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Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc.

A.O. Smith Corporation

This case is a summary of A. O. Smith Corporation’s journey towards aligning

and developing talent within a global business environment. All salaried employees

participate in the core talent management process – performance management. This

includes goal alignment, skills assessment(s) and individual development planning and is

provided to employees in multiple languages. This process is really a springboard to

other talent management systems that will be described in this case study.

Background………………………………………………………………………………..

Integrated Talent Management – An updated approach……………………………………

Phase One – Identifying the Talent Priorities………………………………………………

Employee Data System(s)………………………………………………………………….

Performance Management…………………………………………………………………

Skills Refresh………………………………………………………………………

Functional Skill Development……………………………………………………

Employee Development…………………………………………………………………..

Leadership Development………………………………………………………………….

Succession Planning……………………………………………………………………….

Career Development……………………………………………………………………….

About the Contributor………………………………………………………………………


Background

Although the story of A. O. Smith Corporation dates back to 1874, this story

begins in the mid-1990s as the company embarked on formalizing a set of standards for

how to manage and develop people through a program it implemented called

Management Excellence. The program was launched in November of 1993 and was built

on the belief that the development and retention of outstanding employees is essential and

it placed the manager at the center of corporate achievement and growth. A vision for

Management Excellence was defined and set forth as follows:

Create a business enterprise where management excellence leads to achieving the

best results possible and a high-potential organization positioned for growth.

The Management Excellence initiative was presented at the time as an evolution

vs. a revolution. It was built upon the solid foundation of values and practices that were

established by the founders of A. O. Smith and its leaders over the years. As stated in the

program launch in 1993, these values reflect a strong focus on meeting customer

requirements. These values are: an unrelenting search for continuous improvement in our

processes and qualities, a commitment to a humane and satisfying workplace, and an

allegiance to uncompromising business ethics.

The specific components of the Management Excellence program were the following:

Selection Systems – Recruiting and evaluating candidates for key

managerial, supervisory, and salaried positions.


Performance Management – Methods for communicating and establishing

performance goals, skill expectations, and skill-building strategies.

Management Education/Training – A more systematic approach to

evaluating management development and training needs, and to delivering

effective training support.

Succession Planning - Systems for identifying and developing the talent

A. O. Smith will require to achieve its strategic and performance goals.

The competency model that was developed as part of the program was called the

Hierarchy of Managerial Success Factors (see Figure 1 below) and it served as the

centerpiece for the Management Excellence initiative. Each program was constructed to

link directly to the management competency model. The Management Excellence

program laid the foundation for what the company strives for today – an integrated talent

management strategy.


Figure 1- Competency Model for Managerial Success

The leadership principles that are embedded in the Management Excellence

program can be found in a book titled Managing from the Heart and published in 1990.

It was written by Hyler Bracey, Jack Rosenblum, Aubrey Sanford and Roy Trueblood

who were all partners in company called The Atlanta Consulting Group. Each principle

starts with each of the letters in the word HEART and is as follows:

Hear and understand me;

Even if you disagree with me, please don’t make me wrong;

Acknowledge the greatness within me;


Remember to look for my loving intentions; and

Tell me the truth with compassion.

The underlying premise is that managers must not only be competent and confident, they

must also be caring in order to inspire performance.

For the next 10 years, the Management Excellence program continued as the

company made acquisitions, divested businesses, entered new geographies, and

ultimately grew both in total revenue and the number of employees required to support

the business. Throughout these significant changes, the company remained focused on

investing in and developing its people and ultimately “Managing from the Heart”. The

Management Excellence program provided a common language and set of management

practices that were anchored around the company’s values.


Integrated Talent Management – An updated approach

Beginning in 2005, the company began to reevaluate its offerings in the area of

talent management/development and the process evolved through the current date in

2012. A transition in leadership at the top of the organization due to retirements and the

continued increase in the mix of the business from operations outside of the United States

were a couple of the fundamental business changes that prompted a change or refinement

of existing practices. In addition, human capital management practices were

fundamentally changing and there was an emergence and refinement of technology

solutions available in the marketplace. This not only prompted the company to look at its

talent management/development practices differently, it also allowed for certain practices

and systems to be moved from paper or electronic files to more automated processes

enabled by technology. As changes were made to the talent processes and programs,

there were several major influences or assumptions that the company had to keep in

mind:

Business Driven - The order of development or enhancement was based

on business needs. So, the talent management strategy did not follow the

lifecycle of the employee, rather it was based on where the company had the

greatest need and also where the most benefit could be gained for the effort

required to make the change.

