Elearning! August - September

2013

Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.

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Shaw Industries: Re-inventing Performance Management Not too long ago, the performance management process at Shaw Industries had some age on it and was becoming too mechanical, with not enough service and development components. All that changed about 18 months ago with the launch of what is called the "AIM" (Accelerate, Inspire, Motivate) performance management process, which has resulted in glowing reviews from many of Shaw's current 23,000 associates. "Every company grapples with this," notes Danny Crutchfeld, director of Corporate Training and Organizational Development. "We've done performance reviews for a long time, but we conducted some focus groups and found that our associates felt like the process needed some work and new life to make it more meaningful. "Te impetus kind of bubbled up from a lot of places. Te Shaw Learning Academy and our HR partners proved that this is an area of opportunity. It started with our CEO's new mission/value/vision and focus on greatness — of each associate knowing what greatness looks like in his or her role, whatever it may be." Shaw took on a mantra that would refect its new corporate mission: "Great People. Great Products. Great Service. Always." Te sheer grandiosity of that mission provided some difcult challenges to the Shaw Learning Academy (SLA), which coordinates eforts to enhance associates' skill levels and personal development with a broad offering of sales, operations, ethics, technology and leadership development courses. Crutchfeld, Brian Cooksey (who is director of Operations Training and Development) and others began to redesign the company's performance appraisal process, in order to develop a fexible system that can adapt to a diversity of roles and job responsibilities while also providing for evaluation of a core set of "greatness" competencies. "SLA had gone through strategic planning with executive leadership to tweak organizational mission and values," says Cooksey. "As part of that, we wanted to reevaluate the performance management system to align with our organizational mission and values. We wanted to do a better job of communicating the importance of all the diferent roles that play into the performance management process, using online tools and online support resources to tie together all the various systems within the company." Since AIM's launch last October, there has been a 21 percent improvement in the "on-time" completion percentage of performance reviews as well as more clearly defned goals and objectives. E-learning content has also been connected to this process, which has meant improved utilization of content that is specifcally mapped to the competencies. New dashboard/analytic tools were also implemented. Shaw also recently launched a supervisor leadership academy across its entire organization at diferent skill levels. Te courses emphasize building and inspiring trust and having better interpersonal relationships. It's a multifaceted approach that started with strategic planning but now brings many assets, tools and resources together. "We're trying to change the whole culture," says Crutchfeld. "We're on a four- to fve-year schedule to change the way we get feedback and communicate with our associates — particularly that manager-associate relationship." Tis frst year centers around the program's mechanics, which had been very traditional. But now the changes are being directed at corporate culture — not just at mechanics and deadlines. Completion rates are improving, and associates are making deadlines. "But what's really improving," Crutchfeld notes, "are the conversations around real issues, real opportunities and real feedback — when it's needed, not just once a year." Te sheer number of reviews has escalated. "It's not just about getting them done," Cooksey observes, "but getting them done right throughout the year. Tis past month, we're continuing to hold webinars and classroom sessions where we've engaged our business leaders to talk to managers and associates about what the competencies mean and how they're important to our business. But we've still got a lot to do. We'll continue to roll this model out to other levels of associates. The SLA Team lead by Danny Crutchfeld. "Tis is just another example of why it's important that a learning organization be aligned with business leaders and business groups and to have a seat at the table," Cooksey adds. "We've connected with them, ensured that we understand the goals and challenges, and we are making sure the learning solutions align with them. We've got that trust, and we all realize that we're on the same team." Shaw Industries is a three-time Learning! 100 winner. AREA OF PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE Elearning! August / September 2013 23

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