Chief Learning Officer- September 2008

Telstra’s transformational strategy had two primary components, each targeted at creating a telecommunications company poised for high performance in the years ahead. First, move from a productsbased organization to an integrated, converged telecommunications company focused on the customer. Second, create long-term shareholder value by growing revenue from new value-based services while reducing costs. The strategic review that preceded Trujillo’s announcement found several areas that needed reinforcing. The workforce review revealed that, despite experience and a high level of commitment, the company’s people needed next-generation skills to plan, build and work with the new systems, networks and technologies that were to be at the heart of Telstra’s new business and technology strategy. Greg Winn, Telstra’s chief operating ofﬁcer, said Telstra needed “a world-class workforce equipped to offer a differentiated customer experience as products and customer needs evolve.” How the Telstra Learning Academy Works The academy has fundamentally changed the structure of operations training at Telstra. The former approach to developing skills had often been ad-hoc, with programs not sufﬁciently linked with strategic business priorities. With the establishment of the academy and its governance structure, it can track how every class, virtual, instructor-led session and online course is tied to the achievement of transformational strategic objectives. At the head of the academy’s governance model is the Executive Council. This group, comprised of Telstra’s COO, the head of the Transformation Program Ofﬁce and academy leaders, meets monthly to set the overall strategic direction. Two learning councils — one that oversees training for the ﬁeld workforce and the other looking after engineering and operational support personnel — are made up of senior executives, transformation business captains and learning and development leaders from each operational business unit. These councils meet monthly to discuss and endorse speciﬁc training activities. Their perspectives allow the company to map straSetting the Direction CLO EVENTS tegic initiatives and busiTo design a new learning To learn more about the Telstra ness objectives to required approach and program Learning Academy, view academy learning outcomes more capable of meeting these Director John Clifford’s slideshow effectively. comprehensive strategic from the Spring 2008 Chief Then, four distinct needs, the company ﬁrst Learning Ofﬁcer Symposium. academy functions — outlined several imperaVisit www.clomedia.com/events/ each with its own expertives for the program. Symposiums/2008/April/67/. tise, accountabilities and These included: key performance indica• Accessibility by all operators (KPIs) — work to translate learning plans and tions people and the capacity to deploy courses at speed to a widely dispersed employee population across all of strategies into learning solutions that develop the skills, competencies and behaviors needed to execute Australia. • Consistent delivery of learning and value-adding the company’s transformational strategy: knowledge — especially about new technologies — so that employees could, in turn, deliver a consistent customer experience. • Time-efﬁcient, modular and blended learning solutions that could be readily integrated into demanding work schedules. Because of the need to move quickly and on a massive scale, Telstra deployed an outsourcing strategy for the learning function to provide needed skills in areas such as ﬁeld technical, network operations, construction, engineering, IT, product management, billing and procurement. The result was the creation of the Telstra Learning Academy, managed by Accenture under a ﬁve-year agreement. Company ofﬁcials said this gives the company ﬂexibility, scalability and access to expertise and training delivery based on leading practices. 1. Business alignment: A dedicated function is focused on managing the day-to-day link between each business group and the academy learning programs. This function, called “business interlock,” develops end-to-end learning plans for each business unit based on their strategic directions. This structure brings in fresh thinking from the telecommunications and learning industries and facilitates work with development leads and Telstra subject matter experts to deﬁne course audiences, required content and delivery formats. 2. Learning design and development: Content development and instructional design — including development of student activities and assessments — is performed around the world in Australia, India and the United States. Telstra ofﬁcials said this is one of the advantages of an outsourcing arrangement. In its case, Telstra leverages Accenture’s global centers for Chief Learning Ofﬁcer • September 2008 • www.clomedia.com 59 http://www.clomedia.com/events/Symposiums/2008/April/67/ http://www.clomedia.com/events/Symposiums/2008/April/67/ http://www.clomedia.com

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

Chief Learning Officer Editor’s Letter Contents Connections Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Strategies Take Five Lifestyle Learning: Improve the Bottom Line With Behavioral Education Tracom’s Social Style Model CLO Profile IOL: Determining the Impact of Learning Communicating With the Boss About Impact Mission Accomplished? Measuring Success of Corporate Universities Borrowing Measurement Practices From Investors Value Creation With Human Capital Investment Business Impact Analysis at Chrysler Learning or Performance Enhancement: Which Is It? Best Practices in Global Project Management Training Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

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