Salaried Workforce - The audience for the processes and programs were

for the salaried workforce – about 4,000 employees.


Globally Applicable - The processes and programs strove be consistent

globally, where possible, which also meant that decisions had to be made around

local language needs. The primary languages that required consideration were

English, Mandarin Chinese, and Latin American Spanish. The countries that the

company operated in at the time were the United States, Canada, Mexico, China,

the Netherlands, Hungary, England and eventually India.

The company evaluated its core offerings and began to enhance and integrate its

offerings through a business based approach that involved the identification of gaps and

the development and implementation of programs designed to improve individual, team

and company performance. The identification of gaps involved a structured process that

looked at each core HR process and gave each a rating according to the quality of the

standardized process, the effectiveness of the current process, and the importance of the

need to change according to the business strategy.

A. O. Smith’s business model has always been anchored around values,

employees, customers and products, but the day to day operation lives this out through

company culture and the execution of our business strategies. The business focus and

challenges continue to guide the company’s journey as the company continued to face the

realities of business including troubling economic factors; global expansion and

diversification; manufacturing rationalization; unpredictable raw material pricing; and the

extreme and forever changing competitive landscape.

A. O. Smith’s talent management strategy adheres to a fairly simplistic approach

with the goal being to help each employee increase their performance and overall

Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc. contribution to the mission and strategy of the company. In order to do this effectively

our programs and practices fall into these two main categories:

1. Assess – Performance and Skills

2. Develop – Skills and Capabilities

The company believes the employee’s manager needs to play a lead role in this

process. Some of the processes require some oversight or facilitation by the local Human

Resources Manager or a human resources team member who has multiple-site

responsibilities, but the manager is ultimately responsible for development planning and

support for each employee. This local-responsibility model allows the company to

continue to broaden the capabilities of the global human resources team, and keep

centralized resources and support to a minimum.

This case study will highlight the key components that A. O. Smith implemented

to enhance the pillars that were established in 1993. It will focus on the key initiatives

developed and implemented beginning in 2005 and bring us up to the current date in

2012.


Phase One

The A. O. Smith Human Resources Leadership Team goes through an annual

diagnostic process to identify the human resource initiatives that need to be developed or

enhanced based on the current gaps and business needs going forward. During the last

seven years, from 2005 through 2011, the talent systems that have made the list are as

follows:

o Performance Management

Skills Refresh - Core Skills, Business Knowledge and Leadership

Skills

Enhanced Development Planning

Performance Appraisal Rating

Online System – ePerformance

o Employee Development

Customer Service

Data Analysis

Supervisory Skills

Change Management Training

Online System - Learning Management System (LMS)

eLearning Content and Libraries

Evolving Training Delivery Model

Mentoring Program


o Leadership Development

360 Development Tool

Leadership Development Process

Leadership Training Refresh

o Functional Expertise Development

Conferences

Defined Skills and Development Suggestions

o Succession Planning

Established Common Process

Online System - eSuccession

o Career Development

Online Job Posting with Career Development Summary Guides

Career Conversations Training

o Talent Acquisition

Sourcing and Selection

Onboarding

o Making and Communicating Pay Decisions Tools and Support for

Managers

o Global Employee Engagement Survey

For each initiative that is selected, a Human Resources Leadership Team sponsor

is assigned to oversee the project. The Human Resources Leadership Team consists of

the top positions within each of the functions of HR (CHRO, Division HR VPs,

Corporate HR VPs, head of Corporate Communications and the head of Talent

Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc. Management.) The projects are set up as developmental assignments for the team leader

and project team members who are assigned. In addition to developing their project

management skills, the participants also learn and develop skills in the areas of

leadership, collaboration, team building, and the specific human resources or technical

area they have been assigned to work on. The process typically involves the following

milestones:

Create a project charter and plan

Develop a schedule and establish team member roles

Document and understand what the company is currently doing

Conduct external benchmarking

Determine what the company can and should do to improve

Recommend solutions (local, regional, global)

Conduct pilot programs/activities

Evaluate results

Recommend implementation plan

Conduct implementation plan

Each talent system will be reviewed separately to show how it has evolved over

the last seven years and where the integration points are with each of the programs.


