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News, trends, and business deals in the e-learning arena.
October 22, 2009
ASTD Announces 39 Winners in its Seventh Annual “BEST Awards”
The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) announces that 39 organizations from Canada, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, and the United States are winners in the 2009 ASTD BEST Awards competition. Sun Microsystems, of Santa Clara, California, holds the first place ranking.
The 2009 ASTD BEST Award winners are recognized in a special section of the October issue of Training + Development (T+D), ASTD’s monthly magazine, and were honored during a reception on October 1 in Washington, D.C. Many of the winners participated in the “Learn from the BEST” event on October 2 to share best practices during roundtable presentations and networking time.
The BEST Awards recognize organizations that demonstrate enterprise‐wide success through employee learning and development. According to Tony Bingham, ASTD’s president and CEO, “The ASTD BEST Award winners set the standard of excellence for exceptional learning practices, and demonstrate that a skilled workforce is vital to achieving results. They use learning as a strategic tool and have the support of senior leaders who champion a learning culture.”
Through an online application, the 2009 BEST Awards received entries from 93 organizations in 10 countries. These organizations submitted quantitative and qualitative information to ASTD about their learning and development practices and programs. Their applications were assessed by members of the BEST Awards advisory committee, a group of experts in the learning and development field.
The 2009 ASTD BEST Award winners and rankings:
1. Sun Microsystems, Santa Clara, California
2. MTR Corporation, Hong Kong, SAR, China
3. SCC Soft Computer, Clearwater, Florida
4. DPR Construction, Inc., Redwood City, California
5. BB&T, Winston‐Salem, North Carolina
6. VF Asia Limited, Hong Kong, SAR, China
7. Highmark (an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
8. BJC HealthCare, St. Louis, Missouri
9. Datatel, Fairfax, Virginia
10. Trust Company of the West, Los Angeles, California
11. Luxottica Retail North America, Mason, Ohio
12. La Quinta, Irving, Texas
13. Robert W. Baird & Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
14. Gables Residential, Atlanta, Georgia
15. Wipro Limited, Bangalore, India
16. T. Rowe Price, Baltimore, Maryland
17. LarsonAllen, Minneapolis, Minnesota
18. University Health System, San Antonio, Texas
19. CSC, Falls Church, Virginia
20. Reliance Industries Limited, Jamnagar Refinery Division, Mumbai, India
21. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, New York, New York
22. Infosys Technologies Limited, Bangalore, India
23. Reliance Industries Limited, Dahej Manufacturing Division, Mumbai, India
24. CIGNA Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
25. Suzlon Energy, Ltd., Pune, India
26. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mumbai, India
27. Prescription Solutions, Irvine, California
28. Whirlpool Corporation, Saint Joseph, Michigan
29. Barilla America, Inc., Bannockburn, Illinois
30. Fallon Clinic, Worcester, Massachusetts
31. InterContinental Hotels Group, Atlanta, Georgia
32. Mayer Electric Supply Company Inc., Birmingham, Alabama
33. TELUS, Vancouver, British Columbia
34. G4S Wackenhut, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
35. sanofi‐aventis U.S., Bridgewater, New Jersey
36. Brown‐Forman Corporation, Louisville, Kentucky
37. United Overseas Bank, Singapore
38. Grant Thornton LLP, Chicago, Illinois
39. Cbeyond, Atlanta, Georgia
In addition, nine companies on this list have been BEST ASTD Award winners for three years or more. They are BB&T, CSC, Gables Residential, Infosys Technologies, MTR Corporation, Reliance Industries, sanofi‐aventis U.S., TELUS, and Wipro Limited.
More information about the 2009 ASTD BEST Award winners may be found in the October 2009 issue of T+D magazine and online: www.astd.org/best. Details about the 2010 program will be available next February.
E-Learning 2009: What Happened?
With a revolving door in the executive suite continuing to spin, there is no doubt that learning executives will face questions from new CEOs, CFOs, or other C-level executives about their methods and results. In many cases they are continuing to be quizzed on the efficacy of in-person learning in a world more and more reliant on web-based applications. A recent article by Claire Schooley (with Matthew Brown and Sara Burnes) from Forrester Research tackled some of the bigger issues.
“Done effectively, e-learning can affect all parts of an organization, including employees, partners, resellers, and even customers,” the authors point out. “Yet too often e-learning programs fail to reach their full potential. To succeed, content must be thoughtfully planned and aligned with company goals and employee work flow. And creative staff must engage all lines of business in creating a formal and informal learning and working environment. Strong executive support is critical.”
