Leading with Distinction (LwD), sponsored by AT&T University, is AT&T Inc.’s umbrella training program for aligning leadership with employees at all levels to support the Chairman’s annual priorities. It began in 2008.
The program consists of multiple, executive-led segments that are augmented by external experts through workshops. Each year, LwD has a different theme and focus areas, always stemming from the Officers’ Conference held the previous fall. The segments the last few years have focused on preparing employees for AT&T’s transformation to lead in a more mobile, videocentric, software-driven world by 2020.
Program Details
LwD is delivered first to officers, then senior managers, then general managers, and finally to front-line managers by the Chairman, his direct reporting officers (DROs), and external speakers. In 2014, AT&T began extending the program to its 160,000 front-line, union-represented employees, bringing the total employee base reached annually to approximately 250,000. Also in the last two years, AT&T has increased the velocity of cascading the LwD experience through all leadership levels by reducing the LwD cycle time from 17 months to five.
The LwD sessions are designed to be interactive experiences that allow employees to learn new concepts, collaborate with peers, and leave with principles they can apply on the job. For maximum flexibility and participation, each segment runs no more than two hours. Employees may participate in-person or via live virtual or recorded, closed-caption broadcast. Live events are held at AT&T University’s main and regional campus locations.
The LwD program for 2015—with the theme, “Ready. Set. Ignite.”—featured seven segments held in May and June. Replays were available through December 31.
Results
LwD has been instrumental the last few years in improving customer service scores, as evidenced by AT&T’s J.D. Power awards (Wireless Customer Care and Wireless Purchase Experience), and in improving Employee Engagement Survey results.
AT&T’s Employee Engagement Survey is issued every two years, and the 2015 results indicate more employees are engaged. In 2015, a record 78 percent of employees took the time to voluntarily complete the survey—up from 72 percent in 2013 and 64 percent in 2011. In each of the nine survey categories, employees responded more favorably than at any time in the past—by an average of 5 percent over 2013 and 10 percent over 2011. The survey areas included:
- Confidence in senior leadership
- Supervisors manage well
- Supervisors are receptive and responsive to suggestions for change
- Work provides a sense of personal accomplishment
- The people I work with get along well together
- We treat others with respect
- Discussing different opinions openly
