Businesses Among ‘Training Top 125’

A national professional development publication has ranked multiple Indiana-based companies among its annual “Training Top 125.” Training magazine considers factors including financial investment in employee development and how closely development efforts are linked to business objectives. The Indiana businesses are:

-Indianapolis-based DEFENDER Direct

-Bankers Life and Casualty Co. and Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Co., which are subsidiaries of Carmel-based CNO Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: CNO)

-Indianapolis-based ExactTarget Inc.

February 4, 2014

News Release

EXCELSIOR, Min. – Jiffy Lube International, Inc., accelerated into the top spot on the 2014 Training Top 125, while Keller Williams Realty, Inc., moved up to No. 2. CHG Healthcare Services took third place. Top 5 newcomers Capital BlueCross and Mohawk Industries, Inc., nabbed Nos. 3 and 5, respectively. This year, 27 newcomers cracked the Top 125 list.

Training magazine recognized the 2014 Training Top 125 winners with crystal awards and revealed their rankings during the Golden Gala – themed in honor of Training magazine's 50th anniversary – held last night during the Training 2014 Conference & Expo at the San Diego Convention Center. The black-tie gala was sponsored by Advantexe, Allen Interactions, American Management Association, American Public University, Franklin Covey, Game On Learning, Godiva, Herrmann International, Omnikron, Seiko, Sheppard Partners, the Training Top 10 Hall of Fame, Turning Technologies, and Vistage. Seiko served as the official timekeeper of the event.

Now in its 14th year, the Training Top 125 is the only report that ranks companies unsurpassed in harnessing human capital. Some applicant statistics of note:

The mean revenue was $4.5 billion U.S. and $6.5 billion worldwide. The mean training budget was $24.3 million, representing 5.84 percent of payroll.

The mean number of total employees trained per organization (including independent contractors and franchisees) was 31,079, with 16,577 trained in the classroom and 29,744 trained online. A mean of 451 courses were offered as instructor-led sessions; 1,709 were offered as online self-paced modules; and 165 were offered as virtual instructor-led classrooms.

The average number of full-time and part-time trainers was 199 and 557, respectively.

Some 99 percent of applicants have a tuition reimbursement program. A mean of 8 percent of eligible employees made use of tuition reimbursement programs in the last year. Median spend on tuition reimbursement programs was $400,000.

Some 99 percent of applicants use employee satisfaction surveys, competency maps, and personal/individual development plans. Only 69 percent tie managers’ compensation directly to the development of their direct reports.

On the evaluation side, 77 percent of applicants utilize Return on Value; 83 percent utilize Return on Investment; 79 percent utilize Balanced Scorecards; and 58 percent utilize Six Sigma. The Kirkpatrick Levels of Evaluation are more widely used: Level 1 (99 percent), Levels 2 and 3 (97 percent), and Level 4 (95 percent).

During the gala, Training inducted Verizon and Farmers Insurance into the Training Top 10 Hall of Fame after ranking in the Top 10 of the Training Top 125 companies for at least four consecutive years. Members remain in the Top 10 Hall of Fame for a minimum of three years. After that, they can choose to remain in the Hall of Fame by adhering to specific guidelines or they can opt to reapply for Training Top 125 consideration.

In addition, yesterday afternoon, Training recognized innovative and successful learning and development programs and practices utilized by the Training Top 125 winners. Best Practice and Outstanding Training Initiative winners received crystal trophies during a ceremony on the Expo Stage. They were:

BEST PRACTICE AWARD WINNERS

-Automatic Data Processing, Inc.

-Baylor Health Care System

-CHG Healthcare Services

-McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

-Valvoline Instant Oil Change

OUTSTANDING TRAINING INITIATIVE AWARD WINNERS

-BNSF Railway

-Discover Financial Services

-First Data Corporation

-First Horizon National Corporation

-Walgreens

“The 2104 Training Top 125 winners did a stellar job of proving their training effectiveness with concrete results that helped achieve corporate strategic goals,” said Lorri Freifeld, editor-in-chief of Training magazine. “They demonstrated an organization-wide commitment to and passion for training that is to be commended. Congratulations to all the companies named to the 2014 Training Top 125.”

The Top 125 ranking is determined by assessing a range of qualitative and quantitative factors, including financial investment in employee development, the scope of development programs, and how closely such development efforts are linked to business goals and objectives.

Companies that wish to be considered for Top 125 ranking complete a detailed application, which is scored both quantitatively (70 percent of total score) by an outside research and statistical data company and qualitatively (30 percent of total score) by Training magazine editors and Top 10 Hall of Fame representatives.

For a profile of each of the Top 5 companies on the Training Top 125, additional information

about the training efforts of all 125 companies, details on the programs receiving Best Practice and Outstanding Training Initiative awards, and the Hall of Fame inductees, see the January/February 2014 issue. To order a copy or Training Top 125 merchandise, visit http://s5.goeshow.com/lakewood/top125gala/2014/pdf/Top%20125%20MerchForm.pdf. The digital edition and individual articles can be found online at http://www.trainingmag.com.

About Training magazine

Training is a 50-year-old professional development magazine written for training, human resources, and business management professionals in all industries that advocate training and workforce development as a business tool. Training also produces world-class conferences, expositions, and digital products that focus on job-related, employer-sponsored training and education in the working world. Training is published by Lakewood Media Group.

2014 Training Top 125 Winners

Jiffy Lube International

Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

Capital BlueCross

CHG Healthcare Services

Mohawk Industries, Inc.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

McDonald's USA, LLC

Coldwell Banker

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

DPR Construction

Arkansas Best Corporation (ABF)

Health Care Service Corporation

Economical Insurance

CareSource

Savvis, A CenturyLink Company

Paychex, Inc.

Capital One

BB&T Corporation

Gables Residential

Automatic Data Processing, Inc.

American Infrastructure

Chesterfield County, Virginia

Buckman Laboratories International, Inc.

Edward Jones

Wequassett Resort and Golf Club

Dollar General Corporation

Caesars Entertainment Corporation

Christiana Care Health System

Shaw Industries, Inc.

DEFENDER Direct

Baylor Health Care System

WellSpan Health

Afni, Inc

First Horizon National Corporation

Walgreens

Avanade

Aetna Inc.

Shape Corp

Nationwide Insurance

U.S. Security Associates, Inc.

ESL Federal Credit Union

Wells Fargo & Co.

Gilbane

Cerner Corporation

Darden

Morrison-TouchPoint

Northwestern Mutual

Miami Children’s Hospital

Century 21 Real Estate LLC

ConAgra Foods, Inc.

Rent-A-Center

Bankers Life and Casualty Company and Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company

University Hospitals

Quicken Loans Inc.

Orkin, LLC

Tandus Centiva, A Tarkett Company

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina

Vistage International

Best Buy

CarMax, Inc.

EMC Corporation