The lack of management support makes learning something to do if there’s time, Schooley and her co-authors explain. “Excellent learning plans fizzle if executives and management don’t support them. This means providing support for e-learning development, encouraging e-learning use throughout the lines of business, and insisting that internal marketing work with the learning department to promote the importance of learning to organizational success.
“Managers must also make ample time for their employees to complete learning courses. Poor content drives learners away, some never to return. Reading learning content does not equate with e-learning. Translating a workbook into an online reading experience without considering the differences in delivery mode is boring and drives learners away from e-learning. Content
must be repurposed using appropriate production techniques to engage the learner.”
It’s STILL the economy. Due to economic pressures, companies are going to reduce training budgets to a point where it doesn’t make sense to create content on marginal topics,” suggested Tony Karrer, CEO of TechEmpower in his 2009 predictions for e-learning technologies. “Instead, we will call this ‘self-directed learning’ and will do our best to support the workforce to learn it on their own with minimal guidance and support.”
Karrer also believes that an increase in consumer and education social learning solutions will increase pressure for social learning solutions in corporate learning. He notes that “2008 was an interesting year that saw myriad new start-ups offering content through interesting new avenues. Social learning solutions such as social homework help were provided by Cramster, CampusBug, Grockit, TutorVista, EduFire, English Cafe, and the list goes on.” He believes that one in five learning professionals could lose his job when some “vice president or C-level in your company will have their teenager or college-age kid use one of these services and tell them about it. They will then proceed to wonder why you aren’t doing something similar. It’s the change where consumer leads education leads corporate.”
Micro-virtual conferences. Karrer also believes the move toward acceptance of virtual classroom means that there will start to be a greater acceptance of virtual conferences. “Conferences this year will also do this because their other alternative is to be canceled from lack of people able to pay for travel,” he writes. “But because we are all going to be maxed out, expected to do 10 percent more work with 10 percent less people, we won’t have time to go for several days. Instead, we will see the creation of things that are in between a full virtual conference and something that’s a few sessions. These things will be more targeted and deeper. Many of them will be from ad hoc sources.”
Joining a chorus of others on the topic, Karrer wrote at the start of the year that adoption of mobile learning “would be well below where people were expecting.”He added: “While I still think this will be a relatively small percentage of activity, this year I expect it to be a year in which mobile becomes more. I believe that we will see continued increase in the percentage of people walking around with mobile web access. And we won’t see much adoption as the central vehicle for learning content delivery.”
Source: Learning Executive Briefing, October 2009
Learning Executives Express Increasing Confidence in 3rd Quarter
Learning executives continue to be increasingly optimistic about the outlook and expectations for the learning function according to the latest measurement by the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).
The Learning Executive Confidence Index (LXCI) for the third quarter of 2009 continued its upward trend after posting a significant rebound in the second quarter. All four major indices increased with three of four achieving all‐time high values. The current LXCI surveyed 292 learning executives about their expectations in four areas: impact on corporate performance; ability to meet learning needs; status as a key strategic component; and availability of resources. It is modeled on the CEO Confidence Indices reported by Chief Executive Magazine and The Conference Board.
Current LXCI indices show growing confidence in key areas in the third quarter, continuing the across‐the‐board positivity of learning executives’ (LXs) noted in the second quarter of 2009. After back‐to‐back drops at the end of 2008, executive confidence began to stabilize in the first quarter of 2009. When the four different measures are combined, the overall LXCI for third quarter 2009 was 60.7, compared with 59.4 for second quarter of 2009.
The LXCI is measured on a 100‐point scale. The 1.3‐point change shows a continued rebound in optimism and indicates that collectively learning executives expect their learning functions to remain the same or marginally improve over the next six months.
Other highlights of the LXCI for third quarter 2009 include:
· More than three quarters, or 77.3 percent of LXs anticipate that their organization’s profits will remain the same or improve, up slightly from 74.5 percent in Q2 2009.
· Each of the four major indices (impact on corporate performance, ability to meet learning needs, availability of resources, and status as a key strategic component) was on the upswing in Q3, with all but one of them (ability to meet learning needs) reaching their highest value on record.
· A growing number of LXs expect outsourcing on external services that aid in the learning function to increase or remain at comparable levels. The increase is significant: 39.9 percent of LXs in the third quarter expect a similar amount to be spent on outside vendors, compared with 28.7 percent in the second quarter.
