april 18-23, 2012 project plan to develop a learning & development strategic plan for retail...

APRIL 18-23, 2012

PROJECT PLAN TO DEVELOP A LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN

FOR RETAIL EMPIRE, INC.

Prepared by:Alice Monroe, Chief Learning Officerand Ray Svenson Consulting, Inc.

Sample

PHASE 1:Project Planning

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RAY SVENSON CONSULTING, INC. • 112 Two Mile Bridge Road • Roberts • MT • 59070www.raysvensonconsulting.com • e-mail: [email protected] phone: 406-446-1861 • Mobile phone: 406-425-4013

©2012 RAY SVENSON CONSULTING, INC.

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Project PlanPROJECT PURPOSE

The purpose of this project is to

Analyze and anticipate the learning needs of Retail Empire’s employees

Assess the capabilities of the current Learning and Development System to meet the anticipated needs

Propose a future-state Learning and Development System

Develop an Implementation Plan to transition to the new system



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Project PlanBACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

Retail Empire currently has approximately 2,500 stores in North America and is adding stores at the rate of 250 per year.

There is a plan to enter Europe within the next two years.

The Company’s growth plans involve not only adding stores, but growing top-line sales ($ billions) and margin ($100s of millions) in existing stores.

We are underperforming compared to our top two competitors.

Employee turnover in the stores exceeds 100%.

There are major performance improvement initiatives underway in Merchandising Marketing Supply chain Retail operations Information technology



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Project PlanBACKGROUND AND RATIONALE (cont.)

Existing training focuses mainly on the stores by training store managers at the Corporate Learning Center and expecting the store managers to train store employees using a curriculum supplied by Corporate Learning & Development.

Training outside of Retail Operations is ad hoc except for Information Technology, which has its own small training department and Leadership Development which is rudimentary.

We have never conducted a full-scale strategic analysis of the Company’s Learning and Development needs.

The performance of the business is critically dependent upon the skills and knowledge of all of its employees.

The stakes for Learning and Development could be in the $ billions.



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Project PlanSCOPE

Geographical Focus mainly on North America. The model will be constructed with the intent of migrating it to

Europe.

Learning Needs Focus Leadership Development, all levels Retail Operations Merchandising Marketing Supply Chain Information Technology (both IT employees and users in all

departments)

Time Horizon Focus on the next three years Evolutionary plan for six years



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Project PlanDELIVERABLES

Analysis findings and conclusions Business-driven Learning and Development needs for each area of focus Estimated business benefits of systematically addressing the L&D needs Assessment of current L&D capabilities to meet the identified needs Forecast of the numbers of people needing L&D in each area over the next

three years Relevant best L&D practices, both internal and external Future L&D system requirements

Future L&D System Architecture Mission, philosophy, and goals for L&D Learning and Development strategies and delivery systems to be employed Learning facilities and information technology infrastructure L&D processes L&D organization structure, roles, and responsibilities Governance of L&D (Business Leaders setting ongoing direction and priorities) Sourcing strategies Partnerships with Universities, schools, and contractors L&D staffing strategy L&D financing strategy System for measuring and reporting results



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Project PlanDELIVERABLES (cont.)

Implementation Plan (several scenarios) Three-year goals, milestones, and timeline to transition to the new L&D system Forecast of workload and cost for both implementation and ongoing L&D

operations Communication and Change Management Plans Business Case



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Project PlanKEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Leader, Alice Monroe, Chief Learning Officer Organize and lead the Working Team Be accountable to company executives, Sponsors, and Executive Steering

Team Perform as liaison with best practices companies Secure the necessary resources Recruit Sponsors

Project Manager, John Jones (full-time for four months) Maintain project tasks lists and assignments Track progress and troubleshoot and resolve problems Schedule all meetings, interviews, etc. (with administrative support) Perform as liaison with the consultant

Working Team which includes representatives from key departments selected by Executive Steering Team (one-third time for four months) Conduct analysis tasks Participate in analysis, design, and implementation planning meetings Present findings to Sponsors and Executive Steering Team



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Project PlanKEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (cont.)

