EMEA Reporter: Nokia’s Rebirth Accelerated by eLearning

When an iconic, evenbeloved, name goes through hard times in the technology industry, it is unusual,to say the least, for it to bounce back. But that is exactly what Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Solutions and Networks, NokiaSiemens Networks, or NSN) is doing. When a Phoenix arises it has always beenthrough the refiner’s fire. This is the story of the refining and the part eLearninghas played.

Peter Holmark (head of TLO Expertise, Nokia), based inBerlin, Germany, leads a deliberate strategy to use eLearning to help save and re-position Nokia Networks. (Editor’sNote: “TLO” is an acronym for Talent, Leadership, and Organization Development.)He describes the challenge: “At the beginning of 2013 we had just eightquarters of trading left before we ran out of cash. We had an unattractiveportfolio and our competitors were rapidly eroding our customer base. Theorganization was in turmoil as we changed ownership and our name in abewildering sequence.”

Peter Holmark

Peter and hiscolleagues looked at what they could do to help in a situation where they hadminimal budget, no time, and where learning was not exactly at the top of theleadership team’s agenda. “We knew lots about managing change and we believed we had a strong capability todeliver it. But our leaders needed support in leading change.”

Appraising theexisting learning portfolio and its business impact, Peter realized that themanifestation of the 70:20:10 model, which served the business well in thestable state, was just not fit for the purpose in times of dramatic andturbulent change. “Our leaders could not give the bandwidth or the time to dowhat the model requires in supporting people through the uncertainty.” Thechanges were dramatic. In the subsequent two years,
15 – 25 percent of the payroll (17,000 people) left from every location aroundthe world.

So what could they doto help and to ease the pain of loneliness felt by those taking the harddecisions, all while watching a clock ticking towards extinction if turnaroundfailed? Peter and his team extracted helpful material from the existinglearning library, re-packaged it, and marketed it in ways that made for easyengagement. Then they installed a new portal to enhance global individual accessibility.

“We also looked at newstuff that we thought would help. We turned to neuroscience, aided by the Neuroleadership Institute. With them we created just four new 30-minute videosthat we used in a webinar-based blended program. We made huge use of globalwebinars incorporating the videos but also local facilitation in which HR wasextremely helpful.”

The results have beendramatic. While the program was aimed in its first four months at the upperlevels of the leadership, the asynchronous take-up has been spectacular, withover 40 percent of the 55,000 staff accessing the program, often repeatedly,over the year of its operation. “What the blend, its focus, and its easyaccessibility seems to have done is to create a space where those at the sharpend of turnaround leadership can talk to people trying to do similar things butin different situations. Their questions were the same, the experiences andanswers helped just through sharing, and the loneliness, isolation, and theemotional strain of constant tough decision-making were reduced.”  

It seems that thesecret was in a package that was experience-based but designed to be capable ofre-visiting—in itself a comforting oasis when nothing else is stable.

I asked Peter whatdifferences he had seen in the take-up and reaction from different global cultures.“Take-up of the program was high everywhere. It was what happened as a resultthat was different. For example, the Italian operation was hit very hard with a25 percent cut in staff but the remainder had a bright future as new businessspun off providing good job opportunities—but they went on strike! The contrastwould be in Germany where people seemed to take on board the fact of redundancybut their heads did not drop and they maintained performance until the verylast day of employment. In our home territory of Finland, the strength of theonline communities is such that, to this day, there is a strong “post Nokia”alumni group—with post-retrenchment parties being organized and peer-support happening.”

Today, nine quarterslater, Nokia Networks is once again turning in good operating profits, therevenue stream is good, and portfolio expansion is beginning. Turnaround hasbeen achieved. Peter and his team look back with satisfaction that harnessingtechnology has played a part in making sure that Nokia’s people were able tocome through the fire in a strong way.

Peter Holmark can be reached at [email protected]