Employee Data System(s)

It is important to mention that the company has multiple human resource

information systems (HRIS) and developed a centralized global data warehouse that

contains up to 27 data fields on each employee. The HR systems in place were

PeopleSoft, Strategy HR, Prisma, Tress, and some local providers in places like The

Netherlands and India. There are a variety of processes (manual and automatic) that have

been set up to populate the global data warehouse on a periodic basis. This information

and system was critical as the company looked to automate some of the talent processes

using technology. The processes that have been moved from a paper process to an

electronic system over the last seven years are Performance Management/ePerformance,

Succession Planning/eSuccession (currently some electronic and some still

paper/manual), and Learning Management/ASPIRE (Internally Branded: Accelerated

Self-Paced Improvement Resource for Employees). Some integration points in our

process are manual and some are electronic because we have enabled different

technology solutions depending upon availability, region and language.


Performance Management

Performance Management is an area that has received the most attention over the

last seven years. Whenever a program or a process is reviewed, the team always looks at

what is working and what areas need to be improved to meet the needs of the business

going forward.

The Performance Management process included the core elements that the

company believes will help it continue to be successful in the future. The key areas are

described below along with improvements that have been made over the last several

years. We’ll also point out the key integration points of each of the elements either to

other business or talent processes.

1. Goal Setting – clarifying expectations and creating alignment helps to set

expectations, maintain focus, and increase engagement by showing how each

employee’s contributions connect to the business strategy. The company uses the

SMART acronym: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound.

Integration Point: Company strategy is set at the top of the organization and the

company’s annual goals are set and cascaded throughout the organization. It is

each manager’s responsibility to understand the goals that have been set by his or

her manager and to communicate those to each of their employees and align each

individual’s goals where appropriate.

2. Skills Assessment – having a common set of skills that establish a common

language for talking about expectations and performance globally is important;

however, the process allows for the tailoring of the skills identified as a “Skill of


Greatest Strength” or “Skill Targeted for Development this Period” for each

employee. This gives managers and easy way to talk about strengths and

development areas that will be focused on each year. Improvements over the last

several years included updating the skills and descriptions for the skills that all

managers use globally, and creating functional skills and descriptions for each our

key business functions (see skills refresh section and table).

Integration Point: The Data Warehouse identifies each employee’s job function

and the Performance Management process assigns the Functional Skills that

pertain to that employee’s job function. Eleven common job functions with

associated skills, descriptions and development suggestions have been identified

for our global workforce.

Integration Point: Employee strengths that are identified transfer over to the

employee’s Talent Profile in the Succession Planning process.

3. Development Planning – each skill targeted for development has a development

plan to help the employee increase his/her knowledge or skill in that area.

Development suggestions are provided for every skill and a development plan is

created for each employee.

Integration Point: Development Plans transfer to the employee’s Talent Profile

in the Succession Planning Process.

Integration Point: Every skills assessment process that results in a development

plan gets entered into the employee’s development plan in Performance

Management. In the past, there could have been multiple development plan

documents created and managed separately.


4. Performance Evaluation/Rating – The original Performance Management

workbook included an area to write a narrative or comments on the employee’s

progress, results and overall job performance, but it did not include a rating. The

succession planning process did include an employee performance rating so now

that rating is consistent and transparent to the employee.

Integration Point: The Performance Rating occurs at the end of the Performance

Management process and that performance rating transfers to the Talent Matrix

(9-Box) in the Succession Planning process.

5. Online Performance Management/ePerformance – As the company was

improving the core process, it was also working on a parallel path to automate the

process to save time and more easily access data that can be used for talent

development and planning. Today, all salaried employees participate in the

online process and the system delivers the process in English, Mandarin Chinese

and Latin American Spanish.

Integration Point: Because data is now accessible electronically, the ability to

identify development needs relevant to various populations allows for increased

efficiency in implementing formal training to address some of the more common

skill gaps by region or country.