· Pessimism about resources available for outsourcing and external services decreased. In the third quarter 38.1 percent of LXs said the amount of money available for external services and outsourcing would decrease – a 24.5 percent drop from the Q1 2009 figure of 62.6 percent.
ASTD’s Learning Executive Confidence Index was launched in August 2008 and is designed to assess the outlooks and expectations of learning executives for the next six months.
To find out more about the LXCI, go to /content/research/LXCI.htm.
New Study Reveals How Firms Are Preparing to Retain Workers as Economy Improves
The silver lining in a lousy economy is employee retention, but as economic prospects brighten, most firms are thinking about ways to retain talent, according to the latest study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) on the subject of organizational turnover and engagement. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into big raises for most employees, who have seen few pay raises of late.
In this down economy, the study, the full results of which are now available to i4cp members in both standard and interactive form, found that higher market performing companies are more than twice as likely to offer pay raises to keep key talent from walking out the door than are lower performers.
The study showed that 18 percent of high-performing organizations have already taken the step of increasing compensation levels to reduce turnover, compared to 7 percent of lower performers. Over the next six to 12 months, the same ratio of high performers (18 percent) plan to implement pay raises, while almost a quarter (24 percent) of lower performers have plans to do so.
That doesn’t mean, however, that reducing turnover revolves around reward. The favored tactic companies overall have already taken to further reduce turnover is better internal communication with all employees, 81 percent naming it as the top method. Increased focus on talent management (77 percent) was the second-highest choice, and increased focus on succession planning (59 percent) ranked third. Among higher market performers, a full 91 percent point to communication as their top method of staunching turnover, compared to 71 percent of lower performers.
What about the future? Steps planned within the next year to reduce turnover by higher-performing companies include increased focus on succession planning and talent management, both cited by 70 percent of respondents. Leadership training is being planned by 66 percent of higher-performing firms. Lower performers plan to focus first on talent management issues (71 percent), followed by 62 percent who plan to increase internal communication.
“Certainly, employees who are challenged to stretch their personal finances during this difficult economy will be happy to contemplate pay increases,” comments i4cp senior research analyst Carol Morrison. “But our research confirms, too, that companies understand how important it is to maintain ongoing communication with their employees, along with strong talent management programs that emphasize a future focus through development and succession.”
The study also asked respondents to outline their cost-cutting measures over the last year and a half, and the overall results showed that 40 percent have made significant cost cuts, while 14 percent said they have had few or no cost-cutting measures. When viewed from a market performance perspective, however, the numbers change. Twenty-three percent of higher performers said they have instituted few or no cost-cutting measures, compared to 5 percent of lower performers. On the other end of the spectrum, 62 percent of lower performers have made significant cuts, while 31 percent of higher performers said they’ve undergone steeper cuts.
Regarding steps taken to increase engagement, the study showed that higher performers are more likely to involve employees in the process. Two of 10 respondents (21 percent) from higher-performing companies admit they have never surveyed their employees about engagement issues, compared to 36 percent of lower performers. Both higher- and lower-performing companies that conduct surveys are most likely to survey their workers annually. Based on results of their most recent surveys, 49 percent of higher performers reported an increase in engagement, compared to a quarter (26 percent) of lower market performing organizations.
The Turnover and Engagement Pulse Survey was conducted by i4cp in September 2009. The full results of the survey are available exclusively for all i4cp corporate members.
September 14, 2009
Social Networking’s Net Worth
Despite the explosive growth of sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, many companies have put their guards up instead of their firewalls down when it comes to employees’ usage of social networking sites. And many workers agree with them, at least in theory. Seventy-four percent of employees believe that these sites can pose great risk since they are an easy way to damage a brand’s reputation, according to a recent Deloitte survey, “Social Networking and Reputational Risk in the Workplace.”
Yet 37 percent of employees also do not consider what their bosses would think before posting comments, photos, or videos online. Only 17 percent of executives said their companies have programs in place to monitor social networking site usage by workers and mitigate any risks. “These statistics suggest that while policies and guidelines are an important component to online reputational risk management, organizations must also create a culture of accountability that encourages employees to make good ethical decisions both online and offline,” says Sharon Allen, chairman of the board at Deloitte.
