by Site Staff
December 19, 2005
Measuring the impact of learning initiatives on a company’s bottom line is vital, and that is exactly what Kate Guersch, senior director of learning and knowledge services for Avanade Inc., has established. Guersch developed the Learning & Knowledge Indicators initiative to improve the operational performance of the company and to address the unique needs of its business leaders.
The initiative consists of six components that enable the company’s executives, general managers and employees to understand the impact of learning and knowledge services on Avanade’s overall success. The program includes a set of more than 30 learning and knowledge metrics, a group of required regional and global operational goals, an annual learning and knowledge investment plan, a customized quarterly review system, a real-time report system to update business leaders on their progress and an open-access intranet for the entire workforce.
At Avanade, the knowledge and intelligence of the workforce is pivotal to business success and considered the primary selling point of the company. Therefore, it was not only important for Avanade to have an efficient, effective way to evaluate and measure the benefits and results of services, but also to understand how learning and knowledge impacts the business and, ultimately, the customers.
With 3,200 employees worldwide and a minimum 15 percent annual growth, Avanade’s general managers and executives run large business units and face a wide range of complex issues. Customized quarterly reviews enable the learning services team to identify gaps and urgent needs of business leaders, and help the team to quickly respond to any problems that they may have.
The multi-faceted program generated more than $7.5 million in savings per year, improved customers’ satisfaction with its services and improved overall employee satisfaction. In fact, a quarterly general manager survey showed that 100 percent of general managers strongly agreed or agreed that the Learning & Knowledge Indicators initiative was valuable and helped in the management of their region.