Five Ideas for Learning Initiatives in the New Year

What better way to kick off the new year than by taking a big bite out of a big initiative? I checked with a number of CLOs and executives to learn where they will focus in the new year.

1. At General Mills, Kevin Wilde has been vice president of organization effectiveness and chief learning officer for years. He says he is most excited to build on the company’s foundation of talent development in the U.S. and extend it globally. “Also, it’s interesting to watch our social collaboration site evolve,” he said. “It is a real connection point for people and ideas. We are finding learning occurs more naturally in the flow of work and during social interaction.”

2. Texas Health Resources is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the U.S. with 24 hospitals. Its CLO, Jim Dunn, is driving initiatives based on the business’s 10-year strategic focus. This includes development of leaders who demonstrate behaviors required to propel the organization to the next level. “We know every customer interaction is an opportunity to advance our efforts to humanize health care,” he said. “The same is true of the behavior of our leaders. Their actions can either advance or impede strategic outcomes.”
The organization identified six critical leadership behaviors. They are included in a leadership continuity growth program that cascades from officers to front-line managers. What makes a difference for the learning team, Dunn said, is they have the backing of the executive team and board trustees.

3. John A. Christman, senior vice president and chief learning officer for Genworth Financial, said his company’s corporate business strategy “is to have our people understand our products, our distribution partners and our customers better than anyone else in the industry. To meet that challenge, my primary focus is to establish powerful analytical capabilities in our people.”

The necessary skills include advanced financial modeling and mastery of Genworth’s enterprise risk management tools. “These new analytical skills and toolsets will be used by our professionals to track and improve our policy portfolios, our distribution/sales partners’ performance, and the financial performance of each product line,” he said.