Furthermore, 60 percent of business executives surveyed said they had the right to know how employees choose to express themselves and their organizations online while 53 percent of workers think that social networking profiles and pages are not an employer’s concern. In fact, 49 percent of employees reported that defined guidelines from their companies would not trigger any change in behavior. Another 61 percent reported that even if employers monitored their profiles it would not affect their behavior online.
“Since we don’t know if employees and employers will ever truly see eye-to-eye on the use of personal social networking pages, I think companies should offer some guidance on how to better manage them,” Allen says. “For instance, leadership can encourage people to set privacy protocols to protect the content on their pages or to give strong consideration before accepting a ‘friend or follower’ request.”
Many employers have only recently become familiar with the extent to which social networking sites can hurt a brand. Domino’s Pizza is a prime example of how a YouTube video prank led to a public relations crisis for the company. Footage was posted online of a Domino’s employee contaminating sandwiches prepared for delivery, as well as violating other health code standards. Another employee narrated and filmed the episode.
Fifty-eight percent of business leaders agreed that the risks associated with social networking should be a boardroom issue, but only 15 percent reported that it was being discussed there. Allen adds that companies shouldn’t forget the potential benefits of social networking either.“Quite a few organizations have embraced social media and are leveraging it to reach new and existing customers, identify and recruit talent, and build overall brand awareness,” she says. “So as the business value of social networking is demonstrated across corporate America, I believe we will see more companies building it into their communications strategies.”
For the employee sample, 2,008 employed Americans age 18 and older were surveyed by telephone, and for the employer sample, 500 business executives including company owners, CEOs, controllers, executive vice presidents, chief information officers, vice presidents, and board members, were surveyed online.
By Aparna Nancherla, T+D Senior Associate Editor
CLO Magazine Reports on Outsourcing Trends
Every other month, IDC surveys Chief Learning Officer’s Business Intelligence Board (BIB) on a variety of topics to measure the attitudes, issues and interests of senior training executives. September’s topic was training outsourcing, and they report declining usage of training outsourcing over the last three years, “Not too long ago, 66 percent of enterprises were outsourcing some part of their training function. In 2007, this number dipped to 58 percent. In 2008, this percentage went down again to 55 percent. In 2009, the trend continued, with only about 45 percent of enterprises outsourcing some part of their training function. The challenging economy is probably a significant component of this shift, as internal training resources are being pushed to a higher utilization in order to curtail spending on external providers.”
However, respondents plan to maintain or increase outsourcing spending in 2010, “For 2010, 83 percent of companies expect spending on training outsourcing to increase or remain the same. This indicates that while the number of companies that are outsourcing may have declined this year as compared to last year, the companies that are outsourcing are, for the most part, satisfied with their use of external training providers.”
For information about training outsourcing, go to http://www.clomedia.com/business-intelligence/2009/September/2722/index.php.
iPocket Coach Joins the Apple App Store
Managers and supervisors don't have much time to get the coaching they need regarding important workplace communications. iPocket Coach, available in the Apple App Store and iTunes, helps managers find the right "words of wisdom." All a manager needs is an iPhone or iPod Touch and a coach is at their fingertips.
iPocket Coach offers managers guidance across eight categories including conflict, development, feedback, interviewing, performance, promotions, rewards, and termination. Each category is supported with key takeaways that cover what's most important. The best part of iPocket Coach is the relevance of the content to real work situations. "Managers definitely need information on-demand," said Tony Deblauwe, developer of iPocket Coach. "Only about one third of managers receive regular management skills training so any guidance helps. This app gives managers fast and simple access to scripts that will jump start their thinking about workplace conversations whether it's with their employee, peer, or boss."
iPocket Coach is a necessary addition to the Business category of the App Store. According to Deblauwe, "A mobile device like the iPhone provides a perfect method for giving managers valuable talking points and scripts on-the-go." The iPocket Coach app retails for $.99, a bargain for any manager or supervisor seeking the guidance they need--when they need it. Says Deblauwe, "This version is just the beginning. As more people use the app and provide feedback, additional scenarios, scripts, or categories can be added. The app will grow based on what managers need help with."
More information and an iTunes download link is available on the iPocket Coach website.
SkillSoft, a SaaS provider of on demand e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education, and small to medium-sized businesses, recently announced the results of a survey thatunderscores the effectiveness of virtual instructor-led training (VILT) compared with traditional in-person instructor-led Training. The survey shows that the vast majority of learners consider SkillSoft's Live Learning VILT to be just as effective as conventional instructor-led training. Supporting this subjective sentiment, the SkillSoft survey also confirmed the training effectiveness of VILT, with 91 percent of respondents who participated in Live Learning and later taking a certification exam passing that exam on their first attempt.
