Chief Learning Officer - June 2016 by Chief Learning Officer

June 2016 | CLOmedia.com

➤ Leaders of the LearningElite ➤ DAU: Helping Learners Every Day ➤ Vi: Breakthrough in Leadership Development ➤ Janssen: Learning Ahead of the Curve ➤ Deloitte: Focusing on Learners’ Strengths

VANGUARD 2016 Learning Organization of the Year

Vanguard’s Tamara Ganc

surepeople.com

HERE’S THE THING ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS. They’re wonderfully complex. Multidimensional. Different from each other. They’re driven by a spectacular array of motivations. And held back by a daunting volume of obstacles. Human beings are spirited. Autonomous. Unpredictable. You should know. You’re one of them. Now, imagine if you gave people a window to their best selves. Empowered them to take command of their own growth. And equipped them to join forces with others, for the benefit of all. If you didn’t just tell them to succeed, but showed them how. On their terms, by their measures, to their ends. The outcomes would be extraordinary. Not just for them. For any organization comprised of human beings.

Be extraordinary.

EDITOR’S LETTER

Back Office No More T

he back office is the new front line of business. Faced with rising regulation, new technology that makes previously opaque markets transparent, the software geeks are on the rise at Goldman Sachs and other investment banks. UPS doesn’t just deliver packages in time for holiday gift giving. It’s a 24/7 logistics partner for your business. Amazon isn’t just an online retailer of books, groceries and more. The most profitable part of Jeff Bezos’ empire is its cloud hosting and storage business. Revenue in Amazon Web Services grew 64 percent to $2.56 billion last quarter. As these examples illustrate, IT, accounting, logistics and, yes, learning, are all central to business. And not just as faceless back office functions dedicated to efficiently carrying out the thankless tasks that keep business humming. In the modern economy, the back office is front and center in the way companies compete.

bullet that makes all future achievement possible — it’s learning. But I’m biased. We publish this learning-focused magazine every month. Let’s rule you out as well. The fact that you’re reading this immediately disqualifies you as an impartial observer. Instead, consider how business leaders describe the keys to success today: adaptability and agility, creativity and flexibility, innovation and competition. Our organizations don’t win without the ability to learn. Learning isn’t a back office function. It’s the future. At Vanguard, this year’s No. 1, employee learning is the core around which the investment fund helps clients achieve their financial goals and dreams. The company’s investment in learning has turned Vanguard into the largest fund firm in the United States, accounting for $1 out of every $2 invested in the U.S. At Defense Acquisition University, the education arm for the U.S. Department of Defense’s 150,000-strong acquisition workforce, the mission is not just to be efficient stewards of taxpayer dollars. Employee learning is central to the readiness of the nation’s warfighters and the reason it’s No. 2. At Vi, operator of senior living facilities across the U.S. and No. 3 on this year’s list, learning and developThat’s no surprise to the Chief Learning Officer ment is an essential component to being an employer LearningElite organizations profiled in this issue. of choice in an industry prone to turnover. Now in its sixth year, the LearningElite recognizes The story is the same at all the companies in the 2016 the best companies for employee learning and devel- LearningElite. There is no single way to succeed in the opment through a rigorous peer-reviewed process that modern economy. But there is a common approach and benchmarks companies in five key areas: leadership learning and development lies at the heart of it. commitment, learning strategy, execution, learning Hard work. Sustained collaboration. Laser-like preciimpact and business performance results. sion. Calculated risks. Sometimes it all pays off in success The 70 organizations, plus four members of the and acclamation. Other times, it goes unnoticed. Winners’ Circle, recognized in this issue spent a collecWhen it comes to learning and development, more tive $3.24 billion to deliver learning and development often than not it’s the latter. That’s not the case this to a staggering 3.8 million people. Those efforts led in month. In the pages of this magazine, you’ll see the inpart to more than $363 trillion in revenue. And they novative work learning and development leaders are did it with startling efficiency. LearningElite organiza- doing — often behind the scenes but at the forefront of tions spent an average of $852 per learner. business — to make their companies better. CLO That investment was deployed for a startling array of purposes. As Sarah Kimmel, head of Chief Learning Officer’s research and advisory services arm, said at this year’s gala, LearningElite companies make nations safer, save lives, build things, grow food, provide electric power and create hospitality for travelers. They enable Mike Prokopeak people to communicate or manage their finances. Editor in Chief If there’s a common key to success — one magic mikep@CLOmedia.com

Learning and development is front and center at the companies that make up the 2016 LearningElite.

4 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

COPY EDITOR Frannie Sprouls fsprouls@CLOmedia.com

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CREATIVE SERVICES Gwen Connelly gwen@CLOmedia.com VICE PRESIDENT, CFO, COO Kevin A. Simpson ksimpson@CLOmedia.com VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP PUBLISHER Clifford Capone ccapone@CLOmedia.com

EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR Anna Jo Beck abeck@CLOmedia.com EDITORIAL INTERN Andie Burjek aburjek@CLOmedia.com VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH & ADVISORY SERVICES Sarah Kimmel

VICE PRESIDENT, EDITOR IN CHIEF Mike Prokopeak mikep@CLOmedia.com

skimmel@CLOmedia.com

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Rick Bell rbell@CLOmedia.com

tharnett@CLOmedia.com

RESEARCH MANAGER Tim Harnett RESEARCH ANALYST

GROUP EDITOR/ASSOCIATE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Kellye Whitney kwhitney@CLOmedia.com

Grey Litaker clitaker@CLOmedia.com RESEARCH ASSISTANT Kristen Britt

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Frank Kalman fkalman@CLOmedia.com

kbritt@CLOmedia.com

James Tehrani jtehrani@CLOmedia.com

Ashley Flora

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Lauren Dixon ldixon@CLOmedia.com

VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS

MEDIA MANAGER aflora@CLOmedia.com Trey Smith

Bravetta Hassell bhassell@CLOmedia.com Sarah Sipek ssipek@CLOmedia.com

tsmith@CLOmedia.com EVENT CONTENT MANAGER Ashley (Wynne) Collins awynne@CLOmedia.com

EVENTS MARKETING MANAGER Anthony Zepeda azepeda@CLOmedia.com

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Melanie Lee mlee@CLOmedia.com

WEBCAST COORDINATOR Alec O’Dell aodell@CLOmedia.com

LEAD GENERATION ADMINISTRATOR Nick Safir nsafir@CLOmedia.com

BUSINESS MANAGER Vince Czarnowski vince@CLOmedia.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGERS Derek Graham dgraham@CLOmedia.com Marc Katz mkatz@CLOmedia.com Daniella Weinberg dweinberg@CLOmedia.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Brian Lorenz blorenz@CLOmedia.com DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND EVENTS Kevin Fields kfields@CLOmedia.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Cushing Anderson Michael J. Aumann Rick Bell Josh Bersin Andie Burjek Lauren Dixon Michael E. Echols Sarah Fister Gale Bravetta Hassell Frank Kalman Robert Kegan Louise Korver Lisa Laskow Lahey Jack J. Phillips Patti P. Phillips Sarah Sipek Kellye Whitney

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Cindy Cardinal ccardinal@CLOmedia.com DIGITAL SPECIALIST Lauren Lynch llynch@CLOmedia.com LIST MANAGER Mike Rovello hcmlistrentals@infogroup.com

John R. Taggart

Gwen Connelly

Kevin A. Simpson

PRESIDENT

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Norman B. Kamikow CO-FOUNDER (1943-2014)

CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Cushing Anderson, Program Director, Learning Ser vices, IDC Frank J. Anderson Jr., ( Ret.) President, Defense Acquisition Universit y Cedric Coco, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Lowe’s Cos. Inc. Lisa Doyle, Vice President, Learning and Development, Lowe’s Cos. Inc. Tamar Elkeles, Chief People Of ficer, Quixey Thomas Evans, ( Ret.) Chief Learning Of ficer, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ted Henson, Senior Strategist, Oracle Gerry Hudson-Martin, Director, Corporate Learning Strategies, Business Architects Kimo Kippen, Chief Learning Of ficer, Hilton Worldwide Rob Lauber, Vice President, Chief Learning Of ficer, McDonald’s Corp. Maj. Gen. Erwin F. Lessel, ( Ret.) U.S. Air Force, Director, Deloit te Consulting Justin Lombardo, Interim Chief Learning Of ficer, Baptist Health Alan Malinchak, Executive Advisor, Talent and Learning Practice, Deltek Universit y Lee Maxey, CEO, MindMax Jeanne C. Meister, Author and Independent Learning Consultant Bob Mosher, Senior Par tner and Chief Learning Evangelist, APPLY Synergies Rebecca Ray, Executive Vice President, The Conference Board Allison Rossett, ( Ret.) Professor of Educational Technology, San Diego State Universit y Diana Thomas, CEO and Founder, Winning Results Annette Thompson, Senior Vice President and Chief Learning Of ficer, Farmers Insurance David Vance, Former President, Caterpillar Universit y Kevin D. Wilde, Executive Leadership Fellow, Carlson School of Management, Universit y of Minnesota

LEADERS

June 2016 | Volume 15, Issue 6 PRESIDENT John R. Taggart jrtag@CLOmedia.com

Provide PROOF of Performance Here’s proof of ours: n 10+ years experience building corporate learning programs. n 12 career-relevant, custom learning programs that work. n 2,500 careers positively impacted. n Proven KPI increases that go a long way in the C-Suite.

We call it

Real Learning for Real Life Powered by Bellevue University

Chief Learning Officer (ISSN 1935-8148) is published monthly by MediaTec Publishing Inc., 111 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 1200, Chicago IL 60601. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Chief Learning Officer, P.O. Box 8712 Lowell, MA 01853. Subscriptions are free to qualified professionals within the US and Canada. Digital free subscriptions are available worldwide. Nonqualified paid subscriptions are available at the subscription price of $199 for 12 issues. All countries outside the US and Canada must be prepaid in US funds with an additional $33 postage surcharge. Single price copy is $29.95 Chief Learning Officer and CLOmedia.com are the trademarks of MediaTec Publishing Inc. Copyright © 2016, MediaTec Publishing Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of material published in Chief Learning Officer is forbidden without permission. Printed by: Quad/Graphics, Sussex, WI

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TABLE OF CONTENTS JUNE 2016

2016 26

18 2016

18 2016 LearningElite Overview

ON THE WEB

19 2015 LearningElite: The Full List

The Top 10

26 Vanguard Devotes Year to Learning Innovation 28 DAU Helps Its Learners Every Day 30 Vi’s Breakthrough in Leadership Development 32 Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Ahead of the Curve 34 Deloitte Focuses on Learners’ Strengths 36 Sidley Austin Strives for Talent, Teamwork, Results 38 Learning Is Doing at PwC 40 KPMG’s Higher Purpose: Conscious L&D 42 Nationwide Adapts to Winds of Learning 44 Western Union’s Learning Is All About

the Business

8 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

The Week That Was Each week, we compile a list of the top five stories on CLOmedia.com as well as the week’s top business and industry news so you can catch up on what your peers are reading. Look for this section in every Friday’s newsletter, or visit us on the Web and tell us what you’re reading.

ON THE COVER: PHOTO BY ED CUNICELLI

TABLE OF CONTENTS JUNE 2016

Features

48 52

Experts

Making the Right Choice When There Is None Andie Burjek The most informed, most effective decision comes down to the tools and strategies in place to improve learning and development.

Midcareer Mindset Louise Corver Midcareer moves can be risky. For these leaders to be successful, it’s important for onboarding to take a different approach.

10 BUSINESS IMPACT

Michael E. Echols Why CLOs Need to Bust Silos

12 PERSPECTIVES

Michael J. Aumann The Value of Documentation

14 BEST PRACTICES

Josh Bersin Become a Chief Experience Officer

16 ACCOUNTABILITY

Departments

56 Case Study How to Build a Data Scientist From Scratch Sarah Fister Gale Booz Allen Hamilton’s yearlong Tech Tank program turns junior employees into highly skilled analytics and computer science professionals.

60 Business Intelligence Is Learning Measurement Turning a Corner? Cushing Anderson Notoriously tough to execute, efforts to measure learning impact are seeing an increase in satisfaction and support.

Jack J. Phillips and Patti P. Phillips Some Problems Never End

66 IN CONCLUSION

Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey Deliberately Developing Millennials

Resources 4 Editor’s Letter

Back Office No More

65 Advertisers’ Index

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BUSINESS IMPACT

Why CLOs Need to Bust Silos The talent market opened a door among learning, recruitment and retention • BY MICHAEL E. ECHOLS

Michael E. Echols is the vice president of strategic initiatives at Bellevue University and the author of “Your Future is Calling.” To comment, email editor@CLOmedia. com.

istorically, three critical talent actions — recruit, develop and retain — have operated in corporate silos. As evidence, look at how your organization has been organized to perform these three human capital activities. The recruiting function places ads, interviews and hires new employees. The learning function develops employees once hired. Operations managers are responsible for retaining their employees. Employees don’t quit their human resources managers. They quit because they see no attractive career path and/or because they have a bad boss. The silo model no longer works because the world of talent has changed. The excess labor supply we saw after the 2008 financial meltdown has evaporated. The unemployment level in March was 5 percent, and the U.S. Labor Department reported 5.4 million open positions at the end of February.

The traditional talent supply is inadequate, but the best replacement source isn’t outside of companies. It’s within. Unfortunately, the prospects are destined to worsen. Baby boomers are leaving the labor force at the rate of 10,000 per day — a pace that is virtually certain to continue for decades. The talent needed to compete in our rapidly changing world has become difficult to find and, even more importantly, to keep. We have to become better at recruiting and retaining. The good news is the learning and development organization can create value well beyond its historic development role. Learning has the potential to be a very important part of recruiting and retention as well. Why? Learning can play a strategic role in the competition for talent today and tomorrow. The potential is in evolving the talent market beyond potential external candidates with a college degree, and developing those already inside the organization who have no degree but demonstrate a commitment to learn. The expanded market is composed of current employees who would be the first in 10 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

their family to get a college education, who are poor, and who are disadvantaged. Developing these segments is not merely a societal priority for our country, but also a competitive priority for our companies for two reasons. First, our world is changing at a mind-numbing pace. A February article in The New York Times documents the challenges AT&T faces in its markets. The company’s roots reach back to Alexander Graham Bell in 1875. Current AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has implemented a plan to retool the human capital of the company by 2020, just four years away. That’s a powerful example of the rate of acceleration at which our world is changing. Second, the traditional talent supply is inadequate. Some estimate that U.S. universities will graduate more than 20 million fewer college graduates than the workforce needs over the next decade. This will put even more pressure on corporate learning organizations to develop the talent needed from within. There simply won’t be enough external candidates with the right credentials in the market for companies to recruit. Therefore, learning functions need to recruit candidates among existing employees. Employees who do have the potential to be future leaders may not need credentials today, but with the right incentives and options, they will be motivated to invest in themselves for tomorrow. I have written before about the opt-in strategy to identify current employees who have the potential to be future leaders. Given the data available, this learning and development internal recruiting strategy is critically important and will become ever more so. And let’s not forget retention. Bellevue University’s Human Capital Lab did a research study on the effect of learning on retention for Chrysler auto dealer salespeople. The detailed research on this case is available for free on humancapitallab.org; enter Chrysler in the search box at the top of the home page. The message is that timing for training can be critical for retention. So, down with the silos. Let’s make learning and development part of the critical recruit, develop, retain talent equation for the enterprise. Competitive success depends on such a shift. CLO

PERSPECTIVES

The Value of Documentation To facilitate knowledge transfer, have learners record their results • BY MICHAEL J. AUMANN

Michael J. Aumann is founder and chief learning architect for Facilitador. To comment, email editor@CLOmedia. com. All contributors to Perspectives are current students or alumni of the PennCLO Program, the University of Pennsylvania’s doctoral program for senior-level talent and learning executives.

learning and development department cannot create and demonstrate value unless the learners who participate in learning interventions put what they learn into action and achieve results. Ideally, learners should be able to apply the skills and knowledge as part of a continuous improvement process. If these actions and their results are captured in a systematic way, learning departments can create evidence of learning’s value to the organization, and they can enhance the transfer of knowledge while facilitating continuous improvement. Many learning functions do not take into account how individuals will apply what they learn, and therefore don’t provide opportunities for the learners to consider and document how they intend to apply — or how they have applied — what they learn. It is a missed opportunity not to establish a link between the learning objectives, actions taken and results. Documenting this link could demonstrate learning’s value in ways that executives can understand and appreciate. And ultimately, that understanding and appreciation will be reflected in learning budget allocations. Take virtual classrooms, for instance. Organizations using these and other delivery platforms need evidence of value today more than ever. To facilitate virtual learning transfer, leaders must first consider how learners will apply newly acquired knowledge and skills. Armed with this knowledge, learners can be empowered to document how they will apply what they have learned through a preformatted electronic action plan, adapted to their needs and used during the virtual classroom. If we use the broad definition of evaluation — established in 1994 by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation — as “the systematic assessment of the worth or merit of an object,” we can conclude that the person best suited to evaluate a learning intervention is the individual learner, but only after they have had the chance to put into practice what they have learned. Ideally, we want learners to achieve productive transfer as opposed to reproductive transfer when they are back in their jobs. Researchers refer to the simple application of knowledge to a novel task as “reproductive transfer.” When there is adaptation, mutation and enhancement, it is referred to as “productive transfer.” Once individuals apply what they have learned, we need to document their results. How? Learners must

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interact with their action plans. For example, individuals who learned a new engagement strategy can document the results they achieve after they apply the strategy to their existing client base. This kind of documentation should be an ongoing process. Documenting the results reinforces the continuous learning process required to achieve productive knowledge and skill transfer, and it accumulates evidence of the value of the virtual classroom or other learning interventions.

