Cream of the Crop

“You never have enough money to do all the training you want to do,” according to Karie Willyerd, vice president and chief learning officer at 2009 BEST Award winner Sun Microsystems.

But of the workplace training that did take place in 2008, 39 companies found the right formula for success. No two companies will ever agree on what the “ideal” workplace learning situation looks like, but all concur that to find success in employee development, learning organizations must gain support from the executive team, create a culture where innovation thrives, and link learning to individual and organizational performance.

In this challenging economy, where employees are expected to do more with less, learning professionals are being asked to ensure that employees have the skills to maximize their company’s core business strengths. These BEST winners adapted to these difficult economic conditions because they were prepared to communicate the value of learning to senior-level executives, linked learning programs and initiatives to business strategies, and found effective and efficient ways to deliver training.

The ASTD BEST Awards recognize organizations that demonstrate enterprise-wide success as a result of employee learning and development. These award-winning companies have made a strong investment in learning, created a safe and engaging learning environment, and used new and innovative technologies to design and deliver learning.

These pages are filled with the secrets of success from this year’s BEST winners, who set the benchmark for workplace learning and performance. Read on to gain new insights into the world of workplace learning and development. T+D

Profiles were written by Jennifer J. Salopek, Paul Harris, Paula Ketter, Michael Laff, Juana Llorens, Aparna Nancherla, and Ann Pace.

InsideBEST

// Intro //

// Rankings //

// Committee //

// Sponsors //

In 2008, the majority of BEST organizations’ learning expenditures continued to be allocated to internal expenses, at 68.3 percent. Outsourcing expenses held fairly steady at 22.6 percent of expenditure.

Average expenditure per employee among the BEST Award-winning organizations fell from $1,451 in 2007 to $1,303 in 2008, a decrease of 10.2 percent.

1

Sun Microsystems

Menlo Park, California

32,500

Computer manufacturing

2

MTR Corporation

Hong Kong, SAR, China

12,130

Transportation

3

SCC Soft Computer

Clear Water, Florida

1,500

Healthcare information systems

4

DPR Construction Inc.

Redwood City, California

1,951

Construction

5

BB&T

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

29,463

Financial services

6

VF Asia Limited

Hong Kong, SAR, China

780

Sourcing and sales & marketing

7

Highmark
(an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

10,073

Insurance

8

BJC HealthCare

St. Louis, Missouri

26,531

Healthcare

9

Datatel

Fairfax, Virginia

530

Information technology and consulting

10

Trust Company of the West

Los Angeles, California

655

Financial services

11

Luxottica Retail North America

Mason, Ohio

35,000

Retail

12

La Quinta

Irving, Texas

10,000

Hospitality

13

Robert W. Baird & Co.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2,224

Financial services

14

Gables Residential

Atlanta, Georgia

1,340

Real estate property management

15

Wipro Limited

Bangalore, India

60,600

Information technology

16

T. Rowe Price

Baltimore, Maryland

4,900

Financial services

17

LarsonAllen

Minneapolis, Minnesota

1,400

Financial services

18

University Health System

San Antonio, Texas

3,465

Healthcare

19

CSC

Falls Church, Virginia

92,000

Information technology

20

Reliance Industries Limited, Jamnagar Refinery Division

Mumbai, India

4,729

Manufacturing

21

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

New York, New York

165,000

Professional services

22

Infosys Technologies

Bangalore, India

95,840

Information Technology

23

Reliance Industries Limited, Dahej Manufacturing Division

Mumbai, India

1,720

Manufacturing

24

CIGNA Corporation

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

24,000

Healthcare

25

Suzlon Energy Ltd.

Pune, India

14,500

Energy

26

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

Mumbai, India

11,192

Petroleum and gas

27

Prescription Solutions

Irvine, California

4,000

Healthcare

28

Whirlpool Corporation

Saint Josephs, Michigan

69,612

Manufacturing

29

Barilla America, Inc.

Bannockburn

440

Consumer product goods

30

Fallon Clinic

Worcester, Massachusetts

1,705

Healthcare

31

InterContinental Hotels Group

Atlanta, Georgia

110,000

Hospitality

32

Mayer Electric Supply Co., Inc.

Birmingham, Alabama

1,091

Electrical supply distributor

33

TELUS

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

36,600

Telecommunications

34

G4S Wackenhut

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

35,152

Security services

35

sanofi-aventis U.S.

Bridgewater, New Jersey

18,100

Pharmaceuticals

36

Brown-Forman Corporation

Louisville, Kentucky

3,845

Manufacturing

37

United Overseas Bank

Singapore, Singapore

22,000

Financial services

38

Grant Thornton LLP

Chicago, Illinois

5,764

Professional services

39

Cbeyond

Atlanta, Georgia

1,645

Communications and information technology

In 2008, BEST Award–winning organizations had an average of 40.6 hours of learning content for each employee.

