Chief Learning Officer - September 2007 - (Page 27)

manner: to create a sort of “in crowd” of more-junior leaders who then own the change and become more personally invested in sponsoring the activities needed for the change to take. If a company can bring together its highest-potential managers in a more intimate setting with the CEO and management team, the new senior executive can establish himself or herself and also win the hearts and minds of young stars from all around the world. The new CEO can use these forums to better understand what issues people are thinking about and to refine key messages as time goes on. And because it is such an honor to be selected as a participant in these CEO forums, the events also can strengthen top performers’ commitment during a time of change. Deeper Forms of Enablement But the role of enterprise learning during a CEO transition also should be more than simply ratcheting up communications from the new CEO and increasing visibility. “The ongoing issue every learning executive faces is aligning strategies with the needs of the business, and during a CEO transition, that issue is going to become even more important,” Mike Barger said. “Regardless of the reasons for a management change, there will be some changes in strategy, so the best thing that the learning function leader can do is find a way to get connected one on one with the new CEO to be able to hear, in his or her words, exactly where the learning organization needs to go to support the current needs of the business. “In our case, because I am a founding member of the executive team, that has been less of an issue. But any CLO can use that transition time to his or her advantage — maybe moving the relationship between the CEO and the learning or HR organization to an entirely different level.” Because of the CLO’s in-depth knowledge of the competencies of the company’s talent, the learning perspective can be especially important to a new CEO planning how best to move a company forward. Bonnie Stoufer is the vice president for organizational development and education at Ascension Health, the largest nonprofit Catholic health care system in the United States. In her previous role as a learning executive in the transportation industry, she has been a part of dramatic and sometimes even difficult business management change. During one leadership transition, Stoufer’s input was critical as to how the new CEO went about selecting members of the new management team, as well as how leadership development programs were designed based on the company’s new direction. “Because my responsibilities included learning services, as well as talent management and succes- http://www.exed.hbs.edu/pgm/absclo/ http://www.exed.hbs.edu/pgm/absclo/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - September 2007

Editor's Letter Contents Letters to the Editor Strategies Selling up, Selling Down Take Five Imperatives Guest Editorial Learning Solutions Embarking on a Learning Journey Clo Profile Environment CIGNA Service Operations: Making Strategic Change Happen, and Making It Stick Tactics Black & Decker: On-Demand Learning Creation and Consumption Productivity The Army You Have Human Capital Holiday Inn Express: Delivering Critical Training Globally Case Study: Tegan Jones Business Intelligence Case Study: Lisa Rummler Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - September 2007

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