To facilitate virtual learning transfer leaders must consider how learners will apply newly acquired skills. In the virtual classroom, it all starts when the learner is provided with an opportunity to document how they intend to apply what they have learned in an electronic action plan, designed to consider their needs as well as business needs. In this way, we increase the chances that productive learning transfer will occur. Once the learners apply a skill and make it public, this creates an internal and external pressure to actually follow through. The internal pressure is to remain consistent with the individual’s self-image. The external pressure is often a desire to show others that they are consistent and will follow through on their commitments. Because it is ultimately the employees’ outputs that create value for an organization their actions and results need to be captured to evaluate the worth and merit of the virtual classroom investment. Documenting what individuals are able to do with the knowledge imparted and what results they achieve can establish evidence of learning value. When we focus on enabling transfer by understanding how our learners will apply what they have learned and on designing ways to document how they will apply new skills and knowledge and the results they obtain, we create the right conditions for real and lasting productive transfer to occur. CLO

KPMG LLP congratulates the organizations on the 2016 LearningElite list for the heights they have achieved. We are proud to be part of a community that continually ventures into new territory and strives to raise the bar.

KPMG LLP

Inspire Confidence | Empower Change

kpmg.com

© 2016 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. The KPMG name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. NDPPS 563336

Here’s to reaching for the sky

BEST PRACTICES

Become a Chief Experience Officer Use design to push the learning experience over the top • BY JOSH BERSIN

Josh Bersin is founder of Bersin, known as Bersin by Deloitte, and a principal with Deloitte Consulting. To comment, email editor@CLOmedia. com.

ur “Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2016” study shows that corporate learning has never been greater. The research shows that 84 percent of companies now believe employee learning is a top 10 issue and 44 percent rate it “very important,” up 10 percent from last year. Why the pressure? Two reasons. First, thanks to technology, organizational roles are changing and becoming obsolete faster than ever. Information technology professionals need to learn mobile apps, sales people need to learn new products, customer service people need to learn new customer needs and products, and those of us in human resources and learning need to learn about new technologies, workforce changes and regulations. Demand for learning is up. The second reason is more profound: Learning is now part of our personal economic survival. As I like to put it, “the learning curve is the earning curve.” The single biggest predictor of your career growth is your own skills, experience and judgment. In today’s organizations, which are flatter and more project oriented than ever before, 92 percent of companies surveyed are restructuring to make teams more important; your skills are the currency for your success.

As a learning experience designer, you study employee behavior and the obstacles employees face. While all this demand and pressure builds, another shift has happened. Thanks to the new digital world of work, people are busier and more distracted than ever. More than 75 percent of companies told us their companies are “too complex” and people feel “overwhelmed.” The average employee now receives more than 150 emails a day and spends more than 40 percent of their time just dealing with their inbox. Today, employees must drive learning. People learn when they want, how they want and using the device they want. Maybe you have 15 minutes at a coffee shop, and you want to watch a course on how to use a new tool. Over the weekend, you may have 20 minutes to brush up on your professional education. During the workday, you want to find videos or online 14 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

materials that solve problems as you need them. While the problem of just-in-time learning is not a new one, the idea of learning experience design is. Our research shows one of the most important new disciplines in L&D is the practice of design thinking. How can we build a learning experience that is directed, useful and enjoyable for people at work? If you think about your job as a learning experience designer, rather than go through the traditional instructional design process, you study the behavior and obstacles your employees face. You build journey maps and personas to define people’s needs. And you may design mobile apps, games or social systems based on data-driven learning paths to meet employee needs. Using design thinking, Telco Systems redesigned its onboarding program from a two-week training program to an app-based experience that includes training, videos, people to meet, exams and points that people accumulate during their first nine months. The results were astounding: Turnover dropped by more than 30 percent, and employee satisfaction skyrocketed. As a chief learning officer — the master of employee skills, capabilities and career paths — you have more information about the learning experience than anyone else in the company. You should be building journey maps for new managers, skilled professionals, new hires and senior leaders. These will help you understand what types of tools, mentors, interventions and experiences they need. When Deloitte redesigned the Deloitte University experience, the team looked at the entire experience: finding a learning need, locating a course, registering, enrolling, scheduling, getting on a plane and arriving at the university. The result is an efficient, enjoyable, curated experience filled with learning opportunities. The building, the walls and even the artifacts in the rooms are all designed to promote learning. This new world of learning experience design is here for us to embrace. Courses in design thinking are everywhere, and more designers are coming into human resources to help us learn the techniques. As employees grow more overwhelmed every day, this problem will become more urgent. Rethink your role, and change the “L” to an “E” in your job title. You’ll understand your business better, your employees will be happier, and the programs you build will be more exciting and useful than ever. CLO

Our employees make a difference in people’s lives. And we’re committed to making a difference in theirs.

Providing an extraordinary environment for senior living starts with extraordinary employees. At Vi, we’re committed to supporting the growth of our employees through engaging opportunities such as our Breakthrough Leadership and Management Development Programs. We’re very proud to be selected as a LearningElite organization for a 6th year in a row. But what we’re most proud of is our high employee satisfaction scores and the fact so many of our employees have leveraged Vi’s employee development programs to advance their careers.

Learn more about exciting opportunities at ViLiving.com/careers.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Some Problems Never End Five issues continually plague learning • BY JACK J. PHILLIPS AND PATTI P. PHILLIPS

Jack J. Phillips is the chairman, and Patti P. Phillips is president and CEO of the ROI Institute. To comment, email editor@CLOmedia.com.

hen it comes to accountability, learning leaders face five persistent dilemmas. These are not new, but they persistently erode credibility and success in the learning function. 1. We’re the No. 1 solution but the first to go when there’s a problem. Executives frequently request learning solutions. Yet, at the same time, those same executives will be the first to cut the learning budget. Why? One reason is that we rarely follow through and show the value of the request in business terms, leaving the requester to wonder if the learning was really effective. This dilemma is complicated by the fact that most executives view learning as a cost and not an investment in employees. 2. Most job-related learning is wasted. Learning leaders often discuss scrap learning, or the portion of learning not used on the job. We want it to be applied, but, depending on which study you examine, this wasted learning can be anywhere between 50 and 90 percent. The transfer of learning to the job is a constant and perplexing problem that needs to be addressed early and often — before, during and after a learning program. 3. Most e-learning and online learning break down to the application and impact levels. A third dilemma is based on the need and desire to have learning just in time, at the right cost, in the right amount, at the learner’s convenience. This is difficult to achieve logistically unless it is formatted as technology-based learning. While convenient, accessible and low cost, e-learning is not as effective as facilitator-led learning when measured at the application and impact levels. The concern is to make e-learning effective at these levels, using designers and developers creative spirit and administrators’ business-minded focus. We all know that a great facilitator can inspire, encourage, support and even insist that learner’s apply what was learned. Absent the facilitator, this task falls to the designers and developers. 4. Most learning and development is not connected to a business need. Because most learning comes as a request for a learning solution, it is rarely connected to a business need. Ideally, learning should address a problem in the business that needs to be solved or an opportunity that needs

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to be pursued. Learning should start with the end in mind, and that should be a business measure. This will require a performance discussion with the requester, and this is possible. Jenny Dear-

The definition of success for the learning function hasn’t changed much, but it needs to. born, SAP’s chief learning officer, said last year in a conference presentation that SAP will not implement a new learning program unless there is a business need clearly defined for it. 5. The definition of success for the learning function hasn’t changed much. It needs to. Having a one sentence definition of success for the learning organization is important because it quickly communicates why learning exists as function. Years ago, success was principally measured by the number of participants, the time involved and the cost of the learning. Then, measures of participant reaction and satisfaction were added. For most learning functions, this evolved into defining success based on measuring what people have learned. For some, the measure of learning success has moved to identifying what participants are doing with what they have learned. A few learning organizations have defined the learning center as a business contributor, as participants can affect their work, department or division. Learning should be defined as successful when not only participants use what they have learned, but also when that learning has an effect on them. This changes everything because without impact, the learning function is not successful. We know that much progress has been made, and we applaud those efforts. But that progress is insufficient. This column could have been written 10 years ago, and it would have been as relevant then. The challenge is to make sure that 10 years from now we are not writing the same things. When it comes to accountability, things are changing rapidly. The learning function must change as well. Change is inevitable; progress is optional. CLO

We're proud to be recognized as a Learning Elite company! We want to thank and congratulate our outstanding team of learning professionals for the difference you make at NationwideÂŽ every day through your commitment to learning excellence. You rock!

Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle, and Nationwide is on your side are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company ÂŠ 2016 Nationwide CPO-0774AO (04/16)

And the Winners Are … BY SARAH KIMMEL

his year, Chief Learning Officer celebrates the sixth year of the LearningElite benchmarking program, established to recognize best practices in the best learning organizations in the industry. The 2016 program recognizes 70 organizations and four previous winners for delivering exceptional business value through learning and development. Organizations were evaluated in five key performance areas: learning strategy, leadership commitment, learning execution, learning impact and business performance. Finalists were selected by a panel of more than 150 judges who are practitioners and experts in learning and development. The LearningElite recognizes large, small, national and international companies, and this year competition was stiff. The winning organizations have clearly defined learning strategies, enthusiastic leadership commitment and solid execution. Their learning impact is demonstrable, measurable and tied to business performance. This year’s top-ranked company — The Vanguard Group — will join previous winners Accenture and Qual-

comm in the Winners’ Circle. Winners’ Circle members are then removed from competition for three years. Beginning next year, current Winner’s Circle members AT&T and General Mills will once again be eligible for ranking, which will make 2017 another strong year for applications. CLO

EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARDS In addition to the ranked LearningElite awards, Chief Learning Officer’s editors want to recognize the following organizations for special achievement: Learning Strategy: PricewaterhouseCoopers Leadership Commitment: Sidley Austin Learning Execution: Nationwide Insurance Learning Impact: Siemens Healthcare AG Business Performance Results: KPMG Best Small Company: Bridgepoint Education Best Midsized Company: University Health System

WINNER’S CIRCLE 2015

Qualcomm Inc.

2014

Accenture

2013

AT&T Inc.

In 2015, Qualcomm’s Learning Center provided comprehensive change management support — including development plans to help new leaders build their executive teams — for the organization’s strategic realignment plan to improve execution, enhance financial performance and drive profitable growth. The realignment created business units and eliminated approximately $1.4 billion in spending.

Accenture employees can now pursue one of more than 60 internal certifications, an increase of 10 from last year. More than 100,000 employees participate in certification programs annually. To augment its certification program, Accenture launched the Accenture Strategy certification program with business school INSEAD. By the end of 2015, more than 800 employees completed the first module of the program.

AT&T’s Transformation Learning Series measures enrollments, completions and talent availability for emerging jobs. After completing each track, participants can take a comprehensive assessment to receive certification. In 2015, there were 47,174 certifications awarded. Employees also can enroll in any 1 of 8 nanodegree programs. Currently, there are 682 nanodegree graduates.

Company Size: 33,000 Location: U.S.

Company Size: 373,000 Location: Ireland

Company Size: 243,000 Location: U.S.

18 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2012

General Mills Inc. General Mills’ Business Performance Management is a multiyear program designed to make financial reporting and analysis more effective. As part of the initiative, the BPM team created a finance reporting center to centralize profit reporting. As a result, the company saved $3 million while expanding its reporting capabilities. Company Size: 42,000 Location: U.S.

2016

2016 Front row from left: Angelia Brown, scrum master; Shauna Collick, client consultant; Tamara Ganc, chief learning officer and human resource principal; Krista Moyer, client consultant lead; Maylene Austin, design manager; Alison Young, senior instructional designer. Back row from left: Jonathan White, senior developer; Ann Logan, head of Vanguard University consulting; Jacob Pantoja, learning strategist; Nate Prosser, senior manager of leadership development; Matt Petrilla, design manager.

1 2

The Vanguard Group Vanguard University developed a team-based curriculum that uses drill-based workshops, sales coach feedback and enrichment sessions, a live simulated sales final, and a parallel leader learning experience. As of October 2015, Vanguard accrued $30 billion in assets over their target goal.

Location: U.S.

Company Size: 2,761

Location: U.S.

In 2013, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Johnson & Johnson piloted a platform for sales representatives focused on helping physicians get their patients to start and stay on therapy. It has reduced prior authorization approval time by two days for patients with chronic diseases, letting them receive treatment sooner. Company Size: 40,000

Deloitte

Location: U.S.

Leadership commitment is paramount at Deloitte, and all learning programs have leaders serving as sponsors or deans. At Deloitte University, more than 3,500 professionals at or above the director level have facilitated learning programs. More than 84 percent of Deloitte’s learning programs are led by internal professionals.

Company Size: 68,141

Location: U.S.

Company Size: 3,711

Location: U.S.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

To advance employees’ technical capabilities and leadership skills, PwC introduced its Leadership Development Experience, which emphasizes real-time development. Seventy-seven percent report they deliver in-the-moment feedback during work, and 80 percent report in-the-moment feedback helps improve performance. Company Size: 43,000

Location: U.S.

KPMG

KPMG’s market research showed its clients chose KPMG over the competition for their depth of relationship. To bolster this, senior leadership launched a learning initiative to enhance relationship development. Post-initiative, on average, participants reported initiating 35 new relationships,. Company Size: 34,201

Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Sidley Austin offers upward of 1,000 educational programs a year for its lawyers, staff, alumni and clients. In addition, more than 70 firm lawyers teach or have taught in law schools and universities on three continents, and the firm has established named professorships at two top U.S. law schools in honor of senior firm leaders.

