Case Study: Web-Based Development Delivers for FedEx

By Paul Harris

Challenge: When executives of FedEx Ground decided to adjust the company’s management-driven organizational strategy to incorporate a leadership-focused culture, and to use competencies as a primary means to define this shift, new development needs arose. It had to develop the leadership skills of its mid-level managers, especially those in far flung regional operations, and to identify and measure its newly defined leadership competencies. What tool could it employ to best assess and develop the leadership and technical skills of its managers?

Solution: With help from two Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based suppliers, FedEx created a custom leadership development tool that is entirely Web-based. Called Developing High Performers (DHP), it assesses and develops seven leadership competencies considered essential to the company’s mid-level management team. Results include a greater self-awareness among participants and a desire to improve their leadership skills, constant feedback and an objective measure of leadership abilities.

A new approach to corporate management poses challenges to any training organization, but when the revision targets busy mid-level managers scattered around the United States and Canada, some heavy duty chin stroking is required. At FedEx Ground, it meant taking leadership development outside of the classroom entirely, and devising an e-learning solution that could meet a multitude of needs.

The more balanced management and leadership strategy included an evolution of a corporate culture based on policies and procedures with one that is focused on the job ahead. The move required the corporate university department to find an e-learning solution that was user-friendly in delivery and long-term in approach. It also had to fit into the culture of the organization, integrating seamlessly with the infrastructure, and emphasize self-initiated learning versus merely training.

Launched in 2001, the project involved a collaboration of FedEx training experts working with two area vendors: international employment consulting firm Right Management Consultants and training company Five Star Development. Heading the DHP team were Heather D'Alesandro, managing director of FedEx Ground University, and Gretchen Rawdon, senior manager of workforce design and development. The two are based at the subsidiary’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, headquarters.

DHP, the company’s first experience with e-learning, “was built entirely from scratch from our specifications,” says D'Alesandro. The goal was to deliver a complete leadership development process, with assessment, development planning, tracking, feedback, and reassessment built into a single Web-based program, that enables participants to fit development into their own schedules. She says the self-driven process is distinctive from leadership training programs that are classroom based and augmented by e-learning.

Right Management’s industrial psychologists helped develop the competencies and the actual context of the product, while technologists at Five Star helped create the e-learning technology and content, says D'Alesandro. Working together, the team completed a needs assessment, initial design, and technical development. An eight-month pilot program was launched in the spring of 2002, and in April 2003, DHP was rolled out to a broader audience of 204 participants—41 percent of the 496 mid-level managers responsible for running regionally-based facilities.

The curriculum is based on instilling seven basic competencies, such as communicating effectively, building trust and respect, resolving conflict, inspiring others and meeting customer needs. A three-phased approach begins by assessing each participant in each competency. “There are four different assessments of each skill, which helps us triangulate and evaluate each one,” says Rawdon. They include a 360-degree evaluation, she adds.

Next comes a planning phase, a series of reports generated from the assessment outcomes. Participants select the competencies in which they have the most opportunity for development. Participants then begin the development phase by selecting tools and activities to help them improve skills in the selected areas. They review this development plan with their manager and set timeframes for completion. With their managers acting as coaches, they begin pursuing the year-long development process. The exercise is repeated annually, with year-to-year improvement monitored.

Keys to the learning experience include the use of simulated management problems that often occur in the package delivery business—snow storms or hurricanes—and outlines employee contingency plans. “We offer all sorts of scenarios on how to coach other people to react to these situations, not just to lead,” says Rawdon. She says participants find the experience robust and user-friendly, especially after improvements were made following the pilot, including increased functionality.

A second Website available to administrators enables quick reporting and assessment question changes as needed. Indeed, a wealth of measurement data enables management to measure strengths and opportunities from an individual, division and company perspective, says D'Alesandro.

The specific technologies that support DHP include Microsoft IIS 5 Web server for Active Server Pages, messaging and email notification; Microsoft SQL Server 2000 as a database server and for data transfer from PeopleSoft; and Crystal Decisions Crystal Reports 9 for report generation.

Within FedEx, the learning program is continually evaluated on many levels.

The company measures

• participant reaction (through feedback surveys)
• learning (assessment completion status and results)
• behavior (participant behavior leadership change)
• business impact (comparisons of year-over-year results)
• ROI (based on various costs and benefits received).  

FedEx claims the results have been dramatic. Participants have become much more aware of their leadership behavior, and how it impacts their own performance and those around them. What’s more, FedEx is not alone in its hearty assessment. DHP was awarded earlier this year with an Excellence in Practice Citation from ASTD.

A second long-term result is the concept of feedback, say the folks at FedEx. DHP has created a formal forum for this information exchange through the multi-rater assessment and participants are recognizing the benefits. Thirdly, the effort has produced an acceptable and objective measure of leadership skills. “DHP has created an awareness of leadership competencies and how they can be effectively measured in a manner that is fair and meaningful to those being evaluated,” claims the company.

What’s next? “We will review with the executive management committee, examining the data to see what is happened with the 200 participants, their feedback, challenges, successes, along with our recommendations based on our business environment,” says D'Alesandro. It will be brought into the bigger picture, including succession planning and leadership development as a whole, she adds. It will also decide if and when to invite into the DHP community the 60 percent of FedEx Ground managers that aren’t yet included.

Published: September 2004