3 Questions with Time Warner Cable’s Chief Learning Officer
By | September 19, 2012
TWC Chief Learning Officer Pat Crull
The last 20 years have been a time of rapid change for the cable industry. As a result, workforce training, improving organization effectiveness and community development have never been so important. CableFAX chatted with Time Warner Cable Chief Learning Officer Pat Crull during Diversity Week about community and organization management in an ever-changing environment. Dr. Crull, a licensed psychologist, is SCTE’s new board member for the 2012 – 2014 term.
How do changes in the cable industry impact Time Warner Cable’s learning strategy?
The industry has become much more competitive and sophisticated. Our focus before was serving individual community. That’s still important for us but now we are targeting serving individuals in the community. By creating an enterprise-wide view, we seek to grow individuals which ultimately lead to organizational growth. Growing talent is much broader than just learning new skills.
What are you trying to achieve?
The goal is for Time Warner Cable to have the most agile workforce. Having a workforce that is able to learn quickly and effectively is probably the best competitive advantage one can have. It enables an organization to maintain and adapt product and services to meet customer demands and adjust to the changes. The ability to learn and adapt gives a nimbleness that can’t be easily copied.
What have you been focusing on?
To drive both the corporate business strategy and the evolving organization strategy, we are developing learning programs designed for all levels of the business. As part of our organizational management program, we do employee surveys, create coaching opportunities and individual development programs. Coaching and mentoring are critical. Learning is a two-way process. Leaders in the company learn a great deal from interacting with customer-facing employees. And leaders aren’t just the top executives. Everyone’s a leader in the organization.