48 T+D | October 2013

Quanta Computer InC. | taoyuan County, taIwan 10

It’s been three years since the chairman of Quanta Computer mandated a new course be charted for the firm, an original design

manufacturer of notebooks. He warned that the campaign to transform into a more inno-vative and customer-focused company would rely heavily on its training and development (T&D) function to instill a new corporate cul-ture within Quanta.

Chairman Barry Lam had good reason to do so. These are challenging times for the computer hardware industry and, like other companies, Taiwan-based Quanta is seeking growth opportunities in cloud computing and other emerging segments rife with competi-tors. A profitable future, he said, would require a focus on the “New 3Cs” of cloud computing, connectivity, and client device.

The job of retraining and re-educating employees fell on the shoulders of the T&D function headed by Winnie Lee, Quanta’s chief human capital officer. Job number one was to re-equip employees with different skill sets and mindsets. To build competencies in a more systemic way, a multifaceted strategy was developed and enacted by the T&D func-tion, re-created as Quanta ELITE (expertise, leadership, innovation, thinking, and entrepre-neurship) School (QES).

“Our chairman emphasized that we should

not simply pursue the requests of our key customers, but instead focus on innovation,” says Lee. The T&D portion of the transition is the full responsibility of QES, she says. The school’s initiatives have yielded numerous projects that soon will produce results, Lee predicts.

Specifically, the stated goal was to achieve a shift from passive (following customers’ requests) to proactive, and from engineering-centric thinking to human-centric thinking throughout the company. All employees are being urged to support the new mindset.

“Changing mindsets is extremely difficult,” says Lee. For example, research and devel-opment staff accustomed to approaching product design from their own perspectives as designers were suddenly being trained to place users first. “Learning how to observe users’ behaviors, empathize [with] why they behave like that, and probe more of what they don’t know—then put those factors into user-centric design—is a paradigm shift of product design at Quanta,” she says.

Understanding user behaviors was seen as fundamental to creating effective business models and building corresponding compe-tencies. To introduce the concept, a series of courses called Brain Power emphasized a neu-rological perspective of the brain.

A new corporate culture is helping to position

Quanta Computer as it addresses the challenges of an uncertain future for

computer products.

By PAul HArris

Go HAnd in HAndmindsetsAnd

skill sets

Front row: Oscar Lo, Manager, Quanta EliTE school (QEs) Training and development

department; Cathy Yang, Team leader, QEs Technical Program;

Winnie Lee, Vice President, Human resource Center and

Chief Human Capital officer; Bonnie Chen, Team

leader, QEs leadership Program; and Spring Chou, Manager, QEs organization

intelligence department

Back row: QEs Employees: Ben Huang, Frank Wang,

Ashley Lin, Amy Liu, Scott Huang, Olivia Hung, and

Kun-Seng Chang

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podcast

PHoTo: HEnry WEsTHEiM

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50 T+D | October 2013

Quanta Computer InC. | taoyuan County, taIwan

Brain Power is part of a new training program called ICE (innovation, creativity, entrepre-neurship) that was created to inspire and instill passion in the workforce. Designed jointly by professionals and academic scholars, it includes a four-stage series of learning activities to facil-itate mindset change. The courses cover basic trends, execution methods, and real practices.

The innovation category includes training on such topics as new technology sharing and future technology research. Creativity includes a design-thinking workshop and other subjects to stimulate creativity. Content on business

strategies and in-novation successes comprise the entre-preneurship category, while the category on integrated activity prompts employees to put their learning into practice.

The popular ICE program includes a follow-up contest to reinforce learning re-

sults and strengthen post-learning application. Cash prizes are offered to winners. Last year, ICE conducted 63 courses and attracted more than 5,000 participants, a 33 percent jump in voluntary participation.

Development of Quanta’s new culture took another leap with help from Harvard Business School and Stanford University’s Institute of Design. In 2010, noted Harvard business pro-fessor Clayton Christensen, the architect of disruption innovation, led workshops with Quanta business unit heads.

“It was the first workshop ever delivered by Professor Christensen to an Asia-Pacific com-pany,” says Lee. The intensive two-day exercise inspired Lam to create “TBB” (technology, be-havior, and business) as a new principle to develop new business.

In addition, in-house workshops on de-sign thinking led by Stanford faculty prompted Quanta to adopt that concept’s key principles in product development. “The program em-phasized both skill set and mindset change,

especially regarding the tailoring of products to users’ needs,” says Lee.

QES also is moving aggressively on the succession planning front to align profes-sional competencies with the new corporate mantra while also addressing the talent war in the competitive industry. Efforts include new programs to identify and retain future management associates and high-potential employees. Both initiatives involve a struc-tured process of selection, development, and promotion that involves a personal interview with the chairman.

The management associates program re-cruits and nurtures young talent and provides them with intensive training and assignments, including hands-on manufacturing at for-eign sites and cross-functional job rotations. Coaches and mentors are assigned to guide their development.

The prestigious high-potential program se-lects promising individuals from within the company for training and eventual promotion into middle and senior management positions. It involves careful identification and evalua-tion from a pool of employees, from which less than 1 percent are selected.

An important part of both programs, in addition to being a key retention tool, is a cus-tomized executive MBA program at National Taiwan University. The program merges man-agement knowledge with practical training, and allows employees to put acquired knowl-edge to use.

The two programs also emphasize the hir-ing of talented individuals with valued skills anticipated for the company’s future, says Lee. These individuals are targeted for accelerated development and perks that include regu-lar informal talks with the chairman and vice chairman, she adds.

Although it is premature to measure the transition’s success, Lee notes a 100 percent training participation rate in 2012 as a sign that QES is whetting the appetites of employees for quality learning.

Paul Harris is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Virginia; pcharris007@comcast.net.

UnDerSTAnDing USer BeHAviOrS WAS Seen AS FUnDAmenTAL TO CreATing eFFeCTive BUSineSS mODeLS AnD BUiLDing COrreSPOnDing COmPeTenCieS.

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