Reference no: EM132885505

Online Case Study: Leadership Development at BP: A Good Investment

The First Level Leaders Development Program was launched in 2002 based on information gathered in needs assessments using telephone interviews and meetings with First Level leaders (FLLs). The program included a four-day leadership course that focuses on how to lead teams, on the role of FLLs, and on expectations of leaders in BP. E-learning modules were used for helping FLLs gain an understanding of safety, health, and security legislation, ethics, and financial decisions. A two and one-half day course focused on performance goals, BP's company structure, an understanding of the BP brand, and BP's global and regional strategy. BP took several steps to determine whether the training was effective. After they had completed the program, FLLs filled out questionnaire to indicate how satisfied they were with the program. The first data on the success of the program was positive. 84 percent of course participants satisfy with the course, the program was delivered at less cost than expected, course demand was higher than expected, and senior-level leaders at BP were actively involved in the program. However, despite the positive evaluation, BP wanted to develop a way to measure the company wide impact of the program. BP took a number of actions to show that the time and money invested in the program related to BP's bottom-line performance. First, telephone interviews identified the key behaviors that were expected to be changed by the program. The key behaviors were grouped into seven categories: organizational awareness, interpersonal skills, communication skills, confidence and self-awareness, management skills, leadership skills, and team performance. Next, telephone interview and Internet surveys asked FLLs' subordinates and managers to evaluate the FLLs' performance in each category. FLL who had attended the leadership development program were compared to FLLs who had not attended the program. FLLs who had attended the program received ratings 14 percent higher than did FLLs who had not attended. The telephone interviews provided stories of FLLs using what they learned in the leadership program to good use. These stories were used for showing the benefits of the program to senior BP leaders. Another evaluation conducted a year later showed similar results. The direct reports and managers again reported better performance on every behavioral category for FLLs who attended the leadership development program compared to FLLs who did not attend. The positive changes in behavior as a result of the program are likely having a positive impact on customer satisfaction, on direct reports' satisfaction, and on vendor relations. The next step is to put a dollar value on these of improvements.

Source: Based on J.Brown, R. Eagar, and P. Lawrence, "BP Refines Leadership," TD (March 2005): 33-41; www.bp.com, website for BP.

State (4) four types of training evaluation that might be used by BP?