Training and Employee at Motorola Development

of peoplemore seriously to emploltafiili1y "Few companies. take their commitment thanMc,torolq."' , in Sloan - Sumantra Moranz & Peter A Bartlett Christopher Ghoshal, Revierv. Management

partsof Motorola'sculture.,'The "Traininganda stronglearhing ethicare embedded not only sometime ago that dollarsspenton trainingprogrants learned corporation company's the skills necessary provided the but their employees for empowered "' inance. acedom marketol - James AsiaTimes. Columnist, Borton.

IN THE WORLI) TOP TRAININGCOMPANY

recognized hasbeen Inc.(Motorola) Motorola theUS based eightdecades, For nearly begart in thervorld'Motorola to its employees of training asoneof thebestproviders floor as on'thefactory theyearof its inception, in 1928, its employees'right training just new teaching mcant at that time, Training, trainin$. product purelytechnical predeterrnined varic'ts to perform equipment themanufacturing howto handle recruits as a moclel emerged had Motorola l980s, the to them. But by tasksassigned and training in the corporateworld for ernployeeeducation, organization developrnent. traininginto a continttous turncd programs of Motorola training The innovative in culminated company the of initiatives thetrainlng In the 1980s, process. learning to institute anexclusive Center, andEducation Training up of theMotorola thesetting The employees' Motorola's of requirements development and look afterthe training - in University Motorola of a university to the status was laterelevated institute that employee success sucha resounding became experiments training These 1989, became products lvlotorola's quality-rvise yearafteryearand improved productivity Motorola's visited all overthervorld companies Leading ,ynonyrou,with perfection, They company. of the practices work high-performance to studythe headquarters of corporatefoundations wasbuilt on thestrong success thatMotorola'S discovered of cotporate wasthecornerstone University that Motorola practices and learning rvide learnins.

,|

t:
il

, {

lirr A Bartlett,and PeterMoran' "A Ner| Nlanifesto Christopher Ghoshal, Sumantra 1999' Spring Revier'v, Management Sloan N4anagement," uils a strategrc Ghoshal (1999), Sumantra arlicle mentioned At thetimeof writingtheabove u'as I prolessor' A. Ilartlett Christopher School; Business at theLondon professor leadership assistant u'as an Moran Peter and School; Business Ilarvard at the of businessadministration School' Business London at the management international and ofstrategic professor com' ws cens in China."\\'ww.ne High Grades Scores "Motorola University Bofton, James July04.2002.

HumanResource Management
In recognition of its e,rcellent trainingand development practices, the American 'lraining Sociefy for andDevelopment (ASTD)a named Moiorola tt. .iop Training Ccmpany' andconfened on Robert Galvin (Galvin),lhe fbrmer CEOof the,company, its'Champion of Workplace Learning andPerformance Award,for the year 1999. Speaking on }lotorola'straininginitiatives and Galvin'scontribution, iina Sung, President andCEo of ASTD,said, "Galvinis a fruechampion of employees being an integral partofthe organizational success. He setthe corporate standard for investing in education and has demonstrated training and development pay off in .that prcductivity, performance andquality."s

BACKGITOUND NOTE
Motorola wasfounded in 1928 paulandJoseph, whentheGalvinbrothers, setup the GalvinManufacturing corporation, in chicago, Illinois, uSA. Its firstproduct wasa "battery eliminator," which allowed the consumers to operate radiosdirectlyusing household cumentinstead of batteries. In the 1930s,the companysuccessfully commercialized carradiosunder thebrand name,,MotoroJa," u ,uorb*-hirh ,uggartad sound in motionby combining "motor', with,,victrola."u In 1936, Motorola entered the new field of radio communications with the productpolice cruiser,an AM automobile radiothatwaspre-set to a single frequenry to receive police broadcasts. " In 1940, Daniel Noble (Noble), a pioneer in FM radio communications andsemiconductor joined Motorolaas director technology, of research. Soon,the company established a communication division followed by a subsidiary salescorpoiation, Motorola communication as n d E l e c t r o n i cis n 1 9 4 1 .T h e M o t o r o l at r a d e m a r k was so widelyrecognized thatthecompany's narrewaschanged fromGalvinManufacturing Corporation to MotorolaInc. in 1947. Motorola entered thetelevision markct in 1917,ln1949, Noblelaunched a research & development facility in Arizonato explore the potential of the newly invented transistor. ln 1956, Motorolabecamea commercial producerand supplierof semiconductors for saleto othermanufacturers. The company began manuficturing integrated circuits and microprocessors in a bid to find iustomer's outside the auto industry. In 1958,Motorola opened an office in Tokyo,to promote customer and supplier relations with Japanese companies. ' By 1959,Motorolahad emerged as a leaderin military,spaceanclcommercial communications. It had built its first semiconductor proJu.fionfacility,and was emerging as a grorvingforce in consumer electroniis. Motorolaexpanded into international markets in the 1960s, setting up salesand manufacturing operations around the world'Duringthe period196l-1978, Motorola expanded its international presence by addingplantsin many countries includingAustralia, France,west Germany, HongKong,Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan andtheUK. In the 1970s, Motorola facedstiff competition fi,omJapan, especially in consumer electronics. The company shiftedits focusfrom consumer electroniis. It began to manufacture rvatch batteries, andthefirstMotorola microprocessor wasintroduced in 1974'Earlycustomers were ftom the automotive, communications, industrial and business machines sectors. In the l9B0s, the company movedinto comniunications anddevoted hugeamounts of time andmoney to ihe development of cellular phone
Founded in 1914, ASTD isthe rvorld's largest association dedicated to rvorkplace learning andperformance professionals. ' "ASTD Recognizes Roben Galvin," rvwrv.quaritydigest.com, November 2000. o victroiais a brand of gramophones made by theVictorTalking Machine crrnpany. '

