2013’s very best: Learning Organizations
| By Anonymous | |
| Proquest LLC |
In this field, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a company's learning function is an ASTD BEST Award.
The BEST Awards are presented annually to organizations that use training and development to drive impact and achieve business goals and objectives. These organizations have a culture of learning that is supported throughout the organization, from the C-suite to the newest employees. Leaders recognize that commitment to employee development can have real bottomline results, and many partner with the learning function to achieve those outcomes.
"I have learned that nothing is more important than investing in and developing our people," says UPS Chief Operating Officer
Indeed, what is noteworthy among the 2013 BEST winners is that training and development initiatives clearly focus on the line of sight from customer needs and expectations to business strategy and business goals. Regardless of industry or workforce size, these BEST winners exemplify how learning can be a strategic partner that drives performance and profitability. From fast food to financial services and from hospitality to healthcare, the 28 companies that earned the 2013 ASTD BEST Award have a culture of and commitment to learning that benefits the employees and the customers they serve.
BEST Award-winning organizations capture that honor by being effective across a range of areas, always looking for ways to improve results, and demonstrating that their efforts deliver results. In the eyes of the review committee, that clearly makes them the BEST.
Short and mid-length profiles written by
GOING THE distance
The word "horizons" has a new meaning at Cognizant, a global provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. "Horizons" refer to the company's growth opportunities and where it is focusing investments. To help Cognizant reach its strategic objectives, the learning function is building organizational capability around three horizons that the company believes illustrate the complexion of market demand.
Cognizant's three-horizon framework is the company's response to a fundamental long-term shift in its clients' business imperatives, and focuses on helping clients meet the dual mandate to "run better and run different." Horizon 1 (services around application development and application maintenance) and Horizon 2 (new services such as consulting, business process outsourcing, and IT infrastructure services) focus on helping clients enhance performance in their current businesses. Horizon 3 (emerging capabilities based on new technology architectures such as social, mobile, analytics, and cloud) is about helping clients drive innovation and transformation for future success.
A Fortune 500 company headquartered in
Planned career development and role enablement, aligned with the company's corporate vision and objectives, is a strategic imperative. These demands are addressed by the expanded role of the
The learning function adopts a customercentric approach and provides a roadmap: From the campus associate training program to the capability assurance stage,
* global learning delivery
* foundations (systems, tools, learning management system, third-party products)
* academies (aligned to business units)
* business process services.
"The greatest strength of a company such as Cognizant is its people and their expertise and ability to consistently deliver outstanding work. As the company grows, needs increase across all dimensions," says
The company has adopted a learning platform to sustain its people development. The need to invest heavily in client-facing leadersto continuously enable their growth and thus company revenues-has driven a new emphasis on individual development plans. These plans are now in place for 80 percent of the enterprise, but it was challenging to get employees to complete the recommended learning requirements.
In response,
The program is built on Cognizant 2.0, the company's global program management and knowledge-sharing platform, which is overlaid on its learning management system and accessed through a portal called "MyLeaming."
With the Millennial generation comprising most of its workforce, Cognizant is a user of social media and social learning, which is considered a developmental mode alongside formal and informal learning. Monthly collaborative learning initiatives carry themes that leverage various social platforms to develop a common topic such as program management, domain knowledge, and process improvement. The company also uses communities of practice, program-based forums, a MyBooks app, blogs (with more than 44,000 unique bloggers), and games.
The use of technology has resulted in significant cost savings. Virtual sessions and webinar events grew by 120 percent from 2011 to 2012, while
Learning has enormous value in the company culture. "We achieve business outcomes via our learning culture," says Vijayakumar. Executives walk the talk: 100 percent of senior executives participate in at least eight hours of learning annually as instructors or speakers, and bear responsibility for developing employees in their performance goals. As Vijayakumar notes, "A strong development framework for its rapidly growing workforce has been the key to helping Cognizant maintain its status as one of the fastest growing Fortune 500 companies in the world."
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"THE QUESTION WAS, ?HOW DO WE GET EMPLOYEES TO LEARN, IN AN ENJOYABLE, SELF-DRIVEN MANNER, WITHOUT MANDATING LEARNING?'"
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IN TRAINING, SOMETIMES Less Is More
The key to meeting performance goals does riot always involve training. At BB&L a new program pursues a holistic approach to problem solving.
There are times within any organization when unsatisfactory performance does not reflect a lack of knowledge by personnel, and where the appropriate remedy lies outside of training. Yet training departments, and the clients they serve, routinely opt for more instruction rather than seek the root cause of the problem.
At
Heretical thinking from a chief learning officer? Au contraire. "The role of the university is to improve the performance of our employees," says Sutton. As the university matures, it needs to become a full partner that helps the bank's business units achieve maximum success, he explains.
In late 2011, the university rolled out an initiative called Performance Architecture (PA). It serves as a performance consultancy for the enterprise that addresses organizational needs, including-but not limited to-knowledge and skill. PA seeks to capture a holistic view of business units by identifying systemic opportunities for improvement.
BB&T's performance improvement model was adapted from both Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model and the
Here's how it works: When approached by a department for a new training initiative, the university's PA team-a tiny squad within its curriculum design groupselectively responds with an array of options. If the situation warrants, it might ask the requesting executive for time to examine the elements holistically and reply with a plan that may or may not include training.
"We might look at data, incentives, knowledge and skills of personnel, and culture," says Sutton. One standard weapon in its arsenal is a gap analysis.
It didn't take long for the program to earn its stripes. The bank's wealth division, citing the need to improve performance, asked the university to develop and deliver a broad new curriculum to train its employees on eight different competencies. In reply, the university requested 90 days to examine whether a training initiative would actually improve employee performance.
The result: "We found zero correlation between how the division's personnel performed on their assessments and their actual success as wealth advisors," says Sutton. The team felt the division's needs reflected other opportunities, not skills or training ones, and so it responded with a solution that did not involve the requested training.
"We wanted the business unit to understand that once individuals reach a core level of knowledge, which its people have, simply layering on more depth in a topic gets you no leverage in performance," says Sutton.
Another request from the bank's small business division was for the university to develop a commercial credit training initiative for midlevel regional managers. A PA review interviewed and observed 90 lenders and 40 regional managers to determine the current state of performance, among other moves.
The team also analyzed how components of the performance system affected each other. It concluded that the unit could maximize productivity by leveraging organic best practices and other nontraining initiatives. It offered 12 recommendations to senior leadership.
For Sutton and his team, the PA program is another demonstration of the university's role in shaping the corporate culture of the organization.
"We're trying to change the mindset of training for training's sake. This is a journey," he says. Fortunately, it is also an easy sell.
