Situation
Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace leader, recognized the need for a company-wide culture shift to a modern performance management approach, leading the company to invest in and implement a new technology-enabled, feedback-driven performance management system.
This significant enterprise-wide change was initiated both to increase employee satisfaction (based on internal survey results) and to improve and modernize the current performance management approach.
To ensure successful adoption of the new performance management approach, the system implementation was supported by a robust change management strategy that incorporated a communications plan, resistance management, an extensive blended learning solution and performance support.
Challenge
Lockheed Martin’s goal was to “transform performance management to drive agility while focusing on increased employee engagement via a re-engineered process and a feedback-driven culture.”
Lockheed Martin also wanted to roll out a world-class and innovative learning program that would help leaders and employees embrace the new approach and engage in continuous high-quality feedback to improve performance and positively impact the business and all employees across the enterprise.
Solution
As part of its extensive blended learning strategy, Lockheed Martin partnered with GP Strategies to create modern, intuitive, webbased training that would stand out from the ordinary and reflect its modern performance management approach. The goal was to develop and deliver content that would model and reinforce the desired new performance management behaviors and support the mindset change required for the cultural shift.
GP Strategies used a design thinking methodology to involve members from every phase of the initiative in the design of the solution, from GP Strategies’ project managers and learning architects to Lockheed Martin’s subject matter experts and stakeholders. Together, they designed and created the Mission Possible series of seven short, webbased performance training modules with one track for leaders and one for employees.
The learning solution was centered on creating relevant and engaging scenario-based modules that would target the critical skills necessary to Lockheed Martin’s success in rolling out its new performance management system. GP Strategies and Lockheed Martin focused on four key areas to ensure the training met the organization’s needs:
- Support ongoing feedback and meaningful conversations
- Differentiate and reward talent without demotivation
- Address performance issues actively
- Facilitate alignment to enterprise-wide advanced behavior and impact criteria
Each web-based training module was designed to help familiarize leaders and employees with the new performance management approach, modeling best practices and enabling all learners to practice and incrementally acquire knowledge and build desired skills. Released at intervals in sync with each new phase of the business transformation, the series provided a “just-intime” training approach.
Results
Understanding that both learner engagement and behavior change are central to measuring the effectiveness of training solutions, Lockheed Martin gathered all relevant data to monitor learner response to the training and the resultant use of the new performance management system. With 15,200 employees completing the initial modules within the first 90 days, learner response was exceptionally positive, and employees entered more than 13,000 pieces of feedback and 350,000 goals into the performance management system post-training.
It was really well done—I enjoyed that it was different and out of the box (in a good way) from all the other training that exists.
Lockheed Martin training participant
Progress is ongoing as the new performance management system is rolled out in phases over the course of a year in tandem with its just-in-time training, and results will continue to be collected to ensure future success. Employees are embracing Mission Possible and look forward to new learning programs at Lockheed Martin that support their transformation.
