Chief Learning Officer - March 2008 - (Page 53)

case study As engineering and construction firm Henkles & McCoy grows its business, the organization has been challenged by demands around project management proficiencies. The company has turned to its learning function to support its continued expansion. How do you succeed in business? It’s a good question — one that has plagued business executives, MBA students and even reality-television contestants for years. But there’s another question that seems to get far less press in the business world today, and its answer has proven to be equally as elusive: How do you continue to succeed in business once you’ve already succeeded? The problem of maintaining success — which many of us would consider a good problem to have — was exactly what Henkels & McCoy faced several years ago. Henkels & McCoy, which boasts 4,600 employees in 80 permanent offices throughout its organization, is one of the largest privately held engineering, network development and construction firms serving the communications, information technology and utility industries in the United States. Upon winning significant utility infrastructure contracts ranging from the building of transmission lines to inside wiring for the Pentagon — one of the world’s largest office buildings — and Citizens Bank Park — home of the Philadelphia Phillies — Henkels & McCoy has established itself as one of the country’s premier specialty contractors. However, as the company began executing these large-scale, large-budget projects, and as they continued to set their sights on winning many more, senior executives began identifying subtle weaknesses regarding the standardization of project management methodologies throughout the organization. Essentially, the heads of this well-performing company understood that to continue their success and to take it to the next level, changes needed to be made. “Our industry has become increasingly more sophisticated over the years as people look for enhanced productivity and safety,” said Kathy Mills, director of human resources. “The complex projects we were winning required that our staff keep pace with industry knowledge.” Improving Project Management Practices Through Training The company realized there was a need for project management training among its team members. The leaders determined that the benefits to improved project management practices would be numerous, including increased efficiency internally and seamless communication with the company’s many large general contracting partners. The company eventually partnered with ESI International in early 2003. From the beginning of this project management initiative, Henkels & McCoy’s executives were committed to providing training to staff members across a variety of internal levels, ranging from project team members to senior executives. Executive involvement, including participation from the CEO/president, COO and CFO, helped staff members understand that creating a project management culture was a Stephen J. Stilwell is director of online services product management for ESI International and has more than 20 years of varied experience in the training industry, including instructional design, management and sales support. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. 53 March 2008 I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer http://www.clomedia.com

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Chief Learning Officer - March 2008 Editor's Letter Table of Contents Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Strategies Take Five Learning Solutions The Treasury Board of Saskatchewan: Training the Trainers With Experiential Learning Clo Profile Environment Xerox: Creating a Learning Masterpiece Tactics Capturing the Knowledge of the Workforce Productivity Succession Planning Tips from the U.S. GAO Human Capital Influencing Competency Management Case Study Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - March 2008

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