Interview with Helen Tovey, European IT Competency and Learning Manager, Ford Motor Company Limited

Citation

(2006), "Interview with Helen Tovey, European IT Competency and Learning Manager, Ford Motor Company Limited", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 20 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2006.08120eaf.001

Interview with Helen Tovey, European IT Competency and Learning Manager, Ford Motor Company Limited

Interview with Helen Tovey, European IT Competency and Learning Manager, Ford Motor Company LimitedSince joining Ford Motor Company as a graduate trainee in 1987, Helen has worked in a variety of IT roles from programming to leading development projects, from consultancy support to process re-engineering. Three years ago, she moved in to the newly created role of IT Competency and Learning Manager, with the remit to implement a global competency-based IT career development framework across the European region.

What attracted you to working in this field?

I came to my current role from an IT background. However, many of my achievements in the IT field were around people and development. I find the field of learning and development extremely stimulating and so when the role of IT Competency and Learning Manager was advertised three years ago, I applied for it and have loved my work ever since.

A lot of companies talk about people, process and technology. I feel I have a rounded background as I have done some work in all three areas. However my real interest lies in with the people aspect of organizations.

What do you see as the biggest challenge in your current role?

A lot of it is to do with organizational change management as it takes time to move the people and the culture in a different direction. At Ford we are trying to move our staff away from the idea that training is about going on a course, to having them engage in continuous learning, where a training course is only a small part of the overall learning experience. Real learning happens when you are trying to apply your skills on the job.

We need to encourage people to embrace this wider perspective and more consciously recognize what they are doing in the workplace that contributes to their learning. This has been a gradual evolution and different functions within the company are at different stages. However, IT is one of the leading departments in Ford in this respect.

In your opinion what are the biggest obstacles to effective learning and development in organizations?

The commitment of the organization – winning the resources, giving people the time, and the funding needed to put the really effective measures in place. It’s a long term investment that will pay dividends in the future, but it’s really difficult to measure the returns and so companies can be reluctant to embark on significant learning programs.

At Ford we have been able to operate independently within IT to a certain extent. We have put in place an advanced training program for IT staff, and we are continuing to invest in competency development despite operating in a difficult business environment.

Where do you see development and learning in organizations in, say, ten years’ time?

I really want to see this area as integral to our culture where it is recognized that everyone is on a learning journey, where knowledge is shared, and helping others learn is the natural way of working.

As an example in the world of IT, all projects and programs should have resourcing plans that allow for staff learning and development, particularly for those who are less experienced. To maintain a sustainable work force, it’s vital that staff have the opportunity to practice and develop their skills, and that they are coached, mentored and supported through that process. All of this needs to be accounted for within project and workload plans, otherwise it just becomes a “nice-to-have” that gets squeezed out by other priorities and deadlines.

It would also be great if people do not have to draw up formal learning and development plans because this is really just part of the way they work.

What is the most influential book you have read and why?

I do not think I could pick just one book, as I am constantly influenced by a wealth of excellent literature!

One of the books that I was very impressed with was Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore. In Ford we encourage coaching as a key management skill, and I am benefiting twofold, both from being coached myself and also from mentoring new hires. The Coach’s Coach by Alison Hardingham is also an excellent book.

Another must-read author for me is Deborah Tannen, who writes on the subject of gender differences and how to work effectively together. And I was quite struck by the relevance of the lessons in The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.

Who would you consider to be the key influencers in this field?

It’s impossible to choose, as the field is pretty broad and there are a great many players. We often use material from Dr Peter Honey on learning styles, and the Kolb Learning Cycle helps people to recognize how they can improve their learning experience.

However, I would have to say that the main influencers are those that bring about the changes within organizations to integrate learning into the core fabric of the culture. In Ford our CIO, Marv Adams, is leading us through a major change to implement winning strategies that will ensure Ford is truly powered by IT – one of the strong foundational elements of this vision is competency and continuous learning.

What is your biggest achievement to date in the learning and development field?

It is the implementation of our IT competency framework in Ford of Europe. We are moving into the second year of running the framework and to see people picking it up, using it and getting value out of it is very satisfying.

We carry out an annual “pulse” survey (an employee opinion poll) which contains some questions that relate to the subject of training and development. We achieved a 13 percent point increase in those scores in Europe last year, which is a tremendous indication that what we are doing is working.

Are these issues attracting the attention they deserve in organizations today?

I think companies are recognizing the significance of learning and the need to invest in sustainable development programs, although many do still struggle to make the necessary financial commitment.

What is the key corporate event in your calendar this year?

In my calendar, it is the annual CIPD HRD Conference, held in April. It’s an excellent forum for finding out what the latest thinking is and for seeing what other organizations are doing. The networking opportunities are great.

How do you tackle the dilemma of measuring ROI of training/development?

This is such a difficult thing to do and I know many organizations struggle. Fortunately for us, as we embarked on this program, we had leaders and sponsors who believed fundamentally in the intrinsic value of learning. So the pressure to spend time developing ROI metrics was less than the work of establishing a meaningful and sustainable learning framework and resources.

However, with time come inevitable requirements to justify ongoing spend, so we are continuing to develop our approach to move from process metrics (measures of how many people have completed the process) to outcome metrics (such as changes in behavior, efficiency, bottom line cost, and so on). Relating these metrics directly to learning and development is complex and requires study and trend analysis over time. As an example, one ROI measure that we should start to see emerge over time is that of agency costs – if we are increasing the capability of our internal employees then we should start to see a reduced dependency on the more expensive technical skills that we currently source externally.

But the real value of a learning culture may take five to ten years to emerge!