These results came to light in a June 2009 survey in which SkillSoft randomly polled approximately 1,800 learners who previously attended a SkillSoft Live Learning course within the prior year. Seven out of 10 respondents said VILT is either about the same, better, or much better than ILT—without taking costs into consideration. When costs were factored into their assessment, 86 percent of respondents said Live Learning offered similar or better value than ILT.
"Virtual ILT has come of age as enabling technologies have matured and learner acceptance levels of technology-enabled learning are growing," said John Ambrose, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development & Emerging Business for SkillSoft. "Our survey results align with conclusions in a recent U.S. Department of Education study that reviewed research comparing online and face-to-face instruction. That study concluded “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” We at SkillSoft are pleased, but not surprised by these important findings by the U.S. Department of Education."
August 11, 2009
U.S. Department of Labor Awards $10 Million to Train Older Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded $10 million in funding to organizations that connect older Americans to career opportunities. The Aging Worker Initiative: Strategies for Regional Talent Development is designed to train workers age 55 and older for jobs in high-growth, high-demand industries, and increase the public workforce system's capacity to effectively serve an aging worker population. The department also has launched a unique private-public partnership with the Atlantic Philanthropies, which will invest an additional $3.6 million in this effort.
"Older Americans are an important part of the workforce, and their skills and experience are of tremendous value to our nation," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "With expanded education and training opportunities, such as those made possible through this grant, older workers can broaden their own career opportunities and further contribute to the growth of industries across the United States."
Ten awards of approximately $1 million each have been made to organizations in Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington state and Wisconsin. The grants awarded today target older individuals who have been laid off and are seeking re-employment; need to stay in the workforce beyond the traditional retirement age but need training to increase their skills; and face other barriers to employment such as disabilities or low levels of English proficiency.
As part of its investment in the Aging Workforce Initiative, the Atlantic Philanthropies has funded the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and the Council on Competitiveness to provide assistance to the grantees, and document and disseminate effective strategies to promote career opportunities for older workers.
The ability to develop, attract and retain a well-educated and skilled workforce is a key factor in economic growth. Successful applicants recognized that older workers are a valuable, though often underutilized, labor pool that can meet the workforce needs of regional economies. Currently, 22.6 percent of the U.S. population is over the age of 55. "In the wake of the economic downturn, the impact of the Aging Worker Initiative is all the more important," said Marcia Smith, senior vice president of the Atlantic Philanthropies. "This effort will create opportunities for older adults to work, support themselves and their families, and contribute to the reinvigoration of their local economies."
To access a fact sheet on the Aging Worker Initiative and information about the individual grantees, visit http://www.doleta.gov/pdf/AWI_One_Pagers_Fact_Sheet.pdf. For information on the range of Department of Labor employment and training programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov.
Financial Impact of Talent Management Practices Revealed
The latest research from Bersin & Associates reveals that talent management processes, often viewed by business managers and executives as non-essential HR formalities, do have significant financial impact.
Based on research conducted in partnership with Human Resource Executive magazine, the 2009 Talent Management Factbook identifies the maturity of talent management practices across different industries and shows definitive correlation to key business indicators. The research finds that companies with highly effective talent management strategies gain these and other benefits:
n Greater employee productivity. Average revenue per employee is 26 percent higher.
n Reduced employee turnover. Turnover among high-performing employees is 41 percent lower and overall voluntary turnover is 17 percent lower.
n Improved ability to adapt to today’s economy. These organizations were 28 percent less likely to have experienced a major layoff (workforce reduction of 10 percent or more) between 2008 and 2009, illustrating their ability to rapidly adapt to change.
“This data makes a compelling business case for integrated talent management,” said Josh Bersin, president. “CEOs and senior business leaders must take ownership for talent management and make it as important as their focus on products, sales, marketing, and distribution.” The report also contains a special section focused on the adoption and use of HR technology. Readers will find detailed examples from organizations such as American Express, St. Joseph’s Medical Center, McKesson, and the U.S. Air Force.