48

EmployeeTrainingand Development at Motoroia technologyT. l'he efforts resultedin the introduction of Dyna'fAC, the 28-ounce handheld phongin 1984. It alsodeveloped a range of increasingly smaller andmore efficient pagerst. The 1990s saw a period of rapid growth fol lMotorola. F'aced with increasing competition, thecornpany fbrmed theMessaging, information andMediaunitin l99l for thedevelopment of a range of technologies for non-voice wireless rnessaging and multi-media' products. The company's handsets became very populardue to the mobilecommunications boom. Holever, duringthe late 1990s, the salesof the company wereaffected by problems in theAsianecon-cmies. Therefore, starting 2000, thecompany entered intoalliances andjoint venturesl0 to achieve a global presence. By 2005,Motorola hademerged as comprehensive communication provider services offering rvireless, broadband and automotivecommunications technologies and embedded electronic products. The company's business segments were Personal Communications, Gkrbal Telecom Solutions, Commercial, Government andIndustrial Solutions, Integrated Electronic Systems, Broaciband Communications, and Other Products. products Cellular madeup nearly 40 per centof Motorola's sales. andrhe company became the world'sthird largest manufacturer of semiconductors. Motorola hadoperations in over40 countries, andmore than50 percentof its sales comefrorlr outside the US.For the fiscalending December 31,2004, the company postetJ total revenues of'US$ 3l ,323mn andnetincome of US$ 1532 mn.

TRAINING ANDDEVBLOPMBNT INITIATIVBS

Motorolahad started trainingits ernployees'way back in the r920s, and the impoftance of training continued to grow.Till the early1980s, Nlotoroia hadits own standard employee development activities in rvhichtrainingrvasthe key element. Duringthosedays,rvhenpeoplewere recruited for manufacturing, the company - the communication lookedfor threeessential qualitiesin the employees and computational grader; skillsof a seventh basicproblem solvingabilities both in an individual capaciry andasa teamplayer; andwillingness to accept rvorkhours asthe timeit tookto achieve quality output rather thanregular clockhours. Thequality of theoutput wasthe primary consideration for Motorola, andemployees wereexpected to makefull efforts to achieve qualify. Most of the employees learned theirjobthrough observing theseniors at workandleaming through thetrial anderror ' method. Thetraining lessons imparted to theminvolved techniques to improve iheir communication skillsand sharpen their calculation skills.Employees rverehiredto perform settasks and werenot required to do muchthinking. If they hada problem withoneof themachines, a trouble-shooter wascalled to fix it.
A.cellular phone is a hand-held mobileradiorelephone lor usein an area divicled intosmall (cells), sections each with itsownsho(-range transnitter/receiver. I A pageris an instrument or appliance rvhichis a non-speeoh, one-wav perscrnal calling system andhastlrecapability of receiving, storing anddisplaying numelic or alpha-numeric messages. Multimedia is the combination of severalforms of media in the communication of information. These t,arious formsinclude video, audio, text, graphics, flax, andtelephony. 'o Some of the majormergers and acquisitions inclucled the merger wirh Gcneral Instrunrcnt Corporation in 2000 fbr producing innovative products in the multi-media market; the acquisition of RiverDelta Networks, a provider ol'carricr-class broadband routing, srvitching, cable modem terminatio sn ystem a n ds e r v i cm e a n a g c m esn otl u t i o ni s n 2001;the acquisition of NetPlane Systcms, a developer protocol of netrvorking softrvare plane lor the control in 2003; the acquisition of Winphoria Networks, a core inlrastructure providcrof next generation packctbased mobilesrvitching centers folnvireless netrvorks in 2003;and a strategic investment in Aligo,a global leader in rnobilc soflware solutions in 2004. 7

49

Human Resource Management

i{orvever, after worrd war II, technorogies changed and so did manufacturing practices. competition toobecame moreint-ense. During the r970s, Motorora,s human resource (HR) department began to realize thatrhe *li .i,orporur. trainingand education hadto berewritten in tunewith the.hunginjti*; E;;i.y..s performing their dcfinedtasksmeticurousry .fhe was no enoughtbr ihe company, .ronger. employees needed to understand their work u1i ,rr. ,.irriurr"ro equipment they handled in moredetair. Thesenior management,s rorenow *u, no long.r rimited to supervision; they had to rearnnew skii-rs and techniqu*ona exemprifv them to suboi'dinates. Before modiIing Motorora's. emproyee trainingpractices, the HR department conducted a corporate-wide study in'r9ig andtesteitheskiilsorrrptoy..r. The tests revealed the astonishing facrrhata majoriryor tne *ortror;; ;;;;..pabre of doing arithmetic calculations likeperientages andflactions; someof themcouldnot iltpts even understand the produ*-rerared instruitions on the ftl.g, iut identifiedthe productby colourof its package and deartwith it ,.J.Ji"g tl the estabrished procedure. Thesediscoveries madethe HR department think goingbeyondimproving the -of workingskills of emproyees to enternew areas of educattnihut t,uoneverbeen touched uponearlier. Instead gnly technicar skiil instructionr, truining was now 9f - teaching made two-pronged the lO'fi grade school basics at th. irnour.ntal training level, and introducing nerv concepts of work, quarity, .orn.,unity reamingand leadership at thedevelopment level. Gonerverethe daysof ca.iling an expert everytime a machine deveroped a minor problem. Evenif the services of thb expert rvereunavoidable, the workers wereat leastexpected to describe the failureclearlywith all technical details. Apart from maintaining a highquality of work,theempioyees werealsoexpected to understand their equipment, anticipate and anaryze biealdorvns in equipment, ) and begin the ' troubleshooting process before theexpert anived In 1919, Galvinasked the HR department to design a five-year ord training pranto upgrade the skills of its emproyees. Howev.r,ih. pran focusingon n.* ,oorr, technologies andteamwork did notproduce thedesired iesults. Nerv"and sophisticated equipment wasdeployed, plantmanagers did not change their working sfyle. .but-the Galvin also established the MotorolaExecr]tive Institute, bJnowing facultyfrom leading universities across theworld,to takea course on management subjects to 400 executives in four weeks. Thetop management wastrained in international business issues 'fhe such aseconomics, personnel andintemational relations. participants learnt a greatdealbut failedto implement rvhat they learnt, andthe ultimate resultof the program rvas disappointing. Galvinrealized thatthe training programs werenot yielding desired resurts because the top management was rearning new thingsbut was ,nriittin! to .t,ung. its ord rvays' He believed thatthetop management wouldleadthe.hang? onty irthey felt a compelling need to change, andif thisneed wasalsofelt ttrrougf ati lhe levels in the company' It also lneant that trainingwas required not just 6r executives but for rvorkers as rvell. To cany out theie trainingprograms, an emproyee education -centei department named Motorola Training andEducation (MTEi) wasestablishecl in 1980.The trvin objectives or.tiis programs were:to expandthe parlicipative management processrr, and to help improie itre qualityof products tenfoldin rhe comingfive years. Theprograrns wcreintended to educate rr,loto,oiu;, peopre as rvel as to be an agent of change. Initially, MTEC analyzed jobs profiles the existing and
' Participative managemellt process means theprocess of involving those who arein{luenced by decisions. in making clecisions.

