Workplace Readiness
Just as the Obama administration pledged to provide $12 billion to community colleges this week and focused a light on the training and skills workers will need for the jobs of tomorrow, a new report shows that U.S. employers continue to struggle with an ill-prepared workforce, finding new hires lack crucial basic and applied skills. For the most part, employer-sponsored readiness training is not successfully correcting these deficiencies, according to the report, The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training, produced by Corporate Voices for Working Families, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), The Conference Board, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
“In any economy, having a knowledgeable, skilled workforce is critical for organizations to grow and be successful,” said Tony Bingham, ASTD President and CEO. “As the skills gap widens among new entrants to the workforce, it's clear that all stakeholders –employers, education, and the public workforce system – must collaborate to effectively prepare workers to be successful on the job.”
This topic is crucial if laid off individuals are going to find new jobs, spark the economic recovery, and compete in a challenging global business climate.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Bonding Together Through Hardship
Work relationships, sometimes fraught with tension in times of stress, seem to be holding up well despite the recession.
Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported they have a “very good” or “good” relationship with their supervisors, according to a recent survey released by Accountemps, a staffing service for finance professionals. That number jumps to 95 percent when respondents were asked of their relationships with other co-workers.
When compared with the same survey distributed in 2005, the numbers were surprisingly consistent at 87 percent for “very good” or “good” relationship with supervisors and 91 percent for “very good” or “very good” relationships with co-workers.
“Workers who enjoy interacting with each other not only make the office more pleasant, but also produce better work,” says Max Messer, chairman of Accountemps.
Do you think the economic downturn is actually strengthening office relationships, or rather, are employees afraid to report the truth in these risky times?
In shades of gray, the truth may lie somewhere in between.
Work relationships, sometimes fraught with tension in times of stress, seem to be holding up well despite the recession.
Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported they have a “very good” or “good” relationship with their supervisors, according to a recent survey released by Accountemps, a staffing service for finance professionals. That number jumps to 95 percent when respondents were asked of their relationships with other co-workers.
When compared with the same survey distributed in 2005, the numbers were surprisingly consistent at 87 percent for “very good” or “good” relationship with supervisors and 91 percent for “very good” or “very good” relationships with co-workers.
“Workers who enjoy interacting with each other not only make the office more pleasant, but also produce better work,” says Max Messer, chairman of Accountemps.
Do you think the economic downturn is actually strengthening office relationships, or rather, are employees afraid to report the truth in these risky times?
In shades of gray, the truth may lie somewhere in between.
The Working Lives of Men
Yes, men are racing home to be with the kids in higher numbers than before.
Guess that whole work/life balance is starting to sink in. According to a recent survey by Accenture, 68 percent of men said it’s important for them to be available to their families when needed, compared with 49 percent of women.
The survey focused on attitudes about vacations and work/life priorities. Another surprise is that men are now more likely than women to take advantage of working from home. The breakdown was 91 percent of men versus 75 percent of women.
Once they go on vacation however, it’s back to work. Men are more likely to be tethered to email or calls from colleagues. The whole concept of separating work from vacation is still cloudy. Ninety-four percent of men said they work on vacation. Whether that means completing quarterly financial reports or simply browsing company emails, the survey did not make clear.
What has changed in the past generation as everyone with an iPhone or Blackberry knows, is that you no longer have to be in the office from sunup until sundown to get work done or schmooze a client. There’s only a slight gap between men (52 percent) and women (44 percent) who participate in conference calls while away from the office.
Really, both men and women need to get one thing straight when on vacation: go back to the beach.
Yes, men are racing home to be with the kids in higher numbers than before.
Guess that whole work/life balance is starting to sink in. According to a recent survey by Accenture, 68 percent of men said it’s important for them to be available to their families when needed, compared with 49 percent of women.
The survey focused on attitudes about vacations and work/life priorities. Another surprise is that men are now more likely than women to take advantage of working from home. The breakdown was 91 percent of men versus 75 percent of women.
Once they go on vacation however, it’s back to work. Men are more likely to be tethered to email or calls from colleagues. The whole concept of separating work from vacation is still cloudy. Ninety-four percent of men said they work on vacation. Whether that means completing quarterly financial reports or simply browsing company emails, the survey did not make clear.
What has changed in the past generation as everyone with an iPhone or Blackberry knows, is that you no longer have to be in the office from sunup until sundown to get work done or schmooze a client. There’s only a slight gap between men (52 percent) and women (44 percent) who participate in conference calls while away from the office.
Really, both men and women need to get one thing straight when on vacation: go back to the beach.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Surviving a Corporate Meltdown
ASTD's monthly online publication, Learning Executives Briefing, talked with Ed Cohen,
head of Satyam’s learning organization, about the role his Satyam Learning World team played in first communicating the crisis, then helping the workforce to deal with its unexpected ramifications.