"When we tell people we're going to help them understand exactly what's driving their lack of performance, their eyes light up."
In addition, the training unit is expanding its social learning repertoire with an innovative mobile learning app aimed at helping people develop their leadership skills.
The app is an externally developed video game that helps individuals understand the tenets of leadership. It reflects CEO
Inspired by the video game series "The Legend of Zelda," it is a medieval role-playing game that teaches leadership skills through interactions with key advisors.
BB&T's 44-year-old leadership development program is itself a demonstration of the bank's emphasis on preserving its corporate culture. The program is aimed at attracting high-potential talent and preparing them for long-term leadership roles. A rigorous, ninemonth program provides future leaders with a strong foundation in corporate culture, philosophy and values, and more.
*I Paul Harris is a freelance writer in
"WE'RE TRYING TO CHANGE THE MINDSET OF TRAINING FOR TRAINING'S SAKE. THIS IS A JOURNEY." -
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Sawis, A CenturyLink Company A 2 TIME WINNER
Sawis provides IT infrastructure solutions to its clients by delivering cloud, colocation, and managed-hosting services over advanced networks. When a customer satisfaction survey revealed that clients were concerned with the firm's ability to provide quotes in a timely manner and in a format customers wanted, the IT department decided to replace the existing quoting system.
One-third of Sawis employees interact with the technology in some way, so a significant training effort was in order before the new system went live. The learning and development team coordinated with both the sales and IT departments to deliver training in a six-week timeframe during an annual lull in providing quotes.
System users were separated into three groups based on how they used the technology, and training was developed according to each group's needs. Strategies ranged from e-learning and virtual instructor-led training to a 16hour instructor-led course with job aids and e-leaming follow-up support. All training assets were designed with ongoing training support, and the program was immediately converted into a 100 percent e-Ieaming system for all users post-launch.
In all, more than 1,300 employees learned to use the new system without any interruption in revenue and with no increase in calls to the sales support center related to skills gaps.
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Nemours3-TIME WINNER
Nemours, a children's health system, can be best characterized as a learning organization. "Learning ... began more than 70 years ago with a mission that included providing hospitalization for critically ill children, supporting research to improve children's healthcare, and providing post-graduate education for physicians and clinicians," says the not-for-profit's leadership.
Nemours is committed to providing its practitioners with continuing education opportunities. A remarkable example is its pediatric emergency medical skills course for first-year pediatric emergency medicine fellows, which involves intensive role playing. The scenarios frequently focus on patient and family interactions, especially emotionally complex ones-such as when fellows must deliver difficult news to patients' families. Experienced clinicians observe and mentor the fellows, providing insightful feedback on their communication and interpersonal skills.
The learning function took center stage in 2012, with the opening of the
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Becoming one of the top five private banks in
The Academy takes a proactive role in establishing, executing, and supporting business strategies. The learning team does this by routinely evaluating training initiatives delivered throughout the year, as well as through banking and customer surveys. Once the data are evaluated, the Academy prepares a development plan and SWOT analysis for each business line.
Providing innovative and technological learning initiatives has been a huge driver in supporting and maintaining employee development. The Academy uses several platforms, including e-learning, mobile learning, and training via
One of
At the top of the model sits the company's mission, vision, and strategies; other layers show each branch as a separate entity, which provides managers with flexibility in their responsibility for defining their new hires' development route. The model guides captains by providing them with ideas and resources to help new hires be immediately effective in their first days at the branch.
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A learning function's structure has much to do with how effective it is. With anchors in every strategic area of the business, and supports made up of strategic and tactical advisors from all levels of the organization, the structure of the learning function at
The learning function's blueprint looks like this: a corporate university structure with five "colleges," and "schools" within those colleges. Each college has one or two executive sponsors who provide strategic guidance. Meanwhile, a learning council, comprised of team members from various disciplines and positions, ensures that learning initiatives remain relevant and profitable. And this doesn't take into account the movers and shakers on the ground who use portals on the company intranet to identify learning needs and provide feedback on learning resources.
The learning function also supports performance management processes with training programs and tools. "One of the best ways to manage performance is through learning and development," says Chief Learning Officer
Even with a solid structure made up of key players, the learning function relies on more than bodies to remain effective. Technology is a critical tool for identifying knowledge and skills gaps and deploying training. The company currently is using a system that allows it to mine data from various strata within the organization, which reveals performance gaps and their causes.
Social learning also has played a major role in forging the learning function's strategy and initiatives. Employee participation in social learning is high, and feedback on these platforms has enabled the company to farm product and service innovations.
According to Kippen, "Creating an environment in which employees are empowered leads to process improvement. It also creates a spirit of camaraderie and recognition."
These learning portals gave rise to the successful "Make It Right" initiative, which consolidated many customer service training programs into one powerful approach: Make every customer interaction right. "We knew we needed to get better at simplifying our content and clarifying performance expectations," says Kippen.
The message was received and the customer service training was improved. The results? After remaining flat for years, the customer service metric increased by 3.9 percent. Also, by repurposing the same content for other Hilton brands, the company was able to save more than a half-million dollars.
IN 2012, BEST ORGANIZATIONS SPENT ON AVERAGE
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The learning function at
The learning function plays an integral role in building leadership and managerial capacity for the future. Learning and development focuses on skills related to customer management, project management, team management, personal excellence, and strategic thinking.
Given the severe scarcity of technical talent,
Programs based on action learning were designed, developed, and implemented using blended learning methods. These workshops are cognitive and experiential in nature, and simulate everyday business scenarios.
"As we look at the future, we believe that learning will be an integral engine in taking us where we want to go on our journey of organizational growth and expertise," says Krishnan KS, general manager and head of culture and competence.
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INCREASING (Super) Market value
Mrigros is
Historic and cultural factors are at work in this centuries-old country, explains Demir Aytaç, chief human resource officer: Although
"Although we expect market penetration to double in the next decade, we still have a long way to go," Aytaç says.
The educational system does little to help prepare the company's-and the country's-future retail workforce. There are no high schools, vocational schools, or graduate schools that specialize in retail. Therefore,
"Increasingly, we are facing very tough competition. Our future success depends on our customer service quality. The learning organization must ensure that our employees meet customer expectations. Repeat and referral business is the only way for us to grow," Aytaç says.
Macrocenter's domination of the luxury market was unchallenged until 2012, when new competitors entered. The need to prepare employees to serve high-end shoppers was intensified-but how do you recommend and sell what you do not know? That conundrum inspired the creation of the company's most innovative learning initiative of the past year, Perspectives."