Performance Management Enhancements

#1 - Skills Refresh

After the reintroduction of the Performance Management process in 2005,

enhancements to the content and process became an ongoing event and still continue

today. The first area was to refresh the skills. Table 1 below shows the skill listings

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Table 1-Old vs. New Skills of Performance Management

OLD (40) NEW (39)

Addition of Functional Skills (115)

Foundation Skills (9)

Technical Speaking Skills, Presentation

Skills, Listening Skills, Technical

Writing Skills, Writing Effectiveness,

Reading Comprehension, Learning

Skills, Reasoning Skills, Interpersonal

Skills

Core Skills (22)

Accountability, Collaboration, Conflict

Management, Continuous

Improvement, Creativity and

Innovation, Customer Service, Decision

Making, Feedback,

Flexibility/Adaptability, Goal

Achievement, Integrity, Interpersonal

Skills, Listening, Meeting

Management, Negotiating, Personal

Productivity, Planning, Presentation

Skills, Problem Solving, Risk Taking,

Teamwork, Writing Effectively

Personal Orientations (7)

Customer Focus, Service Orientation,

Personal Productivity, Self

Development Orientation, Flexibility,

Business Knowledge (4)

Business Acumen, Financial Acumen,

Global Insight, Organizational Insight

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Critical Knowledge (7)

Organizational Insight, Role

Understanding, Policies Application,

Policies Compliance, Industry

Awareness, Technical Expertise, Ethics

Leadership Skills (13)

Coaching, Delegation, Developing

Others, Drive for Results, Fostering

Open Dialog, Influencing Others,

Interviewing and Selection, Managing

Change, Motivate Others, Recognition,

Sharing Information, Strategic

Thinking, Team Building

Management Skills (10)

Planning Skills, Process Improvement,

Problem Solving Skills, Creativity,

Decisiveness, Conflict Management

Skills, Negotiating Skills, Performance

Management, Staff Development,

Coaching

Technical Expertise (115)

Functional Skills developed for the

following areas: Human Resources,

Finance, Information Technology,

Legal, Supply Chain, Engineering,

Marketing, Sales, Customer Service,

Manufacturing

Leadership Skills (7) – Empowerment

Skills, Team Building, Meeting

Facilitation, Leadership Effectiveness,

Strategic Thinking, Leadership

Communications, Organizational

Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc. Commitment

In addition to the skill titles being updated, the skill descriptions were also

reviewed and updated. Additionally, every skill has a list of development suggestions

based on job experiences or assignments, reading, or formal training. Here is an example

of the skill, description and development suggestions for Business Acumen:


#2 – Functional Skill Development

The Technical Expertise category was developed by a team comprised of human

resources and department representatives for each function. The core team included an

HR executive sponsor and several HR Managers from throughout the company. As each

functional skill set was defined, the process was facilitated by an HR representative and

would typically include another HR Manager as a participant along with two to three

functional experts/representatives. This resulted in skills being defined for each

functional area in the company. A total of nine functional areas were identified and skill

sets defined for each one including: Human Resources, Finance, Information

Technology, Legal, Supply Chain, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service,

Manufacturing (see table). A total of 115 individual skills were created along with skill

descriptions and development suggestions.

Integration Point: Each employee is assigned a job code. The job code is linked to a

specific job function (one of the nine listed above). When the electronic Performance

Management Workbook is created for each employee, they get assigned the functional

skills that match their job function in addition to the 39 common skills that every

employee gets.

Employee Development

There were several employee development programs that were developed over the

last several years to provide formal training opportunities to develop skills in the areas of

Customer Service, Data Analysis, Supervisory Skills, Change Management, and a variety

of eLearning content and libraries. In addition, the company also developed and

Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc. launched a Mentoring Program designed to provide development support outside of the

employee’s day to day work responsibilities.

Integration Point: The company implemented the learning management system through

Cornerstone OnDemand to provide easy access to the eLearning courseware and a

centralized portal to register for training and maintain learning transcripts:

Integration Point: Training programs that are offered by the company are linked to the

skills in Performance Management. The training programs are listed in the development

suggestions in the appropriate skill.

Leadership Development

Leadership development was enhanced in three ways:

1. 360 Development Tool – A 360 instrument was developed and launched in

2005/2006. We developed this tool in partnership with a firm called Human

Systems Development (HSD) to tailor the questions and process to fit our

company’s competency model. The team consisted of an executive sponsor in

Human Resources and an employee development specialist from each of our

business units. The entire process and instrument was piloted with our global HR

organization in the spring of 2005 with each one participating in the process. The

program was debriefed at our annual global HR Conference in July of 2005 and

was officially launched the second half of 2005 with our entire top leadership

participating in the assessment. This consisted of the CEO and his direct staff;

and our operating company presidents and their direct staff.