On average, BEST organizations spent $1,633 to make one hour of learning content available in 2008—a sharp decline from an average of $2,241 in 2007.

Melinda J. Bickerstaff
Chair, BEST Awards Advisory Committee
Senior Vice President
Healthy Companies International
Arlington, Virginia

Herbert Barber
HFB Associates
Buchanan, Virginia

Julie Brill
Group Manager, Training and Executive Development Policy
Strategic HR Policy
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Washington, DC

Pat Cataldo
Associate Dean for Executive Education
Smeal College of Business
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania

Beth Cliff
Director
Executive Education
The Northeastern University
College of Business
Boston, Massachusetts

Stephen L. Cohen
Principal
Strategic Learning Collaborative
Minneapolis, Minnesota

John W. Coné
Principal
The Eleventh Hour Group
Scottsdale, Arizona

Allen Dunkle
Vice President
Professional Services GeoLearning
Denver, Colorado

Mary Francone
Learning Strategist
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Washington, DC

Rob Gimbl
President
RGA Results
Phoenix, Arizona

Cheryl L. Green
President
Green Resource Group
Bethesda, Maryland

Deborah Guydish
Learning and Development Consultant
Princeton, New Jersey

Linda Hodo
Principal, Organization Effectiveness and Learning
Zurich North America
Schaumburg, Illinois

Diane Holman
Vice President and Chief Learning Officer
Leadership and Innovative Learning
Raytheon Company
Waltham, Massachusetts

Peggy Hutcheson
President
The Odyssey Group
Atlanta, Georgia

Richard H. Jaross
Training Director
Liberty Mutual Surety
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania

Neil M. Johnston
President
Orbis Learning Corporation
Palo Alto, California

William W. Lee
Executive Consultant
Training Consulting Softek
Euless, Texas

Michael Leimbach
Vice President, Research and Design
Wilson Learning Worldwide
Edina, Minnesota

Renee S. Lerche
Corporate Vice President
Human Resources
Kaufman Financial Group
Farmington Hills, Michigan

Michelle Levitskie
Manager, Talent Management
Ashland Inc.
Wilmington, Delaware

Ursula G. Lohmann
Consultancy for Education
Training, and Development
Milton, Delaware

Doug Lynch
Vice Dean
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Barb Magusin
Senior Vice President
Human Resources
PREMERA Blue Cross
Mountlake Terrace, Washington

Patricia McLagan
CEO
McLagan International
Washington, DC

Donna B. McNamara
President
Donna McNamara Associates
Morristown, New Jersey

Mary McNevin
Global Director
McCain Learning Centre
McCain Foods Unlimited
Appleton, Wisconsin

Tim Mooney
Partner
Advantage Performance Group
Chicago, Illinois

Barbara Nobles Crawford
CEO
Nobles Crawford & Partners
Framingham, Massachusetts

Virginia Ostendorf
President
Virginia A. Ostendorf Inc.
Littleton, Colorado

Neville J. Pritchard
Managing Director
INL Consultancy and The Learning Sanctuary
Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

Alejandro Reyes
Director
Global Learning and Development
Dell Inc.
Round Rock, Texas

Jennifer Rosenzweig
Senior Director and Global Employee Practice Leader
Carlson Marketing Worldwide
Troy, Michigan

Ethan Sanders
Fellow, Human Capital Strategies
ICF International
Fairfax, Virginia

Kathryn M. Scherberger
Principal
Consulting Partners International
Norfolk, Virginia

Richard Scott
Director, Global Leadership and Employee Development
Eli Lilly and Company
Indianapolis, Indiana

Vincent J. Serritella
Executive Consultant
Global Learning and Development
Lombard, Illinois

Steven Sitek
Principal
IntelliQuick Learning Solutions
Chatham, New Jersey

Martha Soehren
Chief Learning Officer
Comcast
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Roy Swift
Seni or Director, Personnel Credentialing Accreditation Program
American National Standards Institute
Washington, DC

Jim Trinka
Director, Air Traffic Operations Technical Training and Development
Federal Aviation Administration
Washington, DC

Kathy Walsh
President
BBP
Annandale, Virginia

BEST Award winners commit an annual average of 2.33 percent of their organizational payroll to workplace learning and performance expenditure.

The ratio of learning hours used to learning hours made available was 65.1 in 2008, indicating that on average, each hour of content was accessed more than 65 times.

PlatinumSponsors

SilverSponsors

++ Learn More:
Read the article 2008 BEST Award Winners, BEST: A Passion for Learning from T+D archives! //
Purchase Presentations From the 2008 Learn From the Best Conference and the Infoline 16 Steps to Becoming a Learning Organization from ASTD Press! //