Case: Western Union Program Guides Team Development

The money transfer provider Western Union has adjusted to many market changes throughout its 160-plus year lifespan, which has allowed the company to increase its base of operations to almost 60 nations with a total workforce of over 11,000 workers. With recent trends pointing to a greater need to satisfy tech-savvy customers, Western Union hired a new CEO who spearheaded an innovative movement to improve customer servicethis included the advancement of more digital and mobile interactions with customers, as well as an expectation that employees would go the extra mile for customers. These initiatives required a broad cultural change in the organization, prompting the collective development of managers and employees in teams.companys performance management system's usefulness (including expensive and unpopular, which meant

The first step of this process involved getting the learning organization at Western Union to evaluate the usefulness of the companys performance management system (including the use of performance reviews and rankings). It was determined that these efforts were both expensive and unpopular, which meant that improvements were needed. A new program called GPS (short for Guide.Performance.Succeed) was crafted to help leaders improve their teams. Establishing workable development goals for teams and providing continual feedback were key elements of this process. Leaders and team members were also held accountable for goals that improved talent development.

In order to successfully implement GPS, the learning and development group at Western Union designed a training plan called Leadership in Action. This program used leadership circles, which required groups of managers to be mentored by a senior leader who taught them the basics of GPS and provided opportunities for practice. The program was particularly effective because high-profile leaders such as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer were involved in the actual sessionsparticipants paid more attention.

Overall, GPS required participants to meet once a month to discuss various talent management issues, and key materials were sent ahead of time to enhance the discussions. Given that individuals are spread across the companys large global footprint, meetings were conducted through teleconferencing. Discussion sessions focused on important themes such as establishing goals, effective communication, and coaching at work. All of these topics increased the level of talent development among team members.

Initial evaluations of these programs showed that employee engagement increased as a redue tosult of the discussion sessions. In addition, the learning organization at Western Union plans to use leadership circles in the future to facilitate new training and development opportunities.

Questions

1. What are the pros and cons of focusing on groups in talent development? What support would be needed in leadership to ensure that the participants get the most out of their interactions with others?
2. How would you evaluate the effectiveness of GPS? What about Leadership in Action? How could these programs be improved?
3. How might you use leadership circles to facilitate other forms of talent development in organizations? Would this approach work well in certain companies over others?