"The majority of our employees come from families with traditional values and lifestyles," Aytaç explains. "But they were being asked to serve customers in a totally different, upscale segment."
The program was designed to help employees gain an understanding of luxury products. Fifty participants-store managers and assistant store managers at the upscale stores-received in-class training combined with experiential learning opportunities that included weeklong trips to
Although the program cost
The academy comprises six schools:
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* Supplemental Programs (such as foreign language courses).
Company leaders sponsor the schools and serve as faculty chairs. It's their responsibility to convey strategic goals and provide direction on program design to support those goals. The CEO serves as sponsor of the
Store managers are required to hold college degrees and many earn them through the
"We reviewed the survey results and saw that competencies, prerequisites, and career paths needed documentation. We wanted to be straightforward and set crystal-clear expectations," Aytaç says.
The learning organization designed a graphic, the Store Management Career and Development Path, that shows how candidates, both internal and external, can progress in their careers and how long it should take. After rolling it out, turnover declined to 11.2 percent and employee satisfaction scores increased by 8.6 percent.
As a company that employs many young people-72 percent of employees are members of Generation Y-Migros has been intentional about promoting and enhancing social learning. A proprietary internal social learning platform, Akademig, allows online interactive functionality that is safe from the curious eyes of the competition.
Aytaç pursues his own social learning as he works to bridge the generation gap: He has a Generation Y mentor with whom he meets weekly.
"My mentor updates me on technology and how to communicate with the
*I Jennifer J. Salopek is a freelance writer in
ANNUAL SALES INCREASED BY 9 PERCENT AFTER THE PROGRAM, AND EMPLOYEE LOYALTY INCREASED BY 13 PERCENT.
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As healthcare organizations move toward the use of electronic health records to manage patient care, physician leaders are essential to helping drive the clinical and cultural transformation. To provide this need,
Focusing on change management, behavior change, and leadership and communication, the course addresses the core knowledge and skills CMIOs and physician change champions need in the fluctuating healthcare environment. During 2.5 days, material is delivered through instructor-led collaborative discussions combined with hands-on activities tailored to individual roles.
Cemer's corporate structure has the HR and learning and development functions as separate organizations reporting to different senior leaders. To ensure that learning is integrated into corporate imperatives, the chief learning officer reports directly to the chief of staff. The learning and development team is typically at the table as strategy is being discussed, and both functions closely align to unite human capital planning and workforce development.
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skill sets AND mindsets
A new corporate culture is helping to position
It's been three years since the chairman of
Chairman
The job of retraining and re-educating employees fell on the shoulders of the T&D function headed by
"Our chairman emphasized that we should not simply pursue the requests of our key customers, but instead focus on innovation," says Lee. The T&D portion of the transition is the full responsibility of QES, she says. The school's initiatives have yielded numerous projects that soon will produce results, Lee predicts.
Specifically, the stated goal was to achieve a shift from passive (following customers' requests) to proactive, and from engineeringcentric thinking to human-centric thinking throughout the company. All employees are being urged to support the new mindset.
"Changing mindsets is extremely difficult," says Lee. For example, research and development staff accustomed to approaching product design from their own perspectives as designers were suddenly being trained to place users first. "Learning how to observe users' behaviors, empathize [with] why they behave like that, and probe more of what they don't know-then put those factors into user-centric design-is a paradigm shift of product design at Quanta," she says.
Understanding user behaviors was seen as fundamental to creating effective business models and building corresponding competencies. To introduce the concept, a series of courses called
The innovation category includes training on such topics as new technology sharing and future technology research. Creativity includes a design-thinking workshop and other subjects to stimulate creativity. Content on business strategies and innovation successes comprise the entrepreneurship category, while the category on integrated activity prompts employees to put their learning into practice.
The popular ICE program includes a follow-up contest to reinforce learning results and strengthen post-learning application. Cash prizes are offered to winners. Last year, ICE conducted 63 courses and attracted more than 5,000 participants, a 33 percent jump in voluntary participation.
Development of Quanta's new culture took another leap with help from
"It was the first workshop ever delivered by Professor Christensen to an
In addition, in-house workshops on design thinking led by
QES also is moving aggressively on the succession planning front to align professional competencies with the new corporate mantra while also addressing the talent war in the competitive industry. Efforts include new programs to identify and retain future management associates and high-potential employees. Both initiatives involve a structured process of selection, development, and promotion that involves a personal interview with the chairman.
The management associates program recruits and nurtures young talent and provides them with intensive training and assignments, including hands-on manufacturing at foreign sites and cross-functional job rotations. Coaches and mentors are assigned to guide their development.
The prestigious high-potential program selects promising individuals from within the company for training and eventual promotion into middle and senior management positions. It involves careful identification and evaluation from a pool of employees, from which less than 1 percent are selected.
An important part of both programs, in addition to being a key retention tool, is a customized executive MBA program at
The two programs also emphasize the hiring of talented individuals with valued skills anticipated for the company's future, says Lee. These individuals are targeted for accelerated development and perks that include regular informal talks with the chairman and vice chairman, she adds.
Although it is premature to measure the transition's success, Lee notes a 100 percent training participation rate in 2012 as a sign that QES is whetting the appetites of employees for quality learning.
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UNDERSTANDING USER BEHAVIORS WAS SEEN AS FUNDAMENTALTO CREATING EFFECTIVE BUSINESS MODELS AND BUILDING CORRESPONDING COMPETENCIES.
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To enable this evolution, the IFL engages leadership in the classroom and the boardroom. By engaging senior executives throughout the design cycle, leaders help shape the content, quality, and direction of programs-which ensures overall alignment and commitment to the organization's strategic priorities. Recognizing the critical impact of leaders' interactions with regulators, a oneday classroom-based program was rolled out recently to equip leaders with the capabilities to build stronger, more open relationships with regulators.
A key component of the IFL's effectiveness is its approach to integrated talent management. All BMO leaders play an essential role in making sure the right people are in the right roles to meet customers' needs. Integrated talent management is fully incorporated into all leadership programs.
"Leaders who demonstrate a talent mindset are crucial to our progress," says Chief Learning Officer
The IFL offers programs and support tools targeted at three levels of leadership: new and first-time leaders, seasoned leaders, and senior leaders. The programs use the same lexicon, theories, models, and practices to ensure a consistent approach to leadership.
"Leaders are equipped with cultural intelligence and development techniques. They're also provided with key leadership capabilities. For instance, differentiating, evaluating, and leveraging diverse skills within a team to create optimum performance," explains Dirks. "It's about looking for every opportunity to develop talent and turn potential into performance."