Vi relaunched the company’s one-year leadership development program. Participants realized a 40 percent knowledge increase, and a 33 percent increase in on-the-job task performance. The program gave an estimated return on investment of $35,640 increase in task performance value per employee.

Company Size: 150,000

Defense Acquisition University’s learning assets are accessed by workforce members in more than 112 different countries. DAU’s detailed reviews allow the university to operate at a cost per hour of $28, far below the ATD benchmark of $74 per hour.

Sidley Austin

Location: U.S.

Defense Acquisition University

Company Size: 13,986

Location: U.S.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.

The On Your Side Farm Certification Program helps agents give high-level service and drive growth. Blended learning and gamification concepts encourage agents to go beyond classroom learning. After learning, agencies must maintain production goals tied to their certification level. At each level, agencies earn rewards. Company Size: 33,631

Location: U.S.

The Western Union Co.

Over the past year, Western Union has combined key programs into learning processes that last longer than 90 days. This focus supports, encourages and enhances real-time learning implementation. Further, this strategy has contributed to employee retention, potentially saving Western Union more than $18 million.

Company Size: 10,000

Location: U.S.

Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Siemens Healthcare AG In 2015, Siemens Healthcare Global Product Education expanded technology, content and partnerships to deliver a single infrastructure. This expansion included sunsetting 30 learning management systems, reaching 30,000 employees, and more than $3.5 million in cost savings. Company Size: 44,000

12 13

University Health System’s new orientation program, The Journey Begins Now, was designed by a cross-functional team. It uses gamification and emphasizes connection over compliance. The average retention score for 90-day employees is now 91 percent. Company Size: 7,100

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina uses a mix of internal and external teams to develop learning initiatives. The cost savings from this model allow BCBS to address a 52 percent demand increase in education, learning and development. Company Size: 4,875

Health Care Service Corp. challenged its employees to be role models for wellness and community involvement. More than 10,000 employees completed role-model activities, and HCSC won several external citations and awards for wellness and community service initiatives as well as employee health improvements. Company Size: 22,271

Aon’s learning team uses mobile apps to improve engagement and increase return on investment. One of its apps, Mood Ring, lets the learning team constantly monitor the pulse of the workforce. This and other apps, generated more than $2 million of additional revenue in part by driving engagement through technology.

Company Size: 72,000

The Go Truck Training Program is an intranet site with road maps for eight truck rental positions. The site includes resources to help managers train and coach employees. Since the training’s implementation, the business line has achieved a 25 percent increase in total revenue, and a 27 percent increase in net profit.

17 18

State Farm’s learning function implemented knowledge management software to support its sales force and call center representatives. There were more than 500,000 content views in the first three months, resulting in improved efficiencies for the sales force and underwriting contact center. Company Size: 71,160

In 2015, TIC updated its Level One evaluations to focus on content relevancy and facilitator effectiveness to better benchmark a new curriculum introduced in 2014. Participants’ qualitative comments said module content was beneficial and transferable once back on the job. Company Size: 2,425

Because of the CareerLab program, Genentech maintains an employee turnover rate of 5.2 percent. In 2014 and 2015, the CareerLab helped 120 high-potential employees whose positions were being eliminated find new roles in the company, resulting in a retention cost savings of $31.5 million. Company Size: 14,409

Location: U.S.

Company Size: 2,955

In 2015, Memorial Health System opened the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation. Its purpose is to develop the capabilities and capacities of the health care workforce to meet current and future demands and promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

Location: U.S.

In 2015, IHG held its third Crowne Plaza Performance Series. The event focused on deepening brand awareness and engagement, and learning how to use key revenue-generation drivers. Post event, represented hotels saw a 1.45 percent increase in revenue growth. Those that didn’t attend saw no increase. Company Size: 116,000

Location: U.S.

Health Plan Institute, Kaiser Permanente

In 2015, Kaiser Permanente’s Health Plan Institute used a strategic approach with the Right Skills Best Tools program. More than 500 people completed a self-assessment, which was combined with their manager assessment. This resulted in a customized learning plan to further their development. Company Size: 180,000

Location: U.S.

USAA

In 2015, the USAA learning and development team recently undertook a major redesign of its core curriculum, reducing the length of learning software. This resulted in a $15 million labor productivity return to the business. For one course alone, students showed a 38 percent increase in sales. Company Size: 28,336

Location: U.S.

FDIC Corporate University

FDIC’s corporate university delivers 100 percent of required pre-commission technical training internally. In the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, the FDIC received an 84 percent favorable rating for “job-relevant knowledge and skills necessary to accomplish organizational goals.” Company Size: 6,500

Location: U.S.

NCR Corp.

NCR’s reinvented Services Learning Model improved customer satisfaction, improved employee performance with 60 percent accelerated time-to-skill, delivered 140 percent more training for 17 percent less cost and established a new learning delivery model, increasing coverage to 49 percent from 6 percent.

Company Size: 30,978

InterContinental Hotel Group

Location: U.S.

ConAgra Foods focuses on individual development to increase its internal hire rate. Employees are expected to spend 10 percent of their time on development. Last year 42 percent of salaried positions were filled internally, a 3 percentage point increase over the previous year.

Company Size: 6,800

ConAgra Foods Inc.

Location: India

Memorial Health System

Location: U.S.

Genentech Inc.

20 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

Location: U.S.

NIIT designed a six-week residential boot camp at its university for entry-level instructional designers hired directly out of college. The boot camp included hands-on interactive workshops, real-world assignments and morning yoga, and successfully reduced the time to competency for this group to eight weeks.

Location: U.S.

TIC – The Industrial Co.

Location: U.S.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

Company Size: 29,388

Company Size: 36,333

NIIT

Location: U.S.

Emory University’s “Emerging Leaders at Emory” prepares midlevel managers for advanced strategic leadership roles. Based on the positive reaction, the learning group received additional funding to begin a second cohort less than two months after the initial program kick-off.

Company Size: 93,000

Emory University

Location: Western Europe

Enterprise Holdings Inc.

Advocate Health Care launched a physician development program integrating talent assessment, mentoring and education in 2014. Results included the first comprehensive physician talent pool review, saving $175,000 in search fees and 9 to 12 months in search time per person.

Location: U.S.

Aon

Location: U.S.

Health Care Service Corp.

Advocate Health Care

Location: U.S.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

Location: Germany

University Health System

Company Size: 30,200

Location: U.S.

New York Life Insurance Co.

In NYL’s Management Development Initiative, participants meet weekly with a consulting group to discuss how learning applies to job concerns. Seventy-one percent of managers who graduated from the program were more likely to hold regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports.

Company Size: 9,000

Location: U.S.

WINNERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CIRCLE

2016

Bridgepoint Education In 2015, Bridgepoint Education’s learning team implemented an extensive model for involving leaders at all levels in key learning initiatives. The team used a tiered model for assessment and development, working with the business to design programs based on business needs and requests.

In 2014, the Bright Horizons learning function installed a virtual multimodule program with pre- and post-competency assessments completed by managers. The first cohort of 100 education coordinators finished the program, and Bright Horizons has seen a 5 percent average increase in skills.

Mastering Leadership, a 10-month MBA-level certificate program administered in partnership with Westminster College, equips high potentials to become Mountain America’s senior-level leaders of tomorrow. More than 55 percent of graduates have been promoted within the last 17 months.

In 2015, AAA revamped its one-size-fits-all leadership development program. Programs target various levels of leadership and were developed in conjunction with Dale Carnegie Training and UCSD’s Rady School of Management. The programs have been a critical driver in succession planning.

Sears’ learning organization partnered with the call center to develop a new contact management platform, which reduced new hire training to three weeks. New model adopters reached an average of 93 percent of their net promoter score goal; nonadopters achieved 88 percent.

The Leadership Academy, a 10-week program, exposes participants to topics such as successful team leadership, effective coaching principles and recognition. Since the program’s launch, a quarter of all graduates have been promoted.

Buckman invested in a one-week, values-based, experiential team program for managers. The program has helped Buckman’s engagement survey results rank in the top 5 percent in manager satisfaction, quality of development opportunities and associate connection to the mission. Company Size: 1,784

Academy is a DaVita University flagship program. Teammates who attend Academy have, on average, a 12 percent lower turnover rate than peers who do not attend. DaVita estimates Academy drives down turnover costs by approximately $12 million annually.

In 2015, ManTech International undertook a profound business transformation by upgrading and streamlining 13 of its major business processes. Training ensured front-line employees were involved and felt a sense of ownership. This resulted in more than 9,500 training hours for 7,000-plus employees.

22 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

Company Size: 7,100

Location: U.S.

DTCC Learning contributes directly to its company’s bottom line via fee-based client learning solutions. From 2014 to 2015, revenue generated from customized training programs, private trainings and certification programs increased more than 20 percent. Company Size: 5,000

AlliedBarton Security Services’ instructor-led, scenario-based training in consultative relationship management, supported by e-learning and post-training coaching by sales leaders, led to a 30 percent increase in business development rep quota achievement and a 12 percent decrease in rep turnover. Company Size: 65,000

Last year, Texas Health Resources partnered with Texas Christian University, creating the first new nursing role in more than 35 years. This new role supports and manages care processes within surgery units across Texas Health. The organization has created more than 100 of these new roles.

Company Size: 12,000

Location: U.S.

Sberbank Corporate University

Since 2011, Sberbank Corporate University has collaborated with INSEAD on the Sberbank 500, a program for midlevel managers. Nearly 1,300 mid-level managers took part, improving the bank’s net promoter score to 60 percent in 2014 from 39 percent in 2011. Company Size: 275,732

Location: Russia

SAP

In 2013, SAP implemented The Challenger Program to revolutionize its sales force. The program has been delivered to nearly 6,500 participants across 48 countries. The program also made a clear and positive impact on five crucial indicators: win rate, sales revenue growth, pipeline growth, deal size and deal closing time. Company Size: 74,000

Location: Germany

Clarkston Consulting

Since launching the Acing the Interview practice, Clarkston has realized a net savings of $500 per hire. Firmwide pass rates for client interviews have improved to more than 80 percent from 60 percent, and this improvement has resulted in an estimated net increase in billable revenue of $450,000 per year. Company Size: 290

Location: U.S.

G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc.

Training for the G4S Custom Protection Officer Certification Program is conducted weekly by G4S certified trainers, and all attendees must successfully pass to become a certified CPO. There is a 98 percent client retention rate for clients investing in this service.

Location: U.S.

In partnership with Harvard Business Publishing, the UNICEF Leadership Academy chose a solution that empowers peer interaction and critical thinking through a blended curriculum of business cases, articles and simulations. Learners engage with each other via virtual events, exercises, collaboration and reflection.

Company Size: 21,199

United Nations Children’s Fund

Location: U.S.

Texas Health Resources

Location: U.S.

AlliedBarton Security Services

Location: U.S.

ManTech International Corp.

Location: U.S.

Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

Location: U.S.

DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.

Company Size: 63,008

Location: U.S.

Buckman

Company Size: 10,000

Company Size: 3,900

Location: U.S.

OptumRx

Company Size: 200,000

Location: U.S.

Sears Holdings Corp.

Company Size: 12,229

Berkshire Health Systems partnered with Elms College to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing to accepted employee participants. The program is offered on-site in a dedicated classroom space and is funded entirely by the organization. To date, 105 nurses have graduated from the program, with 40 currently enrolled.

Location: U.S.

Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA)

Company Size: 1,582

Location: India

Mountain America Credit Union

Company Size: 15,582

Berkshire Health Systems

Location: U.S.

Mindtree designed a 90-day learning program to develop the proper skills needed for new college graduates joining the organization. The company has seen time to billability reduced by nine days, and managers report their new hires have proficiency over 95 percent of the capabilities they need to succeed.

Company Size: 26,000

Mindtree

Location: U.S.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Company Size: 3,024

Company Size: 44,104

Location: U.S.

AAMCO Transmissions and Total Car Care

In 2015, to enhance its learning and development programs, AAMCO built AAMCO University. AAMCO also partnered with industry leaders to create AAMCOUniversity.com, a self-study platform with more than 300 courses. In nine months, nearly 10,000 courses have been initiated throughout the system.

Company Size: 3,100

Location: U.S.

Commitment. Persistence. Purpose. No matter how the world changes, these are timeless traits that lead to greatness. At PwC, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re developing great leaders at all levels who can help build trust in society and solve important problems. We are very pleased to be ranked as one of the top ten organizations on Chief Learning Officer magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2016 LearningElite. And we celebrate all talented visionaries who inspire others to bring out the best in themselves and others every day. www.pwc.com

2016

MTM Inc. To address 90-day attrition, MTM introduced new training modules, and checked in with its new hires through 30-, 60- and 90-day surveys. The 90-day attrition was reduced to 2.85 percent, less than half of what it was prior. The new attrition rate meant a savings of $4,000 per full-time employee replacement.

International Paper projects that over the next decade, half of its baby boomer operations and maintenance employees will retire from its manufacturing facilities worldwide. So it redesigned its learning strategy. The resulting Global Manufacturing Training Initiative is transforming the way employees are developed.

Effective learning requires more than training, so VAAA established the Performance Excellence department. Programs include Market Intelligence, Critical Thinking, Lean Six Sigma and Project Management Fellows. The 2015 cohorts of the LSS Green and Black Belt projects generated more than $8 million in savings.

The USDA Virtual University developed and implemented a 360-degree multirater assessment program for USDA executives, managers and supervisors. The target was to deliver 1,000 assessments in 2015. To date, 2,244 assessments had been delivered. The project has saved USDA nearly $700,000.

TELUS’ launch of the Learning@TI Roadmap represented a global alignment of leadership development with business goals. The roadmap helps develop team members and leaders who enable customer experience innovation through spirited teamwork, agile thinking and a caring culture that puts customers first.

Dell’s Global Support and Development learning team was tasked with delivering 40 percent of all classes through a blended learning model. Through extensive use of virtual learning, the company exceeded its 40 percent target and provided a $600,000 savings without seeing any reduction in program effectiveness.

Company Size: 109,400

Mariner Finance invested heavily in its learning team, and its learning and development staff increased fivefold. All new employees receive social learning and are encouraged to receive outside training. The learning department finances graduate degrees and has its employees attend professional conferences. Company Size: 1,250

In 2015, Beachbody continued a hyper-growth period. To support this growth, the new hire training program was redesigned in eight weeks. Further, the learning and development team researched and selected learning management partners to support both technical skills training and career development learning. Company Size: 3,350

In 2015, PJ Lhuillier Inc.maximized use of nonclassroom learning and built up its online resources availability in addition to regular classroom training programs. This helped the company achieve its key performance indicator of 100 percent employee reach with an increase of 12 learning hours per employee.

24 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

Location: Philippines

Company Size: 18,000

Location: U.S.

BKD

BKD changed its firmwide annual updates event to a one-day virtual technical training proctored by local subject-matter experts. BKD uses Poll Everywhere to appeal to younger audiences, instantly assess participants’ comprehension, and save the firm $1 million in travel expenses. Company Size: 2,470

Location: U.S.

T-Mobile US Customer Service Learning & Development Team

T-Mobile’s Customer Service learning team implemented a flipped coaching model to better address its multigenerational workforce needs — some 70 percent of whom are millennials. This has increased productive hours and favorable ratings on employee engagement surveys. Company Size: 50,000

Location: U.S.

Baker Tilly

In 2015, Baker Tilly’s L&D team gained leadership support to dramatically increase commitment to its Valued Business Adviser: Manager Development program. This is a significant change in its approach, and the company developed a full-competency program from the ground up in just three years. Company Size: 2,500

Location: U.S.

CalSTRS

CalSTRS has a development pipeline composed of several academies to provide upward mobility and career-related training. The Pre-Analyst Academy allows employees in support staff roles to receive training in a variety of subjects. More than 50 percent of last year’s participants have been promoted. Company Size: 1,032

Location: U.S.

