A history of excellence in hearing aids
Founded in Italy in 1950, Amplifon is a leading multinational company in the hearing care retail market. Thanks to continuous research in the field of auditory prosthesis and in-depth studies in audiology, otolaryngology and phoniatrics, Amplifon supports its customers in their selection of the best hearing aids available. The company takes care of the entire process, from distribution through fitting to after-sales service, with customer relationship care being the Amplifon Group’s true added value.
The Group features an Italian network of over 600 centres and more than 3,000 service points. On a global level, Amplifon operates 9,200 outlets in 25 countries and employs about 18,600 employees and contractors.
Investing in people
Amplifon’s objectives include offering an innovative experience to its customers, stimulating growth in key markets around the world, and developing an increasingly efficient company where people’s talent makes the difference.
To fulfil the last point of its mission and lay the foundations on which the company’s future will rest, Amplifon has defined a five-year (2020-2025) training and development strategy. The integrated L&D plan outlined by the Group rests on four pillars:
- Amplifon awareness, to create awareness with respect to corporate strategy on what is happening in all the different organisational units, and how everyone contributes to the success of the Group. This will ensure that each individual has all the elements at his or her disposal to make decisions, and to make a difference every day.
- Digital empowerment, for an ever-deepening digitalisation of work environments, so that people become the focus once more. For Amplifon, technology helps automate repetitive tasks and gives people the tools they need to make the best use of their own intuition, ingenuity and thought processing.
- Amplifon connect, which includes mentorship, coaching and change management programs, with the aim of breaking down silos and creating connections and contacts across all different Group levels.
- Amplifon lead, with dedicated leadership and management courses aimed at preparing “People Managers” and “People Leaders” to play the key supporting role in enabling people to grow and become an example for the Group.
Based on these four pillars, Amplifon set up a training course that offers:
- The same training opportunities to all employees, regardless of location or specific task – because Amplifon believes that knowledge should be limitless
- Access to training anywhere, at any time, and from any device – thus guaranteeing complete freedom according to each individual’s different needs
- The opportunity to develop technical and transferable skills such as creativity, imagination,gination, project management skills, ethics
- Engaging and stimulating content, thanks to gamification logic
- Prioritisation of training content, using algorithms that take into account people’s needs, preferences, and interests
Tailored training for a future-ready workforce
The pandemic has forced companies like Amplifon to redefine their priorities, opening their eyes once again to the importance of training and development. More specifically, the major changes experienced by the labour market over the last two years have prompted the company to invest today in the development of what will be the key skills of tomorrow.
Amplifon has thus decided to offer its employees highly personalised courses with a strong focus on talent and skills. In order to do this, the company favours a “complete experience” approach, relying on a single common platform which can be accessed by the entire global workforce.This platform not only integrates harmoniously into the employees’ working life, but is also able to stimulate them through customised training content that will enhance their autonomy.
In May 2021, Amplifon thus implemented Cornerstone 's learning platform. Cornerstone is a provider of adaptive human resources management solutions, and their training content has been made available at the same time to all Amplifon employees globally. Since then, thanks to its high level of customisation and ease of use, the platform has been used to strengthen the four pillars of the Group’s L&D strategy and, in particular, to develop functional and cross-functional skills. With regard to the former, Amplifon can finally provide tailor-made content, calibrated not only to current skills but also to skills that will be acquired over the coming years in order to remain competitive and further develop its employees' careers. With respect to cross-functional skills – given the speed of change to which every type of job is now subject – Amplifon has chosen to provide specific paths that delve into the themes of data analytics, change management and project management. The aim is to embrace learning in the flow of work and make it a reality.
Training as a tool to overcome inequalities
The biggest achievement to date is the substantial increase in the number of hours dedicated to training by employees; to date, on average, each employee has totalled 24 hours of training per year.
Thanks to a mix of strategy and technology, important progress has been made in making training and development available anytime and anywhere, and fostering collaborative learning and employee engagement. Amplifon believes that training fosters equal opportunities for all, regardless of personal background, gender, age or place of origin. Knowledge cannot survive without sharing.
