\n\tBy Margery Weinstein<\/p>\n
\n\tFor flooring manufacturer Mohawk Industries, it is not enough to teach employees how to be great. The long-time Training Top 125 contender focused last year on helping employees to blaze their own learning paths while meeting organization imperatives. That meant improving the technology that supports employee performance, as well as creating new social networking platforms to enable learners to challenge and teach one another. The result is learning and development that provides workers with the flexibility they need to grow into great, customer-focused employees; fulfilled individuals\u2014and, sometimes, leaders.<\/p>\n
\n\tSetting Up Self-Service<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tOne of Mohawk\u2019s goals is to empower employees to take greater control over their work lives, says Learning Director Amanda Arnwine. To help accomplish this, in 2011, the company launched a new Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that better facilitates employee self-service. To provide employees on the plant floor with access to the system, 108 kiosks were installed, and to give members of the sales force easier access, the company deployed Internet and smartphone-compatible versions. The company\u2019s trainers were tasked with developing a variety of materials to help users at all levels of the organization develop the skills necessary to complete tasks on the system. \u201cIn addition to classroom instruction, traditional print materials, and modules on the learning management system,\u201d Arnwine explains, \u201cthe training team also provided detailed \u2018train-the-trainer\u2019 instruction for designated \u2018delegates\u2019 and \u2018super-delegates\u2019\u2014employees who became a brigade of subject matter experts who could provide fast answers to specific transactional questions.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe impact? In 2010, if an employee needed to change his or her home address or add a beneficiary, it required a visit to Human Resources. \u201cDuring each month of 2011,\u201d says Arnwine, \u201can average of 1,200 transactions were completed on the plant-floor kiosks alone, a powerful metric that speaks not merely to acceptance but to application.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHealth-Care Hand-Up<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tAlong with providing an easier route to Human Resources self-service, Mohawk made it easier for employees to understand and access their health benefits. \u201cHealth care is a major challenge to people in terms of understanding their options and to American business in terms of soaring costs,\u201d Arnwine points out. \u201cTo provide employees with the knowledge needed to effectively utilize the company\u2019s consumer-driven health plan with health savings account and health reimbursement account options, Mohawk\u2019s leadership team turned to a broad-based training program to tackle the single most complex subject employees face.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMohawk employees learned about health-care options through face-to-face interactions that included electronic presentations and elaborately constructed staging. They also received e-mail blasts containing text and links to podcasts, along with a variety of print information. The most effective tool in the training campaign, however, proved to be \u201cJohnny\u2019s Diner,\u201d a nine-part video series written and produced in house. Launched in the two months leading up to the company\u2019s annual benefits open enrollment period, the 12- to 15-minute episodes featured seven professional actors portraying characters who work together and whose personal lives\u2014seeking professional advancement; searching for relationships; facing economic challenges; and finding strength in friendship\u2014are interwoven with situations that require them to discuss taking care of their health, using their benefits wisely, and choosing the right health-care plan for their needs. \u201cPresented via the company\u2019s intranet, online via YouTube, and in a DVD package mailed to every employee\u2019s home,\u201d says Arnwine, \u201c\u2018Johnny\u2019s Diner\u2019 was a popular success in terms of the number of viewers and a business success as measured by the percentage of employees who were able to choose the correct health-care plan for themselves and their families during annual open enrollment.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tManaging myMohawk<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIncreasing employee access to options is a theme at Mohawk. The company used technology in 2011 to make communicating training opportunities nearly as easy as updating a Facebook page. \u201cOne of the dangers of training in the 21st century is a focus on the \u2018cool factor\u2019 of new technology at the expense of quality content and measurable results,\u201d says Arnwine. \u201cIn 2011, the company launched a significantly more robust intranet, moving from document retention to a more interactive tool.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe myMohawk page is the default homepage for every employee in the company. This provides broad-based daily exposure to new material. For the training team, this platform became an effective means of promoting learning opportunities, using blogs as a means of encouraging informal learning, delivering training modules and videos, and capturing engagement data through polls. Acceptance of the new tool was relatively fast paced, with the user community progressing from passive readers to active participants within a few months.<\/p>\n \n\tBranding Employment Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMohawk\u2019s primary recruitment challenge is the same as that facing all companies: attracting top talent that can develop within the organization and move the business forward,\u201d Arnwine notes. \u201cAs a traditional manufacturer, Mohawk has had some challenges explaining its history of and commitment to innovation to the applicant pool of entry-level and emerging professionals.\u201d As a part of an overall internal and external employment branding initiative, the company launched the print- and video-based \u201cYou Think You Know Mohawk? Think Again\u201d campaign, which debunks the myth that manufacturing companies fail to offer challenging, creative professional opportunities. In concert with this campaign, the company\u2019s career Website was expanded from a listing of job opportunities to a comprehensive, multi-media showcase of the organization\u2019s people, products, and philosophies.