In Training

Management in the IT department up to the CIO level has to ensure the staff is getting the right training. At Allstate, training is managed by the learning solutions team, but Bob Schumacher, education senior manager, says a member of the team serves as a liaison with the leaders of the IT department to get proper input.

The [liaison] is there to strategize with the [IT] leaders as far as major projects that are coming through and where training and development are going to fit in, says Schumacher. Number one, it gives us a heads-up. Number two, we can offer suggestions and insightswe have this on the shelf already, we have to create it, we have to do more researchwhatever the case may be.

How Much Time Is Enough?
There is no true benchmark for the number of training hours needed for IT employees. So much depends on staffing concerns, budgets, and the technology being offered. Sara Statman, CEO of Statman Consulting, a financial services training and technical authoring firm, believes companies have avoided increasing their training budgets. I think theyll continue to react to events rather than take a lead and then will probably jump on board dragging their heels, she says.

Whenever the markets turned down, she points out, training budgets suffered and, along with advertising, were one of the first cuts made. As we return to a normal business mode, training is back on the agenda, she says. Companies want to reap the rewards but historically have been reluctant to commit adequate sums to training. I dont see this changing in the short term, based on the fact the training industry hasnt yet pushed the business case sufficiently. Its not a hot topic like risk or corporate governance.

Nationwides training budget has remained flat for the last few years, Pierson says, and she views that as a victory, considering other cuts made in budgets. The trend [at Nationwide] is staying flat, which is a pretty good thing because usually in tough economic times, especially in IT, thats one of the first things to get cut, she says. Our trend has remained pretty stable for the last three years.

Nationwide IT employees at all levels average two to three classes a year, according to Pierson. Members of the Allstate IT staff receive about 40 hours of training per year, according to Hanley. Within IT, depending on the role of the individuals and the experience they bring to the party, there is quite a range, she says. We have programs that could involve an individual in development for up to six weeks.

Types of Training
Each employee is looked at individually, according to Allstates Hanley. We provide and customize specific to the needs of employees, be they new hires or experienced employees, she says.

One of Allstates objectives is to have a development plan for each of its employees, says Brenda Brinson, assistant vice president strategic resource support, IT. The educational opportunities and the support we provide are correlated directly with the needs of the employee as they relate to the strategic objective we are trying to accomplish, she explains.
It goes far beyond simply technical training events, adds Schumacher. We also are looking at soft-skills training and leadership development.

Nationwide offers similar development plans for its employees. We have formal procedures around performance management and mid-year development plans tying development needs to training, says Pierson. We have certain expectations of certain roles within our organization, including technical mentoring.
Nationwide as a whole is extremely interested in making sure all our employees have development plans, says Mark Mills, corporate public relations manager for Nationwide, and training in one fashion or another usually is an important aspect of that. Its not specific to IT. Thats really the Nationwide culture. We feel its important for people to have these opportunities whenever possible and where it benefits both the employee and the company.

Allstate lists the key learning initiatives for its IT employees as: Technology Readiness Initiative for Application Developers; High Performance Environment Workouts; The Leaders Choice; Project Management Development; and Business and Technical Tips for Success.

Training the Leaders
With IT leaders, soft skills, such as leadership and management skills, are an important part of the training schedule. Allstate implemented The Leaders Choice this year, an initiative to provide education-based, experience-based, and feedback- and relationship-based options for development.

We also have offerings for technical skills, says Schumacher. Leaders have an opportunity to attend these sessions depending on the detailed knowledge they are trying to extract. If you are a project lead or a team leader, you certainly want to be well grounded in the technology your team is about to embark on. Such courses are offered as part of Allstates e-learning initiative or through facultative training, according to Schumacher.

Nationwides IT leaders are experiencing management training not geared specifically toward technology, according to Mills. As a company, Nationwide has put many managers, including IT leaders, through a culture and values workshop we call Imagi Nationwide, he says. Most recently, our IT Leadership Team (the top 70-plus managers within IT) spent time as a group learning about leadership communication.

Learning the Business
Insurers are finding successful technology projects involve teamwork between the IT department and the business side. So the more each side knows about the other, the easier it becomes for the two to work together. Hanley says it is highly important for IT staffers to understand the various business functions. That is how we help innovate business processes, she says. Allstate offers classes that are specific to the business and answer employee questions on the products offered by the insurer, services provided, and the economics of the insurance business.

We have a number of instructors at workshops that include business topics for the IT professional, and we often make use of a business person to present that data, says Hanley.
Nationwide frequently looks to fill positions on the technology side with talented people from the business side. A lot of business knowledge is gained by people who come from the business operational lines into IT because it is a valued skill set, says Pierson. Opportunities also are created for IT associates to receive mentoring from different components of the business. It helps them to understand their internal customer focus, says Pierson. Many of our organizations offer basic fundamental classes around what our financial group does and what our property/casualty unit does.

Allstate treats its workshops like a big dinner party, mixing and matching employees from different areas to create some new chemistry. That healthy exchange of ideastheir different experiences, the different ways they touch the businessis something we like to do, says Hanley.

