 |
|
|
 |
Lessons From Industry: Training for Change By Tim Porter “In order to grow, you have to train – or you get trapped in the present.” – John Bachman, managing partner, Edward Jones, No. 1 on Fortune’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune, Jan. 20, 2003 Given a choice between the past, the present and the future, most newspaper companies would opt for the past, when newspapers were a daily read in most households and profits flowed like ink. But that era is gone. The future threatens to become even more challenging financially and journalistically than it is now. Other companies in other industries face similar challenges. Those that adapt and thrive are prepared for change. They train their managers. They train their staffs. They learn as institutions. The newspaper industry spends only 0.7 percent of payroll on employee training – about one third a national standard of 2.2 percent, or about 28 hours of training annually per employee. Only one newspaper company – the New York Times – made Fortune’s 2003 list of 100 Best Places to Work, and it was No. 93, 46 places behind Starbucks. The coffee company pays its baristas as much (or as little) as some smaller newspapers pay their newest reporters, but also offers them 40 hours of annual training (not to mention a free pound of coffee a week). What lessons do Starbucks and other companies that invest heavily in their employees have for newspaper companies? Dr. Laurie Bassi, CEO and Managing Partner of McBassi & Company, whose Maryland research and investment company tracks financial performance of companies that do significant amounts of training, says the answer is intrinsically linked to a company’s willingness to change with the times. “It is impossible to change without learning something new,” Bassi said. “An organization cannot change without learning something new, nor can the individuals within it change without learning something new. “Investment in employee development is the prerequisite for change, which is essential for firms being able to adapt and survive in this highly volatile set of circumstances in which they find themselves. I think it’s a perfect application for the newspaper industry because it obviously is going through enormous change (and) must change rapidly if it’s going to survive.” A study by consultants Roberts, Nathanson & Wolfson of 5,200 organizations found that “world-class development practices targeted at ‘rank and file’ individuals throughout the organization make a significant impact on business results,” among them retention (up 57 percent) and productivity (up 19 percent). The study showed how staff development activities paid off for the top 16 percent of organizations doing the most training. (See table.)
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which devotes the equivalent of 14 percent of its payroll to training, provides a concrete example of Roberts, Nathanson & Wolfson’s findings. In 2002, Pfizer noticed turnover increasing among its sales force, a huge negative in an industry in which revenue is driven by the strength of the relationship between the sales representative and the medical professional. In response, the company taught managers to identify at-risk sales people and develop with them a working relationship focused on active, ongoing listening, coaching and counseling. The result? After one year and $150,000 in costs, turnover decreased by 2 percentage points, saving the company $2.4 million in replacement training costs alone. “When calculations were complete, Pfizer estimated a total return of $3.6 million in cost avoidance and increased productivity,” Training magazine reported. Jerry Godbehere, Pfizer vice president for Global Learning and Development, says two key components must be in place for training to pay off:
Having managers responsible and accountable for employee development is critical to sustaining new ideas and new skills, said Godbehere. “A lot of it gets back to the engagement of the manager in what has been learned and the application of it,” he said. “It speaks to a culture of learning, creating that environment of people realizing that they don’t know it all and a willingness to learn new things.” Indeed, across industries, the high levels of performance found in the Roberts, Nathanson & Wolfson study usually are associated with organizations that have “constructive” cultures, which the Readership Institute has shown are rarely found in newspapers. “Culture” embodies a set of principles that govern corporate and individual actions, principles that determine how well a company and its employees communicate, collaborate, innovate and adapt in challenging environments. “Constructive” cultures embrace change; “defensive” cultures avoid it. “What are our core beliefs?” says Godbehere, talking about how Pfizer considers its training needs. “How do want people to behave? Any company, regardless of size, if they focus on their foundational reasons for being and spend some time training on that, I believe there’s value in that.” Training specialists use terms like “knowledge business” and “human capital” when talking about investing in