50

EmployeeTrainingand Devetoprnent at Motorota hied to anticipate how they rnightchange in the nearfutureso as to train people acco^rdingly, A five-par1 cuniculumrvasdesigned rvith a thruston productquuiity (Refer to ExhibitI for highlights of thefive-parr cuniculum), However, thiselaborate program meant thatat a typical plantwith 2,500workers, the M'|EC wasusing50,000 enrployee hours- a lot of time awayfrom thejob for a trainingprogramwhich many skeptics cailed highly ,esoteric'12. The company initiallyconsidered the time worththe investment, but ioon the skeptics **r. pr-ou.il right. Laterevaluations showed that peopleattended the program, took the .burr.r, wentbackto theirjobs andreassumed theirold attitudes. Whenthecourse wasdesigned, the HR deparlment thought thatthepeople at rvhomit wasaimed at wouldsignup enthusiastically. However, the experiment showed that peopleresisted formal classroom training.Therefoie, MTEC developed self-help material which employees could take home.But this attempt, too, failed as thL workers did notconsider thehomework packages asrealtraining.-They tookhome the study material andnever bothered to openit. Theemployees did not seem to consider trainingnecessary, whetherit was imparted in a formalclassroom or as a learn-atpackage. home The HR department wasnow in a fix. It rvasnot a case of people not beingableto learn but a situation where theywerenot willingto learn. So,now the challenge was to motivate thepeople to overcome theircornplacency andmake themlearn. Motorola hadalways emphasized employee loyaltyandin its earlydays, people werehiredfor life. After ten yearsof service, they became entitled to membership of the Service Club,whichmeant thattheyrvould not be terminated except on thegrounds of poor performance or dishonesty. Themanagement felt thatthetimehadcomervhen people hadto betoldthat'poor performance' included unrvillingness to change. Theymade it clearthateverybody wouldbe retrained on nelvtechnologies. If anybody refused to retrain, theywouldbe dismissed. Another challenge for the HR departrnent wasthe conflicting pattems behavioral of different levels of management. Thetop management always insisted on meeting the deadlines; whereasthe workers,who had been taught quality improvement techniques, were eager to implement them,sometimes resulting in late deliveries. workers wondered why theywerenotbeinggiventimeto implement quality thenerv improvement techniques and the top management wondered why qualityrvasnot improving in spiteof training. The middlemanagement was caughtbetween the conflictbetween thetop andbottomcadres. By 1984, thedepartment lvasdisheartened by the discouraging results of thetraining program, It decided that trainingrvasrequired for the top as well as the bottom management levels, andthatthese two programs needed to be integrated so thatboth levels wouldbe aware whattraining wasbeingimparted to the otherlevel.The HR officials wanted thedifferent management levels to realize qualitycouldbe thatbetter achieved withinthe stipulated time by integrating effortsacross various levels. The top management was taughtthat simplymeeting the deadlines was useless unless qualiry standards weremet,andtheworkers weretaught thatproduction wasa timeboundprocess and they could not lvork for indefinite periodsto achieve perfect quality.This rvay both parties understood that qualifyand deadline rvereequally important and that absolute quality\vasto be achieved rvithinthe prescribed time constraints, In 1985, Motorola established a new cellular rnanufacturing facilityin Arlington Heiglits, uS. The i,vorkforce in thatplanthad improved qualityten-foldin the fir'st five years of training. Since theyrvere about to be giventhe griaterresponsibility of
r2 I'lard to unclerstancl, obscure. intelligible onlyto those rvithspecial knoiviedge.
\ l

Hurnan Resou rce' Managernent

taking thecotnpany's products glcbally, a quickmath testwasconducted to assess the need for further training. Theresult wasshocking. Only40 percenrof theemployees knew l0 was what percent of 100,The reason for this was that the immigrant rvorkforcefound it difficult to comprehend English. It meant that despitethe improvement in qualiry-, basic comrnunication andarithmetic skillsr3 of tlielvorl<force needed to be sharpened, andthe employees needed remedial elementary education to meet the business needs. However,MTEC was not equipped provide to remedial education. Theydecided to asksomecommunity colleges ancl other-local institutions to helpout,brttryere surprised to find thatthecomrnunity colieges werenot equipped to meettheir trainingrequirements. The course content often did not commensurate with thetitle. ' After variousexperimental training programs, the HR department came to the conclusion thatoccasiqnal trainingprograms andtie-ups with educational institutions and universities would alwaysleavelearning gaps. Therefore, the company decided thatonly a full-fledged educational institution of its own rvouldbe ableto cater to the training and development needs of the employees in the light of company's global business strategy. TheMotorolaUniversity wasbornin 1989 to serve thii purpose.