The Carlyle Group

In October 2014, The Carlyle Group launched its Global Mentoring Program. To date, more than 500 people have participated as mentors, mentees or both. The voluntary program features an extensive matching process, orientation and a mid- and end-of-program feedback loop during the yearlong engagement.

Location: U.S.

Express created a social and mobile learning experience for its 18,000-plus employees — mostly millennials — that produced 61 percent less employee churn. Half of all managers have gone through the program, which has generated 450 user-generated articles and 45,500 class completions in six months.

Company Size: 122

Express Inc.

Location: U.S.

Sachse Construction requires employees to complete 40 credit-hours of training in courses such as construction management practices and safety requirements. This approach ensures every team member remains current in their field, safe on the job, and has the interpersonal skill to excel in their work environment.

Location: U.S.

PJ Lhuillier Inc.

Company Size: 6,841

Company Size: 5,700

Sachse Construction and Development Co.

Location: U.S.

Beachbody

Location: U.S.

In 2015, Spectra Energy revamped its performance management and review process. Employees now have performance check-ins that focus on development and growth. More than 90 percent of surveyed participants found increased value in the new review system.

Location: U.S.

Mariner Finance

Company Size: 180,000

Spectra Energy

Location: Canada

Dell Global Support & Development Learning & Development

Company Size: 18,000

Location: U.S.

TELUS International

Company Size: 87,000

In 2015, OptumCare Operations’ learning team developed an integrated knowledge management and improved workforce productivity tool. The user-customized interface has more than 8,000 visits each day and has increased productivity, employee satisfaction and streamlined business processes.

Location: U.S.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Virtual University

Company Size: 40,000

Location: U.S.

Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy

Company Size: 3,421

OptumCare

Location: U.S.

In 2015, Deckers’ made internal promotions a focus in an effort to solidify its talent pipeline. Its Women and Leadership Certificate and other initiatives contributed to Deckers doubling its internal promotion rates from 2014 to 2015.

Company Size: 58,000

Deckers Brands

Location: U.S.

International Paper

Company Size: 1,300

Company Size: 1,700

Location: U.S.

Kimberly Clark Corp.

In April 2015, Kimberly Clark launched myKCU, a global learning management system. Some 263 learning coordinators have been trained to support the system, which offers nine languages, 10 video channels, global virtual classrooms and 54 collaborative learning groups that achieved 200,000 logins in eight months.

Company Size: 45,100

Location: U.S.

2016

Vanguard Devotes Year to Learning Innovation

A special ‘Year of Learning’ at Vanguard inspired the organization to make innovative changes in its learning culture carrier, Vanguard University. BY ANDIE BURJEK

he Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment companies, managing about $3 trillion in global assets and more than 14,000 employees. The company’s core purpose is to treat all investors fairly and give them the best chance for investment success. Through Vanguard’s learning and development strategy, the company strives to affect “the three C’s”: crew, clients and community. Vanguard University, or VU, is the company’s “culture carrier.” Learning strategy, directly related to the company’s overall business strategy, focuses on the flywheel effect — creating momentum to drive powerful results. “Our learning strategy accelerates Vanguard’s corporate flywheel by advancing the knowledge, skills, and capabilities of our crew while giving them the same focus and opportunities for greatness we give our external clients,” said Alison Young, a senior instructional designer at VU. Because of its focus on leadership and crew skills, VU is a catalyst for engagement at the company. It provides targeted learning experiences in areas considered critical to Vanguard’s success. Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb emphasizes Vanguard’s leadership standard by which he holds the company’s leadership responsible for developing their crew. Nearly 500 leaders participate in VU as adjunct faculty, more than half of whom are senior leaders, officers or executive staff members. 26 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

Last year, these adjunct staffers spent 3,574 hours in the classroom developing crew and taking on coaching roles for individuals and small groups. Leaders’ involvement in developing learning and supporting a strong learning culture is especially important because Vanguard promotes and develops more than 80 percent of its leaders from within. To stay ahead of the curve and make learning and development stronger, Vanguard made 2015 the Year of Learning, which ended at the third VU Learning Summit in May 2016. “We recognize that for VU to continue developing both personally and professionally, we must continue to disrupt ourRYAN BERKEY selves before we are implementation disrupted by industry specialist trends,” Young said. ‘Ryan Berkey spent Composed of a series countless hours of curated opportuniinterpreting and mastering the ties, the Year of Learndepths of our learning ing enabled crew to management system. Due to his evolve in the spirit of continuous perseverance, we innovation. For examwere able to successfully launch ple, VU introduced a a social learning platform, develop collaborative platform a process to support our global where people can dispartners, identify ways for adjunct cover and share content, faculty to easily access programs and communicate virtuto support crew, and leverage ally. This inspired leadrobust evaluation capabilities to ers to embrace virtual measure our ongoing success.’ learning on a larger scale —Alison Young, senior instructional to create new global designer learning opportunities.

PHOTO BY ED CUNICELLI

2016

Front row from left: Tamara Ganc, chief learning officer and human resource principal; Krista Moyer, client consultant lead; Michelle Wansink, head of Crew Central’s training operations. Back row from left: Stacy Decker, head of Crew Central support; Joe Piergiovanni, manager of project management office; Ann Logan, head of Vanguard University consulting; Nate Prosser, senior manager of leadership development.

Leaders have amplified gamification — applying elements of game play such as scoring points into learning strategies. This has been an effective way to engage crew in fundamental topics like business acumen. Also, the organization uses the results to identify missed questions and additional development opportunities. Finally, the Year of Learning inspired Vanguard to use deep technical assessments to measure the effect of learning on the individual and assess knowledge gained. Separate from its Year of Learning, Vanguard has a strong development focus on areas such as innovation, immersive experiences and social collaboration. Innovation is especially important in the financial services industry because there is constant change. “Our learning strategy is effective because we are nimble as a learning organization,” Young said. “By aligning each business strategy into the most critical priorities and must-win battles, VU appropriately deploys learning

and development resources.” Immersive experiences allow Vanguard crew to learn in a live, simulated, nontraditional environment. For example, learners role-play with actors to practice client communication, an approach the company found to be effective at transferring desired skills to live client interactions. The organization also plans to use social media to bring groups together. Vanguard recently started an online pre-leadership program that connects aspiring leaders globally, allowing these motivated but geographically separated people to collaborate and to develop the skills of a Vanguard leader. In the future, Vanguard plans to develop strategies that will enhance the learning culture and make it even more nimble. “We welcome the challenge and look forward to learning in ways one might not have ever imagined,” Young said. “We can only get there by embracing the spirit of experimentation and innovation.” CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

DAU Helps Its Learners Every Day

For Defense Acquisition University, keeping learners current, connected and innovative is central to achieve results. BY BRAVETTA HASSELL

ast year was a decisive year for Defense Acquisition University. To maintain its edge, the organization overhauled its learning strategy and unrolled the Acquisition Learning Model, or ALM. “DAU’s primary challenge, now and in the future, is to help the next generation of learners succeed on the job,” DAU president Jim Woolsey said. “They have fewer programs — career opportunities — on which to lean and gain experience, fewer mentors to help them learn and fewer resources, yet they still must succeed.” Created to improve the business results for DAU’s clients, the ALM integrates and repurposes learning assets across a range of modalities. The ALM is delivered through three domains: foundational learning, workflow learning and performance learning. These areas were incorporated into DAU’s strategic plan to ensure the new method aligns to the company’s overall business strategy. Chris Hardy, DAU’s director of strategic planning and learning analytics, said that because the strategic planning process is the company’s engine for change and transformation, it makes sense that the performance-based plan be the vehicle to drive ALM implementation. The domains work together so that em-

28 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

ployees fluidly gain new insight at work or on-the-go with access to myriad learning resources. They can collaborate with experts, mentors and peers through communities and blogs, improve their workforce performance through a variety of job support tools, and receive recommendations about additional relevant learning assets based on their needs and interests. “The lines between the types of learning will blur,” Woolsey said. “The student doesn’t notice or care, but does know that DAU is helping every day.” Defense Acquisition workforce members

LOIS HARPER

director of major defense acquisition programs for DAU West Region ‘Harper is an executive coach, a department chair, and has been described as a master instructor instrumental to the ALM’s rapid adoption and success. She is the epitome of excellence and a role model for our faculty.’ —James Woosley, president

2016

DAU’s Chris Hardy, director of strategic planning and learning analytics, left, with president Jim Woolsey.

are required to be certified for their positions. Through the ALM’s foundational learning domain, clients across career fields have access to a range of DAU certification training course offerings to help fulfill their requirements. That on-the-job learning is augmented by DAU’s performance learning/ mission assistance program, where seasoned faculty provide face-to-face support on-site at client organizations. To ensure ALM’s acceptance, DAU launched an aggressive communications campaign targeting senior leaders in the U.S. Defense Department, internal staff, the learning and development community, and the defense acquisition workforce. The ALM implementation was executed and managed by an annual performance plan that includes more than 100 performance tasks to be completed this year that cascade through DAU’s leadership team to individual faculty through their incentive plans. The new strategy created a robust online knowledge-sharing enterprise with searchable regulations, performance-support tools and

communities of practice, Hardy said. DAU clients see the results. They report greater efficiency, flexibility and innovation. For example, DAU’s recommendations enabled a major aircraft program to significantly reduce the unit price of 25 surveillance aircraft and deliver more capability for less money, ultimately saving the program office $630 million. The office was reallocated for additional aircraft critical mission capabilities. DAU’s learning assets touch Defense Acquisition workforce members in 112 countries through a mix of classroom, Web-based and hybrid delivery methods. Offering certification, development and executive/ leadership support courses spanning 15 career fields, last year it provided 4.5 million combined hours in classroom and online learning, according to the company. It also increased continuous learning module completions to more than 700,000 and provided 369 mission assistance efforts totaling more 52,000 hours. Last year, DAU graduated roughly 174,000 students. Despite these accomplishments, Hardy said there will always be a distance to go. “There is no ‘there.’ You have to just keep climbing the mountain if you’re going to stay ahead of the curve.” For example, DAU has its electronic performance tool Consolidated Learning Asset Standards and Processes site that was also introduced in 2015. CLASP is a one-stop resource shop to support DAU faculty and vendors in the new learning solutions development. Hardy said the site has improved DAU’s process to develop and deliver learning assets to clients. DAU is operating with an anytime, anyplace mentality, continuously creating and refining ways to rapidly deploy an increasing number of learning products to a growing learning audience. This, Woolsey said, is the future of learning, “and it’s well within our reach. There will be more changes, new technology and new possibilities. We are well positioned to see these, adapt, and remain a world-class learning leader.” CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Vi’s Breakthrough in Leadership Development

Vi’s dedication to continuous learning for both leaders and employees has led to significant improvements in metrics such as employee retention and customer satisfaction. BY ANDIE BURJEK

Vi’s Judy Whitcomb, senior vice president of HR and learning and organizational development.

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i, a senior living

facilities company based in Chicago, is dedicated to creating a quality environment and a quality experience for its 4,500 residents. The company makes a similar promise for its 2,700 employees. That’s a difficult promise to keep in an industry where attrition ranges from 43 to 75 percent. “We know from new hire, exit interview, employee survey and participation in local Best Places to Work awards, Vi’s commitment to employee training and development is an employment differentiator and helps the company maintain a high-level of employee retention,” said Judy Whitcomb, senior vice president of HR, learning and operational development at Vi. The company is committed to creating a strong learning culture and strives for

2016

high levels of engagement throughout the company. Vi offers its employees more than 1,000 online courses through an e-campus. New or aspiring leaders can take advantage of courses on this platform via the Management Development Program. More than 600 employees have graduated from this program, and more than a third of Vi promotions come from these graduates. Since the program began in 2008, internal promotions range from 15 to 35 percent of all position changes. Vi incorporates learning initiatives in overall company goals as well as in department and individual goals. In fact, one of Vi’s leadership competencies is “employee development,” and leaders are evaluated on how well they develop their employees. Leaders also participate in Vi’s one-year Breakthrough Leadership Program, which includes classroom learning, virtual learning and emotional intelligence evaluation and training. Vi tracks learning impact, and in the past five years, it has improved a few key business areas: resident and customer satisfaction, employee retention and internal promotions. Ninety-five percent of residents said they would recommend Vi in a recent survey, compared

RIIKKA HAIG

manager of quality care and analytics ‘As a graduate of Vi’s Breakthrough Leadership Program and as Manager of Quality Care and Analytics, Riikka led development and delivery of comprehensive training initiative to enhance the resident experience in Vi’s Memory Support units. The goal of this initiative was to use evidence-based practices to create a new personcentered philosophy and approach to caring for and interacting with our resident population with cognitive impairment.’ —Judy Whitcomb, senior vice president of HR and learning and organizational development

with 83 percent in 2010, according to the company. Also, 94 percent of residents reported they were satisfied, compared with 87 percent in 2010. Vi also had the lowest employee turnover rate in the industry. Retention is important because the cost of turnover is sizable, $11,000 per employee, according to the company. Further, staff retention is linked to higher customer satisfaction. In 2011, attrition was 27 percent; by 2014, it had decreased to 20 percent, and Vi strives to improve that number, though it is well below the industry average of 30 percent. Vi analyzed data specifically from its Breakthrough Leadership Program as well, and found this particular program had a great effect on the company, especially in retaining top talent. For example, several years ago attrition for nurse leaders was about 75 percent; since the program was implemented, that has dropped to 10 percent, according to the company. Vi continues to move forward and make changes. The company partnered with DePaul University last year to more closely analyze each part of the Breakthrough Leadership Program, specifically the October 2014 to October 2015 cohort. The analysis focused on post-program results, participants ability to transfer new skills and knowledge on the job. This was a change; program effectiveness was formerly judged on criteria such as participant feedback. Findings revealed Breakthrough Leadership Program participants performed tasks 33 percent better at the end compared with the beginning. Emotional intelligence (20 percent) and skill (12 percent) also increased. Every learning program at Vi is continuously re-evaluated and improved. To avoid falling behind on learning strategy, the company participates in conferences, classes and various professional organizations. Vi is also focused on keeping up with the most effective technologies and learning practices. “While we have been proudly selects as a LearningElite organization since the inception of the program, we will continue to refine our understanding of what contributes to organizational success,” Whitcomb said. CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Ahead of the Curve

The pharmaceutical company embraced a learning infrastructure that balances just-in-time, technology-driven development with intense in-person accountability and culture. BY FRANK KALMAN

s a subsidiary of global health care company Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. creates drugs that aim to help treat and cure some of the world’s most serious diseases, such as diabetes, HIV and Alzheimer’s. At 40,000 employees globally, establishing the learning infrastructure needed to successfully balance global needs with local ones is a heavy task. Not only does Janssen’s sales organization require learning about drugs and products before they go to market, but also each local team requires custom learning on how different drugs apply to patients in different locations. To address the challenge, Janssen’s sales learning and development team established an ecosystem of digital resources that allow employees to access vital information on products or procedures where and when they need it, without sacrificing content quality or learner accountability. Perhaps more impressive, it established a system and culture where employees address specific, tactical learning needs along with their longer-term leadership development aspirations — without being told to do so. “We’ve tried very much to go to a pull mentality,” said Michelle Lynch, Janssen’s senior director of sales learning and development, on the organization’s intentional shift to an on-demand learning environment. Consider Janssen’s training launch for newly approved diabetes drug Invokana, which re32 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

quired the company to train a sales force of roughly 2,000 in a few months. Through a self-directed virtual classroom, Janssen was able to administer sales representative drug training just four days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it. It did so with a four-phase, self-directed e-learning program that required a certification test score of 90 percent or above. Trainees were required to participate in a launch meeting that included eight rotational workshops to reinforce content. Using this agile approach, some 90,000 patients were treated with the new drug within nine months of its approval. Lynch said a lot of the success for SHABNAM IRFANI launches was due to director, learning sales learning prestrategy work. “We try to get ‘Shabnam is a true a good indicator of visionary in the what foundational learning space. She learning we’ll need envisioned, developed and before we even get launched a learning ecosystem FDA approval.” that enables users to personalize Janssen’s “Youtheir learning, and pull in elective Learn” training platactivities to continuously advance form is another extheir competencies. This allows our ample of its agile field force to be relevant, impactful, learning framework. and competitive in an everThe performance changing marketplace.’ support tool allows —Theresa Turano, senior director of individuals to consales learning and development, sume new skills and cardiovascular and metabolic knowledge on their