The curriculum is comprised of three formal development programs, and a variety of informal, self-guided experiences and challenges, each targeted at the experience level of the participant. The programs are cohortbased, span six to nine months, equal 15 to 20 days, and incorporate blended learning, multimedia, social networking, formal and informal learning, on-the-job assignments, leader-led learning, and the adoption of a real business leadership issue to be advanced while in the program.
Participants apply their new capabilities and report progress and insights to their managers or executives. Impact reports are made to colleagues and fellow participants that illustrate the changes that occurred as a result of new learning, and demonstrate improvements to business, customer, and employee measures.
In addition, a web portal supports all three leadership programs by providing tools and resources to enhance development. It includes links to TED Talks and articles focused on leadership topics; BMO-specific webcasts featuring panel discussions led by company executives; and a YouTube channel with videos on techniques, tools, and trends.
UPS 3-TIME WINNER
At UPS, the leadership and talent development function collaborates with the
Enterprise strategy is only part of the story. "Our business is so diverse that we must first align to the corporate goals and strategy. As that strategy translates into each of the business units... and then subsequently to their learning and development folks, they start looking at what that means to them in their business units to define training," says
These levels of strategy are cascaded using a business scorecard approach that considers a variety of factors from business unit need and delivery models, to technology platforms, and cultural differences and global economic changes. To address the complexity of the supply chains needed by modem business, UPS embraces a combined top-down and bottom-up approach to alignment with corporate goals.
The organization's Country Manager Summit initiative is an innovative example of this dual-driver approach to alignment. The president of the company's international business unit came to Schwartz and her team with a training need for country managers-a key position to implement UPS's international strategy and drive business growth. "We worked very, very closely with 40 global leaders to develop this four-day workshop for the country managers," says Schwartz.
The initiative comprised six pre-summit activities and case studies that were built around topics the international business-planning team thought paramount for country managers: strategic collaboration, market challenges, market segments, building business cases, and customer relationships. During the summit the international business-planning team facilitated the case studies. Schwartz describes the event as a "leaders as teachers" effort.
A five-round, 10-hour simulation also was created using actual UPS business data from
The summit was "very impactful" according to Schwartz. "The whole summit itself and the simulation were developed to have the participants practice these new skills, all together, in a team environment."
The summit is indicative of UPS's broader commitment to integrated talent development. Learning and development weave continuously and seamlessly through the life cycle of UPS employees, creating a competent and high-performing workforce that drives business results.
"We have to satisfy our customers. We have to satisfy our investors," states Chief Operating Officer
targeted Learning Initiatives SUPPORT ENTERPRISE STRATEGY
The learning team has been instrumental in the surge of employee engagement at Ryan
As an award-winning global tax services firm, delivering outstanding client service during rapid growth is one of the most critical business issues facing Ryan. Fortunately, learning plays a key role in setting and executing the strategy of the enterprise and can help the firm meet its challenges successfully.
During the past five years, Ryan has experienced an annual growth rate of 17 percent in headcount. A January acquisition added 600 people; the firm currently employs 1,600 and earned
The eight full-time staff members in the learnmgígroup are aligned to practice arand serve as consultants, introducing learning solutions as trends surface.
Training was a key contributor to the introduction of a new client relationship management system and client service training program. From the start, learning professionals provided input on the highly customized system and drove the development of a comprehensive training plan.
Within three months, they provided live, instructor-led training to more than 90 percent of the organization, and created nine web-based modules accessible to all employees. Results were swift and positive, and the firm earned a client satisfaction rate of 97 percent in 2012.
"The program is now part of the onboarding program for every revenueproducing employee, as well as executive Assistants," Weaver says.
Key populations targeted for learning initiatives last year included senior consul- tants who have demonstrated the technical capabilities for promotion to manager-level positions, but who may lack adequate preparation for their future roles as managers.
The learning organization designed the Senior Consultant Success Plan to guide this group-20 percent of the company's current headcount-through the acquisition of a balanced set of technical and professional development skills. Encouraging high participation in the plan was crucial. Company leadership signaled the priority with the training investment.
Much research and homework informed the development of the initiative. The learning team performed a needs analysis survey, convened a focus group, hosted targeted interviews, and piloted courses. The final offering took the form of an 18-month blended course; the first group of 175 participants graduated in July. They worked their way through completion requirements at their own pace, which allowed every employee to maintain focus on their client service responsibilities in addition to their professional growth.
The metrics for success include participation and engagement, as well as performance improvement, says Weaver, and all are impressive: Participation in training increased to 100 percent, knowledge and skill mastery improved 21 percent, and participants evaluated the program as 4.7 out of 5.0.
"Engagement soared," Weaver says. "Prior to training, there was room for improvement with communication and collaboration across teams. Each team viewed its best practices as a differentiator, so knowledge sharing was limited. A best practices forum ... facilitated connection and sharing of ideas and their impact on the bottom line."
Employees leverage technology heavily to do their work. According to
Working through the ADDIE model, the learning organization created a multicomponent program designed to ensure consistent application of "myRyan" and to gain the support of resistant employees.
Initially piloted among three groups (about 550 people), the initiative featured a comprehensive pre-assessment followed by phases supported by learning that include
* development of a flex team agreement
* communication and team building
* technology optimization
* success measurement
* flex team blueprint
* coaching calls.
"myRyan is innovative in our industry as a work environment that delivers the very best results for our clients," says Weaver. "Employees collaborate as a team to identify operating protocols and build mutual agreements that enable teams to deliver their very best results for our clients."
Originally targeted at managers, an individual contributor version of the initiative has been launched. The live, instructor-led sessions are offered at least quarterly, and registration is unrestricted.
Since the learning initiative was deployed, 72 percent of managers expressed comfort with discussing flexibility and 56 percent felt that their teams experienced greater cohesiveness. Turnover organization-wide dropped to 12.8 percent. Best of all, "the myRyan environment is a competitive advantage that we use to recruit and retain top talent," Weaver says.
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PARTICIPATION IN TRAINING INCREASED TO 100 PERCENT, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL MASTERY IMPROVED 21 PERCENT, AND PARTICIPANTS EVALUATED THE PROGRAM AS 4.7 OUT OF 5.0.
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Innovation can be taught. Nuance, a technology company in
The learning function recently created the Engineering Excellence program, which provides specialized technical training on the technologies engineers need to develop new generations of products. This program was bom after careful study of similar companies' approaches to engaging technical talent, including
After extensive interviews with
The Engineering Excellence program also broke down geographical barriers by connecting engineers across the globe. "This is how cross-pollination happens," says Chief Learning Officer
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The university holds the key responsibility for shifting the corporate culture, and is focused on changing the traditional view of learning as only a means for skill development to the concept that learning is a major component of doing business and delivering an exceptional customer experience.
