Case Study: Developing Leaders and Measuring Success

Situation

Between 1998 and 2003, Hewlett Packard experienced a period of unprecedented change, including the spin-off of the original instrument business, the appointment of Carly Fiorina as CEO, and the merger with Compaq.

The Dynamic Leadership program was developed in late 2001 to help HP managers lead in a dynamic environment. The program addressed the needs for:

• Accelerating alignment and execution
• Rapid and accountable decision-making
• Authentic conversations - a choice of value or waste.

Dynamic Leadership was a 12-week learning experience:

• Began with pre-work
• 2-day intensive workshop
• 10-week follow-through with Friday5s.

More than 8,000 managers throughout the world have attended Dynamic Leadership.

Results

Dynamic Leadership was a significant success. Immediate post-program reaction was very positive (Kirkpatrick Level 1) and was used to ensure quality and continuous improvement.

Level 3 Behavior Change was documented in participants'Friday5s reports:

"I was able to use these powerful tools to help the productivity in my department."

"I introduced the concept of "Value" versus "Waste" from the customer's perspective and facilitated an eye-opening brainstorm session on what customer value my group really provides. "

"Before a very critical meeting with one of my partners, I led a discussion about our shared purpose. It put all of the variables in perspective and resulted in a very productive meeting."

Level 4 analysis was achieved by polling participants 3 months after the program and analyzing the frequency of use of the Dynamic Leadership tools and specific results. More than 3,000 responses were reviewed.

Examples include:

"After attending the class, I spoke with the project sponsors and discovered they were not aligned on goals. We got that fixed ... at least 4-8 hours per week per person were saved."

"Using authentic conversations saved 3 weeks of wasted effort and a lot less stress. "

"I was able to bring everyone onto the same page. Reduced time: 1 week of 3 contractors' wasted time = $20 K."

The Return on Investment was calculated from the median value of the examples times their frequency, less the fully loaded cost of the program, including the value of the participants' time to attend. The ROI was 15 times the cost pf the program.

Key Take Away Messages

• Short window of opportunity - don't miss it or it's gone
• Design for results
• Launch, learn and adjust - speed, speed, speed
• Design learning experiences, not events
• Scale with competence and speed
• Internet makes follow-through fast and easy
• Follow-through is key to performance gains
• Manager involvement is key to success
• Engage stakeholders in the design of the ROI metrics
• Positive ROI enables and sustains the opportunity.