Educate employees
Loepp was at a company town-hall meeting once when an
employee commented that he didn’t know what the competition did.
That comment verified something Loepp strongly believed —
that all employees should become knowledgeable about the
organization’s business to become a high-performing company.
And comments like that were why the wheels were already in
motion to develop the company’s business knowledge initiative.
“We had identified business knowledge as a key component
for strengthening our workplace culture as part of our ongoing
performance transformation,” he says.
While still in development, the company’s Business Knowledge
Learning System will become a systematic approach to providing
employees with appropriate levels of business knowledge,
whether they are new hires or employees promoted to leadership
positions.
“We’re developing the tools and communications channels
that will make this information accessible 24-7 and allow us to
deliver just-in-time educational materials when employees
move into new or specialized job functions,” he says.
“In essence, we’re going to help employees learn and retain
information on the language and concepts of BCBSM, the
health care industry and general business.”
To get the program off the ground, the company commissioned a cross-functional work group of employees — from
the vice president to the staff level — to create the model for
the program.
Allowing employees to share their opinions and take part in
projects can create important questions and comments.
Communicating with employees one on one will especially
lead you to a treasure chest of ideas.
“I found that amazing questions and comments come out of
people when you deal with them one on one and you don’t say,
‘Well, you can’t ask this; you can’t ask that,’” he says. “I just
generally throw it all out, and it’s been very helpful for me. I
think it’s helped for the employee base to understand my style
and sort of where I’m coming from.”
The priority areas of focus for content were determined based on
a business literacy needs assessment conducted in 2007.
“Our Business Knowledge work group
interviewed 32 vice presidents and directors within the company and got their feedback on the types of business information
employees should have,” Loepp says.
“Content can be tailored based on an
employee’s level of work within the company and their specific functions,
whether they are in sales, operations,
human resources, etc. Ultimately, we
want to engage employees at every state
of their careers by maximizing their
capabilities. I believe you do that through
developing a line of sight between each
employee’s job and our corporate objectives by helping employees understand
the impact their day-to-day actions have
on the BCBSM bottom line.”
Loepp expects the system to be up and
running in 2009. In the meantime, the
company is making a concerted effort to
communicate about their business by
using a variety of venues.
“We’re reinforcing and extending the topof-mind exposure of business news and
information that is currently communicated primarily through Blues News Direct,
our weekly online publication for employees,” Loepp says.
