THE LEARNING FLOW MODEL AT MARS, INC

Abstract: Research into corporate universities has emphasized the role of educators in delivering compelling, business-oriented learning solutions for learners. Equally, performance studies stress the importance of the learner’s manager in supporting and requiring learning. Recent research at Mars University indicates the need for a 3-way “Learning Flow” between educators, learners and their managers.

In this article, Andy Rushton explains the background to the research, the key research results, and builds the “Learning Flow” model applying basic principles from Lean manufacturing.

Background: Mars, Incorporated is a global, family-owned business with main product groups of chocolate and pet care, employing 40,000 associates across more than 50 countries. Mars University was initiated in early 2005 to “bring together Learning and Development activity across Mars into a single global framework, focused on the improvement of business performance”.

Mars University has made rapid progress. In the 8th Annual Corporate University Xchange Awards, Mars University received Excellence Awards for Alignment and Launching, Best Practice Awards for Marketing and Alliances, and Best Overall Corporate University (shared with Farmers Insurance Group).

At the foundation of Mars University, each business function was empowered to set its own global strategy and competence framework. The college for HR (HR is known as Personnel & Organization (P&O) in Mars) focused on designing basic programs, engaging senior leaders as sponsors, teachers and subject matter experts and delivering programs around the world from 2005 to 2007. With two years' experience in place, the European HR community was surveyed in March 2007 to understand the college’s impact on their learning to date, and to identify trends and actions for improving college sustainability for the future.

The research

The research, initially carried out by confidential web survey and followed up with focus group discussions, aimed to understand the progress learners were making, the enablers and obstacles they face in achieving competence, and their clarity and commitment for the future. Fifty-two percent of the community responded to the web survey and the focus groups added a qualitative interpretation to the survey statistics.

The great majority (80 percent) of learners responded they agreed or strongly agreed that they were achieving their planned development, and 75 percent of learners agreed or strongly agreed that they had a clear learning plan in place for 2007. These are promising results, especially in the context of the time pressures learners reported, and show the early impact that Mars University has had.

The web survey showed two trends, which were discussed in detail and verified with focus groups. Learners recognized that their managers played a vital stakeholder role in their learning, and they responded that “learning plans” are an important part of the infrastructure of the University:

• Learners satisfied with their competence development reported they had a clear learning plan in place, a supportive manager and the Performance Development Plan (PDP) discussions with their manager were “very useful.”

• Conversely, the learners who were less satisfied with their competence development were more likely to report that they lacked a learning plan and manager support, and they had a reduced perception of the value of PDP discussions.

• Learners felt that the PDP discussions were at least as important in leveraging learning as classroom programs, e-learning, websites and learning needs analysis tools that had been implemented.
  

The focus groups interpreted the survey data as follows:

First, the manager answers “Why?” a learning activity is important. Arising out of the manager’s need to deliver results through their team, the manager helps the learner prioritize their learning by showing the link to behaviour change and desired results. This is a re-statement of Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Evaluation Model. Managers need to be involved because they help the learner link the learning to behaviour change, and then to improving results.

Second, a Learning Plan, agreed to by the learner with the manager, shows the “What?” and “How?” of learning. This has several advantages. By creating a plan together it creates priorities, shows support and encourages manager follow-through whether it is after individual learning activities or in formal reviews through the year. Brain-Based Learning approaches show the brain learns best when it first understands what is to be learned, and managers can help with this “priming” of the brain through the preparation of Learning Plans.

These conclusions, in line with academic studies, demonstrate that managers can play an important psychological role in helping the learner plan for learning and converting the learning into results. Ignoring managers' role in learning weakens the power of educator-driven tools and programs.

Creating Learning Flow in a Corporate University

How do we exploit these research findings to strengthen corporate universities?

