Developing Human Capital: Using Analytics to Plan and Optimize Your Learning and Development Investments

CaseStudyAchieving Business Impact at a Major Utility Company

CHALLENGE AND LEARNING INVESTMENT

A multinational electricity and gas company has the goal of being the foremost international electricity and gas company by being an innovative leader in energy management. In order to live up to the vision and meet the organization’s ambitious goals, this electricity and gas company recognized the need to engage leaders at all levels to help drive change throughout the organization. The cornerstone of this effort is a three-tier leadership development strategy for senior, middle, and first-level leaders.

In 2009, they launched a leadership development program to their largest audience of leaders—the nearly 3,000 first-level leaders who were charged with driving change from the front line. The program had the overall goal of developing capable and effective leaders who could impact business results. The program’s six-unit curriculum was delivered over 12 to 15 months, with two to 10 weeks back on the job between each unit.

To further support the learning, the program had a component for managers of the leaders attending the training that included a one-day Manager’s Support Workshop. The workshop informed managers about the leadership development program and provided them with best practices for supporting their leaders back on the job.

The leadership development program had the following key learning objectives:

1. Reinforce leadership qualities that were identified through the organization’s ...