Integration Point: The questions and dimensions in the 360 instrument are


linked to the skills in the company’s Performance Management process.

Integration Point: All development plans that result from the 360 process get

included in the development plan in Performance Management.

2. Leadership Development Process – The company developed and launched a two-

tiered process to more objectively assess leadership skills and create development

plans to maximize results. This program continues to be an area of focus with the

next tier being addressed at the executive level.

Integration Point: The development plans that result from the Leadership

Development Process get entered into the development plan section of

ePerformance.

3. Leadership Training Refresh – The company reviewed the leadership training

class that was offered as part of the Management Excellence launch and

streamlined it from a three day program to a half day program (see appendix for

detailed agenda). They enhanced the overall leadership development offering by

partnering with several trainings suppliers to expand the offerings and also

diversify the type of training offered. The A. O. Smith Leadership Development

Series now includes the following learning modalities:

Instructor-led Training – a total of 33 courses with the typical course

duration being four hours.

Virtual Instructor-Led Training – a total of 19 courses that are delivered

through an interactive virtual learning platform with the class sessions ranging

from one and a half to two hours.

eLearning – a total of 20 courses are eLearning courses that can be taken


when needed and average about 90 minutes.

Integration Point: Every course that is aligned to one of the skills in

ePerformance is listed in the development suggestions.


Succession Planning

The succession planning process, or HR Review, contains several key elements:

The Talent Matrix, Depth Chart and Talent Profile.

Integration Point: A development plan that results from a the succession

planning process is entered and monitored in the development plan section of

ePerformance.

Talent Matrix – This process evaluates and places all salaried employees

in a nine box grid based on performance and potential.


Integration Point: The Performance Rating from the ePerformance end-of-year

performance rating is used as a starting point for the performance rating during

the HR Review process. This rating can be modified based on the performance

rating as of the current date.

Depth Chart (figure 2 below) – Each organizational chart is reviewed to

identify potential successors and rate their readiness to assume the position.

Talent Profile – This summary includes the employee’s current grade

level, title, years in position, education, strengths and development plans.

Integration Point: The personal information and job data from the employee’s

record in the HRIS system and populated in the Talent Profile. The strengths

identified in ePerformance and the Development Plans are carried over into the

Talent Profile. Any development needs and plans that are identified during the

succession planning process are entered into the development plan section of

ePerformance.


Figure 2 Depth Charts

Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc. Career Development

Career Development is one of the more recent processes that the company has

been expanded on. The core elements of the Career Development process include:

On-line Job Posting – This was the result of a process to standardize our

recruitment process throughout our U. S. locations. Part of this included an online

job posting site which expanded the visibility of job openings from location only

via bulletin boards or email announcements to a website that lists all openings in

the U. S.

Career Development Summary Guides (see figure x)– To help managers

and employees with career planning, we developed and introduced a Career

Development Summary Guide for Employees and a Career Development

Summary Guide for Managers.

Career Conversations Training for Managers – Offered to managers to

encourage them to talk with employees about their career interests and provide

assistance and support where they can.

Integration Point: A development plan that results from a career conversation

should be entered and monitored in the development plan section of

ePerformance.


Employee Engagement

In 2010, the company launched the first ever, global engagement survey.

Employee surveys had been conducted at various sites, but gathering feedback from our

entire workforce, globally was identified as an opportunity to gather some feedback to

use going forward to see where we could focus our resources on improvement areas

identified. The survey consisted of 40 questions each rated on a likert scale from 1 –

Strongly Disagree to 5 – Strongly Agree. The questions were arranged in the following

categories: Openness and Information; Efficient Work Practices; Innovation, Quality,

Customer Focus; Company Direction; Performance Management; Supervisor

Effectiveness; Training and Development; Safety, Ethics, Respect, Work-Life Balance;

Total Compensation and Recognition; Commitment – Overall Satisfaction. In addition,

we asked employees to select and rank order up to three “improvement priorities”, from a

list of 10 that would have the greatest impact on our overall success going forward. For

each area selected, the employee could offer improvement suggestions. The survey was

distributed in English, Spanish, Chinese and Dutch.