Corporate crises are all over the news, but the tale of Satyam Computer Services and its corrupt CEO sent shivers through the IT world. Read how the company’s learning organization dealt with the unenviable task of communicating with a workforce that had no real experience with job loss or the loss of respect and status. Read about it here.
ASTD's monthly online publication, Learning Executives Briefing, talked with Ed Cohen,
head of Satyam’s learning organization, about the role his Satyam Learning World team played in first communicating the crisis, then helping the workforce to deal with its unexpected ramifications.
Corporate crises are all over the news, but the tale of Satyam Computer Services and its corrupt CEO sent shivers through the IT world. Read how the company’s learning organization dealt with the unenviable task of communicating with a workforce that had no real experience with job loss or the loss of respect and status. Read about it here.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Federal Reforms
I was shocked to see a recent article in FederalTimes.com that said that the federal government spent 1.9 percent of their payroll on training between 1997 and 2000. In contrast, the private sector spends averages about 4 percent of its payroll on employee training.
Most of that training money is on upgrading efficiency on job-related tasks, not soft skills pertaining to customer service relations or helping managers communicate with employees.
Apparently, the Obama administration finally recognized the injustice and is set to legislate action to set mandatory spending levels for employee training, retool the performance appraisal process, and create a performance-based pay system.
What percentage of your payroll is spent on employee training? What percentage of payroll should be spent on employee training?
I was shocked to see a recent article in FederalTimes.com that said that the federal government spent 1.9 percent of their payroll on training between 1997 and 2000. In contrast, the private sector spends averages about 4 percent of its payroll on employee training.
Most of that training money is on upgrading efficiency on job-related tasks, not soft skills pertaining to customer service relations or helping managers communicate with employees.
Apparently, the Obama administration finally recognized the injustice and is set to legislate action to set mandatory spending levels for employee training, retool the performance appraisal process, and create a performance-based pay system.
What percentage of your payroll is spent on employee training? What percentage of payroll should be spent on employee training?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
An Eye Toward Better Performance at Scripps Health
Perhaps the bigger a company grows, the more conscientious it gets in terms of tracking the quality of its workers.
For example, one of the tools used for performance management at Scripps Health, a San Diego-based non-profit community health care system, is called "The Eye Chart."
Designed by an outside consulting firm, "The Eye Chart" is a large-scale visual tool that looks at factors such as leadership performance and cultural engagement across the entire company.
After compiling data from employee satisfaction surveys, the feedback is transformed into a bottom-up multi-rater leadership assessment. Departments that have healthy "mini-cultures of excellence" are represented in green and yellow quartiles while those that are struggling or failing are represented in orange and red quartiles.
The chart is intended to help managers find both the good and the bad aspects of their department, and to aid executives and operational leaders in making staff decisions.
What other types of performance management tools help companies find the pulse of their workplace cultures?
To find out more about performance management at Scripps Health, read "Prescription for a Turnaround" in the June issue of HR Magazine (SHRM members-only on the web). It details how matching talent with business needs and using rewards-tailored compensation for high achievement helped the company recover financially.
Perhaps the bigger a company grows, the more conscientious it gets in terms of tracking the quality of its workers.
For example, one of the tools used for performance management at Scripps Health, a San Diego-based non-profit community health care system, is called "The Eye Chart."
Designed by an outside consulting firm, "The Eye Chart" is a large-scale visual tool that looks at factors such as leadership performance and cultural engagement across the entire company.
After compiling data from employee satisfaction surveys, the feedback is transformed into a bottom-up multi-rater leadership assessment. Departments that have healthy "mini-cultures of excellence" are represented in green and yellow quartiles while those that are struggling or failing are represented in orange and red quartiles.
The chart is intended to help managers find both the good and the bad aspects of their department, and to aid executives and operational leaders in making staff decisions.
What other types of performance management tools help companies find the pulse of their workplace cultures?
To find out more about performance management at Scripps Health, read "Prescription for a Turnaround" in the June issue of HR Magazine (SHRM members-only on the web). It details how matching talent with business needs and using rewards-tailored compensation for high achievement helped the company recover financially.
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Mother of Innovation
In a world starving for fresh ideas, innovation is being tossed around like pennies as the solution to corporate ills.
If only it were so simple. Employees and managers don’t fall out of bed one day, decide to be innovative and voila, a new idea enters the marketplace. Most innovative companies dedicate resources and significant staff time to scouting new ideas. Oftentimes such companies find a niche before the average consumer and the marketplace is ready for it.
Being innovative does not mean creating a new gadget that did not exist in the marketplace. It refers to addressing a customer need or improving an existing product or service.
Decades ago IBM hired an expensive marketing firm to research the potential of high speed copying machines, according to Scott Anthony in his book, The Silver Lining. There was no need for such technology, marketers said. Good thing IBM didn’t listen.
