Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
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learningleaders succession planning crisis. More than 16 percent of all I.R.S. leaders and 65 percent of senior executives are eligible to retire. As a result, the I.R.S.'s Human Capital Office is charged with training more than 1,000 new managers annually in a timely and consistent manner to ensure continu- ity of high quality leadership. In 2009, under the direction of a senior executive team, four key competencies emerged with 13 supporting behaviors. I.R.S. leadership courses at all levels were aligned with a focus on the key competencies, which will be foundational in the selection, devel- opment and evaluation of managers. Leadership readiness programs are a critical link to transforming today's talent into tomorrow's leaders. The Front Line Manager Programs ensures that new managers receive training within their first year with guidance provided by sen- ior managers and peer coaches through active involvement in the development process. Senior Leader Programs are highly interactive with an intensive focus on the senior level competencies. The Executive Curriculum consists of 17 weeks of formal training and develop- mental assignments that prepare leaders for the career executive corps. All formal leadership programs also include the use of coaches and mentors. The firm's Leadership Succession Review identifies organizational bench strength as well encouraging and facilitating open and frank development and career discussions. One reason for this success is the impres- sive level of executive engagement for leadership development at the I.R.S. Today, the approximate time for an employee to move from technical trainee to executive readiness is 18 years. The new leadership strategy significantly shortens the leadership development process so that a potential leader could progress to execu- tive readiness in half the time. JIFFY LUBE Learning Organization and Governance Excellence Jiffy Lube is in the quick lubrication / pre- ventative maintenance business. The serv- ices are provided by 185 franchisees, which operate nearly 2,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada with about 20,000 active employees. The employees work in three-, 36 January / February 2012 Elearning! four-, or five-person teams to service vehi- cles during an oil change or other mainte- nance services. Jiffy Lube meets the needs of the busi- ness and employee learners through the utilization of three governance structures: 1 2 3 a centralized training department, the Jiffy Lube University; a matrix reporting structure where learning district managers report in centrally; and a cooperative structure where fran- chisee trainers come together for best practices and resources but do not report to the centralized function. Learning solutions are run centrally through Jiffy Lube University, which pro- vides technical, customer service and management training to the employees. More than 100,000 certifications were earned in 2010. The training department has two stake- holders, Jiffy Lube International (J.L.I.) and the Jiffy Lube Association of Franchisees (J.L.A.F.). The manager of learning and development works with both groups to identify how Jiffy Lube University can meet each of their business needs. About 95 percent of the learning hap- pens at the store, using a four-step process to assure that the learning is transferred to the employee's on-the-job performance. The end result is consisten- cy and accuracy in the services provided to the customers. E-learning modules employees take at computers in the stores teach knowledge and skills. Each module ends with a mas- tery test to verify knowledge of the proce- dures. The elearning is readily available to help refresh knowledge if an employee needs additional help. On-the job coaching is conducted by store managers following daily training and observation guides created for each service. A proficiency exam is given to assure that the employee has mastered both the knowledge and skills of the position. The return on investment of the training over the last seven years is 275 percent. The return on investment for e-learning alone is 570 percent. "This demonstrated extraordinary exe- cution of the hybrid model of governance," says Brenda Kowske, Senior Analyst at Bersin & Associates. MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL Informal Learning Initiative Excellence Marriott International is a worldwide operator and franchisor of hotels and other lodging facilities. The company has 18 brands inclusive of more than 3,500 hotels and time-share resorts situated in more than 70 countries and territories. It employs nearly 150,000 people. Marriott had to move 130,000 associates worldwide to Windows 7/Office 2010 to ensure continuous interactions with business partners and to minimize security vulnerabili- ties of the business and of guests. The initiative also was expected to increase productivity. Marriott's impact analysis indicated that a required formal training curriculum would be more disruptive than simply pro- viding resources and encouraging each team to develop its own requirements. The learning team designed a widget that pro- vides associates with a graphical, intuitive interface for navigating 72 resource collec- tions. The content addressed all learners in a manner that best suited them — whether in print, in electronic form, from a live person or on-demand reference materials. A three-pronged approach was used to ensure learning was aligned with the busi- ness needs of the company. First, the learn- ing team submitted a formal proposal to a large project team based on the initial analy- sis of the business problem. The proposal became the basis of subsequent technology design and development of the application. Next, the learning team settled on an over- all learning strategy, defined deliverables and worked collaboratively with distributed learning functions to leverage their expertise on audience, content, and design. Finally, the learning team engaged in piloting to validate its approach, refine models and mitigate risk. The initiative involved translating into 50 languages. Learning components have been under budget throughout the initiative, and $50,000 was saved through repurposing existing e-learning resources. The learning team was able to meet all timelines and the project team, sponsor, key stakeholders, and user community all have provided high favorable feedback as to the rele- vance, appearance, and cost-effectiveness of the resources.