An interview with Donnee Ramelli

by Jeff Wendt

President, General Motors University

November 2005

Who are the students of General Motors University?

They are GM’s global professional, technical, and engineering employees as well as managers and executives of GM – about 80,000 people worldwide. The learning at GMU is organized around the way the business operates. We have colleges within the university that are aligned to processes and functions such as engineering, manufacturing, finance, etc. Each college has a Dean, typically an operating executive, responsible for developing and delivering learning. Most GM employees actually build an individual development plan that focuses on their technical and professional capabilities. There is a company-wide objective to grow and develop great talent, but it starts with the individual employee.

How are GMU’s operations budgeted and accounted for within the corporation?

It does not work because of an institution called GMU. It works because there is an environment where people are trying to grow and develop great talent for GM’s future. - Donnee Ramelli

Three budget areas are involved: tuition assistance, technical education, and workplace learning. We are at, or near, national benchmark expenditure levels for all three.

Please explain tuition assistance.

It’s an employee benefit to encourage employees to become more effective on the job and in their careers. When an employee chooses an educational objective, we contribute if it is aligned with our business objectives. A supervisor approves it, and there is a set schedule and annual dollar limit by which we contribute on a yearly basis. On our employee’s behalf, we pay the school as a third-party payer. The education is pursued on the employee’s personal time

Please explain technical education at GM.

Our ‘Tech Ed’ is more employer-guided than tuition assistance. Specific high-achiever employees in technical communities are selected for the program to help them become even more expert in their technical field as well as successful at their jobs. The curriculum is GM-selected, offered by international four-year universities via distance education. Each selected employee makes a considerable investment in time and effort, but he or she can use up to four hours per week of employer time to pursue it. All educational costs are paid by GM. General Motors University oversees the technical education offerings and budget. Some subject area examples are noise and vibration, hybrid and fuel cell engineering, and powertrain controls. Completion of a significant GM project is required. GM actually achieves operating cost savings in excess of the $ 40 million spent each year for Tech Ed projects.

Please discuss the third category of learning at GMU - workplace learning.

Workplace learning comes in two varieties: 1) learning offered and administered by GMU itself, and 2) learning administered via a number of joint ventures. All corporate learning is a two-fer...It is good for the business…it is good for the employee.

Is workplace learning outsourced?

If a subject area is not a core competency of GM, we likely outsource the curriculum or instructor. Up to 100 percent of course design & development may be outsourced. For in-house/core content, the subject matter expert is in-house, responsible for keeping the curriculum fresh and up to date, and 80 percent of course delivery is outsourced. We intend to develop more in-house instruction which is focused on real GM issues and, in most cases, is more cost-effective. The growth of e-learning is helping us do that.

Contrast university learning and “lifelong learning, GM-style.”

The academic university classroom model is actually quite compatible with 18 – 22 year-olds who are for the first time learning to live and work on their own. The socialization process is appropriate and valuable for youthful undergraduates. But as an adult in a workplace setting, you should be in a learning environment where it’s easy to see what are the skills and abilities to do great work. While we may use classroom or e-learning to transfer knowledge, the work environment will play a big role in the effective application of learning, and the improvement in capability and performance. Consider the workplace a real learning laboratory, where colleagues and bosses are helpful in developing new and useful techniques. That’s where there’s dialogue and reflection about improving our work and where there is curiosity about why things went right or wrong. Such curiosity should be helpful in developing both critical thinking and creative thinking.

Not necessarily on a campus?

Organized campus learning is “teacher-dependent” very much like a hospital is doctor-dependent. The learner is brought to the learning. But adults are quicker to learn than the classroom model gives them credit for. Because of technology, we will eventually bring all the learning to the worker. Progress is being made now. We favor web sites for communities of practice, where job aids, tools and techniques can be discovered, discussed and mastered.

Discuss hiring standards for recent college graduates.

Recruiting the right people is extremely important. It takes years to recover from a recruiting mistake. If we require a degree from a job applicant, we care about the degree and the school that issued it. A degree is more than “the ante” here.

Can you give some examples?

Yes. Accounting degrees are required for hiring in many finance jobs. Most of our engineering hires come to GM from one of several “gold-standard” engineering universities. GM has identified 32 key institutions, U.S. universities, as our partners in the recruiting process. These schools were selected based on the completion of a detailed study conducted every 3 years. Many factors are considered including the quality and strength of the programs, diversity of students, past success in recruiting efforts and geographic location. Those schools also participate with us in internships and other co-op recruitment efforts.

With what suppliers are you doing business?

Harvard Business School Publishing is an exceptional value for high-end course material at a reasonable price, delivered on a global e-learning portal in seven languages. We use GlobeSmart from Meridian Resources for global, cultural learning and SkillSoft and Thomson NetG for e-learning. We work with New York Institute of Technology’s Ellis School of Business for a web-based MBA.

How might a college, university or community college increase its business with you?

Help us build a skill-set or business capability … and deliver it fast. Faster learning is a major competitive advantage for GM. We need those learning programs most in IT, science and engineering. We have this today in our Technical Education Program and in our IS&S and IT programs where we do not have all the internal capability we need. What we don’t need is a visit to tell us about an existing college program and a request to offer it to our employees. Colleges should try to understand the industries in their areas and approach them as willing partners to be successful in meeting their specific business needs.

To what do you attribute GMU’s success?

It is because GM’s business leaders are focused on investing in their people. They know the value of developing great talent and great capability globally. They spend time on podium teaching; They spend money investing in this and they make sure on a daily basis to give constructive, positive feedback to their people. That’s why this works. It does not work because of an institution called GMU. It works because there is an environment where people are trying to grow and develop great talent for GM’s future.