The conservative nature and absence of creativity inside the walls of most organizations are two prime reasons why innovation is stifled. When executives declare that it is an employee’s job to be innovative that fails to inspire anyone. 3M famously allowed employees to spend 20 percent of their time generating ideas. Spending human capital is just as crucial as greenbacks.
It is possible to be innovative even among laggards like General Motors which developed the On Star hotline service, a highly successful mobile service that customers are willing to pay for.
Where is the best place to start? Try talking to customers first because they are the ones who are most likely best able to express their needs and wants. Few businesses do this today, focused as they are on survival or maintaining unrealistic standards of growth just a few years ago.
The perceived high cost of failure is another barrier to innovation. Most executives blanch at the thought of investing money in an idea that might not yield high returns.
For innovators, failure is only temporary as 3M discovered when its early attempts to create a semi-permanent glue planted the seeds for Post-It notes. Innovation requires the kind of thinking that breaks established convention, the kind of person who says why can’t we do this? It means not being afraid to submit an idea that others shy away from out of fear that it is “stupid” or might draw ridicule.
In a world starving for fresh ideas, innovation is being tossed around like pennies as the solution to corporate ills.
If only it were so simple. Employees and managers don’t fall out of bed one day, decide to be innovative and voila, a new idea enters the marketplace. Most innovative companies dedicate resources and significant staff time to scouting new ideas. Oftentimes such companies find a niche before the average consumer and the marketplace is ready for it.
Being innovative does not mean creating a new gadget that did not exist in the marketplace. It refers to addressing a customer need or improving an existing product or service.
Decades ago IBM hired an expensive marketing firm to research the potential of high speed copying machines, according to Scott Anthony in his book, The Silver Lining. There was no need for such technology, marketers said. Good thing IBM didn’t listen.
The conservative nature and absence of creativity inside the walls of most organizations are two prime reasons why innovation is stifled. When executives declare that it is an employee’s job to be innovative that fails to inspire anyone. 3M famously allowed employees to spend 20 percent of their time generating ideas. Spending human capital is just as crucial as greenbacks.
It is possible to be innovative even among laggards like General Motors which developed the On Star hotline service, a highly successful mobile service that customers are willing to pay for.
Where is the best place to start? Try talking to customers first because they are the ones who are most likely best able to express their needs and wants. Few businesses do this today, focused as they are on survival or maintaining unrealistic standards of growth just a few years ago.
The perceived high cost of failure is another barrier to innovation. Most executives blanch at the thought of investing money in an idea that might not yield high returns.
For innovators, failure is only temporary as 3M discovered when its early attempts to create a semi-permanent glue planted the seeds for Post-It notes. Innovation requires the kind of thinking that breaks established convention, the kind of person who says why can’t we do this? It means not being afraid to submit an idea that others shy away from out of fear that it is “stupid” or might draw ridicule.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Serious Gaming in the Workplace
Is serious gaming being taken seriously in your workplace?
What if I asked the same question a different way: Does your organization support simulations as part of your training regime?
Is the word "gaming" scaring off organizations? It shouldn't, because more and more companies are beginning to accept high-tech gaming software as a necessary part of blended learning.
Serious games can be powerful educational tools, allowing users to experiment, learn from their mistakes and safely experience risky or dangerous situations.
It is time to change the perception of "gaming" among CEOs and other corporate executives. It is a valuable learning tool that is taking too long to become a mainstream part of everyday learning.
Is serious gaming being taken seriously in your workplace?
What if I asked the same question a different way: Does your organization support simulations as part of your training regime?
Is the word "gaming" scaring off organizations? It shouldn't, because more and more companies are beginning to accept high-tech gaming software as a necessary part of blended learning.
Serious games can be powerful educational tools, allowing users to experiment, learn from their mistakes and safely experience risky or dangerous situations.
It is time to change the perception of "gaming" among CEOs and other corporate executives. It is a valuable learning tool that is taking too long to become a mainstream part of everyday learning.
Monday, May 02, 2005
The T+D Blog has moved!
The new T+D Blog is now officially launched.
I have the option of importing all this existing content into the new blog, but it will cause this blog to be unreadable.
Until people update their bookmarks and Webpage links, though, I want to leave this one up. So for now, the two versions will co-exist.
I've replicated my past few posts from this blog onto the new one to get it off and running.
Enjoy, and please feel free to let me know what you think.
The new T+D Blog is now officially launched.
I have the option of importing all this existing content into the new blog, but it will cause this blog to be unreadable.
Until people update their bookmarks and Webpage links, though, I want to leave this one up. So for now, the two versions will co-exist.
I've replicated my past few posts from this blog onto the new one to get it off and running.
Enjoy, and please feel free to let me know what you think.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Best you might've missed
I'm posting this week's best early because I'm taking tomorrow off to enjoy some rest and relaxation before our crazy conference season starts. Have a great weekend, everybody!