employees. This language seems too manufactured, too steeped in corporate-speak to find easy acceptance in most newsrooms, where a plain-spoken news-factory patois is preferred by many journalists who prefer to see themselves as technology-enabled Hildy Johnsons rather than as “assets” whose value to the newspaper is directly related to their skills. Why is a newspaper in the “knowledge business”? Because it sells information to people who need it in order to make good decisions about their lives and about the society in which they live. A newspaper’s “human capital” are all the people who make that happen. Increasingly, that human capital is all that separates newspapers from that unruly and growing horde of pundits, shouters, spinners and bloggers who are clamoring for the attention of the public. Developing that capital – and keeping it from walking out the door – is critical for newspapers and other companies in the knowledge business. Nearly seven in 10 global business leaders believe “that retaining talent is far more important than acquiring new blood,” the consultant group Accenture found in a study of 200 senior executives. "People have become the key competitive differentiator in today's knowledge-based economy.” In other words, a newspaper’s success – how well it adapts to the unique needs of its own community and separates its journalism from the glut of media noise – depends on the skills, productivity and attitude of its workforce. “The reason that human capital is so important now in the knowledge era, as we’ve moved out of the industrial era, is that it is really the only sustainable source of competitive advantage,” said Bassi of McBassi & Company. “Machinery, technology is all very global, as is financial capital, and so it can be easily replicated. Human capital is the only thing that cannot be easily replicated and, hence, a source of long-run competitive advantage.” Other organizations – law firms, for example – whose success depends on the knowledge and skill of professional practitioners invest heavily in the ongoing education and development of those professionals. Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, a Boston-based law firm with 300 attorneys, teaches its legal staff everything from accounting, communication and management skills to how to take a deposition, how to delegate and how to draft a clearer contract – almost all of it in-house with senior associates and partners leading the instruction. “Why is the firm successful?” asked Elaine Ohlson, the firm’s director of professional development. “Is it because they practice law like every other firm in the United States or in the world? No, they must have some sort of edge. So, how are you going to pass on that edge if you don’t somehow let the people who’ve developed it, or developed that expertise, share what that uniqueness is with the people you’re trying to bring along in their careers?” The firm is a prime destination for ambitious first-year associates fresh out of the nation’s best law schools who see it as a launching pad for their careers. Isn’t the firm concerned that investing in those young lawyers is a waste of money? “No,” said Ohlson, “we don’t worry about that. What are we going to do? Keep them stupid so they’ll stay. … It’s part of the way we do business.” When knowledge is applied it becomes a skill that can be deployed to build a better product, whether that product is a legal service, a daily newspaper or a construction project. TD Industries, a Dallas construction and engineering firm that is a perennial selection for the Fortune “Best Places to Work” list, practices a management philosophy called “servant leadership.” Its central tenet is that as employees “grow stronger, wiser, (and) more autonomous … the stronger the performance is going to be,” said Jessie McCain, managing director of human resources for the company. “What this is all about is answering the question: Do people grow?” said McCain. “The primary responsibility of a leader at TD Industries is to ensure those (people) that person is leading grow. Not only in job responsibilities, but in judgment, in character, just grow.” At TD Industries, each employee is expected to complete 32 hours of training a year, managers are evaluated by how well their staffs meet learning goals and the company pays 100% of tuition, books and fees for continuing employee education. “Just about anything that is remotely related to their job or helping them qualify for a job in the future to which they might aspire,” said McCain. “For example, it would not be unheard of for a plumber to decide that he wanted to get a degree in mechanical engineering. We would support that.” In the end, the question newspapers and other companies face is this: Why invest in your employees? Why spend the money? Our answer must begin with “so that”:
McCain’s answer is even simpler. “It depends on why you’re in business,” she said. “If you can do your job and run your company with monkeys, go ahead. We can’t.” |
||||||||
| About Us | Advisors | Partners | Resources | Projects Mission | Contact Us | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy |
