The success of a training organization is directly tied to a measured, positive impact on the company’s operations. According to CorpU research, only a small percentage of organizations have insight into their short and long term business strategies, allowing them to plan and forecast development needs through their operational structures. Without this frontline visibility, identifying in-demand changes and reacting appropriately is no easy task.

The Schwan Food Company acknowledges the necessity of alignment to achieve the measurable results desired. In fact, Schwan’s University (SU) received an Excellence Award in the Alignment category at the 9th Annual Corporate University Xchange (CorpU) Excellence Awards Gala in February 2008. Other awards they received include:

	Excellence Awards in the categories of Alliances, Corporate/College Partnerships, and Learning Technologies
	Best Practice Awards in the categories of Leadership Development and Measurement
	Exemplary Practice Award in the Marketing category

Schwan's University also won the most prestigious award, Best Overall Corporate University, following in the footsteps of companies like Caterpillar University, Cisco Systems, and Mars, Inc.

Imagine It - Do It

Established in 2001, Schwan’s University is composed of 100 geographically dispersed staff members who work to support the four major functions of SU:

SU was created to be the most respected, accredited corporate university in existence, serving The Schwan Food Company and its employees as well as external customers. In order to support this objective, many staff members work in the company trenches to help serve the needs of the company’s 22,000 employees who are as geographically dispersed as the SU staff. 

Given the way the global economy is positioned today, it is not enough to “imagine.” Many organizations are quickly realizing a greater need to pay attention to aligning L&D action items with company objectives if they hope to create better business results. The mission of SU is to “do it” by accelerating business performance and organizational objectives through leadership. This core focus area enables The Schwan Food Company to strive towards becoming the best in their industry.

People Strategy

The ability to successfully align business strategy with talent management, leadership development, and succession planning across the organization is one area of focus for SU. By utilizing a system where funding for SU originates from the business units (BU) and the executive team, key stakeholders become more deeply engaged in training activities and as a result, any needs or issues can be proactively addressed much more quickly. Because many problems with learning programs are often not visible until stumbled upon, SU found that stakeholder relationships are vital to maintaining an early correction cycle that will help to continuously optimize activities.

The system and process put into place for strategy alignment is illustrated in a high-level People Strategy Map (Figure 1). Taking the map one step further, SU composed a People Strategy Map to Alignment (Figure 2) that maps tactics, to deliverables, to the objective(s). The alignment maps helps ensure the business objectives are measurable and attainable, and translate organizational competencies to individuals.

Figure 1: People Strategy Map

Figure 2: People Strategy Map - Alignment

Learning and development (L&D) priorities are reviewed on a monthly basis, monitored by both SU President Bill McCormack and directors. Critical projects are placed on a timeline to assure not only alignment to the strategy, but also readiness in regards to business functionality. As part of this process, SU worked with two outside facilitators who assisted with the creation of development objectives for every employee. Goal setting sessions were held for directors and managers to assure efforts and accountabilities were aligned both vertically and horizontally, and the goals were tested against the organization’s objectives.  

Measurement

Measurement is a piece of alignment at Schwan's University and begins with identifying core competency issues within the BU. SU works with BU leaders to identify and implement the most important key measures using Evidence Based Management and predictive modeling, which links Human Capital performance directly to the bottom line. In a recent study conducted by SU, location general managers in the BUs were given a set of 12 competencies – the behavior dimensions essential to their job – through the identification of key drivers and levers. Supervisors and direct reports rated each manager based on skill sets, bringing to attention any existing skill gaps, and correlating those skills to sales performance.

The next step was to select the top areas of focus for training and identify the competencies that had the most impact on sales. SU and the BUs determined the most valuable place to invest and devote all their energy, creating IDPs for specific managers. Moving the most important competencies to one unit of measurement not only drove sales up by about $250,000, but also caused a drastic reduction in turnover rate.

Benefits of Alignment

There are significant benefits of the alignment strategy for SU:
	The goal alignment sessions provide insights for the autonomous sharing of L&D opportunities across functions within SU. Because of this cross-functional capability, SU is becoming better at breaking down the barriers between the individual and manager. This breakdown encourages better knowledge sharing across department boundaries.
	Due to cross-functionality, SU is more unified and consistent at the customer level. As a result, there is a reduction in redundancies and a sharper focus on deliverables and service.
Benefits of the alignment strategy for BU's include:
	Better relationship management with improved communication because the BUs understand the content that is being communicated to others.
	Access to a metrics specialist who can determine not only the value of initiatives, but the initiatives that are really having an impact. Once the values and impact are clarified on the front-end, the BU is in a better position to align activities. Because the BU staff is spread very thin, it is important to have access to a metrics specialist who has the data and can analyze it to find the most meaningful areas of value and impact.
	BU subject matter experts serve as adjunct SU faculty, allowing information from the field to reach the clients and vice versa. As a result, SU staff is embedded directly in the BUs and are involved in change programs from their inception.

Senior Executive Development Program

Perhaps one of the toughest challenges the workforce faces today is not only recruiting top-notch workers, but also improving the development and retention of their current workforce. The Senior Executive Development Program (SEDP) was developed to identify upcoming talent within The Schwan Food Company, thus creating a talent pipeline and avoiding searches for senior leadership outside company walls.  

Each succession year, 5-6 people are enrolled in SEDP to accelerate company-wide talent development, providing internal replacements for both new and vacant leadership positions and helping to align talent with strategy. Developing and aligning talent across the organization is very important because moving individuals between departments is essential to creating true cross-functionality capabilities, leading to a powerful knowledge base within the workforce.

SEDP participants are involved with one-on-one coaching and mentoring, and IDPs are used, as opposed to 360 degree feedback, to plan how their current job will help them achieve potential future positions. Programs from top-tier university programs like Cornell University, the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota are provided to participants, as are Executive Development Institutes, Leadership Intensives, and Thought Leader Forums.

Schwan’s University is also in the process of launching more Action Learning Teams within SEDP. The Action Learning Teams consist of 7-8 individuals from both the Executive Development Program and the Leadership Academy, and are used as a form of evaluation. SEDP members combine real work projects with a learning component and are directed to confront common business issues they may face. Pulse checks are held every 6 months as a mid-year review for SEDP members, who must also present their accomplishments and challenges to their coach and manager. Feedback is not only provided on the content of information presented, but also how well the member was able to deliver the information to others. The outcome of this process is that SEDP members, coaches, and managers are able to evaluate and address any needs or issues by the year's end.

Foundations of Success

Alignment efforts have paid off for The Schwan Food Company and the results have set the stage for the future of Schwan’s University. SU saved over $16 million in the promotion and hiring of internal qualified candidates by facilitating the promotion of 41% of SEDP participants. In addition, both the General Management (GM) Certification completions and Department of Transportation (DOT) compliance rates have improved, with 100% of GM’s completing their certification and a 94% compliance rate for DOT.

What exactly does it take to successfully align organizational objectives corporate-wide? For Schwan’s University, the foundations of success include but are not limited to:

	Building a solid business case and obtaining executive support at the highest levels
	Finding the right partners
	Making sure the plan is feasible and Schwan's University is structurally sound to fulfill the plan using the right people, technology, and other necessary resources

With these new ways of aligning organizational objectives, Schwan’s University is poised to increase their impact on overall business performance, as well as heighten the company’s potential to achieve its organizational objectives.

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