Traditional training/business
Book report: Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You. A study showed that workers who showed resilience and succeeded in the face of change demonstrated "three basic attitudes...: commitment, control, and challenge."
Leading Ideas: Grow the People Around You. The Fast Company blog reports on Jack Welch's new book on leadership and some key points on how leaders can develop the people under them.
E-learning
"PBS drops its middleman role in college telecourses." The end of an era.
Emergent learning
"A Model Patient." A fascinating article from the New Yorker describes how doctors are being trained on sophisticated simulated patients.
A Learning Blogosphere: Parts I and II. How a professor and students used blogging at the University of Michigan.
Educational podcasts. Have you gotten into this new digital trend? Here's a list of podcasts for and about learning. (Thanks, e-learning Centre.)
Definition of emergent workers. The senior VP and chief human resources officer at Spherion defines them at the Future of Work Congress.
Mind research
"Unleashing Creativity." "Moments of brilliance arise from complex cognitive processes. Piece by piece, researchers are uncovering the secrets of creative thinking." (Thanks, Fast Company blog.)
Technology
Keynote on the Semantic Web by Tim Berners-Lee. The inventor of the World Wide Web opened MIT's Emerging Technologies Conference last fall.
I'm posting this week's best early because I'm taking tomorrow off to enjoy some rest and relaxation before our crazy conference season starts. Have a great weekend, everybody!
Traditional training/business
Book report: Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You. A study showed that workers who showed resilience and succeeded in the face of change demonstrated "three basic attitudes...: commitment, control, and challenge."
Leading Ideas: Grow the People Around You. The Fast Company blog reports on Jack Welch's new book on leadership and some key points on how leaders can develop the people under them.
E-learning
"PBS drops its middleman role in college telecourses." The end of an era.
Emergent learning
"A Model Patient." A fascinating article from the New Yorker describes how doctors are being trained on sophisticated simulated patients.
A Learning Blogosphere: Parts I and II. How a professor and students used blogging at the University of Michigan.
Educational podcasts. Have you gotten into this new digital trend? Here's a list of podcasts for and about learning. (Thanks, e-learning Centre.)
Definition of emergent workers. The senior VP and chief human resources officer at Spherion defines them at the Future of Work Congress.
Mind research
"Unleashing Creativity." "Moments of brilliance arise from complex cognitive processes. Piece by piece, researchers are uncovering the secrets of creative thinking." (Thanks, Fast Company blog.)
Technology
Keynote on the Semantic Web by Tim Berners-Lee. The inventor of the World Wide Web opened MIT's Emerging Technologies Conference last fall.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Redesign soon to be launched!
I can't wait to show it off. I've been working on the redesign of this blog and the new version is so much better!
I'm waiting for some technical help with the logo, but once that's done, I'll be able to unveil it.
In the meantime, here's a sneak preview of what the new Typepad (paid software) has allowed me to easily add:
--much prettier design without having to get deep into the html (my coding skills are very minimal)
--an about link--standard with Typepad, lets you get to know the blog's mission and a little bit about me
--my picture, for a personal touch
--an archive by topic category--as I post and the list gets full, it will allow this blog to be used as a knowledge base!
--list of recent posts--lets you see their topics at a glance rather than having to scroll
--a list (blogroll) of bloggers and Websites I read regularly and gather linking fodder from.
--better support for Firefox users.
Stay tuned for the new link!
I can't wait to show it off. I've been working on the redesign of this blog and the new version is so much better!
I'm waiting for some technical help with the logo, but once that's done, I'll be able to unveil it.
In the meantime, here's a sneak preview of what the new Typepad (paid software) has allowed me to easily add:
--much prettier design without having to get deep into the html (my coding skills are very minimal)
--an about link--standard with Typepad, lets you get to know the blog's mission and a little bit about me
--my picture, for a personal touch
--an archive by topic category--as I post and the list gets full, it will allow this blog to be used as a knowledge base!
--list of recent posts--lets you see their topics at a glance rather than having to scroll
--a list (blogroll) of bloggers and Websites I read regularly and gather linking fodder from.
--better support for Firefox users.
Stay tuned for the new link!
Infomania affects IQ more than marijuana
Shocking news from a study by Hewlett Packard: Excessive use of technology such as email and text messages can cause a fall in IQ greater than that caused by smoking marijuana.
The study of more than 1000 adults was commisioned by HP and conducted at the University of London's Institute of Psychiatry.
The research showed that the average reduction of 10 IQ points as participants' work was interrupted by emails and text messages is more than double the four-point loss caused by smoking marijuana.
A third of all adults will respond to an email immediately or within 10 minutes, the study showed. But women are more effective at multitasking: Their drop in IQ was only five points, compared to 15 for men.
Read more here and here.
