Learning and development

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We are committed to providing employees with the training and development opportunities they need to reach their full potential and to deliver on HP’s business objectives. Our global training program aligns individual learning with business group and function needs in support of HP’s overall business strategy. Each employee creates a development plan with his or her manager as part of the annual performance review. We want our employees to be able to advance their careers at HP, and we aim to fill vacancies with internal candidates before we advertise the position externally. 

Our Grow@hp Resource Center enables employees to search for and enroll in 13,000 classroom and e-learning courses. Offerings range from project management and professional business skills to technical and sales training.

Our Standards of Excellence training helps employees implement company policies, meet high standards of conduct and ensure their behavior reflects company values and policies. Topics include customer experience management; data privacy; environment, health and safety; information security; and standards of business and personal conduct (which includes training on nondiscrimination and harassment). All employees are required to take Standards of Excellence training at least annually.

We survey all participants after completing courses. Participant feedback improved during 2007. For the fourth quarter, 84 percent of participating employees rated their course “excellent.”

In 2007, we launched our Career Development Framework, which equips managers with the knowledge and skills they need to deliver on HP’s core values and strategic objectives. It also helps them receive the most from their career development discussions with team members and provides information on how to set appropriate personal objectives. The framework includes:

• Core learning that clarifies the values we expect from our leaders and how they contribute to company strategy
• Personal learning that focuses on individual effectiveness and leadership
• Group learning that equips managers with the skills needed to get the best from their team

We also support employees in pursuing external educational opportunities such as conferences, seminars and technical certifications, as well as training at accredited institutions.

	Leadership development

We offer leadership development training for employees at all levels. In 2007, we redesigned our leadership program for all HP managers and our five key talent programs for selected high-potential leaders. We also updated our orientation program so that leadership development begins the moment employees join HP. 

Leading for Results, our leadership program for HP managers, has 10 modules based on HP’s operating framework. Its focus is to help improve manager performance and promote best practices. In 2007, 28 percent of HP managers (nearly 4,000 people, including 250 executives and Mark Hurd, HP Chairman, CEO and President) participated in the program. Our goal is for all managers to participate in the Leading for Results program by the end of 2008.

Approximately 150 HP high-potential leaders took part in our key talent programs in 2007. These included a community service day where HP vice presidents learned new leadership skills while giving back to local communities.

Our new Director Rotation Program teaches the skills needed to perform new business functions to managers working at the director level (typically a level that reports to HP vice presidents). This increases opportunities to move between functions, businesses and regions. Fourteen directors began the two-year program in 2007. In 2008, our goal is for an additional 25 directors to join the program.

Other leadership training we conducted in 2007 included Stepping up to Management and New Manager Excellence at HP, two programs for new managers, and courses on leading across cultures.