On-Boarding Experienced MBA’s: Technology

Getting Experienced New Hires On-boarded 2x Faster at a Global Technology Company

Client Case Study

Situation

Microsoft Corporation is engaged in developing, licensing and supporting a range of software products and services. The Company also designs and sells hardware, and delivers online advertising to the customers. It operates in five segments and th Company’ products include operating systems for personal computers (PCs), servers, phones, and other intelligent devices; server applications for distributed computing environments; productivity applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools.

Microsoft wanted to:

  • Get new experienced technical consultants up to speed to add value on client projects as fast and efficiently as possible while having a sense of excitement to be working at the company
  • Apply the technical skills that they have learned in the previous 6-8 weeks
  • Know what it is like to work on a typical client project using common company technologies, frameworks, and resources so that new hires add value and do not make a significant mistake.
  • Understand how to effectively consult with customers, project team members, managers, and sponsors in typical project scenarios including, but not limited to scope creep, politics, working styles and personalities, technical, time, budget, and quality challenges, decision making and team dynamics, feel what it is like to have success.

Complications

  • Blind Spots: Microsoft’s’ experienced new hires were at the top of their class from the most prestigious Business Schools around the globe.  They thought that they :already knew everything.”
  • Speed: It was taking too long (9-18 months) for experienced new hires to hit the quality and utilization targets required by the company, team leads and the client.

Approach

  1. Definition
    • Definition of Success including: List of key business objectives, learning objectives, and project success metrics; Description of standard roles, responsibilities, and expectations for new candidates in the first 6 months of their job; Definition of New Hire Target Audience; Resume factors – education, experience, knowledge; Performance factors – intellectual, interpersonal, motivation; Defined alignment with overall on-boarding process; High-Level Design Approach based upon best practices; Project timeline and action plan.
  2. Design
    • Overall Design document.
    • List of content.
    • Agenda, roles, and responsibilities.
    • Pilot project scenario and associated “performance test.”
    • Modules, activities, objectives, timing, and resources.

    • Final Design

    • List of suggested next steps.

Approach (cont)

3.  Delivery

  • Coordination and finalization of dates, location, and participants.
  • Creation and coordination of a participant disposition letter to set expectations.
  • Material ordering, coordination, and shipping.

  • Communication of room and equipment requirements.

  • Facilitation, evaluation, and continuous improvement.

4.  Measurement

  • Level-1 Satisfaction Measurement and Summarization.
  • Customer Success Cycle Meeting to review results and discuss Next Steps.

Interesting Design Features

  • Completely revamped lecture-based approaches of the past
  • Required no SME prep time and incorporated company executives for performance tests
  • Utilized real internal projects for simulations and case studies
  • Focused on intense “pressure testing” and mirrored client project scenarios, pace, and personnel

Results

  • 100% client satisfaction
  • 100% client loyalty
  • 50% decrease in speed to ramp (from months to weeks)

Related Information

We looked to LSA Global as a consulting partner to help us explore innovative and scholarly approaches to promote employee engagement and sustain the unique culture we’ve built over the last decade.  LSA helped us perpetuate coaching as a discipline across the organization by integrating our core values, goal setting, and performance management.

We appreciate LSA’s commitment to cutting-edge practices to help keep us a step ahead during this time of rapid change.

Rosalyn Chan
Vice President, Human Resources

Redwood Trust

LSA Global brought a fresh perspective to our behavioral based interviewing strategy for key executive positions that we needed to fill.  They helped us to develop questions that produced a much deeper understanding of candidates’ capabilities.

Throughout the process LSA was also very responsive in dealing with short lead time requests.  Thank you!

SPO Partners & Co
Kim Silva, CFO

LSA is an instrumental training outsourcing partner helping us to build leadership and management capacity while strategically investing in our people.

LSA’s flexibility, depth, and breadth of expertise allows us to deliver top quality solutions that are directly tied to key business plans and talent management strategies.

Their ability to custom design, deliver, and evaluate high impact Management Training Programs has been excellent. They are true business partners and a pleasure to work with.

Margaret M. Mader
Vice President, Human Resources

Hyperion

LSA’s ability to assess needs and develop targeted  leadership training has been a critical resource for me to help our teams to perform at their peak. 

I love that LSA focuses on training that truly makes a meaningful impact on the people and the business.

