Can Training Revive Loyalty?

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May 4, 1998

Can Training Revive Loyalty?

By Edward Cone

illustration by Joe Scanfani

f loyalty is dead, Paul LeFort is willing to fund its revival. "We're trying to represent our commitment to the individual by making a human capital investment," says LeFort, CIO of United HealthCare in Minneapolis. "Retainment can depend on the opportunities available for self-improvement. So we buy training in bulk."

LeFort is investing heavily in worker training-and not just the dry technical stuff, either. Beyond general desktop training, United HealthCare last ye ar delivered more than 50,000 hours of training to its 2,500 IT people. Much of that training was high-dollar fare from firms such as the Center for Creative Leadership, a Greensboro, N.C., company better known for training Army generals and corporate execs than network administrators. "We pay them to custom-build programs for us," says LeFort. "We get distance learning and video."

This kind of training serves multiple purposes, LeFort adds. "It enhances the value of an individual," he says, "and it's representative of our commitment to them." Also, United HealthCare's IT workers can earn a master's degree from Stanford University as part of their participation in what amounts to a corporate university.

Dick Silvers, IT manager at food brokerage Marketing Specialists in Irving, Texas, and a former Tandy Corp. CIO, also swears by extensive training for his staff of 250. "Training is the way to maintain your intellectual property," he says. "It can cut turnover significantly. It's not inexpens ive to pay a professional trainer for 18 months-plus hotels and meals-but the return can be unbelievable."

The payoff isn't just for the workers, but for their managers as well, says Silvers. "Technical people want to be involved in decision-making, and they need to be involved," he adds. "They need to be given a longer leash than other workers. A good class teaches managers to see the signs of who needs what, who needs direction or to be left alone. Teaching the most basic human behavioral traits is important."

But if training is properly seen as an investment, what do you do when the person you've just paid to educate walks out the door? "That's the chance you take," says LeFort. "We hate to lose people, but it's a fact of life." Still, United HealthCare's below-average turnover rate of 15% suggests he's doing something right.

Return to story, " Managing That Churning Sensation ."

Illustration by Joe Scanfani