THE MOTOROLAUNIVERSITY
After conducting various trainingexperiments that spanned a few decades, Motorola came to understand thattraining involved morethandesigning andimplementing one particular program for a set of employees. To keepimproving performance, training shouldbe a continuous learning process involvingeachand every personin the organization. Normally, training wasan ad hocmeasure, whereas education gavethe recipient a vision, Education was viewedas an investment ratherthan a cost. Therefore, Motorola decide to elevate MTECto thestatus of a university in 19g9. Motorola's objective in having its own university wasto provide education relevant to the company, to thejob andto the individual. Therefore, Motorota university could not operate on the same linesas regular universities. It designed its own courses and method of imparting training, andmaintained absolute autonomy. It was decided at the time cf the launchof the university that it would operate with its own boardof trustees.who weregeneralmanagers of thecompany. Theirdutywasto understand the training requirements of thecompany, design a course to meetthose requirements and imparttraining to employees to re-define theirresponsibilities in accordance with the changing times. Theresponsibilify of theuniversify wasnotjustto educate people, but to operate asa change agent. It served asthelink between employee education andthe company's business strategy, rvhether the objective wasreducing costsin operations, improving product quaiity or accelerating newproduct development. The cuniculum was designed keeping in view the requirements of the company. Emphasiswas laid on participative management, empowerment, motivation, individual dignifyandethics. Employees weretaught various business-related topics ranging from the fundamentals of computer-aided design to robotics, from communication skillsto customized manufacfuring. Training instructions wereoffered - engineering, in three broad categories manufacturing. sares andmarketing.
'' Arithmetic andcommunication skillsareconsidered very important at Motorola becauss in mostof thefactories, thework requires analyses andexperiments involving extensive useof algebra. As for English, the engineering groupis required to rvritework orderchanges, product specifications, andproduct manuals.

52

Employee Training andDevelopment at Motorola

Eachof these - relational three disciplines wasfuflherdivided intothree parts skills, technical skillsand business skills.Relational skitlsincluded customer satisfaction, eft-ective meetings, effectivemanufacturing supervision, negotiation and effecti,re presentations. Technicaland business skills includedbasic math, elecrronics, accounting, contputer operation, andstatistical process control. The relationai skills cuniculum was designed and developed by MotorolaUniversity rvhereas thoseof technical andbusiness skillsweredeveloped in cooperation with community colleges and technical schools. Initially, Motorola University listed thecourses in a catalogue andtheemployees were required to takea certain number of courses. The Universiry hadappointed a Chief Learning Officer whose rolewasto provide employees therequired courses in a costeffective manner. However, this modelchanged in the 1990s, andapanfrom thethree basiccategories of instruction, the Universirybeganto offer severalother minor courses. Such coursematerial,textbooksand otlrer instructional materialswere offeredto Motorolaemployees and to outsiders who madea payment, The minor courses took a shorttime to complete. For instance, courses like "Managing the softwareDevelopment Process" took four days,"Short-cycleManufacturing" took just one day (Refer to Erhibit II for the list of some of the courses offeredby Motorola University), Instructions werealsotailored to meetthe unique needs of the company. Mostof the instructors in the university wet'e not regular professors. Instead, tlte company relied on outside consultants including engineers, scientlsts and formeremployees of the company. Theirresponsibility wasto guidetheemplol,eei in theirthinking processes as well aq helping thernremember rvhatthey had iearnt. l'he instructors werealso specially trained and certified so that eachinstructor would not follow hisAerorvn method of teaching but wouldstickto Motorola's method of participatirre instruction and learning. Commenting on this, william wiggenhorn, corporate Vice-president for training andeducation andthePresident of Motorola Universiry in theearly1990s said, "We don'twantthemto teach theirversion of, sayEffective Meetings, we want them to teachours.Not everyone can deliveron thoseterms.For example, few academics cando it our way.They'reused to interpreting material independently, so after the first page,it tendsto take on their own particularslant.It may makea fascinating course, but we can'thave3,000people leaming 35 different versions of ra Effective Meetings." Learning aPMotorola Universiry did not meanemployees reading countless manuals; norwasit a monotonous andunilateral technical presentation by theinstructor without entertaining any discussion amongthe participants. The instructions deliverywas highlyinteractive, andthe participants learnt by inventing anddeveloping theirown productsas well. While all other corporates offered some form of training to employees, Motorolauniversity's role was to synergize employee rvith education business targets. For instance, the company would set a goal to reduceproduct development cycletime;thenit wouldaskthe university to develop on how a course to do it, Retired employees teaching at theuniversity wouldknolvhorvto teach sucha subject rvitha practical orientation. Employees rvould anend the course anddevelop theirown methods andimplernent them,l'his ivav,thetraining rvould be completed by achieving tangible results for thecompany.

'o william

"lr4otorola wiggenhorn, U: when TrainingBecomes an Education," lIarvarcl Bus iness Review, July-August I 990.
)J

Human Resource Management

Anotheruniquefeature of trainingat Motorolawasthatwhilemost of the corporaies imparted trainingto selected employees suchas the top *unug.,n.n, or technicians, Mot'rola extencied trairiingto ail its emproyees spread across the grobe.Emproyee training hadbecome so deepry ingrained ut tntotororo thateveryemproyee _ fromtop management executive to factory worker- hadto identif .orrrrr'he/she wanted tb study each year. Each emproyee, incruding thecEo, hadio underrake a minimum of 40 hoursof formalcoursework eachyear (Referto ExhibitIII for the executive education profile of Motorola in the l99bs). If supervisors spotted performance deficiencies for a particular emproyee at annual performance reviervs, a.special remedial planwassetup for him4rer immediatery. The effectiveness of ail th-etraining progru^ was measured by using traditionar KirkpatrickLever l and Level 3 measures (Referto ExhibitIV for a brief noteon Kirkpatrickevaluation levers). However, the most important test was ,whether the problem wassorved or not.' After the compretion of remediar training, the supervisor evaiuated the performance of the empioyeeto determinewhether the earlier deficiencies hadbeen deart with. In some fases, if the arnri.nri., irrsistedeven after training, the emproyee wourdbe praced in a differeitlob that matched llelemedial his/herskills' Terminating the services was not resorted to exceptin extreme cases since employee loyarty wasthetouchstone of Motorora,s HR practices. During the mid-1990s, Motorolaintroduced the ,lndividual Dignity Entitlement, programwhich required all supervisors to discuss, on a quarterli uasis,with their team members about. their training requirements. The discusiionrequired the employees to answer six questions. Theniome follow-up action wasdesigned based on theansrvers. The same questions wereasked 90 daysafterthe imprementation of the training programfor evaluating the progress (Refer to Exhibit v for more information on Motorola's Individual DignityEntitlement program). Not many companies invested as heaviryin emproyee trainingas Motorora did. Duringthe initial or Motorora univeriiry (whenii wascailej MTEC) nearry {gvs r.5 per centof payroll15 rvas spent on training. Tie amountincreased to2.4 percent very soonandby 1999, thecompany raidout nearry five per centof its pafroil for training, far abovethe one per centaverage invested by the American industry. According to Galvin, in themid+o-rate r9g0s, training came to havethegreatest singre impact on theqgality andcompetitive performance of Motorola. Eachtraining program helped employees achieve a certain peopre revel of expertise. rvho earlierviewed the trainingprograms with skepticism, too, changed their perception. The HR expefts aroundthe world were of the opinionthat training was fastbecoming the strongest variable contributing to higher,.**, io, tt. company. Motorola's performance provedthat continuous learning may be one of the smartest investments, employers should evermake. In a decade since1987, Motorora reduced costs by us$ r0 bn by trainingits work forceto simplifyprocesses andreduce waste. For the five-year periodendingr99g, productivify measured by sales per employee increased 139percent.Studies showed thatin theplants where senior manag.rr undworkers weretrained in quality toolsand process skillsrespectively, thecompany wasgetting a return of nearly US$30 in three years for every doilarspent on training, incruding thecostof wages whirepeopre iaid tooktimeoff for thetraining sessions,