Shocking news from a study by Hewlett Packard: Excessive use of technology such as email and text messages can cause a fall in IQ greater than that caused by smoking marijuana.
The study of more than 1000 adults was commisioned by HP and conducted at the University of London's Institute of Psychiatry.
The research showed that the average reduction of 10 IQ points as participants' work was interrupted by emails and text messages is more than double the four-point loss caused by smoking marijuana.
A third of all adults will respond to an email immediately or within 10 minutes, the study showed. But women are more effective at multitasking: Their drop in IQ was only five points, compared to 15 for men.
Read more here and here.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Trends article on mobile learning
My most recent Trends article for Learning Circuits, "Mobile Reality (A Tale of Two Experts)," has been posted to the Website. The article includes Q+A with two leading experts in the field--Chris Koschembahr, IBM's Worldwide Mobile Learning Executive, and Clark Quinn, executive director of the consultancy OtterSurf Labs and co-founder of the Meta-Learning Lab.
Koschembahr says that mobile learning is easier than you think, and you can get started immediately. Quinn asserts that m-learning's gold rush hasn't happened yet.
My most recent Trends article for Learning Circuits, "Mobile Reality (A Tale of Two Experts)," has been posted to the Website. The article includes Q+A with two leading experts in the field--Chris Koschembahr, IBM's Worldwide Mobile Learning Executive, and Clark Quinn, executive director of the consultancy OtterSurf Labs and co-founder of the Meta-Learning Lab.
Koschembahr says that mobile learning is easier than you think, and you can get started immediately. Quinn asserts that m-learning's gold rush hasn't happened yet.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Best you might've missed
Today it seems spring went into hiding. It's cold and rainy here in DC, but I hope you all have a good weekend anyway. Here are the best articles from this week.
Emergent learning
What is Workflow Learning? A good basic outline (along with entertaining graphics) from Jay Cross, co-founder of the Workflow Institute.
"War Games." "In offices created by an ex-Star Trek designer and using techniques and technology from movies and gaming, some of Hollywood's top creative talents are helping the US military to train for war in the 21st century."
E-learning
"The Distancing Question in Online Education." Glenn Russell examines "the affective domain—in particular, the ability of students to empathize, connect, and interact with their distant peers and instructor, and the ability of instructors to adequately respond to the emotional states and needs of students from afar."
The Interface is the Content. Clark Aldrich writes, "One of the big 'ahas' of the next generation of elearning designers is that the interface is a significant piece of the content, not just a conduit to the content."
Traditional training/learning
EducationForAdults.com Uses Blogging Technology to Inform Busy Adults About Educational Opportunities. "An online directory of nontraditional education programs for busy adults has created a blog...to form a community where adults contemplating going back to school can interact with people in similar situations..."
Wiki on Becoming a Better Thinker. A host of resources. Also look for my June Intelligence column, which will cover three software programs that say they can boost brain power.
Business
Leading Ideas: Embrace the Lunatic Inside You. Ideas on tapping into your crazy (but ultimately good) ideas, from the Fast Company blog.
Recovering the Lost Art of Note-Taking. Tips on taking notes at work from the Working Smart blog.
Information
"'Infomania' Worse Than Marijuana." Can it be true? A new study says excessive use of technology reduces workers' intelligence more than marijuana use. (Thanks, e-Learning Centre.)
"The Infinite Library." A fascinating and in-depth article on how Google's plan to digitize millions of books will affect libraries. Also see an item on this program in April's Intelligence column in T+D.
Today it seems spring went into hiding. It's cold and rainy here in DC, but I hope you all have a good weekend anyway. Here are the best articles from this week.
Emergent learning
What is Workflow Learning? A good basic outline (along with entertaining graphics) from Jay Cross, co-founder of the Workflow Institute.
"War Games." "In offices created by an ex-Star Trek designer and using techniques and technology from movies and gaming, some of Hollywood's top creative talents are helping the US military to train for war in the 21st century."
E-learning
"The Distancing Question in Online Education." Glenn Russell examines "the affective domain—in particular, the ability of students to empathize, connect, and interact with their distant peers and instructor, and the ability of instructors to adequately respond to the emotional states and needs of students from afar."
The Interface is the Content. Clark Aldrich writes, "One of the big 'ahas' of the next generation of elearning designers is that the interface is a significant piece of the content, not just a conduit to the content."
Traditional training/learning
EducationForAdults.com Uses Blogging Technology to Inform Busy Adults About Educational Opportunities. "An online directory of nontraditional education programs for busy adults has created a blog...to form a community where adults contemplating going back to school can interact with people in similar situations..."
Wiki on Becoming a Better Thinker. A host of resources. Also look for my June Intelligence column, which will cover three software programs that say they can boost brain power.
Business
Leading Ideas: Embrace the Lunatic Inside You. Ideas on tapping into your crazy (but ultimately good) ideas, from the Fast Company blog.
