Case Studies

Fortune 500 Automotive Parts Manufacturer

Talent Retention and Development

A Fortune 500 automotive parts manufacturer had ongoing problems filling plant manager jobs from within the company due to disagreements, causing frustration and turnover. The Learning Café stepped in and

• institutionalized a process to develop leadership competencies
• identified high potential candidates
• provided focused development options for incumbent plant managers
• accelerated the learning curve for plant managers new to the company and retained high-potential and strong-performing plant managers

 

Fortune 500 Office Solutions Company

Leadership and Cultural Change

A Fortune 500 services organization had merged two business units with distinctly different cultures and leadership styles. The resulting integration was challenging the organization’s more than 400 managers, so The Learning Café

• designed a 4 ½ day leadership learning experience for mid- and first level managers
• led an intense development experience designed to stimulate conversation, generate understanding, and bridge cultural and generational gaps
• offered executive coaching, development assessments (360 feedback, Myers-Briggs), and a business simulation that includes senior leadership as the debriefing panel
• Facilitated the assimilation and alignment of the two cultures along with a sustainable, repeatable leadership development process and learning experience. This had a participant satisfaction rating of 99%. One comment: “I am using what I learned in my day-to-day leadership behaviors and action.”

 

Southern California Utility Company

Mentoring and Talent Development

Southern California’s largest utility company needed to break down its organization silos and encourage movement across divisions. The Learning Café’s solution was to

•  refine an existing mentoring program, and create a cross-training initiative for mentors and mentees
• facilitate targeted development and learning experiences for mentees and coaching for mentors
• nurture the development of a learning community

The client was recognized with a company-wide achievement award for this initiative.

 

Fortune 500 Financial Services Company

Mentoring High Potentials

An East Coast investment firm consistently ranked in Fortune’s Top 100 Best Companies wanted to provide opportunities for high-potential women, so we:

• designed a women’s mentoring initiative in collaboration with the client
• established program goals and effectiveness measures
• trained participating mentors
• provided ongoing shadow coaching to the client

The new mentoring initiative enabled the client to deliver both visibility and one-to-one coaching to high-potential women in the firm.

 

Leadership Development Organization-Wide Program Development

Southern California Edison

Management Certification Program

The Learning Café crafted an organization-wide leadership development program for the purpose of increasing the skill sets of existing leads, supervisors and managers based on a leadership model of the competencies required for SCE’s future business strategy.

We consulted with the client to co-create the overall charter, ensure strategic alignment, develop program objectives and framework, and determine specific offerings based on their leadership competency model. We then worked closely with SCE team members to create a cohesive facilitator network, evaluate effectiveness and design four individual workshops as part of the overall program.

This program was recognized with an American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) Award in 2003, and four years later, it had reached over 600 leaders across Southern California Edison in key operating units.

 

Xerox Corporation

Leadership Development Initiative (Leadership: The Art of Balance)

At the request of the vice president of education and learning at the Xerox Document University, The Learning Café created a leadership learning initiative for more than 400 leaders in the Xerox Services Organization. Two distinct businesses had been merged, creating tension in how the leaders of the two organizations worked together and how they would lead the new organization. In addition, downsizing had led to large spans of manager control. (Managing 20-30 direct reports was not unusual.)

The Learning Café partnered with the client to provide needs analysis, strategic alignment with the business, program design and development, engagement of the senior leadership team, communication of the program, facilitation of the program and assignment of sustainers to reinforce the desired behavior changes.

A recently conducted impact study on the initiative showed the following results:

• 99% of the participants consistently said they had incorporated insight, information and feedback they received throughout the workshop into their leadership behaviors and actions.
• 97% of the participants consistently said they recommend this learning activity to others.
• The overall impact of the learning experience on participant ability to lead was consistently very high – 86%.

Respondents consistently strongly agreed that as a result of participating in the Leadership Development experience, they were better able to:

• understand and utilize their leadership skills (97%)
• give and receive feedback and coaching (93%)
• balance the Four Polarities of Leadership^TM (91%)
• maximize the contributions of everyone on their team (89%)
• make effective decisions during times of change or uncertainty (87%)