- o

'' Payroll is thetotalamount eamed by all employees for a payperiod

54

Employee Training andDevelopment at Motorola

T'hough initially theuniversify concentrated solelyon training Motorola's ernployees, soonit started to utilizetlte in-house skillsfor profit-making enterprises like the sale of course materiai to outsiders, offeringconsulting services, translation services, conducting seminars to teachother companies how to star-t their orvn corporate universities, andevaluation services where a teamof experts measured how effective a company's training andeducation prograln was. In theeraof fastchanging technology in thelate1990s andearly2000s, Motorola was compelled to trainits employees in quicktimeso thaitheycouldproduce nerv, better quality products faster. Meeting thechallenge of producing technologically advanced products on a continuous basisrequired employees to be moreknorvledgeable and efficient. However, this couldno longer be achieved solelywith formalclassroom training programs. Therefore, since thelate1990s, Motorola University placed greater emphasis on e-leaming whereeducation was imparted to the employees across the globe through theInternet andother digital media,

FOCUS ON E.LEARNING
MotorolaUniversity created a new internalinstitute namedCollegeof Learning (cLT) to developeducational Technologies delivery systems through satellite, Internet and virtualclassrooms16. This deparlment was responsible for providing innovative leaming via virtualclassrooms, onlineexperiences, use of cD-RoMSlT andthrough multimedia such asvideo andsatellite conferences. The university placeda largeselection of courses and trainingmaterials on its intranetrs, available around the world at any time to its ernployees. Theseincluded interactive courses that could be dorvnloaded directlyto an employee's laptop computer, lectures broadcast by expens andan onlinelibraryof reference materials. By 1998, training wasavailable on 23 servers across theglobe, E-Learning came to play sucha significant rolein thetraining process thatby theend of 2001, Motorola employees received nearly 35 percbntof theeducational solutions exclusively via web-based process, leaming rvhilethe remaining 65 per centpercent wasthrough instructor-led classroom training andmixedsolutions thatcombined the bestof bothmodes. commenting on the role of e-learning in future, FredHarburg, chief Leaming officer and President, Motorola University, said,"ln the t'uture, the percentage maynotdramatically increase. Whatwill increase is a percentage of all the courses will go to e-learning. You oughtto leave to the classroom whatcanbestbe donewhenyou collect people together andleave to thecomputer the passing of pure information thatcanbe done mostefficientlv thatwav."le

TheVirtualClassroom is a chatfacilityrvithin BIaci<board, rvhich allorvs stall'and students to conduct synchronous contmunication online. 't CD-RONI stands lbr Compact Disc Read-Onl1, lvlemory. A smallplastic clisk, similarto audio compact disks, used for storing information in digital fbrmat. The inlormation is read Iiom thediskby a smalllaser beam anddisplayed on a computer screen. l8 Intranet is a private netrvork inside a company or organization, rvhich uses similarsoftrvare as usedfor the Intemet, but is for internal useonly,and is not accessible to the public. Companies useIntranets to manage projects, provide employee information, distribute clata andinformation andso on. le Tim Sosbe, "connecting Molorola rvithLearning," wwrv.clomedia.cop, Novcmber 2002.

'o

55

Hurnan Resource Management

After the introduction of e-leaming, employees wereno longer required to undergo the compulsory 40 hour trainingeveryyear.commenting on dispensing with rhe traditional practice, Jill Brosig, Director of Learning and Development of Motorola universitv, said,"That rule rvasvery appropriate at the time because it slorvedrve invested in our people. But now, rvith the advent of new e-leaming technologies, including mobile learning, training is based on 'relevance,' not hours. For us it's not imporlantrhat you finisha class. what's important is did you get the learning you needeci?"2' To ensure that the necessary learning was takingpla-ce, employees were required to sign a 'personal commitment' eachyear that was reviewed by their managers on a quatlrly basis. The cornmitment included a 'strategically driven' educational pianthatwasdirectly tiedtc ancmployee's performance review. E-Learning wasshaped asa self-directed learning process to enable employees fulfill theirspecific andunique learning needs, Thebenefit of this method wasthatrather thanhaving a groupof 20 employees sit through the samethreehoursof trainins session t0 get to know the l0 minutes of learning that applied to eachone at ai individual level, thelearners couldspend moretimespecifically on rvhat theyneeded to learn. As a resultof this, the trainingsession met the specificneeds of each employee besides saving company time.Instead of completely staying awayfromthe course, nowtheemployees hadtheoption of excluding theparts of thecourse theydid (Refer notrequire to ExhibitVI for thehighlights of Motorola's self-directed leamins program). Motorola's e-leaming training program rvasmadeaccessible to morethan 150,000 employees across thelvorld.Thecomputer netrvork enabled the employees to access as manyprograms as they considered necessary. Later, the internal reviewshowed that because of e-learning, the cycletime for learning had fallenby a third,actual training times werereduced by 50 per centandthe distribution of training materials rvasdonevirtuallyin real time. With over 100 officesin 24 countries in 2005, Motorola University delivered over 100,000 daysper day of training to employees, suppliers, and customers, Through personal digitalassistants, Motorolaemployees couldcontact theirpersonal coach, read tipsofthe day,learn about collaborative team events andread news clippings all customized to theemployees' needs. Commenting on the learning process at Motorola University, Richard Durr,Director at Motorola universiry in Florida, uS said, "A company's mission is to makemoney. A University's mission is to makethe world a befter place.MotorolaUniversity's mission is to make place theworlda better to make monev.',2r

" Jill Elsivick, "staying theTraining course," Employee Benetlt Nervs. June15,2002. 2r RichardDurr, "lntegration of e-learning into the LearningProcessat lvlotorola,,' rvrvw.ecedha.org, March 20,2000.