Given the considerable number of changes occurring in the pharmacy management environment,
Performance improvement increased, customer service improved, and the program's success led to broader implementation in the company.
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"Customers First" is a longstanding priority that the learning team at
However, it was taking 17 weeks for new hires to reach preparedness since they first had to be trained on core services before moving on to CSX training. This lag was potentially costing
The solution was to redesign the CARE New Hire curriculum as a streamlined onboarding program that prepared more proficient, customer-focused, confident agents in less time. With this program, the learning team was able to reduce time to productivity from 17 to 12 weeks with measurable improvements in agent performance across four key metrics: revenue (up 28 percent), customer satisfaction ratings (up 29 percent), repeat calls, and transfers.
Another initiative based on the Customers First priority was a customized eight-month call center coaching methodology course for team managers and operations managers. Half-day monthly programs follow a two-day kickoff. Success was tracked based on customer satisfaction ratings, repeat calls, transfers, and coaching effectiveness. Phase I measures exceeded targets in all but one category (a near miss), with a weighted average of 1.27 (1 = met target).
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PPD |
avatars rule
Three-dimensional virtual worlds are replacing classrooms at clinical research organization PPD. The company has launched a variety of popular courses around the concept.
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The scenario clearly called for innovative thinking. PPD, a global contract research organization, faced challenges to meeting the training obligations of its far-flung employees, including newly hired clinical monitoring specialists posted throughout the world.
A best-in-class introductory training program was being delivered to the new associates, but the related travel and time demands were burdensome. Training managers began seeking a route to reduce costs while improving overall performance.
It was one of several training concerns for the company, which launched in 1985 as a solo consultancy and today has offices in 46 countries and 12,500 employees. PPD provides drug discovery, development life cycle management, and laboratory services throughout the world. Clients include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic, and government organizations.
"PPD continually faces the challenge of ensuring the balance between the time invested in L&D and the fact that our employees provide a billable service to clients, making every moment a valuable resource," says
It was time to go virtual.
Wilkinson and colleagues reasoned that by creating 3-D virtual learning environments, PPD could deliver all of the required training under the introductory Clinical Foundations Program to its global audience. Doing so would eliminate time-consuming travel without loss of performance.
The team selected ProtoSphere, a 3-D collaboration software product from Proton Media. With help from the provider, PPD created a virtual training universe called PPD 3D that is complete with doctor's office, reception, and training and conference rooms. Students select a business-appropriate avatar to represent them in the virtual space, and learn required curriculum from live instructors more realistically than in the classroom. The virtual experience can even be augmented by media such as Excel, PowerPoint, and video.
But first came the job of training PPD instructors to communicate as avatars in a new virtual world. Wilkinson said that despite little available guidance on the subject, they were quickly able to learn the required skills. "Our instructors now enjoy it more than face-toface training," he says. During the process, the team learned that entirely new skills are required to become a virtual trainer.
So popular and effective was the new clinical training initiative that the concept was rolled out for other training programs. They included the HR department's flagship leadership training program called LEAD, a blended learning initiative that targets all levels of managers. Another is a program called SeelDol: a Virtual Interim Monitoring Visit Experience. Introduced last year, it simulates aspects of key activities performed by staffers within the organization's core business.
"Our 3-D virtual training/collaboration technology improves the cost-effectiveness, speed, and accessibility of training," says Wilkinson. In post-training surveys from Clinical Foundation Program personnel, 80 percent of respondents said they prefer it to classroom training, while a whopping 95 percent feel they are more engaged than with conventional instruction. In addition, global engagement scores rose by 6 percent over the year, a significant achievement. More PPD 3D training is being planned.
Other PPD innovations involve the structure and organization of its training activities. That includes placing all aspects of performance and improvement under Wilkinson and
"Having a business leader in charge gives us immediate credibility in the C-suite, and total business alignment with company strategy," says Wilkinson, who previously ran PPD's global operations. "We also wanted all the aspects of performance and improvement under a single leader. Technology, process improvement, business analytics and data, global learning, and performance all are placed under me."
The duties were divided five years ago after PPD hired
"The key to our success in employee training is an effective partnership between our HR team and our technology, innovation, and performance group," says Wilkinson. "Integration provides a holistic approach to continuous improvement."
Design and delivery teams align strategically with business units, conducting needs analysis and providing products, programs, and global event coordination. "We train and develop staff, measure performance against standards, optimize processes, utilize technology, and measure post-improvement performance-then initiate additional cycles of continuous improvement," the company says.
An example of this holistic approach is a professional skills foundation certificate program called the EDGE (engage, develop, grow, excel) program. The globally consistent skills development program is intended for individuals who "embrace the company's core behaviors." It provides a foundation for continued development and enhancement of professional skills.
The approach also includes a 15-member
Wilkinson says an example of the corporate culture endorsed by the council is to consider technologies as an enabler for the business. "But we don't throw a tech-based solution at something until we fully understand the data around it. We must fully understand the process and then optimize it."
When that happens, he says, training becomes the "icing on the cake" in improving personnel effectiveness.
*
"THE KEY TO OUR SUCCESS IN EMPLOYEE TRAINING IS AN EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN OUR HR TEAM AND OUR TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, AND PERFORMANCE GROUP."
-
57.7 HOURS
THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF LEARNING HOURS USED PER EMPLOYEE IN BEST ORGANIZATIONS INCREASED FROM 49.1 IN 2011 TO 57.7 IN 2012.
IN THE 2012 BEST ORGANIZATIONS, THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES PER LEARNING STAFF ADJUSTED FOR OUTSOURCING WAS 178; THE NUMBER RISES TO 249 WHEN NOT ADJUSTED FOR OUTSOURCING.
ready FOR change
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare industry has been preparing for an estimated 30 million Americans who are expected to enter the health insurance marketplace this fall. At
The learning function at
Today
Those challenges have been considerable. As the health insurance marketplace evolves from a group purchasing decision to one focused on individual purchasing decisions, through state and federal exchanges,
An enterprise education team with representatives from major learning departments rapidly assessed the learning needs of every division, generated a comprehensive report, secured additional funding, and implemented a cohesive set of learning solutions for everyone from frontline employees to senior leaders.
"What made the program so unique was that it included all operational areas with consistent messaging and had far-reaching impact," says Knytych. "Nearly every job role was touched, but there was a single point of contact for the businesses."
The shifting landscape also brought a new focus on retaining top talent. "Healthcare reform is a significant call to action, requiring employees to upskill and retool," explains Knytych. "We needed to keep our workforce engaged by investing in their development."
Once onboard, new employees-especially new executives-must be assimilated rapidly.