Recovering the Lost Art of Note-Taking. Tips on taking notes at work from the Working Smart blog.
Information
"'Infomania' Worse Than Marijuana." Can it be true? A new study says excessive use of technology reduces workers' intelligence more than marijuana use. (Thanks, e-Learning Centre.)
"The Infinite Library." A fascinating and in-depth article on how Google's plan to digitize millions of books will affect libraries. Also see an item on this program in April's Intelligence column in T+D.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
More free Webinars
Interwise is offering a wide variety of free Webinars in the next few months, including sessions on such topics as
--Merging Live Conferencing with Collaborative Group Workspaces
--Succession Planning: Beating the Panic
--Getting Started with E-Learning
--Running Learning Like a Business
--Formalizing Informal Learning
--and more.
Check out their full schedule here.
TrainingOutsourcing.com is presenting a free online session on How to Increase Business Value Through Customer Education on May 26th at 2 pm EDT.
Their email on the Webinar says it is "designed for corporate executives considering innovative customer and channel partner learning strategies that can provide positive impact on business performance by
--increasing customer satisfaction and retention
--building customer loyalty
--reducing costs for product training
--gaining market share and top-line revenue
--improving shareholder value
--generating additional revenue from channel partners and resellers
--enhancing quality of customer learning initiatives
--mitigating risk and product liability
--implementing best practices in customer and product education."
Interwise is offering a wide variety of free Webinars in the next few months, including sessions on such topics as
--Merging Live Conferencing with Collaborative Group Workspaces
--Succession Planning: Beating the Panic
--Getting Started with E-Learning
--Running Learning Like a Business
--Formalizing Informal Learning
--and more.
Check out their full schedule here.
TrainingOutsourcing.com is presenting a free online session on How to Increase Business Value Through Customer Education on May 26th at 2 pm EDT.
Their email on the Webinar says it is "designed for corporate executives considering innovative customer and channel partner learning strategies that can provide positive impact on business performance by
--increasing customer satisfaction and retention
--building customer loyalty
--reducing costs for product training
--gaining market share and top-line revenue
--improving shareholder value
--generating additional revenue from channel partners and resellers
--enhancing quality of customer learning initiatives
--mitigating risk and product liability
--implementing best practices in customer and product education."
Friday, April 15, 2005
Best you might've missed
Here are the best articles and resources I came across this week.
Business
"Leadership Decision Making." A paper by a University of Baltimore professor (yay, Baltimore! I'm a native daughter) gets deep into this issue. (Thanks, Lifehacker.)
Best site for travelers. The Business 2.0 blog links to SeatGuru, a great resource for business travelers that can give you detailed info about seats on many commercial aircrafts before you book your ticket.
Free small business websites. Yahoo is offering a free website for companies who list themselves on Yahoo Local.
Learning theory
"Can Blended Learning Be Redeemed?" A scholarly paper from the United Kingdom examines this question.
New Paradigms for Learning. "Can training departments, with all of their post-industrial-revolution baggage, rise to the challenge and effect the kind of post-knowledge-revolution changes that are both necessary and inevitable?"
National Education Summit on High Schools. A speech by Bill Gates: "Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool for the times."
Traditional training/development
ATLAS (Assessing the Learning Strategies of Adults). A short test that lets you determine what type of learner you are. (Thanks, eLearning Centre.)
"Great Managers Understand Their People." "Average managers treat all their employees the same. Great managers discover each individual's unique talents and bring these to the surface so everyone wins. An excerpt from Harvard Business Review."
What are topics about which a Learning Professional should be uniquely proficient? A thought-provoking post on the redesigned Learning Circuits blog. Add your comments.
Emergent learning
"A 'Sim' That's Dead Serious." The Army is using interactive video to train officers for Iraq. From the Washington Post.
Here are the best articles and resources I came across this week.
Business
"Leadership Decision Making." A paper by a University of Baltimore professor (yay, Baltimore! I'm a native daughter) gets deep into this issue. (Thanks, Lifehacker.)
Best site for travelers. The Business 2.0 blog links to SeatGuru, a great resource for business travelers that can give you detailed info about seats on many commercial aircrafts before you book your ticket.
Free small business websites. Yahoo is offering a free website for companies who list themselves on Yahoo Local.
Learning theory
"Can Blended Learning Be Redeemed?" A scholarly paper from the United Kingdom examines this question.
New Paradigms for Learning. "Can training departments, with all of their post-industrial-revolution baggage, rise to the challenge and effect the kind of post-knowledge-revolution changes that are both necessary and inevitable?"
National Education Summit on High Schools. A speech by Bill Gates: "Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool for the times."
Traditional training/development
ATLAS (Assessing the Learning Strategies of Adults). A short test that lets you determine what type of learner you are. (Thanks, eLearning Centre.)