Here are a few of the results:

85% response rate - 16,070 employees were invited to participate and

13,728 responded. The significant majority participated via paper due to our large

hourly population.

Our total survey results overall were quite favorable, however, we chose

to focus on the items that were the lowest scoring by company, division, and

location as well as the improvement priorities selected at the end.


Those items scoring the highest were in the areas of customer concern and

focus, company goal understanding, clear expectations on the part of the

employee, supervisor setting high standards and expecting the best, individual

employees enjoying their job and the work they perform each day, and the

employee’s commitment to the company/A. O. Smith.

For each section, we review the individual items to see where the highest and

lowest scores were to determine a course of action.

In the area of Training and Development, here were the results:

Although the individual items scored favorably, we saw the greatest opportunity in the

area of career development. This information validated some of the work we were

already doing in the area of career development (as described above) and also led to some

of the enhancements.

In the area of Performance Management, here were the results:

Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc. Overall each item scored very well. The greatest opportunity in this section is item 19 –

“I receive feedback and coaching on my job performance.” Although this score did not

prompt a specific initiative in this area, we believe we already have resources and

processes in place that we need to continue to emphasize and reinforce.

Describe here…(Not sure if we want/need to include this. The company

launched the first ever, global employee engagement survey in 2010. The overall

engagement scores were very high and there might be some data we could share

here that shows that the employees’ perceptions of the company’s commitment to

employee development.)

CONCLUSION

If we look at this case study and evaluate what worked, there are several things that one

could point to:

An approach to talent management that saw the interconnectedness from the

beginning, and as each new project began, there was an effort to figure out how it

fit into the business strategy and goals and how it fit into the talent management

framework.

Individual Talent Management processes were seen as part of a larger system.

During each project, consideration was given to how it impacted other people,

departments, processes and systems.

Senior management support was clear from the beginning of each initiative. This

fact alone minimized the need to implement complex systems and reporting

processes to prove the value of each of these activities.

Importance was placed on what worked in the past and what could and would

continue to work going forward. This resulted in many of the existing programs

being updated or refined.

Teams were established to take on each project. This created a collaborative

environment that considered multiple views throughout each project. It became a

“we” vs. “I” when the time came for implementation.

Key stakeholders were involved along the way which provided an opportunity to

clarify needs and make adjustments where needed.


Periodic updates were provided to the HR Leadership Team for input and fine

tuning. This prevented getting to the end with a product that wasn’t going to be

endorsed or supported.

HR Managers were trained and assisted with the roll out of many of the programs.

This ensured local support for communication and implementation.

A communication strategy and implementation plan was created and followed for

each initiative. This typically included many different types of communication

geared at different audiences. Some of the communication channels that were

used were: Individual meetings, group meetings, conference calls, WebEx calls,

intranet articles, bulletin board postings, brochures, booklets, online training, and

personalized email communications.

There are many more things that could be listed here and the items above really speak to

process. What about results? The ultimate goal would be to be able to demonstrate how

a program or a department added value to the business by increasing revenue or

profitability, but those absolute causal relationships are not easy to make except in very

unique cases. As a company, A. O. Smith believes in continuing to invest in people.

They have demonstrated that in times that were good and also in times that were

challenging.

As presented in A. O. Smith’s 2011 Annual Report, “…the outstanding performance of A.

O. Smith’s stock over the last five years stands as one of our most noteworthy

achievements. …, our stock’s five-year total has out-performed the S&P Smallcap 600

and the Russell 1000 indicies by a wide margin. Shareholder returns have been one of

our most important goals, and we will remain focused on providing above average returns

to our shareholders in the future.”

Copyright © Best Practice Institute, Inc. Do not share or distribute without prior written or verbal consent of Best Practice Institute, Inc. There are many things that contribute to a company’s overall performance: customers,

products, pricing, strategy, execution, costs, markets, adaptability, innovation,

differentiation, value, process, efficiency, etc. This list could go on and on. One area

that continues to get more and more attention is talent: finding, keeping, focusing,

developing, engaging, etc.

There are definitely many things that contribute to a company’s overall performance.