56

Employee Training and Development at Motorola

Questionsfor Discussion: l, Motorola hasbeenadjridged as oneof the top training companies in theyorld. comment on theemployee training anddevelopment practices at Motorola. why do you think the company received an international recognition for its training anddevelopment practices?

2. Motorola University wasestablished in 1989to filfilltraining anddevelopment ' needs of ernployees at Motorola. Study programs thetraining offered by Motorola andhow it benefited University thetarget audience. 3. Criticallycomment on the e-learning initiatives of Motorola.What are the benefitsand drarvbacks of e-learning in employee training and development? Explain.
'@ 2005,Icfai Center Research, All rights resemed.Thiscasewas written by for Management K. YaminiAparna, underthedirectionof VivekGupta.

51

Human Resource Managernent Exhibit I Ilighlights of theFive-Part Curriculum

The five-part cuniculumis designed to help improvethe productqualityby teaching the employees various aspects of the rvorkprocesses at a manufacturing unit. function in rvhich controlofthequality of QualityControl:Thisis a management (a) ravr materials, assemblies, produced materiai, (b) services and components, related to production, and(c) management, production, andinspection processes, is exercised in orderto preventundetected production of defective materialor the rendering of faultyservices. It involves (l) evaluate the followingsteps: actual quality performance, (2) compare acfualperformance to quality goals,(3) take actionon the difference. Thus,qualitycontrolis the process of measuring quality perfomrance, comparing it withthestandard, andacting on thedifference. IndustrialProblemSolving:This involves techniques and processes whichare mosteffective in troubleshooting practical process problems at a manufacturing unit.Employees aretaught different problem-solving techniques by following basic steps like:define the problem, collect intbrmation regarding issue question, the in determine thepossible options to solvetheproblem anddecide themostoptimum soiution by keeping planin case a backup goesrvrong something rviththe earlier plan. Presenting Conceptual I\{aterial: This course is particularly designed to helpan hourlyivorker to present a technical solution to an engineer. Duringthe 1970s ',vere rvhen training program rvas being revamped, thervorkers expected to present thetechnicaldetails of themachinery breakdorvn problems andother relating to the equipment to thetroubleshooting engineers. Thisrequired thearticulating skillsof the workers to be very sharp, Earlier wolkelsrestricted themselves to mechanical tasks andrvere notableto communicate theproblem easily andclearly. Thiscourse is designed specially to helpthempresent thetechnical details of themachinery in a clear andprofessional manner to expefis likeengineers. Effective Meetings:This courseis intendedto promotethe parlicipative management process, thekey feature of employee training at Motorola. Thiscourse promote aims to interaction betrveen participants, the right from"factory rvorkers to , theCEO,in all meetings so thateach parlicipant canunderstand andappreciate the thought processes of the other. Senior management is taught on how to be patient andreceptive to theopinions of thervorkers andto value theirsuggestions; andthe rvorkers aretaught howto present theircase in aneffective way to make theirvoice heardby the top. This course aimsto makea meeting a discussion forum for exchange ofideas flom various levels ofthe organization. Goal Setting: Thiscourse aimsto teach eachandeveryemployee the importance of goalsetting, bothat thecorporate levelandthe individual level. Theemployees are expected to reachceflaincommon goalsas a teamand eacheniployee is to reach product either or personality related goal in his individual capacity. This course teaches employees how to choose a goal/objective, holv to defineit in realistic ternis, describe in r.vriting thecourse of action to be follorved fbr realizrng such goals andhorv to measure theprogress torvards achieving thegoal. Compiled sources. from t,orious

58

Ernployee Training andDevelopment at Motorola Exhibit II Listof Courses Offered by Motorola Universlfy primary programs
Fullcourse title VicePresidents Institute Typeofcourse Leadership Development

Durat.
4 Days

Description For new vice presidents. Feculty incluCes Motorola Chairman/CEO, COO, trvo former Chairmen, other seniorofficers, as u,ell as outside experts.Held in Schaumburg only. Designed for potential general managersin the Asia/pacific region. Held in Asiaonly.

Asian Impact for Leaciership 15days Motorola Development, BusinessAcumen Development Semiconductor Products Sector GOLD Program Leadership Development, Business Issue Problem Solving

CornmunicationsLeadership Enterprise GOLD Development, Program Business Issue Problem Solving Semiconductor Cuniculum of Products Sector several courses: Global Leadership Leadership, Business GeneralI\4anagersFunctional Toolkit Refreshers

l3 days Designed for high potentials in the serniconductor business. Sessions heidin North America, South America, Europe, andAsia. l I days Introduceci in 1999. Cunenrly heldin Schaumburg only.

Ito3 days each

Separate tracks for executives, mid-level, and first-level managers. Porlions are run in North America, Asia,andEurope. Introduced in 1999. Courses in: Stlategy & Tactics, Financial Managemenl, Customer and Market Focus, Business Opcralions, Industry and 'fechnical Knowledge. and Investing in Fluman Assets. Cunently runin Schaumburg only.

I day each

Building World- Coaching Skill Class Leaders Development through Coaching Executive Scrninar Scries TopicAwareness

2-3 days Introduced in 1999. Offered rvorld-wide

0 . 5 - t Business Modcls for the day' D i g i t a lE c o n o r l r B . uilding

Alliances and Paftnerships, and Understanding Generationai Diversity. Olfercdin NorLhAmerica andEurope.

