Partner for Performance provides the keys to aligning your learning and development role with your organizations greatest needs. Performance improvement specialists Ingrid Guerra-Lpez and Karen Hicks offer a framework for fast-tracking your growth as an ally to managers and a consultant to business leaders.

Founded in Switzerland in 1872, Zurich has grown to 55,000 employees provide car, home, life, and liability protection to individuals, small businesses, and multinational organizations. Zurich has a deep commitment to its values of integrity, customer centricity, sustainable value creation, excellence, and teamwork.In 2010, the Group Operations and Technology (GOT) division was created to develop a customer service model and training, which would help drive business.

TELUS, Canadas fastest-growing telecommunications company, has always taken pride in delivering excellent customer service. CEO Darren Entwistle attributes this success to an inclusive corporate culture that empowers team members to deliver what customers need and want: Our team, and the incredible culture weve built, is our companys most valuable asset and the secret to our success.However, the companys call center learning team wanted to further improve the customer experience and began developing a new customer service model in late 2013.

Mindtree Limited, an India-based IT consultancy with offices in 14 countries, operates in a hypercompetitive industry. The engineering skills it requires are scarce in India or come at a premium.

As Hiltons portfolio continues to expand, so does its demand for new training. All of them needed some level of training, and existing team members also required ongoing learning.

CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran recognizes how a learning culture helps his organization stay competitive in the rapidly changing global business environment. These problems arose because clients were more comfortable conversing in French, and most of the consultants working with them did not speak much French, despite having business and IT expertise.

University Health System (UHS), a nonprofit based in San Antonio, Texas, operates a nationally recognized acute care teaching hospital and a network of outpatient care centers. Hernndezs philosophy is simple: Employees are the organizations greatest resource and learning is critical if UHS is to achieve its mission of delivering quality care, efficiency, and a great patient experience.

They designed and implemented the Haworth Leadership Institute (HLI), which included development programs for managers and leaders at all levels of the organization. Thus, in 2014, Harten and the HR team set out to design and launch a program to help them build these skills: The Aspiring Leader Program.

But ATD and i4cp found that instructional designers dont rate their professions overall efforts as highly as they might. Only about half of surveyed design and learning practitioners characterized their instructional design efforts as effective in helping to meet organizational business objectives.