As part of a major transition of the business, PacifiCare wanted to create a resource that managers could use as a development planning tool, a performance support tool, an assessment tool and a learning tool. It needed to help managers be most effective in managing this transition — helping them achieve competency targets that had been established corporate wide and that were now part of their performance planning and review process. They also wanted this system to be the basis for training delivery corporate wide — beyond the immediate needs for managers.

PacifiCare came to TechEmpower with a vision of what they wanted to do and some pretty good ideas about how to get there. PacifiCare wasn't sure what technologies were right, and they weren't sure how to get the various technologies to work together. They were looking at performance management systems, learning management systems, their existing HRIS, 360 tools and various online resources. They needed a partner to help them gather and refine their requirements, establish a strategy, and then work as a part of their team to implement this strategy.

The process:

TechEmpower worked closely with PacifiCare's team and with team members from different business units. Using TechEmpower's structured process, we organized and facilitated meetings that established baseline business requirements and a variety of technical and integration requirements. While requirements were numerous and diverse, TechEmpower and the core PacifiCare team made sure that we focused on the most critical issues in order to keep the process moving.

From the requirements, we determined that the core technology would be a customized Learning Management System (LMS). However, it would need to provide access not only to training, but also to assessment results (including 360 reviews coming from another tool), and these results would lead to particular performance suggestions. For example, a manager might be assessed as needing to work on a particular competency. They would then be shown a list of specific actions and supporting tools they could use to improve their performance around the competency.

We wanted to provide hands on development suggestions that a manager could use immediately. We also wanted to provide appropriate training activities. For this kind of major transition you need to think about different learning and work styles.
     - Monika Ebert, Manager, Corporate Education and Development

After spending about one month doing requirements gathering and technical strategy work, TechEmpower then led the RFI/RFP process over a two month time period. From there, TechEmpower was actively engaged in negotiation with vendors and then helped lead the integration efforts between the tool and implemented some parts of the customization of interfaces. The implementation took 9 weeks — a testament to the focus of the team and the upfront planning and guidance by TechEmpower.

The results:

PacifiCare has rolled out the system to more than 1000 managers. Initial reaction has been very positive and use of the tools has been good. Of course, it always helps to roll it out during a major transition that involves performance planning and review changes. PacifiCare is now beginning to expand the use of the LMS as the basis for delivering additional content to other organizations.

Our engagement with PacifiCare was a big success. Through help during selection and negotiation, we more than paid for all of our costs. As compared to an average roll-out of an LMS without having our expertise involved, we estimate that there was a 500% ROI on our engagement costs — not to mention the savings in time, money and gray hair.