59

ir _i

Management HumanResource

Fullcourse title

Type of course

Durat.

Description
Designed io accelerate the development of new managers in China. Offered in China only. development of new managers in India,Offered in Indiaonly.

ChinaAcceleratedLeadership 18days Management Development, Frogram Action Learning, Rotation Leadership Accelerated Program Leadership Development, Action

20days Designed to accelerate the

OPEN-ENROLLMENT PROGRAMS
a a a a a a a a

Project Leadership, Management & Communications Achieving Results through People Essentials of Motorola Management Listening andFeedback Telecommunication s Princ iplesfor Proj ectManagers International Project Managcment SkillfulConversations: a Joumey to Dialogue TheTranscultural Academy

Sotrr ce: www. busines sweek. com

ExhibitIII Executive Education Profileof Motorola in thc 1990s ITEM

Number of executive non-degree programs (excluding multiplesessions of the same program) Number of executives attending above programs (notincluding EN4BA or paft-time degree programs) Percent of attending executives rvholive within45 milesof theschool Percent of anending ves executi rvholiveor workoverseas Totalparticipant days (totalparticipants x totallength of programs) Percent ofprofessors rvithat least 5 years fuIl-timecorporate expelience Number programs of custonr run Percent of parricipants fromorganizations withwhomschool hasdone business for years three or more Source: wnu.bus ines sweek. coni 1998-99 1993-94 % CHANGB

l0

42%

r280

995

28%

40% 15% 6670

s0%
t0% 5075

-20% 50% 3t%

60% l0 99%

NA 7 NA

NA 42% NA

60

Employee Training and Development at Motorola f,xhibit IV A Brief Note on Kirkpatrick Lvahratiol Levels
Thefour-level moceldeveloped by Donald (1994)is oneof the most Kirkpatrick popular methodsof assessing the effectiveness of training programmbs. In Kirkpatrick'sfour-level model, each successive evaiuationlevel is built on information providedby th'e lower level, Accordingto this model, evaluation should always begin withJevel one, andthen, asthetimeandbudget allows, should movesequentially through levels two, three, andfour,Information from eachprior levelserves as a basefor the next level'sevaluation, Thus,eachsuccessive level represents a moreprecise measure of theeffectiveness of thetraining program. - Reactions LevelI Evaluation Evaluation at this levelmeasures how parlicipants in a trainingprogram reactto it. - Did they It attempts questions to answer regarding the participants' perceptions like it? was the material relevant to their work? This type of evaluation is often calleda "smilesheet". According to Kirkpatrick, everyprogram shouldat leastbe evaluated at this level to providefor the improvement of a trainlngprogram. In addition,the participants' reactions have importantconsequences for learning (leveltwo). Althougha positivereaction doesnot guarantee learning, a negative reaction almost certainly possibility. reduces its - Learning Level2Evaluation Assessing at this level movesthe evaluation beyondlearnersatisfaction and attempts to assess theextent to whichstudents haveadvanced in skills,knorvledge, or attitude. Measurement at this levelis moredifficultandlaborious thanat level one.Methods range from formalto informal testing to teamassessment andselfassessment. participants If possible, takethetestor assessment before thetraining (pretest) (posttest)to determine andaftertraining the amount of learning thathas occurred. - Transfer Level3 Evaluation This levelmeasures the transfer thathasoccuned in learners' behavior dueto the - Are the program, Evaluating atthislevelattempts question to answerthe .training newly acquiredskills, knowledge, or attitudebeing used in the everyday environment of the learner? For many trainers this level represents the truest assessment of a program's effectiveness. Horvever, measuring at this level is difficult as it is oftenimpossible to predict whenthechange in behavior will occur, andthusrequires important decisions in tennsof whento evaluate, how oftento evaluate, andhowto evaluate. - Results Level4 Evaluation Frequently thought of as the bottomline,this levelmeasures the success of the - increased programin terms that managers and executives can understand production, quality,decreased improved costs,reduced fiequency of accidents, increased sales, andevenhigher profitsor refurnon investment. Froma business andorganizational perspective, thisis theoverall reason for a training program, yet levelfourresults arenottypically addressed. Determining results in financial terms is difficult to measure, andis hard to link directly withtrainins. Source : www. coe. sdsu. edu

ot

f,Tllrl 11

il

LHuman Resource Management Exhibit V Motorola's p rogram Individ ua!DignityEntitlement

During the 1990s employee retenticn became a ma.ior problem for manycompanies around the world'Studies showed thatin most people cases were leaving because theyfeltthey were stagnating in theorganization job for years doing thesame together without anoppoffunity to improve their performance andtheir'employability'. Earlier performance evaluation, done annually, pioved to be nct veryeffective. An intemal survey cn tireemployabilify of theemployees revealedihat over70 percent of theemployees didnotfeeltheywere getting theffaining theyneeded to besuccessful at theirjobs.'Rather than resorting to stop-gap retention initiatives, Motorola wanted to lay a solid foundation thatwould supnort human performance in every way.Thecompany made a commitment to make job-relevant. itstraining more It consulted employees about theirneeis undwants. and then revamped theentire training programme.
Motorolaintroduced the IndividualDignity Entitlement (IDE) programme to supportits human assets by providingthem rvith enoughresources to do their bestjob - fair, unifirm standards; continuous, useful feedback; and appropriate rewardsand recognition. Six months later, the percentage ofnegative survey responses hadbeencut in halfandhascontinued to decrease. In their relationship with each employee, the supervisors wereasked to takeinto consideration the person,s specificneedsat everypoint on a careerdevelopment continuum that beginswhen a person interviews for a position andendswhenhe or sheleaves the organization. the tnB required all the supervisors to discuss, on a quarterly basis, thetraining needs of each employee workingunderhim. Thesupervisor asked each employee thefollowing six questions: l. Do youhave a substantive, meaningfuljob thatcontributes to thesuccess of Motorola?

il
il

il

2. Do youknowtheon-the-job behavior andhave theknowledge base to be successful? 3' 4' 5' Hasthetraining been identified andbeen made available to continuously yourskills? upgrade Do youhave a personal career plan,andis it exciting, achievable, andbeing acted on? Do you receive candid, positive or negative, feedback at lesteverythirfy daysthat is helpfulin improving or achieving yourpersonal career plan?

