Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
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learningleaders bers in executing the organization's busi- ness plan. As the company's solutions grow more complex and the structure of the company becomes more matrixed, these leader responsibilities are com- pounded. To address these challenges, a compre- hensive leadership development and man- agement strategy was identified as an essential component of CA Technologies' transformation and continued success. The education team met with stakeholders across the organization to design a new, synergistic Management Academy curricu- lum that would address the unique needs of the company's management culture. A modular set of more than 100 formal and informal learning offerings was creat- ed to build excitement with managers about the topic of leadership develop- ment, allow them to choose the leadership development tools that would help them most, help them draw inferences between their own performance as a leader and company success, and help them discover that true leadership development really is a life-long process. Management Academy offerings are integrated with the others and aligned with the company's business goals. The curriculum is built upon a blend of learn- ing opportunities and advances managers' skills aligned with CA's leader behavior expectations (communication, collabora- tion, coaching, empowerment, motivation, results orientation, change management, building a culture of accountability, remote management, and matrix management). Because of the Management Academy, employee opinion survey scores increased an average of 6.7 percent across the entire employee population globally; the per- formance management compliance rate improved an average of 7 percent; the internal manager promotion rate increased an average of 33 percent enterprise-wide; and the voluntary attrition rate decreased an average of 5 percent. CISCO SYSTEMS Operational Training and Development Initiative Excellence Cisco Systems designs and sells network- ing, voice, and communications technolo- gy and services as well as consumer elec- 34 January / February 2012 Elearning! tronics products. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees worldwide. Onboarding hundreds of new sales rep- resentatives is a challenging task. These associates need to come up to speed on a myriad of Cisco products, solutions and methodologies — all in a short time frame. In 2010, Cisco leadership decided to redesign its Cisco sales associates program, which hires and trains sales and engineer- ing associates. After identifying the needs of stakehold- ers, executives, and learners, Cisco came up with a strategy on how best to alter the sales training program. It changed to a year-long curriculum; utilized virtual delivery, rather than instructor-led class- room sessions; and blended formal train- ing with on the job experience. To reduce general training-related expenses, the learning team decided to use Cisco's collaboration technology to deliver the training virtually, replacing in-class- room training. The virtual training is con- ducted through Cisco's Telepresence class- room environment and WebEx Web con- ferencing for video and desktop sharing. These technologies together enable a high quality, interactive learning experience that can scale globally, while still ensuring a local, customized approach. After three full months of training, asso- ciates move into their business units to gain hands-on sales experience. At the end of 12 months, associates have a solid foun- dation of technical, sales and business experience. The program operates in 13 cities around the world. To manage it, Cisco has an operations team in both North America and Beijing. To meet the needs of new hires in multiple countries with multiple languages, Cisco uses a "think global, act local" approach. The virtual sessions are taught in English, with ongoing develop- ment conducted by managers in their local languages. Training expenses have been reduced by 25 percent versus the previous instructor- led format; associates are 10 percent more efficient upon moving into the field, which translates to $111 million in increased bookings for the year; and by having asso- ciates work on-the-job during their 12- month training cycle, bookings increased by an additional $85 million for the year. GRANT THORNTON Leadership Development Strategy Excellence Grant Thornton LLP is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, a global accounting, tax and business advisory organization. With more than 30,000 employees globally, including 5,400 in the United States, Grant Thornton serves public and private clients in more than 100 countries. They have developed a leadership devel- opment strategy called LEADS, designed to develop leaders who Live Grant Thornton's global vision and values; excel in client service and technical expertise; actively deliver the Grant Thornton expe- rience for employees and clients; develop Grant Thornton's people; and support con- tinuous leadership development. To help leaders execute each element of LEADS, the company developed criteria to guide the development of every lead- ership solution. Solutions must align with the firm's five strategic business drivers: align with critical competencies; cover the breadth of all leader learners; engage senior executives; teach useful skills; provide experiential learning; showcase the firm's values; provide fun; and achieve results. Participants in a new Manager Development Program rated their overall satisfaction at 6.1 out of 7, while partiipants in the Senior Manager Development Program and the Partner Excellence Series rated their overall satisfaction as 6.4 out of 7. Participants in the Advanced Manager Program reported increased coordina- tion and collaboration in various global offices that have brought in millions of dollars in revenue. Participants in the Senior Manager Development Program said that more than $17 million in new revenue over the past 18 months can be attributed to the effective implementa- tion of the firm's leadership develop- ment strategy. "We applaud Grant Thornton's achieve- ment for defining and implementing a leadership development strategy that is fully aligned with the defining attributes of a high-impact strategy," says Stacia Garr, senior analyst, talent management, at Bersin & Associates.