A new Executive Readiness Program launched last year establishes expectations about strategic leadership, ethics, accountability, and personal brand and influence. In their first two to three months on the job, new executives interact with senior leaders in a variety of settings and attend a multiweek blended course with a leadership coach.
"We're hiring more new vice presidents from outside the company than ever before," says Knytych. "With this program, we're setting them up for success."
Other specialized programs rolled out in 2012 targeted frontline leaders and customer service representatives, while an enterprise business literacy initiative targeted all 15,600 employees. The program was designed to enhance employees' awareness and knowledge of market opportunities and the company's business strategy-an enterprise strategic goal for the year. Offerings included role-based interactive courses, podcasts, strategy cohort programs, and an executive engagement tool kit.
Results were impressive: 96 percent of participants reported increased business knowledge and 90 percent reported knowledge gain.
Preparing for profound change sometimes can mean not only learning new ways but unlearning old ones. That was the case when
The learning initiative leveraged experiential and discovery-style training that was preceded by up to seven e-learning modules based on role. The modules included simulations of the new system and scenarios that compared the old and new systems. Learners had to identify and replace old terms and processes with new ones, and had to earn a score of 80 or better to move to live training.
That three-day classroom session included team-based activities, challenges, games, and simulations. Learners demonstrated their knowledge through teach-back activities, which are creative and engaging presentations that showcased how they overcame prior knowledge and embedded the new. They also received follow-up training activities each week until the new system launch.
"Learning has really had the opportunity to innovate and raise the bar over the past two years," says Knytych. "I'm pretty happy about the results."
*
HCSC EMPLOYEES CONSUME MORE THAN 1 MILLION HOURS OF TRAINING ANNUALLY BY PARTICIPATING IN A MIX OF FACILITATED, SELF-PACED, AND SOCIAL OPTIONS.
19
An organizational learning strategy is a twoway street.
Key initiatives are handed down from senior leadership, while others are proposed and developed by members of the learning function. Adjustments to the strategy are made according to a collaborative, iterative model referred to as "T.I.N.E.S." Each "tine" is represented by training, instructional design, needs analysis, executives, or stakeholders, and each contributes to the learning strategy.
The learning function makes every effort to remain integrated with all parts of the organization. It is involved in every stage of the employee life cycle, from talent acquisition and new-hire orientation, to career planning for midlevel managers and retention through continual operational training.
In a recent period of explosive growth (
SHORT CAN BE Oh,
A new training program at
As
As a result, the learning and development (L&D) function is constantly challenged to create a learning culture in the organization, and to keep its far-flung associates engaged in learning. To address that challenge, the L&D team developed an initiative last year that employs an honored axiom in communication: "Keep it short."
It introduced "Learning Bytes," a written column delivered on multiple platforms that contains quick-read capsules on topics of interest to the general learner. The column addresses a bound less array of topics, including technology, workplace issues, language, culture, and personal behavior. Ranging from 500 to 700 words, each is an anecdotal story written in compelling fashion to address a common problem or situation facing many employees.
"In this program, we leverage all of our resources and reach out to learners in a format that they can appreciate," says
Although it might sound like a modest training endeavor at first blush, "Learning Bytes" wins hands down as the department's most innovative initiative of 2012. "The Bytes help to instill a learning culture within the organization, a core value for the L&D organization and one of our top priorities," says
She reports that the new program gained immediate acceptance with employees and quickly began generating contributions from associates eager to share personal experiences. One of the most popular delivery methods is the organization's social collaboration platform.
Navelkar says it's impossible to correlate "Learning Bytes" with employee retention, but the positive feedback attests to the initiative's value in helping associates relate with the organization and their colleagues. That automatically makes it a worthy retention tool in today's competitive climate.
Another popular initiative launched last year is an onboarding program aimed at connecting with new recruits before they join the organization. Called ASPIRE, it is an online interactive learning platform containing a 170-hour learning package. Content includes modules about the organization and its core values, and an introduction to a variety of technical topics.
The program culminates in a formal induction process that assesses all recruits and determines their immediate future with the company. "ASPIRE plays an important role in determining the ultimate career of recruits," says Suresh Panampilly, head of the Initial Learning Program (ILP). In addition, keeping prospective employees engaged at the outset lessens the chance that they might jump to a competitor, he explains.
To date, more than 43,000 associates have been initiated via ASPIRE. To make the learning experience as engaging as possible, content includes enjoyable, interactive resources, including exercises and quizzes at the end of each module. The portal has been redesigned since its unveiling with enhanced features and 24-hour support.
ASPIRE is an important response to one of the most critical issues facing the organization-getting trainees project ready and business aligned from day one. Another is the ILP for trainees in numerous positions, including technology, management, finance, HR, and engineering services. Indeed, this program accounts for almost 50 percent of the entire training budget.
ILP was revamped during fiscal year 2011 to align more closely to the businesses, following four tracks of endeavor. Integrated into the learning are personal skills such as professional grooming, teamwork, speaking, and writing.
The impact of the initiative has become immediately clear. Qualitative data indicate learning effectiveness is upward of 90 percent, while 81 percent of project leaders find the new curriculum an improvement in getting new employees project ready.
The L&D leaders also cite two examples of training's contribution to business performance during 2012. They are PROPEL, a team learning and problem solving initiative that facilitates the informal exchange of ideas, and a new emphasis on return-on-investment that targets niche skill learning programs.
PROPEL helps build a culture of collaboration, creativity, and networking while solving specific business problems. The program's leaders have been trained as change agents who meet challenges by using teamwork in various forms. They include group-led examinatioi ' of waste within systems that can be solveo vstemically. "The program encourages employees to take ownership, and is a major force in keeping them engaged," says Githanjali Chandrasekhar, head of PROPEL.
Addressing the issue of global attrition is one of the areas where L&D has successfully employed PROPEL initiatives across locations. As a result of this and other initiatives for promoting employee engagement and motivation, the average attrition rate reduced from 11.5 percent in 2011 to 9.4 percent in 2012.
The ROl effort, launched last year, seeks to measure the effectiveness of niche technology training programs for high-value employees. The ROI for selected programs is measured by calculating the revenues earned as a result of training, based on billing rates of trained participants who employ their new skills minus the training costs incurred. A learning effectiveness study also is conducted.
The organization reports that the ROl on technical programs is 483 percent, and that billing rates have risen for the newly trained employees. For an investment of about
*
"WE LEVERAGE ALL OF OUR RESOURCES AND REACH OUTTO LEARNERS IN A FORMAT THAT THEY CAN APPRECIATE."