When it comes to people, research has linked high engagement scores to improved or

strong company performance. The survey results from A. O. Smith’s Global Employee

Survey in 2010 show a workforce that is engaged with an overall participation rate of

85% and 67% of the total responses given a favorable rating.

It will be interesting to see how this company and their workforce continues to evolve. ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR(S)

Mary Sue Handel has 18 years of experience in designing and implementing programs

and systems to improve employee and organizational performance in a variety of

industries including banking, staffing and manufacturing. As Director, Global Talent

Management, at A. O. Smith Corporation, Mary Sue is responsible for a continuous,

integrated process designed to increase employee skills, productivity and performance to

meet the current and future needs of the organization.

Mary Sue received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and

her Master’s degree from Carroll College. She currently holds her SPHR certification

and is on the local board for the American Society for Training and Development.

MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP TRAINING

EPC Dayton

Aug, 1,2,3

TRAINING COMPONENT WHO MIN. START END SEC

# Posters

DAY 1

Opening Comments Michele 0:10 8:00 AM 8:10 AM 3 1,2,3,4

Trainer Introductions Michele, John,

Jim 0:10 8:10 AM 8:20 AM 3

"New Best Friend" Exercise Mary Sue, Jim 0:40 8:20 AM 9:00 AM 3

Mgmt X Overview, Objectives (Key Anchors), Learning Model, Agreements, Housekeeping Michele 0:25 9:00 AM 9:25 AM 3


BREAK 0:10 9:25 AM 9:35 AM

Organization We Live In Mary Sue 0:10 9:35 AM 9:45 AM 4 5,6

Effective Management Mary Sue 0:20 9:45 AM 10:05 AM 5

Effective Relationships John 0:20 10:05 AM

10:25 AM 6

7, 8, 9

Managing From The Heart HYLER VIDEO John 1:00 10:25 AM

11:25 AM 6

BREAK 0:10 11:25 AM

11:35 AM

SDI Introduction & Animal Exercise Michele 0:20 11:35 AM

11:55 AM 7

10, 11, 12, 13

SDI Instructions & Preparation Michele 0:15 11:55 AM

12:10 PM 7

LUNCH 0:45 12:10 PM

12:55 PM

SDI Lecturette Jim 0:30 12:55 PM 1:25 PM 7

SDI Predicting, Scoring, Interpreting Mary Sue 0:10 1:25 PM 1:35 PM 7

SDI Assessing Personal S & W Mary Sue 0:10 1:35 PM 1:45 PM 7

SDI Assessing Another's S & W Mary Sue 0:10 1:45 PM 1:55 PM 7

SDI Pair Sharing & Feedback Mary Sue 0:10 1:55 PM 2:05 PM 7

SDI Organization Impact/Summary/Learning Log Jim 0:15 2:05 PM 2:20 PM 7

BREAK 0:10 2:20 PM 2:30 PM

Win As Much As You Can (XY) Simulation Intro John 0:05 2:30 PM 2:35 PM 8 14, 15, 16,

