Chief Learning Officer magazine recognized 45 organizations as learning and development leaders Sunday night at the 2012 LearningElite Gala at Loews Miami Beach Hotel. Six organizations were also singled out for their achievement with Editor’s Choice Awards.
Before the LearningElite were honored, Stacey Boyle, vice president of research and advisory services of the magazine’s Human Capital Media Advisory Group, opened with a presentation comparing the LearningElite program to the motion picture “Moneyball.” “Whether you’re building a baseball team or a business team, recruiting and training is a key,” Boyle said. “Even if a competitor has more resources, a business can keep everyone on their toes by looking at their team analytically and working with what they have. By doing this, your organization’s L&D program will work, and then you have a win.”
New to the LearningElite program this year were the capstone evaluations that the top six companies had to complete. General Mills, AT&T, Defense Acquisition University, Accenture, McDonald’s Corp. and UPS brought their L&D strategy to the table, completing a presentation and an executive interview with the capstone evaluation judging panel.
“In the spirit of continuous improvement, this year we decided that we wanted to increase the rigor, specifically at the top, so those that are really the elite of the elite,” Boyle said. “We wanted to verify that we had the best at the top and that they’re really in the right order. This capstone evaluation allowed us to take a closer look; to pull up the magnifying glass and increase the power of the telescope. It gave us more confidence that we have the right organizations and the right ranking in the top six.”
General Mills walked away with top honors, ranking first and earning the Editor’s Choice for Learning Impact after finishing sixth in last year’s LearningElite.
“The LearningElite judging team identified these six organizations as role models in their L&D programs; we were impressed with them and wanted to see more before finalizing the ranking,” Boyle said. “All six companies proved they deserved to be in LearningElite’s top ranks, and General Mills showed exactly how their programs affected their employees and their productivity.”
Developed under the guidance of a group of chief learning officers and senior L&D practitioners, LearningElite is the only peer-based benchmarking initiative that recognizes excellence using five key L&D performance indicators: learning strategy, learning execution, learning impact, business performance results and leadership commitment.
“The CLO LearningElite program shows amazing insight into how businesses use learning and development to respond to their economic environment,” said Norm Kamikow, president and editor in chief of MediaTec Publishing, which publishes Chief Learning Officer magazine. “Being able to compare last year’s analysis to this year’s, in itself, shows forward thinking and eagerness to improve by all the participants. I’m personally looking forward to the innovations this program will showcase in the years to come.”
The 2012 LearningElite organizations will also be featured in the June 2012 issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine and have the opportunity to host workshops at the 2012 LearningElite Forum virtual event on Aug. 7-8, 2012.
The following awards were presented:
Best Company: General Mills
Rank 2: AT&T
Rank 2: Defense Acquisition University
Rank 4: Accenture
Rank 5: McDonald’s Corp.
Rank 6: UPS
Rank 7: Farmers Insurance Group
Rank 8: Qualcomm
Rank 9: InterContinental Hotels Group
Rank 10: Procter & Gamble, NA CBD
Rank 11: Nationwide
Rank 12: Department of Veterans Affairs, Learning University
Rank 13: Vi
Rank 14: Deloitte
Rank 15: New York Presbyterian Hospital
Rank 16: Sidley Austin LLP
Rank 16: Jiffy Lube International
Rank 18: Prudential Financial
Rank 19: Coldwell Banker
Rank 20: Cash America International
Rank 21: Lowe’s Companies Inc.
Rank 22: Xerox Corp.
Rank 23: IBM
Rank 23: EMC Corp.
Rank 25: Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.
Rank 26: Carmax Inc.
Rank 27: St. Peter’s Health Care Services
Rank 28: Emory University
Rank 29: Cerner Corp.
Rank 30: Rex Healthcare
Rank 30: FDIC Corporate University
Rank 32: Liquidnet Inc.
Rank 33: NetApp Inc.
Rank 34: Amdocs
Rank 35: North Shore-LIJ Health System — Center for Learning and Innovation
Rank 36: OptumRx
Rank 37: Department of Veterans Affairs, Acquisition Academy
Rank 38: CA Technologies
Rank 39: HCSC
Rank 40: Genentech
Rank 41: AlliedBarton Security Services
Rank 42: Banner Health
Rank 43: University Health System
Rank 44: National Industries for the Blind
Rank 45: Essar Group
Editor’s Choice Awards were presented to six CLO LeaningElite winners:
Editor’s Choice – Strategy: Accenture
Editor’s Choice – Leadership Commitment: Defense Acquisition University
Editor’s Choice – Learning Execution: McDonald’s Corp.
Editor’s Choice – Learning Impact: General Mills
Editor’s Choice – Business Performance Results: AT&T
Editor’s Choice – Best Small Company: Vi