2016

From left: Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ Rodney Somerville, Theresa Turano, Michelle Lynch and Cecil Johnson.

own time. The platform’s microcredentialing capability taps into sales employees’ natural competitive drive to push engagement and encourage peer recognition. Further, most of the assignments completed are self-assigned, meaning employees chose to complete them without a manager telling them to. Janssen’s tech-driven learning doesn’t end there. The organization facilitates product launch training and continuous learning through an online suite of products, using iPads and other mobile devices and mediums to build engagement and reinforce content: podcasts help learners tackle the intricacies of using data in customer relationships; video case studies expand employees’ knowledge through vivid, detailed story telling; and “The Weave” incorporates social learning to connect employees around a common developmental purpose. Despite considerable investment in learning technology, Janssen has not abandoned in-person development. Each piece of bite-sized learning consumed via technology is mirrored with an equally rigorous amount of in-person facilitation and feedback. Line leaders are re-

quired to hold five development-focused conversations with employees annually. Further, each employee has an individual development plan tracked via an enterprise system so the organization’s broader talent management function can project future learning needs. To measure learning impact, Janssen uses a combination of the Kirkpatrick framework and an ROI evaluation methodology. This combination shows impressive results in a number of areas. For instance, the net promoter score — a measure indicating someone’s willingness to recommend learning to their peers — for a recent TEDx action-planning seminar hit 87, a high mark. Additionally, one new hire training program cut $69,000 in costs within a six-month period, leading to an anticipated positive revenue impact of $9 million. Ultimately, however, the most important metric is sales. Tracking sales allows Janssen’s learning team to ensure its biggest impact is on the patients who need the drugs and treatments the company produces. “What we do day in and day out has to ensure that more patients are getting more access to our products,” Lynch said. “It’s all about the patients.” CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Deloitte Focuses on Learners’ Strengths

Deloitte is committed to developing its learners’ specialties, providing the best service to clients and continuously staying on the cutting edge of learning and development. BY ANDIE BURJEK

From left: Deloitte’s Andrew Do, Leslie Knowlton, Erv Lessel, Lisa Nichols and Graham Johnston.

34 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

eloitte is determined to ensure that learning makes a significant impact on engagement, and that its investment advances the field of talent development in general. The company has a holistic approach to development that considers the learners’ need to be successful in their role and emphasizes the importance of their well-being. This has led to a focus on strength-based development, based in part on research that shows people are often at their best when playing to their strengths. “Our overall approach centers on the belief that development occurs within and beyond the classroom — in the experiences we engage in and the people we connect with,” said Nicole Roy-Tobin, director of development strategy and innovation at Deloitte, in an email interview. Deloitte provides its people with a portfolio of suggested development activities via formal learning and suggests which people to add to their networks. The company also employs a comprehensive measurement strategy to validate its impact — within its own walls and in the communities it serves — and drive continuous improvement for all learning solutions delivered. For example, Deloitte leads and delivers programs to build leadership capabilities for school principals and to facilitate the successful transition of veterans to a profession after leaving the military. The overall learning strategy — to drive individual, team and organizational performance by bringing out the best in each learner — is effective because by bringing out the best in every professional, the company can deliver the best of its organization to its clients. At Deloitte, the key to building and maintaining leadership commitment is engagement. Leadership is intimately involved in implementing learning strategy. They actively champion change management efforts, sponsor programs and strategic initiatives, drive quality assurance for program content, and lead and facilitate learning programs. Along with a strength-developed workforce and a committed leadership, Deloitte is also an elite learning organization because of its ability to stay ahead of the curve in learning execution. The company is committed to “finding the front” in the learning and devel-

opment field and incorporating leading practices and innovations into its own practice. Deloitte has a team dedicated to driving research, knowledge-sharing, collaboration and coordination both across the talent development organization and within the learning and development industry. “This allows us to optimize our investments and drive the adoption of like-solutions across the organization, enhancing our efficiency, effectiveness, business alignment, and impact on performance,” Roy-Tobin said. Deloitte uses internal communities of practice for various learning and development topics to identify, assess and share the latest information in the field. The company also participates in industry councils, collaborating with leading learning organizations to share knowledge and gain industry insights. Finally, the company uses research from Bersin by Deloitte to shape how it enhances internal learning and development. These efforts have had an impressive effect on overall business. Learning is responsible for developing leaders at all levels, and clients commend the company for the quality of its talent. Learning also drives business growth by being responsive and agile, and building knowledge and skills around leading edge topics. “Above all, learning is responsible for our high-performing talent,” Roy-Tobin said. “Our development culture is part of our brand; it attracts the best and brightest to Deloitte, allows people to develop and apply their strengths, and positions people to do their best work.” This year, Deloitte focused on accelerating innovation, particularly around learner experience design and how to measure the impact of that experience. Roy-Tobin anticipates this will require that talent development professionals have a new set of skills, and plans are already in motion to define these new skills and begin the process of building them. The company also will focus on evolving its digital learning strategy and approach to optimize the use of digital solutions to support development. On the measuring impact front, Deloitte will continue to enhance how it evaluates and reports learning’s performance and value to the business, and how it uses learning as a basis for continuous improvement. Finally, the company expects to see advances in building high-performing reams and the globalization of learning. CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Sidley Austin Strives for Talent, Teamwork and Results

The global law firm Sidley Austin knows its clients have a variety of complex problems that require resources and expertise. It keeps up with that challenge by developing top talent. BY ANDIE BURJEK

ith 1,900 lawyers in offices around the world, Sidley Austin has a large, diverse client base and a concentrated focus on developing lawyers and leaders who deliver world-class service. As such, the law firm is committed to consistently improving its learning strategy. “Our learning strategy — to equip our lawyers and staff to serve our clients at the highest level, on their most complex legal matters, across our global platform — is designed and aligned to support three imperatives: talent, teamwork and results,” said Jody Rosen Knower, chief training and professional development officer at Sidley. Assisting clients in different countries and time zones on legal matters requires a lot of resources and expertise, but Sidley’s well-developed workforce is able to do so with an exceptional level of service. To ensure people acquire the knowledge and skills they need, the firm offers about 1,000 educational programs per year. These continuously reviewed and updated programs vary from a local to an international focus, from face-to-face, one-on-one coach-

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TERESA WILTON HARMON partner

‘As a firmwide chair for our training and professional development committee, Teresa consistently demonstrates the leadership commitment required to build and sustain a culture of learning. She is a recognized leader in her field of practice, a tireless advocate for career-long learning, and an incredible ambassador for professional development at Sidley.’ —Jody Rosen Knower, chief training and professional development officer

2016

Sidley Austin’s Jody Rosen Knower, chief training and professional development officer.

ing to all-inclusive e-learning modules, from introductory to advanced-level content. The variety of curricula offered is designed to appeal to different learning styles. Learning leaders found that blended formats with different delivery methods get the best results. Further, to stay ahead of the learning curve, Sidley does ongoing needs assessments to discover gaps in skills and knowledge. “Through direct observation, thoughtful inquiry and demonstrated receptiveness to

input and feedback, we remain attuned to our constituents learning and development needs,” Knower said. Sidley uses its learning strategy to drive efficiency, to promote service excellence and to gain a competitive advantage in winning and retaining clients — and it works. For example, to drive efficiency, the firm reduced the time it took to open new client matters so that work could begin more promptly. This past year, Sidley automated its new business intake process and created a multitiered, global learning strategy, including instructor-led offerings, educational videos and more. As a result, the average time it takes to open a new matter decreased to two days from five — a 60 percent decrease. By allowing lawyers to service clients more quickly, the firm met it’s goal to improve client service. Sidley’s leaders also support a learning culture, and the learning team engages and communicates with them in several ways. For example, members of the learning team have ongoing, informal meetings with senior leaders to make sure the learning strategy aligns with the overall business strategy. In 2015, the firm introduced a more formal approach to achieve this alignment, introducing face-to-face, structured meetings between leaders and training liaisons so parties could identify unmet needs, share tools, promote learning resources and determine follow up steps together. In the next year, Sidley hopes to further improve its learning by enhancing firmwide integration, which relates to its teamwork imperative, and by focusing on development more than training, which relates to its talent imperative. Learning brings people together, and firm leaders have found their work to be a potent force in deepening professional relationships across both generational and geographic differences. Sidley also plans to focus less on training and more on development by fostering a coaching culture with enhanced feedback and improved critical career conversations. “We take great pride in making [training] as relevant, effective and engaging as possible,” Knower said. “However, we see development, not training, as the differentiator in making Sidley a truly great place to work and the firm of choice for our clients.” CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Learning Is Doing at PwC

On a global scale learning needs develop fast. To keep up and stay ahead, PricewaterhouseCoopers relies on employees sharing knowledge and learning as they go. BY SARAH SIPEK

he learning leaders at PricewaterhouseCoopers are students of history. When asked about her learning strategy, Chief Learning Officer Katrina Salem takes it back to the beginning. “The industry that we’re in was built on an

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Katrina Salem, chief learning officer.

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apprenticeship model,” she said. “Historically, we as learning leaders are grounded in the principle that people learn by doing, and that they learn from one another. That apprenticeship model continues to feed how we think about and execute learning today.” With an organization that spans 157 countries and has more than 208,000 employees, senior staff members’ ability to facilitate learning and impart their knowledge to the workforce as a whole is key to ensure that PwC delivers value to its clients. Providing a high level of client service requires senior-level staff to commit to developing themselves. In 2015, the firm invested $224 million to fund its three-pronged Leadership Development Experience, which includes learning from others, learning by doing and formal learning. But the organization didn’t stop after writing the check. More than 90 percent of the 3 million training hours completed that year were delivered by PwC Partners and senior-level staff, according to the company. “Our senior level leaders act as both consumers and teachers in our classes,” Salem said. “I see that as fundamental to the way our learning system operates.” Last year alone, all senior partners, including U.S. Chairman Bob Moritz, completed more than 66 hours of

2016

training each to grow and hone their technical and interpersonal skills, Salem said. They then took that knowledge into formal and informal coaching sessions to deliver what they learned. Contributing to the spread of knowledge is the fact that, firmwide, the U.S. leadership team, the chief learning officer, and all lines of service heads meet twice annually to determine strategic vision and priorities for development and ensure these align with the company’s planning and budgeting cycle. While PwC wants to provide as much structure possible, it is also aware of its workforce’s on-demand learning needs. Staff concentrate on 16 key industries — such as automotive and energy, homeland security and entertainment — which means that learning needs to be personal, and it often needs to happen immediately. To achieve that goal, PwC created a social collaboration platform called Spark to enable learners to access course materials and assignments, complete prerequisites and ac-

cess reinforcement materials when the employee feels they need it. These materials are also available on mobile devices on the learning app IQ. In 2015, 2,835 U.S. staff launched more than 9,060 pieces of content in IQ, totaling more than 36,000 hours learning on their mobile devices. “Technology is an enabler for anything,” said Jonathan Amy, a learning strategies and performance leader at PwC. “We want our employees to access what they need, when they need it and in a way that is easiest for them.” Given the rate technology is advancing, Amy said the personalized learning experience is developing to the point of prediction. “To turn a company name into a verb, we want to Amazon or Netflix how people learn,” he said. “We want employees to turn on a mobile device and have it recognize that they’re starting with a new client, and offer information about the industry to make that employee as effective as possible in the field.” CLO

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Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

KPMG’s Higher Purpose: Conscious L&D

KPMG is known for its expertise in accounting services. That’s a lot of straightforward numbers. But the organization has found significant value in taking on an almost spiritual focus to learning. BY RICK BELL

o find a higher purpose, common thinking suggests that one must continually strive to discover a more conscious, meaningful way to live. While that sounds all warm and fuzzy and gives the sense of just having read “Siddhartha” for the first time, there is a serious business application here. With its ambitious Higher Purpose initiative, KPMG understands that the journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step. Though the global professional services firm is three years into that journey, the path to enlightenment for its employees and executives remains a never-ending quest to learn, grow and evolve. “Higher Purpose is part of our DNA here at KPMG,” said Christine Griffith, the partner in charge of KPMG Tax School. “It’s a part of our culture and is integrated into our learning and development — here’s why we do this, and here’s what it means to us and our clients.” Griffith, who has been with KPMG for 25 years, said it’s crucial to recognize that there’s a purpose and reason for everything they do, especially when articulating the “why” 40 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

when developing a learning and development program at the KPMG Business School, or KBS. She said quantifying any program’s success often takes a conscious recalibration, whether it’s Web-based or live. That manifests in a commitment to blended learning, which in turn fosters a culture that encourages pre- and post-event evaluations rather than maintaining the status quo. “Our approach gets us away from a oneMICHAEL ORTH time training event,” director of Griffith said. “We reccommunications ognize that learning is at KPMG Business not one size fits all. We School facilitate individuals’ ‘Michael Orth sees learning needs. Our training communications as a way to CEO [Lynne Doughhelp KPMG professionals connect to tie] places an immense learning by promoting learning amount of emphasis programs offerings — and on our learning culdeveloping components in those ture. It’s essential to programs — that reinforce their our success.” relevance and key takeaways.’ The Higher Pur—KPMG leadership team pose initiative takes it

2016

a step, well, higher. Now integrated with every large learning program KBS offers, rather than the drab conference center walls that traditionally greet learners, wall-sized banners celebrating KPMG colleagues’ achievements festoon the facility. Higher Purpose posters created by KPMG professionals answer the question: “What do you do at KPMG?” The responses vary from, “We get auto companies back on the road” to the very serene “I promote peace.” Session leaders also relay stories about the difference their work has made. Similarly, participants learn how to craft tales around their own personal achievements. “It’s not just, ‘Here you go.’ We’ve developed this culture of constant learning and teaching,” said Griffith, who works out of KPMG’s Houston office. “We see at all levels of the organization how important it is to continuously communicate the KPMG’s Michele Graham, director of tax learning and development. importance of learning.” Last year, the company expanded on Higher municate the mantra. That engagement Purpose with its Portraits of Purpose initiative, works in the learning organization’s favor. which promotes employees highlighting their “Part of our culture is that we treat training colleagues’ achievements. “Cyber defense pro- as an event,” Griffith said. “The more that we tects big data!” proclaims one banner with por- put into L&D, the more that we get out of it. traits of several employees; “Kaia West builds We always recognize that we do something for enduring relationships,” states another along a reason.” with a photo of Kaia West. So, what is Griffith’s higher purpose at Higher Purpose, Portraits With Purpose — KPMG? “I have an investment to make everythe initiatives sound wonderful. But do they one the best that they can be.” work? Absolutely, Griffith said. Since impleGriffith said she was attracted to KPMG a mentation three years ago, employee engage- quarter-century ago because of its innovative ment has soared. More than 90 percent of culture of creativity and its spirit of owneremployees whose managers communicate ship. She said that buy-in remains. “I’m an purpose said KPMG is a great place to work instructor; my only aspiration was to be part vs. 66 percent whose managers don’t com- of L&D here.” CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Nationwide Adapts to the Winds of Learning Change

In response to learners wanting resources as needed, the global insurance company produced a nimble learning strategy. BY KELLYE WHITNEY

or the last 85 years, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. has been helping people protect what’s most important to them. In that time, the company has grown from a small auto insurer owned by policyholders to a global insurance and financial services organization. Change is a key part of that kind of growth, and not just in business strategy but also in learning. Jason Gallourakis, Nationwide’s vice president of talent development, said part of what makes the company’s learning function elite is its sharp focus on modernization at all levels. That means alignment, efficiency and effectiveness remain top of mind. “We’ve really focused on the learner experience and creating more impactful learning, whether that’s learning provision or learning enablement,” he said. Learning leaders are no longer the

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Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.’s Diane August, chief learning architect.

