Most Americans are familiar with Whirlpool. Whirlpool, which is based in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and has been in business for more than century, is perhaps best known for the washers and dryers it makes. But the company also makes refrigerators, freezers, and cooking appliances that it sells under various other brand names around the world (Amana, Maytag, KitchenAid, and Roper are some of them).

During the last economic recession appliance sales plummeted, and Whirlpool was forced to lay off thousands of workers. Although budgets were being slashed, Whirlpool needed to develop managers who could lead the company through the downturn as well as provide training that would have a measurable impact at a lower cost.

Previously, Whirlpool University, the companys 100-acre learning division located at its corporate headquarters, had used mainly classroom learning. The university now has a learning management system and conducts online training. A series of 30-minute modules is used to help familiarize and onboard new hires. In addition, Whirlpool now takes a closed-loop approach to training. Instead of just doing popular types of training other companies were doing, it surveys managers to find out what types of training Whirlpool truly needed and what types it didnt and then designs training programs based on those specific needs.

Because they are central to the training and development of their employees and in the best position to observe and coach rank-and-file employees, to train managers, Whirlpool utilizes a 12-month-long intermittent training program called Leading People. The program consists of blended learning, including prework modules managers do online, followed by classroom training, business projects, and seminars with top managers. A managers direct reports provide an initial baseline assessment of their skills, and then the manager is assessed again following the training. James Crawford, in Whirlpools Chicago division, said the training helped him become a better leader. It helped me pinpoint weak spots in my leadership practices and then gave me a strategy for turning those weaknesses into strengths, Crawford says. The managers are later surveyed as to how well the training is working and what can be done to improve it. In other words, there is a feedback system in place, hence the closed-loop moniker. That way, the design, delivery, and redesign of the training is a continuous circle and constantly being improved over time.

The closed-loop feedback system has helped Whirlpool continue to assess and alter its training to adapt to new conditions. For example, today Whirlpool isnt laying off employees; its trying to hire more of them as its older workers retire. To attract millennials, the company has partnered with high school and colleges to offer an onsite apprenticeship program called Work, Earn, and Learn. In 2017, Whirlpools CEO, Jeff Fettig, was one of a number of corporate executives who met with President Donald Trump to talk about saving American jobs and encourage the support of vocational training for the high-tech skills manufacturers today need. The jobs are there, but the skills are not, said one executive at the meeting.

According to the case study, a Whirlpool managers direct reports provided an initial baseline assessment of the managers skills and then the manager is assessed again following the training. In this way, Whirlpool is evaluating:

a. learning

b. results

c. behavior

d. reactions