Back to the Farm

As Rosenbluth changed the way it operated, it also changed the way its employees learned. Despite having a strong learning and development department, and a culture that encouraged -- if not demanded -- the acquisition of new skills, the old system put the burden on the leaders.

"No leader can really know all of the different options that exist within a company and be expected to do that kind of career counseling," argues Hoffman, the former learning and development chief, who now holds the title Director of Human Capital. "They can't. And let's face it, they're going to look out for what they're responsible for, so they're focused more on how you can help their particular function."

In the old system people weren't learning enough -- and, more important, they weren't getting enough back from the company. "What we really felt was, Nobody cares more about your career than you do. So why not say, Here are all the things we'll make available to you as a company. We have HR, where you can get career counseling, we have a shadowing program where you can spend time in any other department and see what's going on. But it's up to you to pursue those things," Hoffman says.

"Scavenger learning" is Rosenbluth's term for this style of training, and the change has meant two things. First, as the company split up into leaner business units, each one appointed a "leader in learning," who reports to the unit chief.

Those learning leaders may spend anywhere from 25% to 100% of their time dealing with the units' learning and development issues. There are about 110 of these liaisons now, drawing on the extensive curriculum the company has already developed, and the skills of the 24-member L&D team in the Philadelphia headquarters.

Second, and more important, the company shifted the power to shape learning experiences to its associates. Each one has a customized learning plan developed in conjunction with his or her business leader and with human resources, identifying both long-term goals and short-term projects -- like taking a class or spending time in another department.

Cross-department skills development benefits the company. But the real payoff is for employees, argues Vice President Ralph Smith, who counts this as another psycho-benefit. The kind of job security offered by IBM 25 years ago doesn't exist anymore -- even at IBM. In today's job market, security comes only in the form of skills.

"All you can get out of a situation is experience, knowledge, and learning," says Smith. "We're actually competing for the same talent as the IBMs and the Motorolas at this point. We don't have profit margins like some of those companies. So part of what we have is fun in the workplace, access to travel, and perks. And oh, by the way, 10 years at IBM? You'll get that in two years here, in terms of experience and what you can get involved in."

Farm Life Part 3: The Heroic Farmer

"The beauty of farming -- and this is what's wrong with a lot of business today -- is that you can't fake farming," says Hal Rosenbluth. "I love that. I just love it. Either crops grow, or they don't. Our clients are the crop. They either grow or they don't."

It's a performance ethic that shows up in Rosenbluth's deeply rooted, go-it-alone, stubborn independence. Privately held, the company remains uninterested in the scrutiny of shareholders that would follow even the most lucrative public offering. Earlier in the decade, Rosenbluth recognized the potential for global growth and started forging partnerships with agencies all over the world. It didn't work out. Each agency had its own sweetheart deals with travel service suppliers, Rosenbluth says, and sometimes those deals weren't the best thing for his company's clients. Now disentangled from most of those relationships, Rosenbluth has been buying smaller agencies around the world and shaping each to fit the Rosenbluth mold.

Rosenbluth's ultimate go-it-alone move was an aborted partnership with Microsoft to develop agentless travel software. The advantages of the deal were obvious -- but Rosenbluth was already far along in developing its own product, and Microsoft, which went on to partner with American Express, loomed as a potentially dominant partner. Says Dean Sivley, "Microsoft doesn't do travel, so they're getting used to the idea of working with American Express. And they don't do service like we do. We've grown up as a service company that's now applying technology. Besides, I think people still like the idea that when something goes wrong, you can talk to a human. That's the part we do better than anybody else."

As for Hal Rosenbluth, for the moment he seems content working on the farm, preparing for the future of an industry that's completely up in the air. "I get the most excited when I see a complete industry confused," he says. "And the travel industry is confused. No one's been able to explain what's goin' on." It's the kind of environment, in other words, where you have to watch where you step.

Rob Walker (rwalker@hearst.com) , a senior editor at "SmartMoney," has written for "New York," "The New Yorker," "Texas Monthly," and other publications.

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