The 2008 Learning In Practice Awards

Chief Learning Officer magazine recognized Huff for her contributions to the company.

“I was very excited to be recognized for the leadership award since it represented an external acknowledgement that our organization has created an industry-leading talent management process for our employees,” Huff said.

“We often create new programs and services to deliver to our clients, but this is the first time we delivered them to our own employees,” she continued. “Many organizations think that only large companies provide these services for their employees, and this award is tangible evidence of the importance of companies of all sizes investing in the development of their talent.”

– Deanna Hartley

LEADERSHIP AWARD • GOLD • DIVISION 2

Annette Thompson
Chief Learning Officer, Farmers Insurance

Annette Thompson recently was promoted to the newly created position of chief learning officer at Farmers Insurance as a result of her initiative and leadership role in creating a centralized learning unit at the company.

Years ago, Thompson noticed significant infrastructure and standardization challenges in several of the company’s learning units. Among them were unjustifiable differences in budget levels among the units, inconsistent training methods and a disconnect between each unit’s training complement and the impact on business results.

As each learning unit operated independently and sought to create expertise in key areas, the absence of a centralized learning unit resulted in redundancies and inefficiencies. Each unit could not leverage the strengths and best practices of the other units to produce greater business results.

“The biggest challenge in bringing learning together for Farmers under one umbrella was creating an organizational structure that provided both the opportunity for efficiencies and best practices [while maintaining] tight connectivity with the business units we supported,” Thompson said.

Article Keywords: blended learning communities of practice e-Learning formal learning leadership development LMS metrics on-boarding outsourcing performance management succession planning talent management technology virtual learning