The Opportunity

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (JHA) is a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry. Its solutions serve approximately 10,500 customers nationwide, and they have over 6,000 employees across the U.S.. In 2018, Forbes recognized JHA as one of America’s Best Employers, ranking number two in the IT, Internet, Software and Services category. The executive team of Jack Henry & Associates desired to create a year-long leadership development program for their high potential leaders. Jennifer Howell was selected as a consultant to design the leadership development program, create key deliverables and deliver a significant portion of the trainings.

“I feel so blessed to have been able to attend your workshop last week. It was one of the best training experiences I’ve had at JHA. You’ve inspired me to step out of my comfort zone more and I can’t wait to share what I learned with my leadership team!” – Senior Manager, Jack Henry & Associates, Springfield, MO [This leader has worked at JHA for over 20 years]

How We Worked Together

Jennifer engaged the program’s lead and sponsor to gain a deep understanding of their needs and desired results. Based on her findings, she provided the following deliverables:

• Capabilities and tactics participants needed to be successful in their current roles and in the future.

• Key metrics to determine engaged learning.

• Questionnaire(s) to track feedback and progress throughout the program.

• Defined training module(s).

Once the metrics and modules were defined, Jennifer began creating training deliverables. Deliverables included presentation slides, scripts, handouts and exercises for the following:

• Communications training for a one-day, in-person session.
• Strategic decision-making training for a one-day, in-person session.
• One live webinar focused on communicating to executives.

The Leadership Development Program launched with a three-day training session. Jennifer delivered all of the training for days two and three. Twenty-five leaders participated, as well as five mentors from Jack Henry & Associates.

Leadership Development Program

Trainings and topics Jennifer created and trained during the Leadership Development Program:

• Design Thinking for Innovation
• Keys to Executive Presence
• Strategies to Increase Your Influence
• Principles to Foster High Performing Teams
• Developing Your Personal Brand
• Healthy vs. Toxic Communications
• Leading Courageous Conversations
• Tools to Raise Your Resilience & Confidence
• Effective Networking
• Brainstorming Best Practices
• Opportunity & Risk Discovery

Communicating to Executives

Jennifer also delivered a live webinar for all program participants titled, “Communicating to Executives,” which included the following topics:

• How to command a room with C-Suite executives and lead a C-Suite meeting.
• How to determine the appropriate level of information for different audiences including C-Suite executives.
• How to use best practices when communicating with others.
  Feedback on participant executive pitches.

The Results

“Jennifer delivered well-researched, thoughtful content to a group of rising stars. She kept the audience engaged and was effective at helping them learn through interactions with one another. Jennifer is the consummate professional and was agile in her approach to supporting our organization.” – Tara Brown, Talent Development Sr. Manager, Jack Henry & Assoc., Winston-Salem, NC

Employees Identified New Company-Wide Initiatives:

As a result of the active discussions and learning during the two-day trainings, participants began sharing potential initiatives and solutions to improve Jack Henry’s processes. They later pitched these initiatives to their executives after receiving feedback and best practices during the live webinar. Jack Henry executives approved all proposed initiatives for further exploration.

Employees Gained Strategies & Tactics They Shared With Others:

Jack Henry & Associates has a strong talent and development team for specific trainings in their organization. They engaged Jennifer to augment their trainings and provide advisory services for their high performing leaders. The solutions Jennifer provided were well received, and participants were able to pass along their newly learned tactics to their respective teams.

Improved Employee Engagement:

Learning from others is critical as one improves his or her leadership skills. Participants were encouraged to share lessons learned as well as challenges and solutions. Jennifer ensured that everyone was an active participant by providing numerous exercises throughout the two days and live webinar. She also called on every student to share their perspective.

Chosen to Present at Human Resources Week:

Jennifer was asked to present her communications module to the entire Human Resources team at Jack Henry during their HR Week in Allen, Texas.