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company’s sole learning providers. Now, the goal is to make sure development occurs even when they’re not there. That has led to creation of communities of practice, mentoring programs, coaching tools and myriad on-the-job experiences that equal a culture of learning, not just a department to provide courses and computer-based training. Why? Because a savvy company adapts to the winds of change. “It has a lot to do with what’s happening societally,” Gallourakis said. “People now no longer want; they actually expect to have things on demand, to have things at their fingertips, to not have to devote significant amounts of time to looking for what they need, or sit through a course to get the one or two insights or skills they’re looking for.” Now learners want information and resources modularized. They want things at the point of need, and Nationwide has responded with an equally nimble learning strategy. The company begins with the work itself, then thinks about just-in-time, just-enough, just-for-me development. It has restructured so when consulting with a client group that has a performance gap or a learning need, it breaks that gap down and considers the outcomes and the most efficient way to get there before determining the best way for learners to acquire BRIAN WILKINSON the knowledge or leader of talent skills they need. analytics and That means assessments pushing away from traditional classMATT KELLER ro o m or lecconsultant of talent ture-based learning, analytics and assessments which makes sense ‘Brian and Matt enable impact and given how busy evvalue for Nationwide’s learning eryone is these days. strategy by correlating business and Gallourakis said people outcomes to specific learning learners’ time and solutions. They understand members’ money — perception, behaviors and Nationwide cusperformance. By analyzing relevant tomers — are predata, they help us differentiate cious resources. perception from reality, which allows “If we think of us to make data-informed learning those two resources design and investment choices.’ as precious, how do —Jason Gallourakis, vice president of we rethink learning talent development as a result?” he said.

These changes have been brewing for the past five to six years as the company reviewed and absorbed new opportunities, themes and patterns, and the learning strategy crystallized over the last two to three. Gallourakis and his team have been rethinking instructional design, strategy and, of course, being ever mindful of what the organization is attempting to accomplish. This enterprise approach to learning solutions, considering expense management and never losing sight of member value, are all tied together with the company’s human resources strategic agenda and then analyzed to determine what this means for learning. “When we start consulting, it’s really start with the end in mind,” Gallourakis said. “What performance are we trying to influence? What business or people outcomes should be changed? That’s what we target, and that’s what we measure.” A significant part of that consulting concerns technology enablement. For instance, the company changed its LMS iDrive — as in “I drive my development” — within the last year to something more robust that includes social learning. Users can create material, bring communities of learners together around specific topics or content, share ideas through blogs and wikis, even publicly rate the value of the learning material being shared or provided. In this culture of learning, it’s all about ease of use. Information is easy to find, easy to search and, of course, easy to share. That meant upgrades to the company’s virtual delivery platform to accommodate remote learners and enhance engagement, and a progressive move into video, mobile — the list goes on. The thing about modernization is if the company is to continue to advance, then that cycle of continuous improvement never really ends. Fortunately for Gallourakis and the rest of the Nationwide learning team, they have unwavering support and sponsorship from senior leadership. He said even during the recession when times were lean, Nationwide did not do what so many organizations did — cut learning. “They believe in it, they see the value in it, and they support it. I know how fortunate we are to be in a company that values what we do,” he said. CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2016

Western Union’s Learning Is All About the Business

By meeting with business executives regularly and quantifying efforts, Western Union successfully creates learning programs that save the company millions. BY LAUREN DIXON

any learning and development teams struggle to quantify their efforts. They create programs before even considering how to measure learning impact, but The Western Union Co.’s Talent Team starts with measurement. Thanks to a routine of consistent measurement and consultations with upper management, leadership buy-in doesn’t seem to be an issue. Talent analytics link directly to business outcomes, which highlight the business case to invest time and money in the approximately 20 formal programs that fall under WU University, the corporate learning arm for Western Union. These metrics validate strategic learning and talent development efforts in terms that business leaders can support. WU University debuted in 2010 as a virtual university, adding a brick-and-mortar university at the company’s Denver headquarters in 2014. About three years ago, Western Union also integrated its talent management and learning functions into one 18-person team. “Having that integration of the two al-

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lows for a great alignment with the business,” said Joshua Craver, global head of talent management and learning. “Sometimes when talent management and

SCOT DUFFIELD

head of talent management operations Behind the extensive analytics used at WU University is the talent operations team, which manages program design and development, measurement and budget. Scot Duffield, head of talent management operations, expertly leads this team and understands how to design the necessary learning functions to interact with employees in a fast-paced and complex environment, said Joshua Craver, global head of talent management and learning.

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Western Union’s Joshua Craver, global head of talent management and learning.

learning are separate, they’re not communicating and using the talent data and analytics to drive their design and deployment.” Annually, surveys and manager data reveal gaps in managerial effectiveness, which helps the Talent Team see obstacles that the company’s employees need to overcome. With senior leader input, business cases develop and become newly designed learning programs and scheduled projects. Surveys measure on-the-job application for various WU University programs, as well as how the courses have changed the skills needed for employee’s roles. This helps learning leaders at WU University refine programming and ensure learning is constantly aligned with business objectives. The Talent Team holds themselves accountable, too. Monthly reviews identify past achievements as well as growth opportunities. Quarterly reviews are used to analyze data to celebrate success or to recalibrate upcoming plans. Progress is published mid-year so hu-

man resources, program sponsors and executives can review tactics. Annual reports occur at year’s end to highlight results and identify areas for feedback. Multiple learning technology vendors and platforms provide a mixture of development offerings to reach more people with various learning styles. For instance, Cornerstone OnDemand enables learning delivery, tracking and reporting, while Grovo provides additional online courses. Craver said virtual learning accounts for 70 percent of learning offerings. In 2014, WU’s Talent Team developed Take 10, a series of 10-minute online modules. This library of resources serves employees with limited time who still want to develop business acumen and enhance their performance. Bite-sized learning is a popular trend in the learning and development field, but the Talent Team found that employees who participate in programs lasting 90 days or longer see higher retention rates and greater engagement. Once business leaders see these metrics, they are often more willing to allocate time for staff to attend longer-running courses. To stay on top of current practices in their field, WU’s learning team reviews CEB’s annual reports, which helps them source ideas to use in their own strategy. They also use comments from LearningElite judges to improve processes. To develop his team, Craver said he allocates a fixed annual investment per person to attend external development programs, helping them earn certifications from best-inclass organizations. Future plans for WU University include preparing the workforce to achieve the company’s 2020 vision and transform performance management. By 2020, millennials will make up a majority of the workforce, and the company’s 2020 strategy plans to lead change processes specifically for the future of talent at the company. This will build leadership confidence, connect people to technology and evolve the workforce, Craver explained. Ultimately, five of the WU University flagship programs related to talent development and retention led to multimillions in cost savings, according to the company. With those kinds of metrics available, it’s hard for leaders to ignore the value of internal learning efforts. CLO Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

BEST PRACTICES IN LEARNING ORGANIZATION

A Framework for Building a Learning Organization BY RUSSELL SARDER; AUTHOR, ENTREPRENEUR AND CEO OF LEARNING

All successful organizations have one thing in common: they understand the value of learning. Building a learning organization doesn’t happen overnight—it takes a long-term commitment, thoughtful planning, and a steady supply of resources. You’ll need to build a learning culture, develop learning plans, and create a system for managing your learning operation. Here is a framework:

Sarder Framework: Building the Learning Organization 1. Learning Culture Culture is the sum of ways of living created by a group and transmitted from one generation to another. It’s culture that makes one country, region, or group different from another. Organizations also have unique cultures that shape their workplaces, and it’s that culture that differentiates a learning organization. To build a learning organization, you

must transform the existing culture into a learning culture. Accomplishing that transformation requires: A. The Right Leader: Transforming an organization’s culture starts at the top: leaders must have the vision and the will. They must believe in the value of learning, and they must be learners themselves. Leaders who are passionate learners communicate their vision and help people understand why learning is important to achieving organizational and personal goals. They create a learning environment, provide programs and activities, and reward learning efforts. B. The Right People: A learning culture is built by its people. To transform your organization’s culture, you need people who have open minds, are good collaborators, are willing to question, are not afraid of change, and who welcome opportunities to learn. Learning organizations actively seek such people among their current employees and when they recruit. C. The Right Behaviors: Collaboration, innovation, experimentation, risk taking, and information sharing are hallmarks of a learning organization. In such organizations, people challenge established ways of doing things and explore new ideas for getting better. D. The Right Resources: Leaders of learning organizations recognize that learning is an essential cost, and they demonstrate their support by providing the necessary resources. Following the Sarder Principle, they spend at least 2 percent of their total revenue on learning and development. 2. Learning Plan Your learning plan describes what will be done to translate your vision of a learning organization into reality. It includes the

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

BEST PRACTICES IN LEARNING ORGANIZATION

items below: A. Learning Goals: The goals in your learning plan provide targets that outline what you hope to accomplish within specified time frames. They also certify that team and individual goals flow from the organization’s overall goals, ensuring everyone is aligned with the organization’s mission, values, and overall strategies. B. Competency Models: Competency models are frameworks that describe what people need to know to accomplish a job at the highest level. Learning organizations use them to recruit the right employees, identify employees’ performance gaps and development needs, develop learning plans, set performance standards, maximize employee productivity, and drive organizational change. C. Learning Methods: People have different learning styles and preferences, and the best learning programs consider those differences. An understanding of the various ways in which people learn helps you choose the method or combination of methods that is best for a given situation. From traditional learning to informal learning, a good learning organization uses different approaches, often in combination. Learning experts refer to that combination as “blended learning.” D. Learning Assessments: Only by regularly assessing the results of your learning initiatives can you discover the extent to which they are achieving their expected outcomes; if not, why not; and what improvements can you make? Assessment is itself a learning activity. Assessment is essentially a process of asking questions. The overarching question is, “How well are our learning plans achieving what we intended them to achieve?”

3. Learning Operation Developing and implementing a learning plan is too important and too complex to go it alone. A learning management service that has access to validated competency models, sourcing databases and assessments, technological tools, and expertise in the field of learning can guide you through the process, provide advice, and handle many tasks resourcefully. A. Content: Learning initiatives involve a huge amount of content: education programs and materials, competency models, needs assessments, evaluations, instructor information, and more. You will need a system to collect all that content, organize it, keep it up to date, and ensure it can be easily accessed when needed. B. Delivery: Today’s organizations have many options for delivering learning. Managing your learning operations includes choosing the right option or options to fit your budget, meet goals, and match both learner and organizational needs. C. Technology: Technological tools are essential for managing learning operations. Yet it’s amazingly easy for organizations to spend huge sums of money on technology and still be unable to manage their learning initiatives effectively. It’s vital to understand the options so you can select those that are right for you. D. Administration and Marketing: A staggering number of tasks are involved in managing learning operations, from organizing assessments and materials; to developing, updating, and scheduling courses; to negotiating with vendors. Whether you handle these tasks in-house or outsource them to a company, a centralized administrative and marketing function helps you control costs and ensure that everything gets done right.

COMPANY PROFILE NetCom Learning helps build innovative learning organizations in the workplace by structuring a smarter workforce, supporting changes, and driving growth. Since 1998 we have been empowering organizations to reach optimal performance results and address challenges by managing all aspects of organizational learning. Learn more about our consulting services and download “Building an Innovative Learning Organization A Framework to Build a Smarter Workforce, Adapt to Change, and Drive Growth” by Russell Sarder at www.netcomlearning.com/book

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G THE RIGHT M a k i ng

CHOICE Wh e n

THERE IS NONE The most informed, most effective decision comes down to the tools and strategies in place to improve learning and development. BY ANDIE BURJEK

enerally speaking, chief learning officers have one major question to consider: Does the learning strategy fit with the organization’s overall, longterm business strategy? From there, they must gather the best information, surround themselves with the best people, and use them to make well-informed decisions. Preparation is key, and so is the skill to prioritize the important over the also important. Gathering the knowledge isn’t the hard part. In the financial industry, for example, being prepared may mean noticing changes in the economy, following the stock market or speaking with clients or co-workers about the state of the industry. In any case, these are the straightforward, necessary things that chief learning officers must do to stay on top of their game. Because their decisions affect all learning and development in the organization, they can never be too prepared. Meanwhile, within this strategy, there are nuanced, critical decisions, according to Gina Abudi, business expert and president of Abudi Consulting Group: • What skills, development and knowledge are required for the organization’s future success? • How do future leaders need to be developed to ensure long-term organizational success? • How do we retain top talent and compete to secure additional top talent? • How do we deliver training in ways that work for the organization and the people? What makes the overall process complicated is that it’s an art, not a science, said Richard Spires, CEO of Learning Tree International and former chief information officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Leaders can have all the information, but they need the skill, too. With so many options for any given decision or scenario, there’s rarely a “right” decision. But there is a best, and the right tools and strategies can make the best more accessible.

Prioritizing ‘Right for Whom?’ Prioritizing can be the biggest challenge. With limited resources in budget and talent, how can a leader decide where to focus? What project or program deserves the top-skilled talent and the largest investment? At the end of the day, investing in one person or program means not investing in another. It’s a trade-off, which requires you to think of what maximizes the outcome we’re looking for, said Deb Johnson, chief learning officer for Deloitte Counseling.

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First, when prioritizing people or projects, consider, in this industry, what the current and future needs in terms of workforce skills are. Where are the skills gaps now, and what skills will these employees need in the future? With answers to these questions, a CLO can hone in on what learning programs to invest in today

Big data can’t replace human intelligence completely. But it does allow learning leaders to notice trends and get more nuanced information about programs’ effectiveness. and tomorrow. The question is never “Is this the right choice?” but rather “Right for whom?” There is no “right choice” for any given scenario, said Tamara Ganc, chief learning officer for The Vanguard Group. However, there is a choice that has the best effect on the learner. There is tension in balancing what is right for the learner vs. what is perceived as right for the business. “There’s often an ‘ask’ from the business for a spe-

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cific training or learning need. Often that may not be what’s best for the learner to actually retain and change their behavior,” Ganc said. “So often we’re in a position to say no to a specific ask because we know the outcome won’t be what the business wants to achieve.” She recalled a time when a business leader asked for help putting leaders through leadership development. Upon further review, she and her team realized the problem had nothing to do with leadership but that it was a more in-depth talent issue; leadership development would not solve the problem.

Technology and Big Data Trends Big data is another tool valuable to learning leaders as they make complicated decisions on how employees learn. Defined as “extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions” by Google, big data has become a big deciding factor in many business decisions. It can allow learning leaders to see trends they might not have noticed before. For example, Ganc was able to use it while evaluating 10 different Vanguard University projects from 10 different designers. There was one outlier, one project that performed significantly better than the others.

Upon reviewing the data, Ganc and her team noticed the designer of the outlying project had hybrid skills: He could both design and develop the program. Having the hybrid skill set allowed this person to finish the project much quicker than anyone else, and Ganc concluded that in the future of Vanguard University, they

The Impact of Big Data in Decisions

eaders can use several tools to aid them in the decision-making process: journals, magazines, conversations, etc. But the prominence of big data has made all the difference in recent years.