"Great Managers Understand Their People." "Average managers treat all their employees the same. Great managers discover each individual's unique talents and bring these to the surface so everyone wins. An excerpt from Harvard Business Review."
What are topics about which a Learning Professional should be uniquely proficient? A thought-provoking post on the redesigned Learning Circuits blog. Add your comments.
Emergent learning
"A 'Sim' That's Dead Serious." The Army is using interactive video to train officers for Iraq. From the Washington Post.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Google poised to take over the world (Google Learning to follow?)
(Commentary alert!)
I'm going to go on record right now to say that Google is going to be the next Microsoft or IBM. It seems like every week they come out with a new product that makes our lives easier in a way that no one has done before, or that no one has done nearly as well.
A good way to be one of the first to know about their new offerings is to read the Google Blog.
Google Labs is where you can access all the new projects they're working on.
Today I was blown away by Google SMS. Using text messaging on your cell phone, you can access driving directions, business listings, answers to short fact-based questions, movie showtimes, stock quotes, and more.
I tested it out, asking for directions from my home to my work, and within a few minutes I got directions in two text messages that were dead on.
For someone who often drives around lost in DC without a map, this could be invaluable. I printed out the wallet-sized tip sheet to keep handy so I can remember how to send in queries.
You can do a lot more with Google on your mobile phone with Google Mobile. I had tried out some of these features before but my phone didn't support them.
But if you have Web browsing on your phone, you can search the Web, images, and more with Google using it.
Many people already use Google tools for personal knowledge management (see this blog entry I wrote). Can a Google Learning application be far behind?
(Commentary alert!)
I'm going to go on record right now to say that Google is going to be the next Microsoft or IBM. It seems like every week they come out with a new product that makes our lives easier in a way that no one has done before, or that no one has done nearly as well.
A good way to be one of the first to know about their new offerings is to read the Google Blog.
Google Labs is where you can access all the new projects they're working on.
Today I was blown away by Google SMS. Using text messaging on your cell phone, you can access driving directions, business listings, answers to short fact-based questions, movie showtimes, stock quotes, and more.
I tested it out, asking for directions from my home to my work, and within a few minutes I got directions in two text messages that were dead on.
For someone who often drives around lost in DC without a map, this could be invaluable. I printed out the wallet-sized tip sheet to keep handy so I can remember how to send in queries.
You can do a lot more with Google on your mobile phone with Google Mobile. I had tried out some of these features before but my phone didn't support them.
But if you have Web browsing on your phone, you can search the Web, images, and more with Google using it.
Many people already use Google tools for personal knowledge management (see this blog entry I wrote). Can a Google Learning application be far behind?
Free Webinar and free intriguing seminar
Wilson Learning is offering a free Webinar by Harvard’s Dr. William L. Ury, "world-renowned negotiations expert." Principled Negotiation: Reaching Agreements While Strengthening Professional Relationships will be held from 11 am to 12 noon CST on April 29, 2005.
Dr. Ury is the founder of Harvard's Program on Negotiation and the co-author of Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In and Getting
Past No: Negotiating With Difficult People and Getting To Peace.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those of my readers located in or near the Washington, DC area, there is a very interesting-sounding talk taking place on April 22 from noon to 2 pm in the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Herb Rubenstein, an attorney, member of the World Future Society and its US National Capital Region chapter, a founding director and member of the Association of Professional Futurists, and a founding member and advisory board member of the Society for Leadership Change, will be giving a free talk on The Future of Leadership.
Although the talk is free, registration is recommended due to limited seating. To sign up, visit the National Capital Region World Future Society Website.
Here's more info from the press release on the talk:
"Herb Rubenstein distinguishes between 'leaders' and 'leaders of leaders.' Leaders are people who see existing problems and develop solutions for those problems with the support of the group they lead. 'Leaders of leaders' employ foresight and organizational tools to envision and avoid entire classes of problems from arising. They guide leaders when problems arise within the organization.
The future would be brighter if society encouraged more 'leaders of leaders' to emerge. Herb believes that most Western societies only encourage the emergence of leaders, not leaders of leaders. In his talk, Herb will explore how we can encourage the emergence of more leaders of leaders in the future through improved technology, more ethical decision making frameworks, and other tools.
Wilson Learning is offering a free Webinar by Harvard’s Dr. William L. Ury, "world-renowned negotiations expert." Principled Negotiation: Reaching Agreements While Strengthening Professional Relationships will be held from 11 am to 12 noon CST on April 29, 2005.
Dr. Ury is the founder of Harvard's Program on Negotiation and the co-author of Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In and Getting
Past No: Negotiating With Difficult People and Getting To Peace.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those of my readers located in or near the Washington, DC area, there is a very interesting-sounding talk taking place on April 22 from noon to 2 pm in the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Herb Rubenstein, an attorney, member of the World Future Society and its US National Capital Region chapter, a founding director and member of the Association of Professional Futurists, and a founding member and advisory board member of the Society for Leadership Change, will be giving a free talk on The Future of Leadership.
