitment to learning and development at Qonto. The Qonto Way is all about helping people grow. Whether you’re an engineer, an expert, or a manager, and whichever path you envision for yourself, your company’s stance on training influences your future as a professional. If our values resonate with yours, consider joining us.
To conclude this post, I would like to warmly thank Denis Schneider, Gabriel de Laboulaye, Pierre Serafini, Frédéric Soumaré, and all the other Qontoers who contributed to the Lead fast-track initiative. I would also like to thank our trainees for their resolve throughout this journey.
About Qonto
Qonto is a finance solution designed for SMEs and freelancers founded in 2016 by Steve Anavi and Alexandre Prot. Since our launch in July 2017, Qonto has made business financing easy for more than 350,000 companies.
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