17,

XY Simulation Activity John 0:30 2:35 PM 3:05 PM 8 18, 19 20

XY Cluster Scoring, Simulation Debriefing John 0:10 3:05 PM 3:15 PM 8

XY Cluster Discussion of XY Log John 0:15 3:15 PM 3:30 PM 8

Consequences of Win/Lose Lecturette Jim 0:10 3:30 PM 3:40 PM 8

Cluster Discussion of Win/Lose Jim 0:15 3:40 PM 3:55 PM 8

Win/Win Lecturette Jim 0:15 3:55 PM 4:10 PM 8

Pair Discussion Mary Sue 0:05 4:10 PM 4:15 PM 8

Learning Log Mary Sue 0:05 4:15 PM 4:20 PM 8

Managing By Agreement ( MBA) Lecturette Michele 0:30 4:20 PM 4:50 PM 11 21, 22

MBA Exercise 1, Learning Log Michele 0:10 4:50 PM 5:00 PM 11 23, 24


DAY 2

Welcome Back Jim 0:05 8:00 AM 8:05 AM

Direct/Indirect Communications Lecturette Jim 0:30 8:05 AM 8:35 AM 13 25, 26, 27

Indirect Communications Video Section Jim 0:10 8:35 AM 8:45 AM 13

Direct Communications Video & Wrap Up Jim 0:10 8:45 AM 8:55 AM 13

Direct Communications Summary Group Exercise Michele 0:30 8:55 AM 9:25 AM 13

Break 0:15 9:25 AM 9:40 AM

Listening Introduction & Lecturette Mary Sue 0:25 9:40 AM 10:05 AM 14 28

Listening Group Exercise (Test from Hyler Video) Mary Sue 0:15 10:05 AM

10:20 AM 14

Learning Log Mary Sue 0:05 10:20 AM

10:25 AM 14

One-on-One Activities John 0:10 10:25 AM

10:35 AM 17 29

Counseling Lecturette John 0:20 10:35 AM

10:55 AM 18 30, 31

Coaching Subordinate (Others) Success Exercise Michele 0:30 10:55 AM

11:25 AM 32, 33

Coaching Introduction Michele 0:05 11:25 AM

11:30 AM 19

Coaching Lecturette Michele 0:15 11:30 AM

11:45 AM 19

Private/Group Case Discussion Michele 0:15 11:45 AM

12:00 PM 19

Lunch 1:00 12:00 PM 1:00 PM

Coaching (Case) Demonstration & Discussion Michele 0:20 1:00 PM 1:20 PM 19

Prepare Coaching Practice Worksheet John 0:10 1:20 PM 1:30 PM 19

Coaching Practice Instructions John 0:05 1:30 PM 1:35 PM 19

Coaching Practice Activity Jon 0:30 1:35 PM 2:05 PM 19

Learning Log John 0:05 2:05 PM 2:10 PM 19

Johari Introduction Mary Sue 0:05 2:10 PM 2:15 PM 22 34, 35, 36

Johari Lecturette Mary Sue 0:15 2:15 PM 2:30 PM 22

Johari Arena Sharing Instructions & Activity Mary Sue 0:20 2:30 PM 2:50 PM 22

Johari Façade Sharing Instructions & Activity Mary Sue 0:20 2:50 PM 3:10 PM 22

Break 0:15 3:10 PM 3:25 PM

Feedback Lecturette Jim 0:15 3:25 PM 3:40 PM 22

Instructions for Feedback Activity Jim 0:05 3:40 PM 3:45 PM 22

Feedback Activity Jim 0:45 3:45 PM 4:30 PM 22

Feedback Learnings & Application Jim 0:15 4:30 PM 4:45 PM 22

Learning Log JIm 0:05 4:45 PM 4:50 PM 22


DAY 3

Welcome Back Michele 0:05 8:00 AM 8:05 AM

100% Responsibility Introduction Michele 0:15 8:05 AM 8:20 AM 20 37, 38

100% Responsibility Lecturette Michele 0:35 8:20 AM 8:55 AM 20

100% Responsibility Participant Exercise Michele 0:05 8:55 AM 9:00 AM 20

Learning Log Michele 0:05 9:00 AM 9:05 AM 20

Confronting Lecturette Jim 0:45 9:05 AM 9:50 AM 21 39, 40, 41,

42

Confronting Video Jim 0:30 9:50 AM 10:20 AM 21

Break 0:10 10:20 AM

10:30 AM

Confronting Practice Preparation Jim 0:10 10:30 AM

10:40 AM 21

Confronting Practice Instructions Jim 0:05 10:40 AM

10:45 AM 21

Confronting Practice Jim 1:00 10:45 AM

11:45 AM 21

Learning Log Jim 0:05 11:45 AM

11:50 AM 21

Lunch 1:00 11:50 AM

12:50 PM

Auction Mary Sue 1:00 12:50 PM 1:50 PM 23 None

Acknowledging Greatness Introduction & Lecturette John 0:20 1:50 PM 2:10 PM 25 43

GIS/GOS Instructions & Personal Preparation John 0:10 2:10 PM 2:20 PM 25

GOS Exercise John 0:15 2:20 PM 2:35 PM 25

Break 0:15 2:35 PM 2:50 PM

Instructions & GIS/GOS Sharing Activity John 0:30 2:50 PM 3:20 PM 25

Group Learnings & Application John 0:10 3:20 PM 3:30 PM 25

Learning Log John 0:05 3:30 PM 3:35 PM 25

Evaluation Michele& Jim 0:10 3:35 PM 3:45 PM 26 None

Closure ALL 0:45 3:45 PM 4:30 PM 27 None

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