To put that in perspective, in 2016, more data will be created than in all of history combined, said Bill Decker, big data expert and chief of marketing, strategy and business development at 3D Printing Channel. The amount of knowledge a man gathered 100 years ago in his entire life is equivalent to reading The New York Times every day for two weeks. And an iPhone has more computer power in it than the first Apollo space mission, Decker said. With so much information out there, big data can be useful objective information that aids the executive decision-making process in several ways, Decker said. For example, it allows chief financial officers to know exactly how much an employee costs per minute. Say there’s an employee who’s very argumentative, for example, how much do his arguments cost the company? If data helps figure out that he costs $3 per minute, and he argues with someone X amount of minutes a day, leaders can figure out if he’s worth more working at the office or at home where he can’t pick a fight. Chief learning officers also can use big data in a dashboard, Decker said. If a CLO is responsible for training in multiple locations and has access to a computer or iPad screen, they can see what’s going on in each location, focus on one location and choose criteria by which to assess the situation. Something like this is a real-time way for CLOs to see how well training works and to track things like absentees in training, productivity after training and other helpful indicators. There are, of course, limitations to the use of big data, Decker said. Human decision power still trumps numbers alone. A leader can see all the research that supports option A and still say, “I don’t care, I want the red one.” “Having the information doesn’t change de facto human behavior,” Decker said. “Change has to come because people desire it. Then the data can help prove the case.”

—Andie Burjek

should look for talent with those hybrid skills. “That wasn’t what I expected to get out of the data, but it was such a stark difference and allowed us to dig in and maybe change or course in the future.” Of course, big data can’t replace human intelligence completely. It does allow learning leaders to notice trends and get more nuanced information about the effectiveness of a learning program. For instance, how long did they spend on a lesson? Did they become more productive afterward? It may be easier to pull data needed than in the past and to analyze it quicker, but decision-making still requires a human element, Abudi said. “The introduction of big data and the prevalence of technology makes it easier to get the information needed, which may lead to quicker decision-making,” she said. “But relying only on the data is not sufficient. The data does not understand the people of the organization and their needs.” For example, Johnson said Deloitte changed its learning process using a combination of hard data and conversation. Five years ago, employees began learning through simulations, which was trendy then. Simulations were new and cool at the time, and learners got a lot out of these environments that simulated reality, she said. However, the company recently changed how learning leaders develop new skills, shifting focus to something real. “Looking at hard data and talking to leaders and coaches, this generation of learners is interested in impact and purpose,” Johnson said. “They want to be part of an organization that they feel is doing good in the world, meaningful purpose.” After realizing this trend, Deloitte began to embed impact into its programs, such as its milestone program for consultants. When a consultant reached a new career milestone, they used to use simulations or case studies to work on strategic thinking skills. Now, consultants take on a live case with a nonprofit. They get to practice the same skills like doing analysis or making presentations, and make a real impact. The change-of-strategy meant that learners contributed a total of almost 4,000 free consulting hours to the nonprofit. A similar blend of personal interactions and technology is true for how the learner learns as well, Spires said. For example, at Learning Tree, which provides skills-enhancement training to information technology and business professionals, blended learning is becoming more popular. Traditional instructor-based learning augmented with other types of learning, such as Web-based training modules, has worked effectively for this particular organization. DECISIONS continued on page 64 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

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M I D C A R E E R

Mindset Midcareer moves can be risky. For these leaders to be successful, it’s important to take a different approach with onboarding. BY LOUISE KORVER

ompanies hire people because they can do a job. That’s table stakes. Those stakes are raised when the new hire is special — say, the first woman vice president under the age of 40. To be successful, especially midcareer, requires a different approach so executives can find the support they need to socialize into the new culture. Midcareer moves can be risky, which is why it’s so important to learn from others’ experience on how to do them well. Start by framing the first 12 months, and prepare to troubleshoot and select tools to build management routines to improve successful integration. The typical executive looks forward to some change in assignment every two to three years. If someone has an appetite for more frequent moves, faster promotions or more money, it helps to adopt a mindset that prepares for, negotiates and settles into a role with greater speed and agility. Once executives have lived in multiple geographies, had many jobs in different industries, they develop core skills that help them land on their feet and hit the ground running. By identifying their first priorities, how they overcame the typical challenges related to onboarding midcareer, and what tools worked best for them, success is far easier to create and sustain.

Chutes and Ladders Midcareer job change is like the game “Chutes and Ladders.” So much rests on one’s ability to understand what is going on with the strategy, results and people. Most of us don’t have a tool to assess data that contains a mixture of truth and fiction in unfamiliar settings — a new job in a new company in a different industry. Further, relocating life and family and settling in a new geography while taking on a role with progressive leadership responsibilities comes with significant stress. The last thing someone needs is to be ham-

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pered by a lack of experience or tools to handle this transition, or to be misled by a peer coach. Sorting out the differences between unwritten rules — things one should not violate — and the institutional contradictions that everyone lives with are essential as a new executive. Figuring out how people respond to them will help a newbie decide if they are wasting time recommending changes or, at a minimum, help them to determine when or

It Comes Down to the Numbers

any executives who endured boredom and less-than-attractive circumstances on the job during the Great Recession are now looking to make a move. Some hold back because of their fear of change, but for those who are ready to move on, the impact of change in work identity is not without excitement and challenge. That’s why onboarding for midcareer senior leaders is a make-it-or-break-it proposition. Consider the following executives’ strategies. Daniel Sonsino, vice president of human resources at Grocery Outlet, has a four-part playbook for successful onboarding, his top four in his first four months: learn the business; build relationships; design an HR strategy with business leaders; and determine if the existing team can execute the new direction. Robin LaChapelle, vice president of human resources at AstraZeneca’s MedImmune division and U.S. HR country lead, has a playbook that includes thinking about HR as industryless and figuring out how to gain influence. Her top three navigation strategies include: satisfy oneself early about team talent; figure out what matters strategically, then figure out the centers of control; and frame midcareer expectations to hit the ground running. “You have to be productive much faster, it is expected from an experienced hire,” she said.

Four steps is a good number for an onboarding process. Break it down further as “3, 6, 10, 12” months. This method prevents premature actions, allows for frequent checks and balances as well as rapid assimilation and decision-making. Months 1 to 3 are “Getting Acquainted.” Months 4 to 6 are about “Assessing Changes.” Months 6 to 10 are about lining up change plans, not making any sudden moves until the 10th month. Start cautiously at Month 10 to implement change. At 12 months, make the biggest changes.

—Louise Korver

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if they should make changes at all. Robin LaChapelle, HRVP at AstraZeneca’s MedImmune division and U.S. HR country lead, has had six jobs at five companies in four industries over the past decade. She said she has experienced every conceivable challenge — promotions, new industries, working for new people, and living in a new geographical area with a family and three children. Her career and life goal is having a “phenomenal day every day for as long as it’s interesting.” She said she sees her career as a portfolio, which she manages for the long-term. She said people have a “shelf life” on being a change agent, and she has to make the most of it. For Daniel Sonsino, vice president of human resources at Grocery Outlet, his three industries in 10 years was a sign of calculated risk. He used the growth of his LinkedIn network, moving his family and two children three times in the decade. Sometimes one of the most difficult things about transitioning to a new role is assessing exactly what’s going on. To adopt the most effective leadership style for a new situation, one must align opinions with the reality of the existing institutional contradictions, and then figure out what to change, if anything. David Dotlich, author and consultant, used an exercise in the high-potential executive programs for Bank of America that he called “unwritten rules.” It brought out some of the underdiagnosed cultural risks that are often only shared in one-on-one discussions with trusted peers. These are the essential “do nots” that can trip newbies up. Figuring out the culture — behaviors, signs and artifacts, informal meanings and interpretations — is difficult without a tool. New leaders may not be able to answer the question: “How did the culture at my last company influence me, my thinking, FIGURE 1: SITUATED LEARNING ASSESSMENT Put quotes from stakeholders into the correct quadrant, along with their allegiances, and a pattern will emerge to help new leaders put culture in perspective. Open Self-Authoring

Self-Transforming

Socialized

Maladaptive

Assessing Readiness for Change

Closed Not Invested in Institutional Arrangements

Positive

Source: Global Executive Development Partners, 2015

Not Invested in Institutional Arrangements

Negative

my leadership practices, and how I view myself?” The answers to these questions are going to emerge as soon as they start a new job (Figure 1). With this model, one can overlay an organization’s readiness for change with an assessment of which employees seem invested in the institutional way of doing things. The upper left quadrant is self-authoring — employees are aware of the institutional arrangements and choose to conform to them on a caseby-case basis. By contrast, the lower left quadrant is socialized. These employees drink the Kool-Aid and may L E be unaware of the institutional mindset in which they have become natives. The lower right quadrant speaks for itself. These are the maladaptives who are well aware and vocal about organizational contradictions and are not invested in institutional arrangements, structures, ways of thinking and doing things. These are often the first ones to follow a new leader on a new path. Regardless of their appeal, new leaders should carefully vet these individuals’ reputations. The self-transforming, upper right quadrant is experienced, reflective employees who understand institutional arrangements, and have accounted for which parts they will follow and which parts they will not. These are early adapters who are likely to carry a great deal of influence through the organization for change. To use this model, populate the quotes from stakeholders into the correct quadrant, along with their allegiances. A pattern will emerge that will help inform subsequent strategy.

Strategy, Tactics and Troubleshooting LaChapelle is an excellent interviewer. She said she has been known to tell someone she’s not well acquainted with, “I only met you once. I have a lot of questions,” because “who takes their career that lightly that they are going to accept a position and get critical answers to the key criteria later?” She said one of the critical factors to her success has been discuss-

ing key levers ahead of time. Further, she does not apologize for setting a high bar. Her reputation is all about being decisive. When she made changes in the first few months on her current job, people saw the change with new talent right away. But she did this with support from the top. MIDCAREER continued on page 64

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CASE STUDY

How to Build a Data Scientist From Scratch BY SARAH FISTER GALE

ooz Allen Hamilton Inc. prides itself on being able to bring cutting edge technology and talent to its clients. The century-old management and technology consulting firm has more than 22,000 employees managing dozens of strategically important projects — many of them for government agencies — and all of them require highly skilled computer scientists, engineers, analysts and other technical experts to execute. “Having talent with the skills to innovate is a driver for our business,” said Aimee George Leary, strategic talent officer and senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton. Keeping up with this talent demand is increasingly difficult. The volume and complexity of data management and data science expertise required on client projects often exceeds the skills available in the company’s ranks. Further, Ashley Lanier, program manager in the company’s strategic innovation group, forecasts a long-term demand for these skills. Competition for this kind of talent is intense, and universities aren’t graduating enough experts to fill the need. “Without qualified data scientists, business leaders don’t trust the information they have available to make decisions,” she said. “The talent we needed didn’t exist in the marketplace, so we decided to build it.”

Forget Boot Camp Their solution was Tech Tank, a yearlong learning and development program targeting high-potential junior employees at Booz Allen who have the basic skills to succeed in technical roles but need more development to get to the next level. The program would provide these high performers with a foundation of knowledge as well as access to like-minded peers and senior staffers who could help them forge a data science career path at the company. “We started by identifying the desired outcome — what do we want them to achieve once they graduate? — then we worked backward from there,” Lanier said. The primary goal was to create a pool of trained apprentice-level data scientists who could move quickly into client-facing roles. The team determined that a boot camp-style program wouldn’t be enough; candidates needed intensive training to translate their basic 56 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

SNAPSHOT Booz Allen Hamilton’s yearlong Tech Tank program turns junior employees into highly skilled analytics and computer science professionals. Then, the company promotes and retains them, boosting their engagement.

math, science and computer skills into data science expertise. “Our clients don’t need someone with two weeks of training in Python; they need experts.” So the company built a 12-month intensive program with a cohort-driven approach. Lanier’s team designed the program in nine months, hosting weekly meetings with key stakeholders to set goals, develop curriculum, and identify mentors and teachers. In late 2014, they began recruiting. To determine who would participate, the team reviewed the employee population to identify possible candidates based on education, skills and background. Then, they invited business unit leaders to nominate who they thought was a good fit. Nominees then had to complete a detailed application explaining why they wanted to participate and why they thought they were qualified. The team was looking both for skills and ambition in these applications, said Kristen Panichella, senior associate and recruiting manager for the innovation group. The Tech Tank team also required managers to create engagement plans outlining how they would support employees in the program, including projects or clients the candidates would get to work with during the year and how they might be promoted when the program was over. “We wanted to be sure the participants would have the opportunity to use what they learned on the job and to move into data science roles when they graduated,” Panichella said.

Welcome to the Shark Tank The team received 146 names, 70 applications and made 26 offers for the pilot program. Six candidates dropped out when they saw the amount of work re-

Learning and achieving Vanguard considers learning to be one of our greatest assets. Every day, we enable our crew— what we call our employees—to reach their highest potential so that we can help clients achieve their financial goals and dreams. We’re proud that Chief Learning Officer magazine has recognized Vanguard’s commitment by naming us the #1 LearningElite organization. We congratulate this year’s winners, and we salute all those who create a culture of learning. Connect with us today to learn how Vanguard can help you reach your goals and dreams. vanguard.com

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quired, and the other 20 completed the program. The pilot included two tracks: math and computer engineering. Both tracks had a series of requirements for participants to complete, including hundreds of hours of custom-built online courses, vendor-created courses, and classroom training covering the Booz Allen approach to consulting, programming with Python, and a 40-hour certification course in cloud computing. Participants also had to complete four real-world data-driven projects, which differentiated Tech Tank from other training programs, Lanier said. “They weren’t just doing busy work assignments; they were contributing to the business.” Every quarter during the year, Tech Tank participants worked on one of the four projects, often partnering with other students and subject-matter experts in the company to complete the assignments. In the first, participants develop an idea for a three-minute

“Millennials especially want to be involved with projects that matter. It speaks to the motivation of this generation to have an impact on the community, and we wanted to tap into that.”

Tech Tank Measures Up By all accounts the first Tech Tank program, which was completed in December 2015, was a success. Participants spent an average of 2,800 hours in the program. That included 275 hours of optional training completed on their own time. They also spent roughly 1,000 hours on core curriculum training, 952 hours on activities and check in, and more than 400 hours with mentors — all while balancing their full-time jobs. It was a lot of work, but it paid off. Leary said 25 percent of the first cohort were promoted to new roles in the first few months, including Heekin, who is now a senior consultant. Program participants also have high engage-

‘Tech Tank helped me build real relationships with people I can work with in the future, and it opened my eyes to different parts of the company.’ —Kayla Janos, senior consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton tech talk that they could deliver to a group of Booz Allen subject-matter experts. Each participant had to come up with an idea, do the research, develop a two-minute pitch, and answer questions from a panel. In the second project, each team develops an idea for a hackathon where participants would use a set of fictional data to solve a problem. Andrew Heekin, who followed the computer science track in the program, co-developed a hackathon to determine where to open a new “Allen’s Burgers and Booz” restaurant for maximum sales using Python and a synthetic data set. His project was later used as a recruiting exercise on college campuses. “That was a great perk,” Heekin said. In the third project, Tech Tank participants worked with in-house experts to develop ideas for real-life clients that they pitched to “Solver Space,” a Shark Tankstyle panel in the innovation group open to all Booz Allen employees. Winning ideas receive funding for further development. The final project was the Hackathon for Social Good; teams partnered with a nonprofit group using their data to host a hackathon where Booz Allen employees could volunteer to help address a specific need. For instance, one team worked with Lollypop Farm, a rescue boarding kennel in Rochester, New York, to identify adoption trends that would find animals new homes faster. Being able to participate in something so meaningful was important to this process, Panichella said. 58 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

ment scores and retention rates. Enthusiasm for a career at Booz Allen was exactly what executives were hoping for. “Retention of this kind of talent has a direct impact on our bottom line,” Leary said. “We can’t support our clients if we don’t have the talent.” For companies interested in replicating the program, Leary said to secure executive sponsorship, get commitment from experts across the company to teach and mentor participants, and understand the time and energy it will take to pull it off. “You have to be realistic about the time commitment, for students and the functional experts supporting them,” she said. It also helps to find someone like Lanier who will commit to achieving program results. “Ashley was the key component to making Tech Tank the success it was,” Panichella said. “She created the team environment, she got sponsors engaged, and she kept everyone on track. That role is imperative to making a program like this one work.” CLO Sarah Fister Gale is a writer based in Chicago. To comment, email editor@CLOmedia.com. To read more details about Booz Allen Hamilton’s Tech Tank, visit CLOMEDIA.COM.