<\/p>\n \n\tTurning Around Turnover<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMohawk\u2019s overall turnover dropped significantly during \n\tInformal Learning Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIn addition to its many structured training modalities, Mohawk offers employees an environment that is conductive to informal learning. \u201cMohawk\u2019s culture is driven by relationships and is informal in nature,\u201d says Arnwine. \u201cThere is no resistance to learning on a peer-to-peer basis. In fact, learning is ingrained in the culture because of this comfortable exchange of knowledge and perspective.\u201d On the plant floor and in the sales field, experienced employees share institutional knowledge, as well as offer guidance on refining skill sets. \u201cAs a supplement to formal training, these engaging and nurturing relationships transmit policy, practice, and procedure across generations,\u201d emphasizes Arnwine. \u201cThe openness to learning and the willingness to change when a new and better practice is introduced allows Mohawk to maintain an atmosphere where innovation can thrive, which benefits our employees, our customers and ultimately our consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMohawk\u2019s culture naturally fosters informal learning. Arnwine says this may take place organically on the plant floor when two colleagues exchange tips for improving performance during a break or in the field when a veteran sales professional helps a newcomer learn how to better understand the evolving needs of retail customers. \u201cThe challenge for an organization of Mohawk\u2019s size and complexity is how to stimulate that same level of interaction with people thousands of miles apart,\u201d she says. To provide a platform for this, the company\u2019s intranet site, myMohawk, includes blogs where employees can begin to exchange ideas online. The introduction of a new \u201cColleagues\u201d social media tool within myMohawk makes it easier for individuals to identify subject matter experts and reach out to them for information. Through the years, the company has found that informal mentoring relationships are more successful than assigned pairings in which no real connection is achieved. Mohawk has found, though, that technical mentorships where the focus is on the sharing of specific skill sets or knowledge can be fruitful for both parties. \u201cIn these technical mentorships, the interaction is short term and clearly defined around the measurable objective of skill transference,\u201d says Arnwine.<\/p>\n \n\tMolding Mohawk\u2019s Next Generation<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMohawk relies on the leadership academy concept to support its comprehensive succession plan, Arnwine explains. The goal is to build better-prepared candidate pools at all levels of management and to focus on the skill sets essential for candidates to succeed at the next level of management. \u201cDeveloping bench strength in all areas of the organization is a key strategic goal,\u201d says Arnwine. \u201cTo ensure the organization\u2019s succession planning is on target, the company has adopted formal semi-annual review sessions, ongoing performance development feedback, and targeted training to address skill gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs Mohawk continues to expand its international footprint, future-oriented leadership challenges include addressing a large employee population with many native languages and cultural differences spread across a broad geographic footprint with varying levels of accessibility to classroom and online learning. \u201cWe\u2019re addressing it through a new, more robust learning management system in 2012,\u201d says Arnwine. \u201cWith language packs and a more user-friendly platform, we can maximize the reach of our online modules and deliver training with greater efficiency.\u201d The company also created a Learning Council in 2011, which has added a formal structure around communication between the corporate learning function and leaders in the Learning, Organizational Effectiveness, and Human Resources departments in each business unit. \u201cThe council has found creative ways to leverage resources across business units and to share and implement best practices,\u201d Arnwine points out.<\/p>\n \n\tTo ensure your learning team is successful at keeping pace with your company\u2019s needs, Arnwine stresses the importance of linking training to business objectives. \u201cIt adds focus to your offerings and brings value to the business. Don\u2019t fall into the trap of training for the sake of training,\u201d she says. Arnwine also advises monitoring the efficacy of your programs. \u201cMeasure, measure, measure. If you don\u2019t know the result your training programs have on the business, why should the business fund them?\u201d she says, \u201cIt also is essential to know the business. The more you understand your organization\u2019s needs, the more successfully you can contribute to meeting them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Margery Weinstein<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[16],"class_list":{"0":"post-9494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-magazine","7":"tag-feature","8":"magazine_issues-janary-2012"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\tthe economic downturn, but, more importantly, the company\u2019s voluntary turnover has dropped, as well, says Arnwine. \u201cOur focus is less on reducing turnover\u2014preventing employees from leaving\u2014and more on engagement\u2014giving them a reason to stay.\u201d To do this, the company initiated programs such as on-site Healthy Life Centers, where employees and their spouses who participate in Mohawk\u2019s health-care plan can receive care at no cost, mobile dental units, and in-person and telephone healthy life coaching. The company also increased the level of communication to employees on the plant floor, in administrative and professional roles, and in the sales force through a more robust and interactive intranet (myMohawk), a more user-friendly careers Website, and a digital signage network. \u201cBy providing employees with greater knowledge about organizational activities and goals,\u201d says Arnwine, \u201cwe help them better understand expectations and opportunities, whether that\u2019s giving sales professionals more tools to better serve customers or helping line employees understand and affect the quality and productivity of their departments.\u201d<\/p>\n