The world of Lean manufacturing provides insights (Womack and Jones, 2003). In a traditional way of “pushing” products and services, organizations run the risk of not listening to the customer, thus creating jammed pipelines and incurring waste. A non-Lean corporate university would create an avalanche of learning programs from the center, seeing “what stuck” with learners who were overwhelmed with complex tools and content. In the world of Lean, we aim to create “Flow”- where all the connecting processes between stakeholders run without waste - to make it easy for customers to “Pull” the solutions they need. How does a corporate university move to an environment of Learning Flow and Pull, while avoiding the ineffectiveness and frustration of “Push”? Four steps are recommended.

1. Clarify stakeholders
Lean teaches that we first need to understand who the stakeholders of the corporate university are and clarify their unique contributions to the success of the university. Based on the Mars research, it was concluded that the manager was a key stakeholder alongside learners and educators. Unique contributions of stakeholders are clear:

• Learners need to take responsibility for their learning, behavior and results.

• Managers need to demand relevant programs and to help learners plan and convert acquired learning into new behaviors and improved results.

• Educators need to deliver compelling and relevant activities which create desired reactions and catalyze learning.

2. Understand stakeholder relationships
Stakeholder behavior should not be left to chance. The desired characteristics of relationships required between pairs of stakeholders need to be agreed upon. What do managers need from educators, and educators from managers? What are learners’ views of educators’ learning activities? How can educators understand learners’ needs better? At Mars, the focus area was the relationship between learner and manager. The Mars research shows the need to better explain to learners and their managers their roles and how the University supports them:

• Continue to use Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels as a common, connecting language between educators, managers and learners.

• Implement induction training for managers and learners on “learning to learn at Mars” using the resources and tools of the corporate university.
  

3. Introduce a shared learning infrastructure
Learning processes, technology and metrics (“infrastructure”) need to connect stakeholders with each other simply and without waste. The research at Mars showed the need for:

• A simplified Learning Plan format that allows managers and learners to plan learning using on-the-job experience, coaching/mentoring, and formal learning (the “70% / 20% / 10% approach”) and provides improved information for educators on learning needs.

• The implementation of metrics to measure the deployment and quality of Learning Plans in addition to measuring training course take-up and feedback.

4. Create a "Pull" for your services
With a seamless Flow in place, create a Pull for your activities by engaging customers and their managers in design and deployment. For Mars University, steps have been taken to strengthen:

• Dialogue between educators and managers to align continuous learning solutions with business objectives.

• Assessment of learning programs’ impact on behavior change and business results.

• Ongoing review of feedback from classroom and e-learning to make improvements to formal content.
  

3-way Learning Flow Connecting Educators, Managers, and Learners

Kirkpatrick Four-Level Evaluation Model

 

What are the implications for corporate university resources?

This research was limited to the HR community of Mars, a progressive company well-known for its corporate values and people practices. Research in other functions of Mars, and in other corporate universities, may well show other insights and these should be researched. It is clear however that the key messages from the survey resonate with “common-sense” and academic studies.

Establishing Learning Flow may not be easy. The application of Lean principles means doing things differently and that may prove uncomfortable. Lean means looking at a corporate university “outside-in”, starting with key stakeholders, and working back to the center. Lean means being determined to create effective processes and tools that work without waste, and to not be seduced by the latest gadgets and fashions.

Applying Lean to corporate universities may mean a big prize, as it has in manufacturing and many service industries. Striving for a Learning Flow between stakeholders creates the conditions in which we can develop solutions which our learners can Pull. It means achieving more with limited resources. That has to be in the interests of all stakeholders – and the business.

Reference:

Womack, J. and Jones, D. (2003) Lean Thinking, Free Press

About the Author:

Andy Rushton carried out this research for qualification as a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD (the UK equivalent of the SHRM) while in HR at Mars, Incorporated. Andy has now set up Anningson Ltd to provide consultancy in effectiveness solutions in human resources:

• Strategy development / leadership team effectiveness.

• Talent development (including corporate university support).

• HR infrastructure delivery.

Contact Andy at andy.rushton@anningson.co.uk for enquiries into research and projects.