-
21
Eight years ago, the relationship between the training department and senior management was purely transactional. Now, the group has gone from order-takers to established experts on adult learning. It anticipates and fulfills a wide range of development needs that support business goals. Because soft skills-such as professionalism, teamwork, and customer focus-form the organization's core competencies, the learning function has relied heavily on one-on-one coaching for developing such skills. Managers receive coaching training, attend workshops, and complete extended learning assignments, so that they can have more effective conversations regarding their employees' performance and professional development.
Coaching relationships also exist in the highest levels of the organization. Manager effectiveness was identified as a competency gap, so the learning and development team helped establish a custom 360-review process in which each manager completes an action plan for implementing improvements. Senior executives meet periodically with CEO
"We try to reinforce that the 360 is about organizational development and continuous improvement. It is not a performance appraisal," he explains.
The transformation of the learning function during the past eight years also has included a closer involvement with customer-facing employees. Instead of remaining at headquarters, trainers go out in the field several times a year to see what the frontline needs are in the branches. Besides identifying skills gaps, this also gives trainers a chance to ask, "How do we (as an organization) stop being complex?" and "How do we create processes that are easier ultimately for our members, but also for our employees?" says
The learning function recognizes that performance gaps are not always treatable with training. It uses the Human Performance Improvement Model to determine the root causes of performance issues before proceeding with a solution. And when training is deemed the appropriate remedy, steps are taken to ensure that employees get the most from it.
The learning function currently is rolling out virtual classroom training for frontline managers. To increase their comfort with the technology, managers were first educated on the basics of using virtual training platforms. Level 1 surveys following these initial sessions demonstrate that managers recognized the advantages of virtual training and were enthusiastic about participating in it. This approach not only secured their buy-in, but it also guaranteed a higher rate of learning transfer.
Eighty-eight percent of employees at ESL agree that they have the training they need to do their jobs well.
"Once people are here, they want to stay here," says Wolfe. "And we want to continue to grow their skills, so they can add more value as they progress through their careers."
22
When Duty Calls, THE LEARNING TEAM ANSWERS
The majority of learning hours at
About four years ago,
"It is
The vast majority of employees-16,000-work in the call center and receive 84 percent of the total learning hours delivered annually. The learning function employs 177 professionals who are aligned with the stages of the ADDIE model; the delivery group is the largest.
The role and scope of the learning organization is determined by key learning executives in partnership with senior business leaders. Learning is segmented into professional development, leadership development, call center training, and jobspecific technical learning. Stone heads up call center training while his colleague
In addition to the transformation effort, another critical business issue facing
"Culture and employee engagement come under the talent management umbrella at
The learning organization works to equip managers and leaders with tips and strategies to reinforce cultural concepts with the dispersed workforce, and facilitates workshops about behavioral norms.
"We teach hub leaders to be cultural beacons for collaboration, teamwork, and communication," says Stevens. "This allows for the culture to become the way we do business and not just a poster campaign."
The learning organization plays a performance consulting role to ensure that initiatives are necessary and appropriate. Sometimes the solution is a nonlearning one. That was the case with a learning client that was experiencing a high volume of misdirected calls. The business unit planned to hire a manager and 15 new staff members to handle the misdirected calls and initially contacted the learning department to request a training plan. "Often learning is viewed as magical pixie dust," laughs Stone.
The learning performance consultant conducted a root cause analysis that revealed that, not only were the employees incorrectly forwarding calls, but workforce management principles were not being applied. This hampered their ability to manage staff resources efficiently.
After the learning consultant designed and delivered a job aid for the employees, misdirected calls dropped immediately by 53 percent. Better yet, the business unit employees reported an 83 percent increase in job satisfaction after the solution was implemented.
Call center employees also benefited from
The new solution used a critical mistake methodology to build a task-based, iterative course that immerses students in actual job tasks. Learners can attempt different assignments and learn from the ones that are successful. The solution blends branching simulations, role plays, technical simulations, self-study, and instructor-led sessions over 36 days. The course was previously 51 days; the shorter duration brought productivity gains of
Time to proficiency is a key metric for this population: Previously, 33 percent of participants were proficient 10 weeks after the program. However, 10 weeks after the reinvented solution, 55 percent of employees were proficient. There are six more pipeline réinventions in progress.
*
MORE THAN 1,600 STUDENTS WILL GRADUATE FROM THE COURSE, RESULTING IN MORE THAN
23
As the teaching facility for a major academic medical center, learning is part of
The executive team articulated the Triple Aim strategy, and teamed with the learning department to communicate the importance of directing all human capital investments toward performance that would lead to achieving success.
Triple Aim is hardwired into all learning and development efforts, including needs analysis, content, facilitator selection, and delivery mode. It also is integrated into all learning programs, including new employee orientation, nursing orientation, and the
The Triple Aim vocabulary is introduced and reinforced at the beginning and end of every learning program and scenario. End-of-course evaluations specifically ask whether the program made a difference in the participant's ability to work toward Triple Aim in each of the three areas. Based on these evaluations, some learning events were redesigned to more closely align with Triple Aim outcomes.
24
Franchise expansion and the pilot of a new business model with a key strategic partner required
During the program development process, it became apparent that the learning needs for multi-unit managers were less about knowledge transfer and more about relationships and collaboration-they needed to know and trust the people who could help them be successful.
The development program occurs in two phases. In the first, learners are paired with a coach who guides learners through exercises designed to teach "nuts and bolts" skills. When the learners enter their new roles, coaches become ongoing mentors, with learning exercises and interactions tracked centrally.
In phase two, structured peer projects are added, introducing collaboration in larger teams. Also, learners attend a three-day event where they build relationships with key support personnel.
A social collaborative learning platform allows for short online sessions led by a member of the learning team. Learners collaborate on assignments via an integrated social networking environment, blogs, video, audio, and print media.
The program has placed
25
The consulting, technology, and outsourcing solutions company with more than 156,000 employees is trying to stay ahead of its global competition by creating successful training programs for IT specialists, engineers, and company leaders.
"At Infosys, we understand that a globally competitive and sustainable business can only be built upon a strong base of learning, education, and research," says
The
* availability of a quality talent pool in the market to meet company growth
* skills gap between graduating engineers and business needs
* pace of change in the technologies used to solve client problems.
The Campus Connect program was created to enhance the capacity and capabilities of the IT talent pool. The program is for stakeholders in the engineering supply chain-including students, faculty members, college management and policymakers, and students and faculty in the IT industry-and it helps enhance employability and industry readiness of students. Since 2004, the program has reached out to more than 100,000 students in more than 360 engineering institutions.
