Edited by Margery Weinstein
Health Care Service Corporation’s (HCSC) Management Effectiveness Series (MES) is a comprehensive role-based program for front-line leaders. The program was piloted in 2011 in response to the need for consistent, foundational training for supervisors and managers. Based on outstanding results, this program was rolled out to all supervisors and managers across the enterprise. In early 2012, MES became a key training endeavor to help achieve the goal of organizational readiness and a vehicle to reinforce HCSC’s “top five goal” of company and industry knowledge acquisition.
The series was designed to efficiently support leaders from more than 30 locations, relying on virtual access and limited face-to-face requirements. The program framework employs innovative approaches, including online collaboration software for networking and discussion; internal thought leaders to provide credibility and alignment; and a variety of learning delivery methods, including podcasts, videos, and both instructor-led and self-paced courses, to ensure engagement across learning preferences.
The MES spans 10 weeks and allows for up to 125 concurrent participants. Each offering is supported by an HR facilitator, as well as several internal director-level thought leaders to ensure alignment to corporate culture. To reinforce learning and encourage networking, each series is supplemented with a Web-based virtual discussion board. Participants are expected to complete the following topics and activities:
1. HCSC Expectations: Learning activities include a vignette on what it means to be a leader at HCSC; a video of various HCSC leaders discussing leadership competencies; and a personal leadership brand podcast, workbook, and facilitated discussion via Webinar.
2. Management Behaviors:
- Managing Individuals and Managing Teams:Learning activities include Web-based courses, workshops, and workbooks on performance management, coaching and feedback, and developing others.
- Managing Change:Learning activities include an interactive virtual training Webinar led by the Organizational Effectiveness team, a change vignette, and access to the HCSC Change Management tool kit.
- Managing Strategic Alignment:An interactive virtual training Webinar led by the Corporate Strategy Office. Average knowledge gain is 42 percent.
3. Employment Management: Includes seven Web-based courses and tools on employment law and policy, along with a follow-up interactive Webinar led by the HR Regulatory Compliance team. Average knowledge gain remains strong at 43 percent.
4. Systems and Processes: Includes an interactive guide to HCSC’s systems, processes, and tools for managers.
Upon completion of the series, participants are invited to an annual leadership networking event featuring senior thought leaders.
Participation in the program is voluntary and tracked through the Learning Management System (LMS). Since the pilot, the company has offered five more series, attracting a total of 750 participants, accounting for almost half of the supervisor/manager audience at HCSC.
The company’s HR Analytics team found significant correlations between managers who participate in MES and retention and effectiveness: MES managers are less likely to leave HCSC, experiencing a 3 percent voluntary termination rate, whereas managers not enrolled MES tend to leave at an 11 percent rate. Direct reports of MES participants also tend to stay longer than those who do not take MES (3.8 percent versus 6.4 percent). The most significant finding is that direct reports of MES participants are much more likely to have development goals than those who do not (77 percent compared to 57 percent).
In six-month follow-up surveys, the findings also are significant. Participants reported:
- A role change at work: 19 percent (consistent with analytics findings)
- Increased accountability at work: 70 percent
- Heightened performance as a manager: 93 percent
- Application of skills acquired in the MES: 88 percent
- Expanded professional network: 58 percent
- Increased overall effectiveness as a manager: 88 percent
Based on these results, HCSC draws the conclusion that MES effectively aids the company in reaching its employee readiness goal. A recent needs assessment for the next generation of leadership programs validates the topics and approach MES provides among leaders who previously have not enrolled in the program.
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