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The Industry Learns How To Educate Employees
Better
Just-in-time learning is but one of many strategies
being used by aerospace and aviation companies to keep employees
moving forward. It is part of the new "employee contract"—an agreement
in which employees are responsible for their own careers, and companies
are responsible for providing challenging work and the chance to
grow. Consequently, many companies are forming partnerships with
colleges to establish high-tech online learning courses that employees
can tailor to individual and immediate needs.
Leadership continues to be one of the employee
skills companies are striving to develop. The Boeing Co. has established
a leadership center in St. Louis and had several thousand managers
take courses there in 2000. Boeing, like many other aerospace employers,
has found that the primary reason an employee stays with a company
is because he or she has a strong, talented boss.
"Salary may be important, but 86% of the time
a person leaves because of bad leadership and management," said
Jim Dagnon, Boeing's vice president of people. "We want to bring
together the melting pot of different company cultures and people
that exist across this company. And we needed to develop a common
framework [for Boeing people]. The results are telling—people who
have taken this course respond higher to our employee satisfaction
index than do those who have not."
In addition to the leadership center and skills
training, Boeing is pouring $85 million per year into continuing
education at colleges and universities. Money is available to an
employee to take any college course. "If you earn a degree, you
get 50-100 shares of stock," added Dagnon.
Raytheon reorganized its learning model in 2000
into five learning institutes—learning, leadership, six sigma, engineering
and enterprise excellence. The learning institute links learning
to the company's strategic business plan. The engineering institute
allows people to build their skills with software languages, tools,
systems, test and emerging technologies. The institutes are coupled
with more than 300 Web-based classes offered to employees.
At Bell Helicopter Textron, employees have been
offered personal computers to use at home. Bell also is enrolling
managers in a leadership development course that was developed in
conjunction with nearby Texas Christian University.
"We wanted to provide the means for employees
to continuously acquire new skills and knowledge," explained P.D.
Shabay, Bell's executive vice president of administration and human
resources. "We will be offering more courses over the Internet and
Bell's intranet," he added.
The Nordam Group formed Nordam University in
2000. "We identified a set of leadership skills needed for this
company," explained Laura Lundquist, director of human resources.
"We then pulled together programs that link with those skills."
Nordam also offers on-the-job training for technical skills and
online learning.
Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems
Sector is offering an internal mini-MBA program to employees. In
addition, it offers "experiential learning," which includes visits
to Civil War battlefields and use of Shakespearean works in its
leadership development program.
Rockwell Collins revamped its education and
learning strategy in 2000.
"Before last year, we offered every kind of learning
in a classroom setting," explained Cliff Purington, manager of learning/development.
"The downside to that approach is that it was only offered here
in Cedar Rapids, yet about 40% of our employee population is outside
of Cedar Rapids. People had to register for a class and then travel
to Cedar Rapids. If a business priority came up, then they had to
start the whole process over again. It just wasn't a system that
supported the geographical distribution of our workforce."
Today, the company offers alternative learning
that is available 24/7 worldwide. "We have 350 courses online and
are in the process of adding another 100," said Purington.
He added that the emphasis is on providing people
with knowledge when they need it to meet business requirements.
That objective led Rockwell Collins to define the metrics of successful
education as that which offers global reach as close to the work
environment as possible, within the workplace if possible and tied
to business goals and high-quality programming.
Rockwell Collins is operating its new programs
at 34% lower cost, not including the technology investment.
University for People is Southwest Airlines'
answer to its training and education needs. "We focus on first-
to mid-level manager positions," said Rita Bailey, who leads the
university. "One of our new programs is an intensive leadership
development program for ground-level leaders that is designed to
meet the specific needs of a department, including managerial and
technical skills they need every day."
Southwest also offers workshops on self-assessment
so employees can determine what their talents and directions are.
"We are finding that most employees decide they are with the right
company; they just want to expand their current role and enjoy it
more."
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