Chief Learning Officer - July 2008 - (Page 29)

nity there is for creativity to happen. And it’s almost like practice for when they go back into the business.” Certainly, straightforward development experiences such as e-learning and instructor-led training still have their places, even at an idea factory such as Leo Burnett. Yet, these delivery models are mostly limited to basic concepts and on-boarding programs. Most key learning encounters at the company take place in the form of elaborate, transformational events. “That gets them out of their normal, day-today routine, which is hard to do because we’re a service business, and they’re constantly taking care of clients,” Tritt said. “But we feel like we need to take them out of that experience. We want to cut them free from the business during those times so they can really focus on their growth.” Some highlights of this strategy include Digital Day, when the entire agency shuts down for an entire business day to attend keynotes and workshops on digital media, and Tank, a weeklong immersion program in which people from Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide come together to learn how the agency works and give presentations about projects they’ve been working on. The aim of these events is not only to make sure employees have critical skills and knowledge, but to enhance connectedness within the company and get all of them behind the organization’s strategy. Tritt and his team also offer pre- and post-event exercises to build enthusiasm, prepare participants and reinforce concepts. “When you’re going to shut down the business for a day, it takes a lot of planning to get the maximum value,” he said. “For Digital Day, we had precampaigns, sent letters from the president on what the day was about and allowed people to participate in the creation of their own customized agenda.” A more regularly occurring example of this kind of interactive and experiential learning is Artists in Residence, a program that brings musicians, actors, entertainers, designers and other cultural ﬁgures into Leo Burnett’s ofﬁces to talk to a group of employees about their creative processes and trends they see in the marketplace. Then, these artists often will give a performance or demonstration of some kind that the whole agency is invited to attend. (During the interview with Tritt, this reporter actually attended a concert given by an indie rock band at Leo Burnett’s downtown Chicago headquarters.) This might seem like a drastic departure from the traditional view of how corporate learning should work. But seen in the context of Tritt’s unique learning philosophy, it ﬁts perfectly. “We need to spark that curiosity in our people,” he said. “If we aren’t setting the tone about new concepts and ideas, it’s hard for us to expect our folks to go out and model that behavior with our clients.” CLO webinar Tuesday, July 15, 2008 NEW TIME 9AM PT/12PM ET Optimize Your Investments: Ensure the Life of Your Enterprise System After Go-Live In recent years, more companies have come to realize that a critical piece of their ERP implementations is missing. After the rush of enthusiasm surrounding an implementation or upgrade has passed, organizations often face difficult challenges in building and maintaining the needed infrastructure to sustain a new system and the skills to support it. You may be implementing a new ERP landscape, upgrading to a new release or merely designing and implementing new business processes. In this Chief Learning Officer magazine webinar, sponsored by RWD, we will discuss sustainment strategies to optimize your investments and continually recognize the value that was initially planned. To register, go to: www.clomedia.com/events/webinars Now featuring “Quick Register” for returning attendees. http://www.clomedia.com/events/webinars http://www.clomedia.com/events/webinars

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - July 2008

Chief Learning Officer - July 2008 Contents Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Strategies Take Five A Customer-Driven Approach to Molding Tomorrow’s Leaders The Home Depot: Accelerated Leadership CLO Profile Birth of a Salesman: Selling Learning to Solve Business Issues Selling Learning’s Potential at Siemens Transform Corporate Learning With a User Network Wiki Training Increases Productivity for RMC Vanguard Mortgage Lessons From the Feds: Mapping Learning to Strategic Initiatives Department of Labor Centralizes Content Synchronous and Asynchronous: What’s in a Name? Coping With Cultural Barriers to E-Learning The Manager’s Responsibility for Employee Learning Case Study Business Intelligence In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - July 2008

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