THE PROBLEM
Executives
at Cerner Corporation faced an enviable problem. The billion-dollar healthcare
information technology firm had seen its revenues and head count increase
sevenfold in the previous decade, and all those new associates needed leaders.
With a goal to reduce medical errors and impact outcomes for patients, Cerner’s
top executives wanted leaders who were passionate about the life-and-death
stakes of healthcare IT. And with a practice of promoting leaders from within,
current leadership felt the best place to find these future leaders was from
among current associates.
In
addition, Cerner wanted to add new skills to their “Promotion Schools” training
curriculum—a workshop every new leader is required to attend. Specifically,
they wanted to add training that would ensure their current and future leadership
had the skills to manage multiple teams.
Such
skills would be especially useful in helping associates hold conversations with
the right people.
Some
in the company had observed a negative dynamic common in many organizations.
In
the same way nurses struggle to speak up to physicians some of the
non-technical associates at Cerner felt unable to openly disagree with
technical experts or share their clinical knowledge.
Additionally,
management wanted everyone’s input to produce the best and safest solutions for
its clients adding to the need to provide associates with the skills to speak
up.
THE TRAINING COURSE
After hearing about
Crucial Conversations Training from VitalSmarts, Cerner sent JD Biggs, director
of learning development programs, to attend a public session. Biggs found the
program to be well-designed and unique from other offerings in the marketplace.
“We have a very results-oriented culture here, and the course
fits well with that,”
Biggs said. “It feels very tangible to us, and it has a
stickiness factor that results in people practicing the skills in both their
professional and personal lives.”
Following a pilot program in 2006, 15 participants from
various parts of the company agreed Crucial Conversations
Training would be helpful for emerging leaders, as well as
existing leaders transitioning to new responsibilities. The firm’s top HR executives
gave the green light to include it in the Promotion Schools so that every new
or transitioning leader could participate.
Since then, more than 1,300 of Cerner’s nearly 8,000
associates have completed Crucial Conversations Training.
The company offers approximately 30 sessions a year, with 16
to 20 participants attending per course. Of the company’s 23 certified
trainers, most are director-level associates.
THE RESULTS
When asked to rate their
overall learning experience, two-thirds of Cerner’s training participants
gave Crucial Conversations Training the highest possible score. The other third
rated it a four on the five-point scale.
More importantly, the
participants’ positive perception of the course is translating into real change
in their skills and behaviors. Before taking the course, participants meet with
their managers and evaluate their current crucial conversations capabilities.
Then, six months after the course, they reconvene and rate the associate again
to gauge progress. Collective results show that in every single session of
Crucial Conversations Training Cerner has measured, the collective score of
the participants improved by an average of 36 percent.
“One of the things we
repeatedly hear from participants is that Crucial Conversations was one of the
best offerings they have ever attended,” Biggs said. “The reason for that is it
follows our learning principles, where most of the learning occurs by doing. We
give people opportunities and a framework to practice the skills they learned
in training beyond the classroom.”
Biggs sees the course’s
principles being applied most frequently in three areas:
• Repairing or restoring
a relationship with a boss
• Addressing a team
member who is not contributing
• Gaining the trust of
reluctant clients
The course has already
expanded beyond its initial scope within Cerner. Michelle Moseman, a director
of engineering operations, had facilitated the course for the Promotion
Schools and was so impressed that she approached the leadership of her
intellectual property development division and proposed they offer the course
to their associates. They set up a pilot with individuals Moseman felt would be
most likely to provide tough feedback. After these participants presented unanimously
positive reviews, the course was rolled out across the organization. Moseman
targeted 250 roles within the organization, and approximately 225 have completed
it.
Moseman explained the
course’s impact: “I have had people say to me, ‘Michelle, I just saw a
difference in this colleague because they took Crucial Conversations and our
discussions in our meetings are a lot more productive.’ The feedback from
participants is more than simply enjoying the class. People are observing behavior
changes in the way others communicate with them.”
That’s why it’s easy for
her to be a champion of the course. “Hands down, no questions asked, almost
every participant said it was the best class they have ever taken—not just at
Cerner but ever,” Moseman said. “When you combine the great educational content
with the relevant examples, everyone can relate to it. It is phenomenal
content and it gets rave reviews.”
Results at
a glance:
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• 36 percent improvement in trained associates’
ability to hold crucial conversations
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• Improvement in associates’ ability
to repair or restore relationships
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• Improvement in associates’ ability to
address team members
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• Improvement in associates’ ability to gain
the trust of reluctant clients
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