Learning in Practice Awards 2016
For learning executives who have marshaled resources and applied innovative practices, processes
and/or technologies in a new and groundbreaking way to address a significant business or organizational opportunity.
DIVISION 1
Steve Garguilo, Senior Manager, Creative Engagement, Johnson & Johnson
Sometimes all it takes to spark transformational innovation is a single person’s idea. The problem is most global companies’ size makes it difficult for these ideas to be heard, shared and implemented. Health care giant Johnson & Johnson was all too familiar with this problem, which is why its senior manager of creative engagement, Steve Garguilo, set out to create a grassroots platform for the company’s 128,000 employees to make their voices heard and have their ideas spread across the company.
TED is a nonprofit whose mission is to share great ideas with the world. Its popular TED Talks, in which influential figures give thought-provoking short presentations, have transformed the way people think of public speaking and spreading important ideas. Garguilo established a global program for J&J to share its employees’ ideas in the spirit and style of TED.
Through TEDxJNJ, Garguilo spearheaded creation of a platform where J&J’s global employees can prepare and give TED-style talks that are heard live and then repurposed on an internal online network for the entire company to consume on demand. Since its implementation, TEDxJNJ programming has been hosted in more than 40 countries and has grown a robust library of learning content. Not only has the program found success in its consistently high net promoter scores, it has engaged employees to new and exciting levels by having them prepare talks of their own to share with the entire company.
—Frank Kalman
James Woolsey, President, Defense Acquisition University
Defense Acquisition University, the government institution responsible for training more than 156,000 members of the defined and managed Department of Defense acquisition workforce, needed to develop a new learning program for its mission-critical contractual services. James Woolsey, president of DAU, created and implemented a series of experiential learning workshops called Service Acquisition Workshops. The workshops have vastly improved employees’ learning experience and saved taxpayer dollars by making learning more cost-efficient.
In the past year, DAU conducted 66 workshops and trained more than 1,100 personnel at 30 different locations globally using a learning experience aligned with each learner’s on-the-job needs. The U.S. Army, impressed by the value of the workshops, has since made them mandatory for all service acquisitions of $250 million or more.
—Frank Kalman
Debora Bubb, Vice President, Director of Global Leadership and Learning, Intel
Debora Bubb, vice president, director of global leadership and learning at Intel Corp., was able to reignite the company’s leadership development strategy after a prolonged underinvestment in the practice. The firm’s LEAD program, a collaborative effort with the NeuroLeadership Institute, has bolstered its minority leadership and changed its development culture.
—Frank Kalman
Thomas Brady, Director, U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity
Lead by Director Tom Brady, the Department of Defense Education Activity used a series of workshops and webinars to create a common vision, language and a set of tools to collaboratively implement organizational changes designed to improve educational outcomes for military dependents.
—Frank Kalman
Chris Bartlett, Director of Learning Resources, FMC Technologies
Faced with budget cuts, an industry downturn and changing norms around corporate learning, Chris Bartlett, director of learning resources at FMC Technologies, streamlined the way content is delivered at energy equipment company FMC Technologies through a just-in-time portal known internally as The WELL.
—Frank Kalman
DIVISION 2
Betsey Frank, Director, Staff Development and Technology Training, Sidley Austin LLP
Like many law firms, Sidley Austin LLP needed to educate its incoming non-legal talent — from areas like HR, IT, finance and administration — on the nuances of working in the industry as well as educate them on the firm’s specific operations.
In 2016, Betsey Frank, Sidley’s director of staff development and technology training, launched Learning About Law Firms, an interactive e-learning onboarding program that trains incoming non-legal talent on the legal industry as well as Sidley’s organizational structure, business model and culture. The format and structure of the 40-minute program, which the firm said is unique in the industry, accommodates various learning styles by integrating visual, audio and interactive elements like knowledge checks that require the learner to reinforce key concepts.
The program launched firmwide in January in its U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific regions, and so far roughly 31 percent of the firm’s 4,000 employees have participated. That number is expected to grow. But the program has had so much success in the firm’s European offices it is now being used to onboard new lawyers as well.
“I have worked at other law firms, and I have not seen a program developed like this with such high-quality content and presentation,” said Shawn Derfer, the firm’s director of administration on the West Coast, in Sidley’s LIP application.
—Frank Kalman
Joe Ilvento, Chief Learning Officer, Commvault
Data protection and information management software firm Commvault wanted to integrate a modern performance management approach into its exiting talent management suite. But like many systems, the functionality on the performance management software was too “old school;” it didn’t mesh with the more informal, qualitative approach the Tinton Falls, New Jersey-based company was looking to implement.
Complicating the effort, Commvault’s software vendor was unable to provide the company with the software functionality it was looking for. So, the company developed its own solution: a two-dimensional, six-question snapshot that takes managers no more than five minutes to complete, along with the required learning to make the transition.
Led by Commvault Chief Learning Officer Joe Ilvento, the company eventually rolled out its “Unlocking Potential Process” and “Talent Snap,” two performance management tools that have helped bolster the firm’s workforce development efforts and helped it to better plan for leadership succession.
—Frank Kalman
Gieta Veersma, Chief Human Resources Officer, Sanoma
To become a more digitally oriented media company, Sanoma Corp. needed learning to aid its transformation. Chief Human Resources Officer Gieta Veersma led development on a four-part program to help the Helsinki, Finland-based company fill capability gaps and offer critical knowledge to its 6,500 employees.
By using a blended approach of workshops, one-on-one sessions, themed lunches and presentations, and an online learning platform with curated and in-house content, Sanoma was able to kick-start a culture change and get through its digital transformation. The program helped change the way employees collaborate across departments and encouraged them to work in a more agile style. Employee engagement survey results have improved since the program implementation took place.
—Frank Kalman
Harlina Sodhi, Head Culture and Capability, IDFC Bank
When it opened in 2015, IDFC Bank positioned itself as an unconventional “un-bank” to serve households in rural India where few financial institutions exist. Leadership retreats, interventions, a newly created Culture & Capability team and discussions with industry experts allowed IDFC to identify learning competencies that would work for them.
—Alice Keefe