Sponsors, Janet Elias, President and Paul Johnson, HR VP Recruit Executive Steering Team members Review project deliverables Advocate for the project

Executive Steering Team which includes the president, HR VP, and VPs of key departments Review analysis findings and future L&D System Architecture Review Implementation Plan and Business Case and advocate to Executive

Leadership Team for approval Provide members to the Working Team Provide access to people and information Advocate for this project

Consultant, Ray Svenson Provide the project process and tools Support the Project Leader and Project Manager Facilitate analysis, design, and implementation planning meetings Review deliverables Help prepare Executive Briefings Provide straw models for critical future L&D system components



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Project PlanCRITICAL INTERFACES

HR Director, Recruiting and Staffing Director, Performance Management Director, HRIS

Finance CFO

IT Systems Architecture

Buildings and Facilities Chief Architect’s office

Functional Departments Executive Steering Team members



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Project PlanPROJECT APPROACH

ProjectPlan

DevelopSpecifications

and Design Details

Sponsor Review

Sponsor Review

Sponsor Review

Analysis Findings

andConclusions

Design High Level L&D

System Architecture

3-5 Year Implemen-

tationPlanand

BusinessCase

BusinessNeeds

Analysis

AssessCurrent

L&DCapabilities

ResearchBest

Practices & Competitors’ Practices

DevelopPopulationForecast



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Project PlanPROJECT APPROACH (cont.)

Business Needs Analysis Analyze documented business plans Analyze initiative plans and documents Analyze business performance data Interview executives and some middle managers Conduct site visits to stores and warehouses Conduct focus groups with employees in targeted functions

Assess Current L&D Capabilities Complete a capabilities inventory with each organized training group Conduct a technology assessment to assess the existing technology

infrastructure capability to support e-learning and tracking of learning results

Research Best Practices and Competitors’ L&D Practices Identify internal best practices by interviewing L&D leaders Conduct literature search Interview employees who worked for competitors or best practice companies Interview L&D leaders in best practices companies Visit selected best practices companies



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Develop Population Forecast Segment the learner population Analyze historical population size, growth, and turnover per segment Forecast population size, growth, and turnover per segment by analyzing

business plans and staffing plans for three years

Analysis Findings and Conclusions Conduct a five-day Working Team meeting to summarize the data collection

findings, draw analysis conclusions, and develop requirements for the future-state L&D system

Document the findings, conclusions, and requirements in an Analysis Report Prepare an Executive Briefing and brief the Sponsors and Executive Steering

Team members



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Design High-level L&D System Architecture Prepare straw models of alternative design concepts Conduct a five-day Working Team meeting to design the L&D System

Architecture Document the design in a Design Report Prepare an Executive Briefing package and brief the Sponsors and Executive

Steering Team members Conduct an Executive Steering Team meeting to approve the design and

receive suggestions for change Amend the design per the Executive Steering Team recommendations

Develop Specifications and Design Details Subteams create sufficient detail to permit implementation planning and cost

estimating



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3-5 Year Implementation Plan and Business Case Conduct a five-day Working Team meeting to

— Review the design details— Develop alternative implementation scenarios (3)

• Milestones and timeline for implementation work• Estimate implementation workload and cost• Estimate L&D operations workload and cost

— Develop a Communications and Change Management Plan— Develop a Business Case for proceeding with implementation

Develop a spreadsheet model for implementation cost and resources Complete cost estimating, where needed Run the spreadsheet model for the alternative scenarios Conduct a two-day Working Team meeting to review the resource estimates

and plan the Executive reviews Document the Implementation Plan Develop the Executive Briefing package Brief the Sponsors and Executive Steering Team members Conduct an Executive Steering Team review for approval and scenario

selection Plan and conduct a review with the Executive Leadership Team for

authorization to proceed



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Project PlanBUSINESS CASE FOR GOING FORWARD

The business stakes associated with employee Learning and Development are in the range of hundreds of $ millions to $ billions.

Meeting the Learning and Development needs of the business is likely to cost $ tens of millions per year.

This project, at an estimated total cost of $300,000 will shape our Learning and Development approach to make sure that our investments are directed to provide the highest leverage for improved business results.


april 18-23, 2012 project plan to develop a learning & development strategic plan for retail...

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