Noelle VanVlierbergen
Sr. HR Business Partner

apple client logo LSA Global

LSA has a very unique and powerful methodology regarding learning. Their ability to overcome skepticism, obtain executive support, and create an aligned learning strategy that provides measurable business impact is second to none.

They understand your goals, flex to your needs, and solve problems. They certainly help make my job easier and are a pleasure to work with.

I highly recommend LSA to anyone trying to connect the dots between strategy, skills, knowledge, and results.

Noelle Van Vlierbergen
Human Resources Director

AKQA

I’m not sure if I’ve run across a company that can match the depth and quality of LSA’s consultants and facilitators.

I highly recommend LSA to anyone seeking a trusted training, coaching, and consulting partner to improve performance – at both a tactical and strategic level.

They really get talent, learning, and performance.

Jeff Coon
VP Human Resources

Exelixis

Congratulations on your pro-activity in establishing this program and developing such an effective New Employee Orientation course.

Farhat Ali
President and Chief Executive Office

Fujitsu

We have worked with LSA Global for our learning and development needs and have always had great success.

They helped us recently with targeted and customized Management Training Workshops to fit our unique situation, and they were fantastic.

I highly recommend LSA to anyone that is attempting to help take their leadership and management talent to the next level.

Mary Johnston
HR Manager, BU Radiology Informatics

Having a training outsourcing partner like LSA to support our talent management needs has been a real blessing. In an emerging company where typically you can’t afford the infrastructure necessary to provide a full range of offerings, having an external partner like LSA has been a blessing.

They deeply understand our business and our culture.   They do a great job on a wide range of customized training, consulting, and coaching solutions for us.

For us, they are definitely better than having our own internal Training and Organizational Development function.  They always do what it takes to hit the mark.

Chris Wells
Vice President, HR and IT

We have found LSA to be highly responsive to meeting our unique needs in learning and development. Their passion for high levels of business relevancy, customer satisfaction, and quality align very closely with our core values and talent management strategy.

Kudos to LSA Global.  They delivered exactly what I wanted under ever-changing conditions.

Laura McHugh
Director of Training and Organizational Development

Gilead

The quality of LSA’s Leadership Training Programs and facilitators is always top notch. We recognize and appreciate the hard work LSA always goes through to align to our unique culture and meet our specific requirements. Thank you for regularly going above and beyond. Your support and dedication, both on the strategic and tactical side, have been outstanding!

Anna Meyer
Leadership Development

Intuit

The experiential New Employee Orientation was an incredible success for 2,500+ new hires over 4 years spread across the globe.

LSA partnered with us to create an innovative solution on very short notice and added a huge amount of value.

We could never have done it without their unmatched combination of expertise, professionalism, and creativity that aligned everything with our unique culture and growth strategy.

Even our executives and experienced hires were blown away!

Brenda Wagner
Founder and President

Proxicom

Thank you! Your learning strategy insights flipped our approach from a content-driven design to one where business strategy and relevancy drives the leadership programs we aimed to redesign.

This investment more than proved its worth – not only did it improve our leadership development program redesign, but it also was like a mini executive seminar that stretched our experienced L&D team’s thinking.

Richard Morse
Senior Director Talent Management

Gilead-Sciences-Logo-LSA-Global

LSA Global has been a great partner in helping us move toward being “the leading developer of talent in the service performance management industry.”

I have engaged LSA to help develop best-in-class programs in the areas of: Executive On-boarding, Manager Training, Sales Training and Coaching, Employee Engagement, and Instructional Design.

They have consistently met or exceeded my (very) high expectations and are always responsive to my needs to increase performance, engagement, customer satisfaction, and sales growth.

Mike Normant
Senior Director, Training & Development

Service Source

The refreshing thing about LSA is that they focus on understanding our business situation and helping me succeed instead of selling stuff. Their experts are an invaluable resource that help me deliver higher quality results faster. I recommend them to anyone looking to improve the performance of their workforce.

Stacie Rodgers
VP of Human Resources

Cutera

Evaluate your Performance

Toolkits

Get key strategy, culture, and talent tools from industry experts that work

More

Health Checks

Assess how you stack up against leading organizations in areas matter most

More

Whitepapers

Download published articles from experts to stay ahead of the competition

More

Methodologies

Review proven research-backed approaches to get aligned

More

Blogs

Stay up to do date on the latest best practices that drive higher performance

More

Client Case Studies

Explore real world results for clients like you striving to create higher performance

More