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McLeodUSA Inc.

Company: McLeodUSA Incorporated, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Company Description: McLeodUSA is one of the nation’s largest independent competitive telecommunications services providers, offering integrated local, long distance, wireless, data, Internet and advanced communications services to homes and businesses in 25 states.
Nomination Category: Team Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Human Resources Team

Nomination Title: McLeodUSA's Learning & Organizational Development Team

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved in 2004 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

The McLeodUSA Learning and Organizational Development Team in our Human
Resources organization is responsible for the administration of the Company’s
innovative StarQuality® Program.  The goal of the program is to provide employees who interact with our customers or touch our advanced communications network
with the training and tools necessary to provide a world-class customer experience
through quality and reliability of service.   
   In late 2002, our Chairman and CEO, Ms. Chris Davis, created and developed
the StarQuality concept to gain a competitive advantage in the
telecommunications marketplace.   In 2003, our first full year of implementation,
2,850 employees – 90% of our employees– experienced this comprehensive
training and development process, demonstrating mastery on all requisite skills for
success in their positions.  During that inaugural year, training courses and 724
assessment tools were developed in support of 348 certifiable positions.  In 2004,
all employees who touch the network or interact with customers earned their
annual certification.  Our 2005 assessments began January 3, and will be
completed in first quarter.  StarQuality is fully integrated into the Company’s
workforce development plan, ensuring that our employees are skilled in all aspects
of their positions.
   During 2004 we recognized a need to automate our processes given the number
of positions, assessments and employees to track.  The Learning and
Organizational Development Team created on-line training and testing tools as well
as an automated report and a comprehensive Access database.   
   The outcomes of this program have been significant.  The progress indicated by
the statistics below are, we believe, directly attributable to StarQuality:
-- Customer Satisfaction (as measured by an independent third party) improved
from 82% in 2002 to 94% in 2004.
-- Employee attrition in our Customer Care division has decreased from 137% in
2001 to 20% in 2004, providing evidence that McLeodUSA is a desirable place to
work.
-- Billing Accuracy improved from 99.32% in 2002 to 99.9% in 2004.
-- Network Availability improved from 99.996% in 2003 to 99.999% in 2004.  In
addition, the mean time to restore service to out-of-service customers improved
from 19.4 to 9.7 hours for local service customers.
-- Cost of service has decreased by over $200 million.
   On an individual employee level, employees realize the Company is investing in
them by dedicating substantial resources to improve their skills now and for the
future.  By gaining essential knowledge and confidence, employees recognize
they can aspire to advanced positions with increased pay levels.
   Customers benefit through world-class customer service and network uptime,
which enables them to improve service to their customers, directly impacting their
bottom line. 
   On a company level, StarQuality has become a differentiator in the highly
competitive and often commoditized telecommunications industry.  As each
certified employee earns their annual certificate, that certificate provides
tangible evidence of credibility.  Our salespeople share their certification and the meaning of StarQuality with prospects and customers, demonstrating that McLeodUSA is indeed customer-centric in action – not just in words.  Our commitment to StarQuality demonstrates that we fully support our motto:  to treat customers better than they’ve ever been treated before.

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

All 11 supporting elements are located at this link:
http://www.mcleodusa.com/StarQuality.do
Note:  link is case sensitive -- please capitalize only the S and Q in StarQuality.

A menu of 11 items appears on this page.  Items include:
-- Press release announcing the launch of our StarQuality program
-- A CEO email message to employees about StarQuality
-- The objective, guidelines and rules of the program
-- Roles and responsibilities of all employees and executives
-- Example of a certification guide
-- Artwork for the computer screensaver on all employee desktops
-- Sample congratulatory CEO e-mail message to newly certified employees
-- Example of the certificate awarded to each employee
-- Slides from a sales orientation packet about StarQuality
-- Two examples of corporate advertisements mentioning StarQuality
-- Examples of customer feedback complimenting our well-trained employees.

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated team:

Ms. Chris A. Davis joined McLeodUSA in 2001 as Chief Operating & Financial
Officer and a member of the Board. In April 2002 she was named Chairman &
CEO.
   Previously, Ms. Davis was EVP & Chief Financial & Administrative Officer of ONI Systems. Prior to ONI, she served as EVP, Chief Financial & Administrative
Officer and a Board member for Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. Ms. Davis also spent 17 years at General Electric.
   Ms. Davis serves on the Board of Cytec Industries Inc., Rockwell Collins, Inc.
and Wolverine Tube, Inc. and is a Special Limited Partner of Forstmann Little & Co.