Implementing New Ideas in a Large Organization

This rotation at the AMSTC in Michigan for GE Capital has been to lead an innovation project. The CIO at GE Capital started an annual ‘Innovation Challenge’ where employees submit innovative ideas they feel can help improve our internal or external processes. The ideas are vetted in several ways and the top teams are invited to present to a panel of judges made up of Senior IT Leaders. The three ideas that win are given a chance to be proven out. This project is one of the top three ideas chosen from the 2011 Innovation Challenge.

The premise of the idea was to create a way to discover ‘components’ being developed by the different teams across the organization. His vision was a web portal through which developers, architects, and others could search and find components for re-use. While it sounds simple and great, the implementation of an idea is complex and presents many challenges. Since my assignment leader has his usual day to day responsibilities, an IMLP was assigned to lead and carry the project forward.

The first part of the project was like being a consultant. A business case had to be built. This involved gathering data on projects in the organization and estimating how we might measure potential efficiencies gained and finding the value proposition for the project. After that the case had to be shopped around to everyone, then reformed based on the feedback received. It felt very entrepreneurial.

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Rotation Spotlight: Will Kievit

Note: It's hard to follow in the footsteps of an NBC IMLP, with 30 rock and all...

In truth, I didn’t even apply for NBC’s program and I am really happy working for GE Capital because I am learning about finance and capital systems, which ultimately make the world go ‘round.

GE Capital funds all sorts of things from Kinney Drug Stores and Jack in the Box fast food to billion dollar energy deals like their Linden electrical plant in New Jersey.

My current rotation is working with GE Capital’s Energy Financial Services (EFS). Obviously when a company is shelling out millions and billions of dollars, there is a lot of risk associated with its deals, so there is a LOT of reporting , regulations, and analysis that goes along with it.

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Rotational Housing

Our rotations are about 6 months long and we have a WHOLE weekend between rotations to complete our move from one location to another. Although the IMLP’s relocation program is extremely helpful, it can still be pretty difficult. As you might guess, as IMLPs we have to find some unique housing arrangements.

My first rotation with GE Capital is in Stamford, and at first glance, it was difficult to find a place in our price range, that wasn’t in bad area or near the roar of I-95. I reached out to Shane Salta, another IMLP slotted for Stamford, and we started the search together. We tried Craigslist, apartment sites, and even a realtor but nothing too special came up.

Finally we reached out to our program representatives and they mentioned a few people looking for roommates. That is how we found our current house with an off program IMLP and an off program ECLP (Experienced Commercial Leadership Program). Luckily, this place is almost brand new and with rent about $200-$300 cheaper of what we would have paid elsewhere.

The thing I learned, and thankfully early, is that the IMLP program and your peers are a great resource to pull from. Whenever possible it is a great idea to reach out to someone in the program for recommendations or connections. We are, after all, a global network. Oh and if you end up in Stamford, feel free to reach out to me, I may be looking for roommates by then.

-- Will Kievit

Will is a 1^st rotation IMLP for GE Capital in Stamford. Will graduated from Syracuse University in 2009 with a B.S. in Information Management and Technology. He volunteers as an Emergency Medical Technician and he is excited to get started as the Facebook Lead for the New Media Team.

Working with IT Risk at GE Capital

As my 3rd rotation wraps up at GE Capital’s Capital Solutions business, I thought I’d spend a bit of time telling you about what I’ve been up to.  For the past 6 months, I’ve been working here with the IT Risk group.  What’s IT Risk you say?  Well, oversimplifying it, we’re the IT side of deal decisioning and Know Your Customer (KYC) in Capital Solutions.  So what’s that mean I do?  Well… let’s just say “a lot."

My first project of the rotation focused on Capital Solution’s AutoDecisioning service.  This collection of systems work together to analyze potential leases and loan deals and determine whether or not we should finance the lease/loan.  This may sound simple enough, but the rule engine behind it is anything but simple.

 The customer’s identity needs to be confirmed, credit bureaus need to be consulted, the deal’s profitability has to be determined, and much more.  My job was lead tester on the systems 1.1 and 1.2 releases.  This meant finding defects, tracking down their root causes, working with the business to determine what correct function should be, coordinating the fix with the build team, and then retesting to confirm the fix.  You might think testing is boring, but this was far from it.  I got to work with a great team of fellow testers, learn a complex, business-critical system inside and out, interact heavily with the business and build teams, and make a big impact to the project.  But that’s just a small part of what I did this rotation. 

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IMLPs Go Bowling for a Good Cause

This past weekend, IMLPs, GE employees, friends, and family teamed up with Junior Achievement of Connecticut for an afternoon of bowling to benefit young adults in need.  Junior Achievement is a favorite charitable organization of IMLPs in Connecticut because of its level involvement within the community and its proven impact.  JA as we’ve come to know it, works hard to prepare young people to succeed in a global economy through a hands-on program that teaches workforce readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.  Like the IMLP program in GE, JA trains people hard, teaching them important life skills and imbuing them with life-long knowledge, pushing them to become the leaders of tomorrow. 

So, in the spirit of giving back, the GE volunteers bowled the afternoon away while raising money for the JA cause.  As an added bonus to hitting the lanes for such a worthy cause, IMLPs from all over Connecticut and from across GE Capital and GE Corporate met up, many for the first time since their last bootcamp experiences, allowing us all to catch up, share experiences, and reminisce.  Somehow, despite the fact that we all were pretty pathetic at bowling, it really ended up being a great time.  It’s always a good feeling to give back to the community and in the IMLP program it’s easier than ever to help out… especially when you get to have such a great time in the process.