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BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Is Learning Measurement Turning a Corner? BY CUSHING ANDERSON

Notoriously tough to execute, efforts to measure learning impact are seeing an increase in satisfaction and support.

very important business activity is measured — financial, inventory, headcount, payroll and client engagement. The learning function is not immune; chief learning officers are often asked to measure learning impact. But between 2010 and 2015, more CLOs were dissatisfied than satisfied with the tools, resources or data available to them to do so. As organizations increasingly use analytics as a business decision-making tool, 3 out of 5 CLOs report that their divisional leaders and line managers regularly use learning and development measurement data, but only half of C-suite executives review such data quarterly or monthly, according to IDC’s survey of the Chief Learning Officer Business Intelligence Board.

Nearly 45 percent use employee performance data to help evaluate learning impact — up almost 20 percent from last year. While learning and development measurement seemed to be behind other areas for the past five or so years, this year more than 60 percent of CLOs report their measurement programs are “fully aligned” with their learning strategy. Further, this is the first survey since 2010 where more CLOs are satisfied with their organizational approach to measurement than dissatisfied.

Taking Measures Learning professionals generally agree on the value of measurement. When done properly, it can demonstrate learning’s effect to the company’s top and bottom lines. Effective measurement also ensures that organizational initiatives will more frequently include appropriate learning components. This helps the learning organization increase its relevance. In enterprises overall, measurement collection and 60 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

reporting can be described as basic but improving. Almost 4 out of 5 enterprises use general learning output data — courses, students, hours of training, etc. — to help justify learning impact. Measuring satisfaction with learning programs is used as justification in 7 out of 10 organizations. At a more complex level, more than half report learning output aligned with specific learning initiatives. Even more advanced application of measurement such as employee engagement and performance are being measured by less than half of organizations. Business impact and return on investment measures are often constrained by time, resources and the lack of a solid measurement structure, and they are measured by a third or fewer enterprises. Key metrics may include employee performance, customer satisfaction, improved sales numbers and more. The challenge remains gaining access to reliable metrics and finding the time and resources to conduct meaningful analysis. In 2008, a majority of enterprises reported a high level of dissatisfaction with learning measurement. By 2010, that feeling had moderated substantially as analytics became mainstream in other areas of the business. But CLOs’ dissatisfaction remained high, thanks to higher expectations and continuing challenges with resources and leader support. In the past two years, satisfaction has increased substantially (Figure 1, page 62).

Perception and Impact There appears to be a strong correlation between effective measurement and the perception of impact. When measurement programs are weak, most CLOs report that their influence and role in helping to achieve organizational priorities is also weak. When organizations are very satisfied with the measurement approach, they also believe learning and development plays a more important role in achieving organizational priorities. As in prior years, the common forces working against satisfaction with measurement programs remained a combination of capability and support. CLOs report frustration that measurement is “not a

priority in the organization.” This is often because there is a “lack of data or access to data” or “a lack of leadership support.” But even when the organization does perform measurement activities, some remain “focused on efficiency measures rather than effectiveness.” Resources and leadership support are obviously essential to develop an effective measurement program. But getting that support remains a challenge. However, when the organization is aligned, CLOs report interesting and effective programs. For instance, one organization measures “the difference in profitability per employee between offices and the number of internally developed, job-specific courses completed” and it found a “dramatic difference in profitability between offices where they had taken [only a] few courses and those that had higher completion rates.” Because of the various forces holding measurement use back, there has been little change in related processes. Consistent with past results, about 80 percent of companies do some form of measurement. About one-third of organizations use a manual process, and the rest use some form of automated system. The mix of collection approaches is very similar to how it was performed as far back as 2008. There has been a slight decrease in the percentage of respondents who use a manual process and an increase in the percentage of enterprises that predominantly use LMS data. CLOs can only use the collection tools they have, but systems used for data collection seem to correlate to the degree of satisfaction. Using learning management system data plus data from an enterprise resource planning system, or only using LMS data results in relatively high satisfaction (Figure 2). Other research shows ERP data alone is not specific enough to appropriately evaluate learning impact. But LMS data alone is also insufficient.

Learning and Outcomes

FIGURE 1: TRAINING SATISFACTION How satisfied are you with the training measurement within your organization? 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

2011

2012

2013

Dissatisfied

2014

2016

Satisfied

Source: Human Capital Media Advisory Group, 2016

FIGURE 2: COLLECTING DATA Use of manually generated training data has decreased while LMS data has increased. Manually generated

35%

45%

19% 21%

Automated from LMS 12%

Combination of LMS and ERP

23%

3% 2%

Automated from ERP

■ 2015

■ 2016

Source: Human Capital Media Advisory Group, 2016

FIGURE 3: TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS Do you measure training impact on the following? Employee response to training 14%

76%

Increase in employee knowledge or skills 61%

28%

There continues to be a meaningful increase in the percentage of enterprises working to correlate learning to organizational change. Organizations are most frequently evaluating employee response to learning as well as their knowledge through quizzes and tests. Almost half of enterprises measure learning’s impact on customer satisfaction. However, there are still areas that need work. While it is improving, just over half of organizations evaluate learning’s effect on employee engagement, and less than 50 percent measure productivity and employee retention (Figure 3). Though learning programs aren’t always expected to affect quality or retention, the opportunity to use analytics to establish the impact learning has on a wider set of business outcomes is apparent. Effective measurement can affect the broader en-

Overall customer satisfaction

MEASUREMENT continued on page 65

Source: Human Capital Media Advisory Group, 2016

62 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

2015

66%

19%

Overall business performance 61%

21%

Product or service quality 58%

22%

Employee engagement 58%

21%

Employee productivity 46%

31%

Other organizational key performance indicators 51%

25%

Employee retention 49%

25%

Formal return on investment (ROI) for learning 22%

36%

Sales 39%

■ Yes

13%

■ Plan to in 24 months

DECISIONS continued from page 51

MIDCAREER continued from page 55

Vanguard University enjoyed similar success. Ganc recently made the decision to invest in more bite-sized learning because that’s what appeals to her learners now. “Our learners don’t have a lot of time. They need to be able learn at the point of need,” she said. “And while they want formal learning experiences, they also want to supplement it with [bite-sized learning] where they can get in, get what they need, and get out.”

Her earliest premise was that it was just as important that she pick with whom she would work as her bosses would select her. She said it was also important to describe how she wanted to work. She discussed her teams’ strengths with her prospective boss, and what changes she might want to make. That was her first playbook item. Next, it’s all about building a network early. She debunks the theory that advocates getting to know everybody in meet and greets because she said people don’t value the typical, hour-long “nice to meet you talk.” Instead, she concentrates on understanding the business and her team, then develops a piece of business to discuss with key stakeholders. She makes meaningful connections by collaborating to make decisions together as early as possible. Her secret? “Move two [stakeholders] along the path, not a group of 15.” In other words, identify the influencers early on, and go for depth not breadth. Build the mass relationships after the first 90-day impacts. This does violate many of the “rules” of onboarding, but it works for LaChapelle. When leaders are in unfamiliar situations with strangers, there are many ways to deal with things. Two stand out — derailing and regressing — and both are unconscious and disastrous. Derailing is often defined as overuse of something that once helped to garner success. Regressive behavior can be simple and harmless, or may be more dysfunctional, such as crying or using petulant arguments. When an executive feels stuck on a problem and regresses, people may not know if this is the real executive or a temporary shadow. It is crucially important during onboarding, which can be a stressful time, to maintain self-esteem practices such as meditation, exercise, deep breathing and healthy diet. A safer strategy is acting one’s way to new thinking. Transitioning into a new role in a new company can be daunting. The key is to learn and adapt as quickly as possible, increasing levels of competence until a new leader can respond as quickly as possible to challenges, incorporating feedback from everyone around them until they not only fit in but mentally feel plugged in. One of the worst things a leader can do is to not learn new things in a new job. There is, after all, a reason why people do what they do. Look around, find someone who is getting things done and is well respected. Emulate their style and even if it feels weird for a while, fake it until lessons are learned. Over time, one can think one’s way into behaving differently. CLO

Location, Location, Location With the resources, the data, the market research, and everything needed to make an informed decision, what’s left is the ‘who’: what team or person is also providing their input? The complexity of the decision-making process affects so many clients, stakeholders and employees, nothing great gets accomplished alone. Decisions are never made in a vacuum, Ganc said. It’s important to understand one’s own personal style and to surround oneself with people who counter that. Don’t hire yourself as your counterpart, Ganc said, because when people look at a situation from different perspectives, they can make a better decision. “I am the textbook futuristic, crazy-idea woman, and I’m also an activator,” she said. “So I’ll have these ideas and just want to go. [My right-hand woman] puts on the risk lens for every situation and asks probing questions on execution and implementation. [She’s] the yin to my yang.” Hiring someone complementary also comes in handy when it comes to big data. It’s one of those technologies that has so many different facets to it and so many different techniques to analyze and implement it, Spires said, that deciding what to do with the data itself requires lots of training and expertise. He found this in both the learning industry and the government. Indeed, with a similar realization in mind, Vanguard University created a formal project management office to mine the plentiful data and extrapolate trends. The PMO then provides Ganc the data in a simpler format so she can make quick, informed decisions. With so many people who have a say in the final say and so many business and economic considerations, making learning and development decisions can get messy. But as long as the CLO has one thing in mind, everything else becomes much simpler. “With every decision I make I ask, ‘Will this enhance the learners retention and their desired behavior or diminish it?’ ” Ganc said. “And as long as I have that lens on every decision I make, hopefully I’m doing what’s best in the end for our learners.” CLO Andie Burjek is a Chief Learning Officer editorial intern. To comment, email editor@CLOmedia.com. 64 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

Louise Korver is managing partner for Global Executive Development Partners. To comment, email editor@ CLOmedia.com.

MEASUREMENT continued from page 62 terprise as well as the learning organization’s bottom line. Organizations that consistently tie learning to specific changes are more likely to train. Organizations that can focus learning efforts on the most appropriate people and topics can discard less valuable training and spend less money and time on training. Despite the obvious challenges, organizations are making progress. Though 53 percent of CLOs are satisfied to some extent, nearly 45 percent use employee performance data to help evaluate learning impact — up almost 20 percent from last year. And nearly 10 percent more CLOs report learning output measures align with corporate initiatives. Measurement is a challenge, and it is something many learning leaders strive to do better. CLOs can take several steps to effectively demonstrate learning impact. Three of the most significant practices are: • Set stakeholders’ expectations. Help stakeholders understand the commitment required to see assessment projects through to the end. This will minimize resistance during the measurement phase. • Define success early. CLOs can more

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easily identify and benchmark key metrics for measurement before training is delivered, and make post-training results easier to evaluate and defend. • Establish metrics at the project or business unit level. It is most effective to demonstrate learning at an initiative or business unit level. Working with smaller groups typically creates fewer obstacles to confound the measurement process. Companies that incorporate even these simple guidelines into their assessment methodology should see a marked improvement in the success and relevance of their measurement initiatives and learning overall. Every other month, IDC surveys Chief Learning Officer magazine’s Business Intelligence Board on an array of topics to gauge the opportunities and attitudes that make up the role of a senior learning executive. For this article, more than 171 CLOs shared their thoughts on learning measurement. CLO

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IN CONCLUSION

Deliberately Developing Millennials Build and support a sense of community • BY ROBERT KEGAN AND LISA LASKOW LAHEY

Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey are the authors of “An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization.” To comment, email editor@CLOmedia.com.

e’ve all seen the grim data about millennials in the workforce. Some two-thirds hope to leave their employer by 2020 or sooner, according to The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016. Most of us have also heard the prescription: Give millennials what they really value. They want professional development in a place that accelerates their growth. They also want purpose and meaning. Millennials want to do work that makes a difference in a place that shares their values. That sounds good, but how well do most organizations fulfill this growth and purpose prescription? What forms do professional development or meaningful work tend to take? Is it more learning programs: in-person, online or app-based? Or more reminders of the charitable work the organization supports? There’s nothing inherently wrong or bad about these and other related strategies, but they can be episodic, programmatic and separate from the work. There is a more integrated, systemic way to inspire and draw forth the full engagement and emergent potential in millennials and the generations to come. Over the past four years, we’ve been researching a new breed of organization that we call the Deliberately Developmental Organization, or DDO. We looked at three companies. The first was Next Jump, an e-commerce company based in New York that cut turnover within its largely millennial workforce from the industry average of 40 percent to single digits while regularly breaking company records for revenue, profits, productivity and growth rate. The Decurion Corp., a Los Angeles-based manager of movie theaters, real estate and senior living facilities, averages the highest gross per screen in the industry. Our third research site was Bridgewater Associates, a Connecticut-based global investment firm that runs the world’s highest-performing hedge fund over the past 20 years. None of these three successful organizations is designed exclusively for millennial employees, but their day-to-day cultures connect directly with what millennials value. They infuse growth and purpose into the regular flow of work — from the C-suite to the receptionist desk — through intensive and inventive practices that are radically different from traditional organizations. Feedback flows faster, further and more honestly. Conflicts are mined for what they can reveal about the mindsets of the parties involved. Roles and goals are

66 Chief Learning Officer • June 2016 • www.CLOmedia.com

finely calibrated to maximize development. If you can do your current job perfectly, it is no longer the best job for you. And everyone is expected to not just do their job but also help make the culture and the company better with practices that support their engagement as full citizens of the organizational community. Everyone also participates in smaller communities of support, encouragement and accountability. Your colleagues know the developmental challenges you’re working on, and they help you just as you help them.

Infuse growth and purpose into the regular flow of work. Each DDO possesses its own ingenious blend of what we call Edge, Home and Groove. Edge involves how the organization regularly moves individuals, teams, business units and the organization itself out of comfort zones and onto developmental frontiers. Home encompasses the full range of human support that people experience in DDO communities as they travel beyond their growing edge. And Groove reflects the growing storehouse of tools and practices that everyone in the organization can regularly access to overcome personal weaknesses and blind spots. We heard in all three companies: “I come to work each day knowing exactly what I am working on — myself.” “Feast on your weaknesses,” a leader at Decurion said, “or starve on your ego.” “Pain + Reflection = Progress,” is the Bridgewater formula. At Next Jump, it is, “Better Me + Better You = Better Us.” Lest these organizations sound more like human potential centers than real businesses, keep in mind their simultaneous success across conventional business metrics. We feel privileged to have studied these pioneering companies inside out, and we’re convinced the DDO idea represents a hopeful direction to meet the 21st century growth and purpose challenge: Organizations and all of their members supporting each other and flourishing every day in an integrated, systemic and always-evolving way. We believe “an everyone culture” will prove to be highly attractive and deeply satisfying for millennials and others, too. CLO

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