WMS Industries, Inc.: Leadership Training Multiplies Payoff From Bold Strategic Change Gamble
In 2002, WMS Industries, Inc., a market leader in the regulated gaming machine entertainment industry, took a gamble of its own. Faced with a newly discovered software glitch in their machines' operating system, Brian Gamache, President and CEO, took bold and decisive action: WMS would take a twenty-four month hiatus from the marketplace to develop an entirely new operating system and re-launch an innovative new and upgraded product line.
Overall, WMS invested over $70 million in people, process, and infrastructure to re-engineer the company and reintroduce new products to the marketplace, emphasizing integrity, quality, and reliability. The strategy was an unprecedented, yet calculated risk that continues to pay off today as WMS reaps the rewards of a successful new product line, expanding customer base, and committed workforce.
For the high-stakes initiative to succeed, the WMS leadership realized its employees would need to develop critical new competencies, first to help them work effectively during the high-pressure redevelopment stage, and then to shift gears and effect the company's surge back into the marketplace. Recognizing genuine change begins at the top, a key component of the reengineering plan was a leadership training program, developed and delivered by Lake Forest Corporate Education, for a select group of high-potential leaders from across the organization.
"To help us execute our ambitious development plan, we chose to partner with LFCE because of its experience in delivering leadership training programs that are integrated with current business goals. It also was critical that the learning not only transfer to the workplace but have a direct, positive impact on participants' current, critical projects," explains Mike Komenda, Vice President of Human Resources.
With these goals in mind, LFCE developed a hands-on learning program targeting key leadership competencies identified by WMS' management team as critical to the company's success. Participants honed their communication skills to build trust and confidence with customers and work across organizational boundaries, gained the financial acumen necessary to allocate resources in the face of lowered revenues and increased expenses during the initiative's retooling stage, practiced negotiation skills, and adopted effective strategies for managing the monumental strategic change that was underway. Significantly, participants learned and practiced these skills both in the classroom and while working on cross-functional teams to tackle mission-critical projects.
A significant reason for the program's success was the collaboration between members of WMS' management team and the LFCE account manager and faculty team who worked together to understand and articulate WMS' leadership needs and objectives. The team also worked to maintain open lines of communication and achieve the support of top management for the program. In fact, most members of WMS' executive committee participated in the training both as presenters and observers. Also, company executives joined participants in a dynamic team building exercise of preparing and serving a gourmet dinner together.
"The active participation and presence of key members of the company's management team throughout the training -including CEO, Brian Gamache and V.P. of Human Resources, Mike Komenda – served as a constant and powerful reminder to participants of how critical these skills were for the company's long-term success," notes Judith Gethner, Account Manager, LFCE.
In 2004, WMS successfully reemerged into the marketplace on target, according to plan and with a re-energized leadership team. Sales have been strong, and a number of participants in the initial training session have already risen to positions of higher leadership and responsibility within the company.
"Because of the aggressive goals and timeframe we set for ourselves – and communicated to the outside world - it was absolutely critical that this training program hit the mark," Komenda notes. "I'm pleased to report we not only achieved this objective, but have expanded the program to include a second group of leadership participants that began in January 2005."
Komenda continues, "The urgent prospect of a major strategic change sparked us to develop the program. Our experience demonstrates, however, that bringing together high-potential individuals from across the company and challenging them to rethink their communication and leadership styles was not only critical to the success of the change initiative at hand, but will be essential for our future success as well."
