Barilla -- Launching a Corporate University

Barilla launched Barilla University in January of 2007, with a behavior-based curriculum that intended to help employees develop their skills and get excited about learning on-the-job.

When recruits come from other large competitors in the food industry, they are used to having formalized education and career paths. Since Barilla recruits from these organizations, it was important to provide those same opportunities and increase employee engagement.




They decided to start with something most organizations can relate to -- business acumen. Any Barilla worker can benefit from learning about the business and learning how their role contributed to the business. Laura, however, has noticed a shift in the employees' wants, from business acumen to technical and functional job skills. Unfortunately, when asking senior managers, they would prefer that employees learn more soft skills like conflict management and interpersonal skills. Finding a balance between these needs and wants is key when designing a successful corporate university. Laura notes that, "trying to do everything perfect" is not the ideal way to rollout. Early on, it's important to get a few things out and try to build buzz through marketing the program.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• CorpU
• Corporate
• e-learning
• HR
• Training
• Learning
• Leadership
• Performance
• Laura
• Birk
• Talent
• Development