BT as a learning organisation
Alex Wilson
Group HR Director
• One of the world’s leading providers of
communications solutions and services
• Principal activities include networked IT
services; local, national and international
telecommunications services; highervalue broadband and internet products
and services and converged fixed/mobile
products and services
• Annual turnover of about £20.2 billion
• A FTSE 20 company
• Over 100,000 employees
• Operating in 170 countries.
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Principal Lines
of Business
- BT Retail
- BT Wholesale
- BT Global Services
- BT Operate
- BT Design
- Openreach
Learning at the heart of BT
Long term
Partnership
with our
customers
Defend Traditional
•
Improved service
•
Price innovation
•
Reduce costs /
improve margin
•
Customers
Shareholders
Aggressive &
creative marketing
21st Century
Network
Grow new wave
•
Networked
IT services
•
Broadband
•
Mobility
... and consistent delivery
Learning at
the heart of
BT
BT People Strategy
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BT people
Learning strategy annual life cycle
Business Agenda
Tracking
• Define required
skills/capabilities
Learning Plan
• ROI and business
value reported to
Operating
Committee
• Closing skills gap
• Agreed with CEOs
2007/8 spend
£120 million
Learning
Management
System
Deliver the Plan
• Learning Council
Delivery Model
• Strategic partner
• PSL
• In-house
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Delivering world class skills in BT
- the ‘skills escalator’
Progression from foundation degree to
honours degree is not subject to
additional funding. Higher apprentices
may provide a compelling alternative to
graduates.
Current apprenticeship programmes are
limited to ‘advanced’ and ‘higher’, delivering
Level 3 and Level 4 qualifications
respectively. Potential to develop this model
to other areas of learning e.g. finance, and
other parts of BT.
Potential (currently untapped) funded
learning programmes.
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Talent feed
Internal
promotions
Direct hires
Apprentices
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MBAs
Graduates
Entry to the BT talent pool
Future potential
Current performance
Ability
• Exceptional results
• Broad range of
exceptional
capabilities.
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Engagement
• Commitment to BT
and its goals
• Demonstrates
allegiance to the
BT Values
• True ‘One BT’
behaviour
• Self-less support
to others.
Thought Agility
• Learns rapidly
from new
experiences
• Sound judgement
in unfamiliar
situations
• Comfort with
ambiguity.
Ambition
• Tenacity and drive
• Drives own career
forward
• Seizes
opportunities
to develop
• Influences others.
BT’s talent pool structure
Potential Leadership Team Successors (PLTS)
Regarded as having the capability to undertake a LoB or functional
leadership team role within five years.
Rapid Higher Potential (RHP)
Individuals showing such outstanding capabilities and potential that
we confidently expect them to be performing an executive level role
(if not already doing so) and to be ready for PLTS within 2 years.
Emerging Talent (ET)
Our ones to watch. Individuals showing exceptional potential who may
reach very senior positions given cross-functional exposure, support
and coaching.
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BT’s talent deal
We openly communicate talent pool
membership and what it means:
We openly communicate talent pool
membership and what it means:
• A formal annual career development
review
• Continued exceptional performance,
achievement of objectives, evidence of
commitment to One BT and BT values
• Events and access to senior executives
to build individual knowledge, visibility and
networks
• Developmental career moves
• Creating and delivering a development
plan which could include:
- Access to executive leadership
development programmes
- Job-specific development
- Mentoring from a senior manager
• Provision of information - CV,
Development and Performance
Review, profile
• Event/programme attendance
• Talent networking - develop relationships
• Contribute to acquisition and
development of other talent
• Accountability for development action planning.
- Executive coaching.
BT’s
commitment
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Individual’s
commitment
Leadership capabilities aligned to BT’s values
Brand proposition
Trustworthy
Helpful
• We do what we
say we will
• We work as
one team
Heart
• We believe in
what we do
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Straightforward
Inspiring
• We make things
clear
• We create new
possibilities
Leadership
capabilities
Example - linking company goals and behaviours
Goal: Simplify and speed up the way we work
Key capability: Helpful
- We work as one team for customer success.
What this means…
- Working across boundaries to achieve the best outcome for BT and its customers
- Working with a shared sense of purpose and understanding about what needs to
be done
- Being willing to sacrifice one’s own interests for the good of BT’s customers.
Essential behaviours…
- Fosters collaboration and tackles poor cross-business team working
- Creates a culture of constructive challenge
- Builds alignment across the organisation to a common purpose.
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Pan-BT global leadership pathway
In-role - consistent set of
programmes for all leaders
to build a common language
Transition - development to
support leaders at key
moments of career change
Professional paths will develop leaders on different
paths, ‘thought leadership’, ‘technical
leadership’, as well as ‘business
leadership’
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Questions?
Ideas?
Challenge?
Validation?
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