THE COMPANY THAT TEACHES TOGETHER PERFOR

At McCormick & Company, the organization’s learning philosophy is rooted in The Power of People, written by Charles P. McCormick who led the company from 1932 to 1969. In 1949, he wrote, “Business is primarily a matter of people,” and “My greatest satisfaction as president of a company has been in watching people who work for me grow as the business grows.”

While performance-based training and development has always been a key business strategy at McCormick, the goal of an adaptable learning organization and the potential loss of expertise from baby boomer retirements led the company to identify a new need: to create a teaching organization in which knowledge and expertise are shared at all levels globally.

As a result, the mission of the global learning and development function was modified five years ago to reflect the idea that a teaching organization is a key driver for a learning organization.

McCormick is currently implementing high performance work systems at its manufacturing locations. The concept is a team-based operating philosophy that focuses on six systems: goal setting, performance management, problem solving, training and development, information systems, and rewards and recognition.