The exchange of ideas works both ways, too. Allstate has many cross-functional teams, Brinson says, which are pulled together to help look at business processes. Sharing both ways certainly happens, by the nature of those teams, she explains. Sharing is no longer just from the business perspective, but its also discussed how the technology actually helps the business and enables the business so the business side understands what it is getting and what it is driving because ultimately the business people are the IT departments customers.

Web Site Information
Insurance courses are made available to Allstates IT staff, and the companys leadership development Web site contains articles and recommended job assignments and rotations that could be targeted to help IT people increase their business skill, according to Hanley. Allstate also encourages its IT staff to pursue professional insurance designations such as INS and CPCU. Courses for these designations are available at multiple locations.

Nationwide offers a One IT community Web site for its internal IT associates to turn to for information on technical education training and for Nationwide systems training, Mills says. If you are in IT, you can pick and choose from any one of those areas, and if that class is available to you in a reasonable fashionyou dont have to travel from Des Moines to Philadelphia, for exampleyou can take the course, says Mills. Or, if its an online training course, you certainly are going to be able to take advantage of that.

Allstate has several online courses it provides for IT associates, Hanley says. Other educational forums include interactive workshops and external seminars. Some employees are involved in additional undergraduate or graduate work as well as some of the insurance designation programs, so they get a good handle on the insurance industry, she says.

Experiential learning opportunities also are an important part of the training mission at Allstate, Brinson adds. We have critical success factors that have been established for the corporation, things that help us address some of the softer skills, she says. We have developed specific programs and will customize programs to make it a real-life experience in which the employee has an opportunity to work and grow.

Allstate has developed some of its own training programs, but it is not reluctant to look outside for help. When dealing with a new product, the company will turn to its vendor to supply some of the carriers training needs.

Nationwides Pierson says, With our strategic vendor partnersthe ones we deal with consistentlythats part of the relationship. We have certain expectations regarding training thats provided and availability. Sometimes that means sending IT employees to the vendor. Other times, if Nationwide has enough resources, the training is done at Nationwide facilities. I think you see that a lot, primarily with newer technologies, she says.

Both insurers agree theres a need for participation in professional conferences. We look at whos going and whats the value added, says Pierson. Is it just a nice weekend in a sunny place?

Allstate considers conferences as an investment and a vehicle [for training] we like to leverage, Brinson says. We are selective in those we participate in to make sure it is a value-added experience, both for us and for those we have an opportunity to network with.

Enterprise Solutions
For far-flung corporations such as Allstate and Nationwide, one consideration for IT trainers is how to avoid duplication of effort. Allstate has an enterprise education group that is dedicated specifically to IT for technical training. Hanley says IT departments in some of Allstates smaller offices might work out of traditional education centers. Brinson adds there are 42 members on the IT training staff for the more than 5,000 IT employees working for the insurer in multiple locations.

Mills says at Nationwide, enterprise CIO Michael Keller has made it a priority for the different units under him to pull together into one IT community. This will get the maximum amount out of all of the people we have and find those things where we are not duplicating effort, but where we can come together, says Mills. Training is one area weve looked at over the last couple of years. We can provide better training opportunities for all of our people if we get all our trainers to work together, to be thinking together, and to be building this whole training model.

We believe in our people, and we invest in our people, says Brinson. Allstate takes that very seriously. From an IT perspective, specifically, we have found as we ask our employees to do more with less and to focus on innovation, we need to enable them to be prepared to do that. It is a strategic decision to invest in the development of our employees.

Help Wanted
Degree programs in insurance and risk management are not found in many universities around the country, so it should not come as a surprise to IT managers who are involved in hiring that a quick search failed to find any schools offering degrees in insurance information technology. While some industry representatives think such a degree might be too specialized, at least one college instructor sees the day when colleges might address the issue.

James Jones, director of the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services at Illinois State University, says, Im sure insurers would see value in picking someone with an insurance major or minor who has a background in IT. He doesnt believe thats going to justify a degree program just yet. The insurance major or minor itself is fairly new, he says.

In recruiting college graduates for its IT department, Allstate thrusts a vigorous training program in insurance upon the new hire, says Allstates assistant vice president strategic resource support, IT, Brenda Brinson. As a result, Allstate is satisfied with a recruit who brings in sharp IT skills only. The carrier has a college-recruiting program in which it targets key universities where the carrier has developed relationships. Weve been involved in college [IT] recruiting at least four or five years, says Brinson. We dont feel were just a taking organization, but were a giving organization as well. Allstate works with schools by participating in classroom opportunities such as case studies. Were able to cultivate opportunities and relationships, she says.

There are about a dozen viable insurance programs at the college level, Jones says, adding the day may come when schools that offer business information systems might also have students earning a second major or minoring in insurance.
One problem Jones sees is some computer science degrees often are outside the school of business, so those students are unlikely to take any insurance classes as electives. However, there are business schools that offer a business information systems major, and students in that field easily could work in some insurance courses. Adds Jones: I think it would make them more competitive.