Another initiative, the Foundation Program, helps lay a strong foundation for engineering graduates and software engineering and computer science graduates. Each engineer who joins the company goes through the six-month program that includes instructor-led lectures and presentations, quizzes, assignments, guided learning, collaborative projects, and tests. During the past four years, more than 50,000 recruits have participated.
The Continuous Education Program deepens employee skill sets and helps employees keep pace with the technology changes. The learning function conducts role-based training and provides certifications for all employees to help them strengthen their technology expertise, transition into new roles, and gain skills for different roles. More than 15,000 employees have participated, and more than 1,900 certifications across four dimensions have been given, including 700 in-house certifications.
To reduce the skills gap between supply and demand of talent, the
"The company, through a comprehensive credit point framework, facilitates employees to acquire the relevant competencies on the job," explains Gopalakrishnan. "The employees approach the learning initiatives from multiple perspectives-servicing client needs, meeting career aspirations, and positioning themselves as certified professionals."
In 2001,
"By merging well-researched leadership theory and principles with the application and practice of these principles within our programs, the leadership institute ensures that leaders are learning and developing in the context of the realities of true leadership and the business environment," says Gopalakrishnan.
26
Within that standing framework, it is critical that the skills of Clarkston's workforce align with the company's strategic goals. To ensure that happens, executive management works hand in hand with the learning function to address skills gaps. Supporting this strategic alignment strategy requires ongoing analysis and real-time enhancements and improvements. The ability to ramp programs up and down effectively and efficiently is essential.
The learning team is responsible for ensuring that programs continuously identify and develop new leaders, provide innovative learning opportunities, and afford professionals the abilities to keep core skills fresh and relevant. Innovative learning programs, such as the Building a Culture of Feedback initiative, were developed to improve the quality, timeliness, and consistency of feedback for all employees. After the first year of the program, on-time performance appraisals increased significantly from 15 percent to 59 percent.
Talent management is integrated across the organization to ensure seamless, high-touch processes for Clarkston's workforce.
27
At
When it comes to setting organization strategy, the chief human resources officer and the leaders of all four Centers of Excellence he manages, including the chief learning officer/senior vice president of talent management and development, are all present during quarterly meetings. Since one of the company's guiding principles is operating "as one team," the learning function plays an equal role-alongside leaders from all corners of the organization-in discussions that set the company's strategy.
Last year,
8.8 PERCENT
AVERAGE TUITION REIMBURSEMENT SPENDING INCREASED FOR 2012 BEST ORGANIZATIONS, ACCOUNTING FOR 8.8 PERCENT OF DIRECT LEARNING EXPENDITURES IN 2012 COMPARED WITH 7.4 PERCENT IN 2011.
'The Chicken' Rules
ZAXBY'S LEARNING ROOST</p>
The restaurant cháíñ looks to its training department to lower turnover, maintain brand consistency, and preserve the firm's Southern culture-all at no cost to the organization.
28
It's known as "feeding the chicken." Whenever employees at Zaxby's restaurants complete a required learning course, the achievement is acknowledged on each individual's customized learning plan. Zaxby's learning logo, a chicken wearing a mortarboard, turns increasingly golden as learning goals are met and solid gold when the entire job is done.
The distinctive progress bar is an undisputed home run for the fast-growing restaurant chain known for its savory fried chicken and other dishes presented with a Southern flair. More importantly, the modest gamification element represents a major advance of Zaxby's licensee management training strategy that links learning accomplishments with important business goals. They include standards for performance, turnover, brand consistency, and adherence to the firm's Southern culture.
The
Formal licensee management training traditionally has been held at each franchisee's expense at corporate office classrooms supplemented by in-restaurant instruction at one of the firm's certified training restaurants. The curriculum required to achieve management certification kept trainees away from their home restaurants for six weeks and cost licensees an average of
But management trainees sometimes failed their cert ification tests, quit their jobs during training, or were deemed unsuitable for the position, any of which required a restart of the process. As a result, the company continued to wage an uphill battle against two related business challenges-tumover in the licensee workforce and consistency within the brand. Meanwhile, licensees began to increase their requests for greater control over personnel training.
An internal compliance report revealed that only 25 percent of the company's restaurants were being led by a team of certified managers, mostly because of a turnover rate that exceeded 100 percent. While on par with industry averages, the figure was unacceptable to Zaxby's CEO.
"As a franchisor, consistency is extremely important-every restaurant needs to be the same," says
In 2012, Zaxby's unveiled the answer: The Licensee Managed Training Program, an initiative that put licensees in charge of delivering training content developed by Zaxby's learning team. The optional program is a three-sided strategy that begins with an online learning management system. The LMS allows learners to customize their learning plans within a modular structure and track their progress.
The program delivers company-produced content customized to specific roles such as front of house, back of house, manager, and owner. Licensees are free to alter the delivery of content to suit their own needs-a move that gives them much-desired control while meeting the training department's need for consistency.
Lastly, licensees get to see first-hand how a commitment to continuous learning results in enhanced productivity. "It's the ultimate winwin," says Fletcher.
The training regimen not only tracks course completion and performance via test scores, but it also features hands-on demonstrative tests that measure ability. They are conducted at designated certified testing restaurants.
Yet another key element of the strategy is a newly created position called organization training manager. Every restaurant that opts for the licensee-managed program must have this full-time individual on staff.
These managers facilitate the training partnership while supporting the licensees' organizational goals. Following an intense three-day, face-to-face training initiation at corporate headquarters, they employ the company's certified training program as on-the-job training for their own colleagues.
An annual licensee profitability summit solicits ideas about improving the learning experience, and an annual learning operations review with the executive team helps drive and support the enterprise learning strategy.
Maintaining Zaxby's distinctive Southern culture is another training department activity. "What's played well for us as a small company is the close-knit group of licensees who buy into our mission and values. But the bigger we grow, the more diluted that message gets and the less control we have," says Fletcher.
So a new priority is to raise awareness of Zaxby's values and mission. Called the culture and guest experience manager, this individual develops, implements, and monitors programs to measure and evaluate the restaurant frontof-house guest experience.
The results have been noteworthy from every measure. They include a critical reduction in time required to fulfill food orders, and sales and revenue increases at restaurants that improved their progress in training and certifying managers. In addition, the organization saved
Meanwhile,
*I Paul Harris is a freelance writer in
THE TRAINING REGIMEN NOT ONLY TRACKS COURSE COMPLETION AND PERFORMANCE VIA TEST SCORES, BUT IT ALSO FEATURES HANDS-ON DEMONSTRATIVE TESTS THAT MEASURE ABILITY.
| Copyright: | (c) 2013 American Society for Training and Development |
| Wordcount: | 14345 |
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