Iron Mountain’s NAO Learning Program Is Seen as Business Partner

An effective learning program must be "bilingual" to connect employees with business leaders. "When we speak the language of our business and not speak the language of learning, that is instantaneously credible to our typical doubters," says Stacy Henry, director of North American Operations (NAO) Learning at Iron Mountain.

With over 250 acquisitions at the information management company in about a ten-year period, standardization of frontline training was of utmost importance, especially in conjunction with long-term business goals. That’s where NAO Learning’s Sentinel program comes in.

Sentinel is a companywide employee learning platform with more than 46 e-learning training modules, combined with on-the-job peer coaching, which resulted in a huge decline in workman’s compensation claims and impressive drops in scanning errors of customer information.

Henry explains that a variety of outreach methods help NAO Learning to be seen as a business partner, not just a learning organization. The NAO News Network is a monthly call featuring up to 500 of the company’s operations people leaders. Program information, business operations, and new initiatives are discussed.

Additionally, Henry’s seat is just one step away from the North American EVP and COO. At NAO Learning, real-time business metrics are analyzed in the company’s unique performance management system to unify 7 5-year business plans with Sentinel’s standardized learning. For Iron Mountain, business and training are intertwined as one.