Chief Learning Officer - November 2007 - (Page 55)

That concept of employee engagement is central to the organization’s overall approach to talent, Church said. Unlike most companies, which have a mantra of “attract, develop and retain,” Avnet’s policy is “attract, develop and engage.” The distinction is important because the aim is not just employee loyalty — it’s also improvements in performance. “It’s not really our goal to retain employees,” Church said. “If all you’re doing is retaining, then you’re probably doing other things, like just giving people more money, when they really want to leave. We want people who are proud to work for Avnet and are excited to come in every day. That means that we’ve got to treat them with respect and provide them with the tools and training they need to do their jobs. They’ve also got to enjoy working with their managers and respect and trust the senior leadership of the company.” Church also said learning is a driver of engagement at Avnet, and it grows in importance as employees who are new to the workforce join the company. He said recruits fresh out of college typically ask about development programs. Promoting engagement through employee education requires more than just pushing out new offerings, though. Church stressed the importance of creating curricula that’s com- pelling, high-level and delivered by organizational leaders. To that end, he has spearheaded the Global Organizational Leadership Development (GOLD) and Leadership Education Accelerating Development (LEAD) programs for incoming executives and middle managers, respectively. “What was unique and significant about our training strategy is that we use the leaders-asteachers model,” he said. “What that means is that Avnet senior leaders are the ones who are teaching the ones who will be moving up and doing more and more for our company in the future. We’re not just teaching a class — we’re giving these people access to us. We’re mentoring, coaching and sharing our experiences.” Because GOLD is targeted at Avnet’s future leaders, it’s appropriately run by current leaders. For example, the CFO teaches a finance course, and the general counsel serves as one of the instructors for the ethics class. Additionally, Vallee conducts a session called Alchemy II, in which he has dinner with participants and spends the following day discussing company objectives with them. “Teaching the Alchemy class helps me encourage the next generation of Avnet leaders to be thinking about Avnet’s future and what they can do to make sure we continue to be posi- “What was unique and significant about our training strategy is that we use the leadersas-teachers model,” he said. “What that means is that Avnet senior leaders are the ones who are teaching the ones who will be moving up.” — Steve Church, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Development Officer I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer 55 November 2007 http://www.clomedia.com

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

Chief Learning Officer - November 2007 Editor's Letter Table of Contents Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Strategies Take Five Rediscovering the Essence of Learning Cornell University Maintains Productivity While Pursuing Higher Education CLO Profile How Loyalty and Employee Engagement Add Up to Corporate Profits A Strategic Foundation The Evolution of the LMS Ariba: Growing Sales Skills in Conjunction with LMS Technology Leveraging Change to Build Productivity Equinox Fitness: Leveraging Change to Build Productivity Tangibles or Intangibles: Where’s Your Value? Raising the Stakes: The Strategic Role of the CLO Case Study Business Intelligence Case Study Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - November 2007

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