American Medical Systems Feature Story
U and American Medical Systems partner to bring leadership programs to employees
American Medical Systems
By Megan Rocker
Many know the College of Continuing Education offers adults interdisciplinary degrees and hundreds of evening and online credit courses. But the College also provides an extensive portfolio of courses, certificates, and mastery certificates for professionals in a variety of fields.
While these programs are open to the public, customized options are also offered for organizations who wish to partner with the University to provide specialized corporate education opportunities for their employees.
Current and past clients include such organizations as Malt-O-Meal, Lockheed Martin, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, North Memorial Hospital, Northwest Airlines, United States Postal Service, and Wells Fargo.
One of the companies that has enjoyed a successful partnership with the College for several years is American Medical Systems (AMS), a global medical device company that is headquartered in Minnetonka.
“In 2005, AMS was a relatively small company,” says Janet Dick, AMS’s senior vice president of human resources. “But we were acquiring companies and becoming more diversified, and our growth was becoming much more rapid.”
Dick knew that as AMS positioned itself for its next phase of growth, they needed to develop managers who could drive the changes, build talent, and sustain growth. “As our managers were asked to take on higher levels of responsibility, we wanted to provide them with a comprehensive leadership development program that addressed key managerial and leadership competencies.”
In addition, says Dick, AMS wanted a learning opportunity that was tailored to fit their fast-paced, highly active culture. “We were looking for a program that was customized to our needs, organizational message, vernacular, and culture.” They also wanted to partner with a provider who had experts in design, delivery, and administration of leadership programs so that AMS staff could focus its resources on company growth.
AMS brought their requests to the College of Continuing Education, which after analysis and assessment, customized a training program for them based upon the Successful Manager’s Leadership Program. This flagship course is built on the research and the leadership success factors defined in the Successful Manager’s Handbook, developed by Personnel Decisions International (PDI).
“The U is a high-quality partner and institution, and PDI also has expertise we needed,” says Dick. “Together, they tailored and delivered a five-day classroom training session with a 360-degree feedback tool, as well as follow-up peer support mechanisms.”
Says Jean McLeod, program director with Continuing Professional Education, “AMS was looking for an interactive, engaging program—one where people didn’t just sit there and listen to lectures. They needed high involvement, multiple instructional approaches, and the opportunity to learn from both peers and experts. And, they wanted an educational program that gave their employees practical tools that they can easily apply to real-world problems.”
The outcome of the training was so successful that AMS has partnered with the College twice a year since their initial presentation to continue to develop successful leaders. “We’re seeing people step up more and accept the leadership challenge. We’re able to bring peers together from across divisions—from across the globe--cultivating cross-functional exchange and appreciation for each other’s work,” says Dick.
She concludes, “This forum allows managers to learn from top instructors, and in turn, many of our managers have made the leap to true leaders. They are invested in learning…and we intend to use this foundation to continue to build.”