6. Is thereappropriate sensitivity to your personal circumstances, gender, and/or culturalheritage sothatsgchissues do not detract from yourpersonal career plan? A negative response to any of thesequestions ffom any employee was treated as a lacunain the trainingprogrammes of the company and immediately a remedial plan was designed. Another meeting is held90 dayslater- the same questions areasked andprogtess on the previous quarter,s issues is evaluated. Any employee-supervisor conflicts at Motorola, whichcannot beresolved by theparties themselves, are takento a higherlevelwherean actionplan is created, This can involveiakingthe issue to chairmanlevel, if necessary, David Pulatie,seniorvice-president of Motorola,said: ,,ln a corporation of 150,000 people, in ll0 countries all overthe world,any issue thatcomes from any placein thecorporation canbe movedup, solved, moved backdown,andeverybody knowsaboutit in 90 days'"Motorola always followedan open-door policy with regard to redressing employee grievances. Employees coulC rvalkstraight to themanager's roomanytime to discuss alny problem pertaining to thejob or personal issues. In fact everyemployee had directe-mailaccess to the Motorola CEOin theUS. Comp il edfr ont vari oussources

62

Employee Training andDevelopment at Motorola Exhibit VI Highlights program of Motorola's Self-Directed Learning
advantage of a self-directed learning programme is its abilityto generate higher leveis of participant motivation and enthusiism jadedandiime-pressured among employees. An organization culture that prizes learningarrd offers multiple opportunities for development, with the supportand encouragement of the iop management and HR department, is a criticalrequirement if self-directed learning is to flourishin an organization. Motorola'sself-directed haining systemhighlightsthree issuesinvolved in providing andadministering systems to support self-directed leaming: Infrastructure for Delivering Learning Resources: Idotorola'sworldwide computer information networkallows its employees to access trainingmaterials directlyon their desktop by simply loggingin with userI.D., and a usage fee is automatically charged to the employee's departmental trainingbudget. A recordis keptof thetotalnumber of hoursemployees usethissystem, anda ioll-up reportis providedto managers on the amountof emptoyee training occuning,Another platformis the JustIn Time Lecture delivery series, devetopei in coop.ration with carnegie Mellon university. Here, a companyexpert is filmed making a presentation on a topic.Then, the lecture, presentation slides if any,anda running list of frequently askedquestions with answers arepackaged ontoa cD disk,and shipped to all thoseinterested. Selection and Supply of LearningResources: To meetits uniqueand specific needs, Motorola, makesas well as buys learning resources. Two homegrown leamingpackages have alreadybeen made availabre to employees. one is "Motorola:Yesterday, Today,and Tomonow,"a 52-unitreview of Motorola culture, history andvalues. Eachunit takes aboutl0 minutes to complete. All new employees are given easyaccess to this programme as part of the new employee orientation process, At the end of eachunit, the learner questions, answers and is thenprovided with conectanswers. A secondoffering is the "First Time Leader'sSurvival Kit," an g0-unit instructional andperformance suppofi programme thatrequires 50 hoursof time on the computer, plus an equalamount of time in the field, It takes nine months to complete. This programme is designed for newly appointed supervisors and includes topics like budgeting, handling meetings,pranning, personnel management, andreorganization. Effective and Easyto UseLearningResources: Motorola customized its training to provide training materials in a format thatbestmatched the learning preferences of each user,For example, using Kolb's Learning Style inventory, Motorola worked outtypical protiles of engineer learning styles, Source: www. them anqgement or.com 'fhe

63

Human Resource Management

AdditionalReadings & References:
t . williarn wiggcnhorn, "l\lotorola U: when Training Becomes an Education,"
llawardBusiness Reviel.juiy-August 1990. Jeanne c Meister, "Extendingthe Short Shelf Life cf Knowledge," Trainingand Development Joumal, 1998.

3. Sumantra Ghoshal, christopher A Bar1le11, and PeterMoran,"A New Manifesto for

Management," Sloan Managemcnt Review, Spring 1999.

{ . StcphenBudiansky,"Inc. U: Education with a Bottomline." wwl.orismA

magazine.org, October I 999. 5, Bob Bunda" "From corporateTrainingto corporateLearning:The Evolutionof Corporate TrainingFacilities," www.isdesignet,com, October 1999. 6. "connectingEducationto Business & Industry," www,mc.maricopa.edu, lvlarch 2000. 7. Richard Durr,"lntegrationof E-Learning into the LearningProcess at l\{otorola," www.ecedha.org, March20,2000. 8. Judy Olion, Training,"wrvw.smeal.psu.edu, "Trendsin Corporate February 2002. g. EmerHughes, Leaders are Made, Not Born." www.archives.tcm.ie. "Retention Julv 02,2000. 10. "ASTD Recognizes RobertGalvin,"www.qualitydigest.com, November 2000. I l. Jill Elswick, the Trainingcourse,"Employee Benefit "Staying News, June15,2002. china," 12. James Borton, "Nlotorola university scores High Grades in www.news.cens.com. July04,2002, 13. Tim Sosbe,"Fred Harburg rvww. clomedia.com. Novemb er 2002.

C o n n e c t i n gM o t o r o l a w i t h L e a r n i n g , "

14. "Life CyclePlanning; l\{otorola," wrvw.future500.org, March 0,1, 2005. 15. Eure R o b ," o n t h e J o b c o r p o r a t e E-Learning l\Iakes T r a i n i n gA v a i l a b l e Anytime, A nywhere," www.customercentrix.com. 1 6 . " H i g h P e r f o r m a n cW e ork Research P r o j e c t :Motorola, Inc. - United States," wwrv.ilo.org. 17. rvrvw.motorola.com 18. wlvw,howardcc.edu ,19. tvrvw.themanagementor.com 20. www.epnet.com 2l . rvrvrv.trai ningpressreleases. com 22. wrvw.trainingcamp.com 23. www,coe.sdsu.edu 24. www.managementr.visdom.com

64