LEAD Awards 2018: Interview with Mark Monaghan, iQor

Offering an Atmosphere Promoting Personal Growth and Accountability

 
  Organization: iQor
  Program: iQor University
  Program Director: Mark Monaghan, VP Global Learning
  Visit: www.iqor.com
   
Our editorial team interviewed Mark Monaghan from iQor at the LEAD2018 Awards this past February. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview.
 
What is the overall objective of your program?
iQor University was developed out of the need to address both short and long-term employee developmental and engagement needs and was custom-built by iQor in SharePoint as part of QNet, our intranet employee portal. Our goal is to not only identify and develop future leaders, but to provide an atmosphere that promotes personal growth and accountability. iQor is no longer just a BPO, we now offer a wide range of aftermarket services globally. Merging multinational cultures and services requires awareness, goal clarity, and effective communication – everyone has to do their part. In an effort to address our current challenges while keeping our future in focus, the iQor Corporate Training Team has worked diligently to create a competency-based learning program. Our new program addresses each business level while establishing a core set of common values and expectations in order to provide direction and opportunity for all employees.
 

Who do you impact with your program?
iQor University’s content and curriculum are designed and aligned to our Leadership Competency Model anchored by our iQorian Values. Our Competency Model is comprised of four Leadership Domains:
 

 
iQor U includes position-specific training opportunities that focus on Leadership, Career Growth, Training our Trainers, Coaching, Lean Management, IT Security/Compliance Training, as well as others. Content and Curriculum for our ‘aQademies’ have been woven into the fabric of our Leadership Competency Model in order to harmonize learning modalities and role development. Our goal is to offer something for everyone at every level so that each employee has the opportunity to take advantage of the programs and services offered by iQor Corporate Training Team. Our newly-created welQome aQademy provides new employees with needed information about the company as well as several new training videos such as an Orientation Video, which focuses on our iQorian Values and the behavioral expectations that drive them.
 
What are the lessons you’ve learned this year from facilitating your program?
iQor’s learning experience is often specific to the training received. We offer an array of workshops and training sessions that range from new hire system overviews and functionalities to enterprise level platform training. Our Peak Performance Qoaching course was attended by over 2400 supervisors in the last year 3 years alone. We’ve recorded over 40 sales-related modules using SME’s from each side of our business (Call Center Services and After Market Services), widening our range of knowledge in both Verticals so our sales force can better position our offerings and leverage current client relationships in order to help our company grow.
 
These modules are also now used when a new executive joins the company for orientation to our unique and competitive business models. Training exit survey responses have been excellent ways of encouraging us to work even harder to provide the training and tools our employees need to grow and support our mission. With all that said there are still areas to improve, better communications and awareness, accessibility issues and software where conflicts arise. Our team reacts quickly when learners reach out for help or experience technical issues.
 
How do you measure the return on investment and success of the program?
iQor University has been a long time in the making and is made up of several training and development areas, some of which are new, some old, and some that are still in the works. This is the company’s first attempt to officially recognize a combined Leadership Development program and process for all iQor employees. Our new Leadership Competency Model is now being used to architect new training programs becoming instrumental in identifying existing high-potential learners. Some of the results have come in regarding our Peak Performance Qoaching where we discovered that our Supervisors are twice as likely to stay after completing the course as compared to those who have not attended. Given that there we have over 2400 call center supervisors, there is potentially a huge savings associated with this program, not to mention the benefits of increased performance on our client programs. iQor University brings all of our Corporate Training content, programs and development under one umbrella. Our Leadership Competency Model will help identify and develop current and future iQor leaders bringing our global and multicultural team together so we can share knowledge, develop new partnerships and work together to secure our future.
 
What lies ahead for the program and how will it continue to succeed?
iQor University, along with its ever-growing number of Learning aQademies coupled with our Leadership Competency Model, have been embraced by Senior Management and vetted through multiple layers of management to gain buy in, support, and excitement about our programs. It has provided a central location so that global training and learning opportunities can be made available to all employees. The company has partnered with SuccessFactors to launch a new HRIS platform and LMS which will be linked to iQor University.
 
We’ve expanded our Skillsoft Leader Library selection and user base to include all 4200 iQor managers and exempt level employees who are required to take HR refresher courses yearly. As we continue to invest in ourselves, we will discover and implement new training techniques and strategies. Our team is tirelessly dedicated to reinventing ourselves. We understand that life is not a static event and neither is learning. iQor University is designed to be flexible, effective and scalable. Our company has dedicated the resources needed to keep us moving well into the future.