Although the talk is free, registration is recommended due to limited seating. To sign up, visit the National Capital Region World Future Society Website.
Here's more info from the press release on the talk:
"Herb Rubenstein distinguishes between 'leaders' and 'leaders of leaders.' Leaders are people who see existing problems and develop solutions for those problems with the support of the group they lead. 'Leaders of leaders' employ foresight and organizational tools to envision and avoid entire classes of problems from arising. They guide leaders when problems arise within the organization.
The future would be brighter if society encouraged more 'leaders of leaders' to emerge. Herb believes that most Western societies only encourage the emergence of leaders, not leaders of leaders. In his talk, Herb will explore how we can encourage the emergence of more leaders of leaders in the future through improved technology, more ethical decision making frameworks, and other tools.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Best you might've missed
Happy Friday, all. Here are the most interesting articles and resources to hit my eyes this week.
E-mergent learning
"Games for Learning." This article focuses on children's use of video games, but since they are your future learners and workers, it's worth reading.
E-learning/e-content
Standards for online content authors. A good practical tip-sheet from a company in New Zealand.
"Online Learning: Social Interaction and the Creation of a Sense of Community." "This paper centres on the sense of isolation that online study may engender among learners, a factor...that may make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful online learning environment for many students."
Traditional training/business
10 steps to develop learner support - a guideline through the key issues. The eLearning Centre links to a useful PDF.
Searchforclasses. Another training-finding Website. I've written about a few of these over the past couple of months.
"The New Steps to Career Advancement." "A recent study comparing Fortune 100 executives in 1980 with their counterparts in 2001 reveals changes in the path young executives take along the way to the C suite."
In Our Humble Opinion: What Will a World of $5 Gas Be Like? This musing by Future of Work gurus Charlie Grantham and Jim Ware posits that remote work is really going to take off with gas prices soaring.
"How to Start a Startup." An irreverent essay based on a talk given at the Harvard Computer Society.
"Got a Good Strategy? Now Try to Implement It." A Q+A with the author of Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change.
Theory
Learning vs. Training. Thoughts on the re-designed Learning Circuits blog.
Happy Friday, all. Here are the most interesting articles and resources to hit my eyes this week.
E-mergent learning
"Games for Learning." This article focuses on children's use of video games, but since they are your future learners and workers, it's worth reading.
E-learning/e-content
Standards for online content authors. A good practical tip-sheet from a company in New Zealand.
"Online Learning: Social Interaction and the Creation of a Sense of Community." "This paper centres on the sense of isolation that online study may engender among learners, a factor...that may make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful online learning environment for many students."
Traditional training/business
10 steps to develop learner support - a guideline through the key issues. The eLearning Centre links to a useful PDF.
Searchforclasses. Another training-finding Website. I've written about a few of these over the past couple of months.
"The New Steps to Career Advancement." "A recent study comparing Fortune 100 executives in 1980 with their counterparts in 2001 reveals changes in the path young executives take along the way to the C suite."
In Our Humble Opinion: What Will a World of $5 Gas Be Like? This musing by Future of Work gurus Charlie Grantham and Jim Ware posits that remote work is really going to take off with gas prices soaring.
"How to Start a Startup." An irreverent essay based on a talk given at the Harvard Computer Society.
"Got a Good Strategy? Now Try to Implement It." A Q+A with the author of Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change.
Theory
Learning vs. Training. Thoughts on the re-designed Learning Circuits blog.
Training for Dummies
Not that I'm saying you're a dummy or anything, but if you're interested in a good basic book on training, Training for Dummies was just released by Wiley Press and ASTD (co-published). It's part of the familiar Dummies series.
The description on the ASTD store reads:
Learn how to design and deliver effective training courses with Training for Dummies. Filled with hands-on advice, you'll use modern instructional techniques and dynamic delivery to reach and teach trainees. With real-world examples, author Elaine Biech shows you how to follow a training cycle from start to finish; and along the way you'll discover how to
--conduct needs and assessments
--custom design training courses
--adapt for different learning styles
--enhance participation and learning
--prepare for the new certification process
Not that I'm saying you're a dummy or anything, but if you're interested in a good basic book on training, Training for Dummies was just released by Wiley Press and ASTD (co-published). It's part of the familiar Dummies series.
The description on the ASTD store reads:
Learn how to design and deliver effective training courses with Training for Dummies. Filled with hands-on advice, you'll use modern instructional techniques and dynamic delivery to reach and teach trainees. With real-world examples, author Elaine Biech shows you how to follow a training cycle from start to finish; and along the way you'll discover how to
--conduct needs and assessments
--custom design training courses
--adapt for different learning styles
--enhance participation and learning
--prepare for the new certification process
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