Following are additional representative findings:
n Companies are making progress in their talent management initiatives. Nearly 50 percent of respondents said their companies are now implementing strategies for integrated talent management. This year, only 15 percent of respondents said their companies have no plans for implementation, down from 26 percent in 2008. Forty percent of respondents identified performance management as their top priority for the coming year. In today’s business environment, managers are keenly focused on using performance management to drive a culture of execution and to better inform critical decisions on downsizing and compensation.
n Companies are now assigning a dedicated executive to manage talent management activities across the enterprise. This year, 31 percent of respondents said their companies have consolidated talent management activities under a single executive, up from 22 percent in 2008.
n Employee development strategies are critical to success. High-quality development planning is one of the practices most highly correlated to reduced turnover and increased revenue per employee. Unfortunately, today this process is very immature. Only about half of respondents widely use development planning and only 8 percent said plans were effective.
n Use of performance management (approximately 65 percent) and career/succession management (more than 30 percent) systems has increased considerably over the last year as the HR systems market becomes more clearly defined.
“This report includes a wealth of information that companies can use to assess the maturity of their talent management processes and identify potential areas for increased focus and improvement,” said Karen O’Leonard, principal analyst for the research. “We encourage companies to use this research to build the business case for talent management and to benchmark their current program strategies.”
For more information, including an audio overview, an executive summary, and table of contents, visit www.bersin.com/tmfactbook .
Point-and-Click Guidance
Web-based mentoring has a powerful effect on employee performance, regardless of position within a company. Mentoring is often considered special treatment reserved for high-potential talent in the workplace, but making it more accessible to any worker at the company could dramatically improve overall employee engagement.
According to a report by Triple Creek Associates called “Impact of Web-Based Mentoring on Productivity and Effectiveness,” 88 percent of respondents agreed that their productivity and effectiveness at work increased due to e-mentoring experiences. Eighty-eight percent of respondents were also satisfied overall with their mentoring relationships. Furthermore, of those participants who spent at least an hour a month on mentoring, 97 percent were satisfied with their relationships.
Web-based Open Mentoring—the system used in the study—is a pairing technique similar to eHarmony or Match.com for large enterprises that helps facilitate knowledge transfer through relationships. These relationships can take the form of peer-to-peer, superior-to-subordinate, or even reverse mentoring, whereby an older worker connects with a younger employee to learn new technologies. “The study reinforced the fact that people prefer to learn from other people,” says Randy Emelo, CEO and president of Triple Creek Associates. “Making more information available to people is not what they’re looking for. What people are looking for is access to other people who can help them.”
The study found that there were three specific areas of improvement for employees who participated in the program: expanding their professional network, interpersonal effectiveness, and confidence in the role. In addition, participants felt that mentoring allowed them to provide and receive encouragement, transfer knowledge within the organization, and understand a different point of view. “Training and development professionals know that with the rise of the creative class, every employee needs to be more self-directed and autonomous,” says Emelo. “The whole skill set of the enterprise is shifting away from employees just taking orders and performing functions, to making their own decisions and creating their own paths.”
Some telling results were that participants experienced these gains regardless of whether they participated in the program face-to-face or distance-style, and regardless of whether the participant was a mentor or a mentee. Though Emelo says there are pros and cons to both face-to-face and distance-style mentoring, he notes that, “When you’re mentoring someone and relating to someone from a distance, you really can’t take anything for granted, and you have to ask clarifying questions. You become more intently focused on the learning and less focused on the relational aspects (such as chemistry) that dominate the face-to-face relationships.”
The study surveyed 13 client organizations, with a total of 1,323 participants from more than 20 countries and all levels of the workplace. Only employees who had participated in at least one mentoring relationship within a year or who were currently at least three months into a mentoring relationship at the time of the survey were eligible. There are currently 18 different platforms for web-based mentoring including employee onboarding, management and leadership development programs, and frontline supervisory training. The system is custom designed to fit each company’s competency indicators, which are used to match up pairs.
Aparna Nancherla, T+D Magazine
July 13, 2009
ASTD Presents its Excellence in Practice Awards
During its 2009 International Conference & Exposition held in Washington, D.C., the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) presented the Excellence in Practice Awards and Citations to 40 organizations from five countries: Canada, China, India, Thailand, and the United States.
The Excellence in Practice Awards program recognizes organizations for results achieved through learning and performance practices and solutions. From 132 submissions, 17 awards and 49 citations were given in nine categories: career development, learning technologies, managing change, organizational learning, performance improvement, training management, valuing differences, technical training, and workplace learning and development. “The winning organizations advance the knowledge of the workplace learning and performance profession and contribute to increasing workforce capability and organizational competitiveness,” notes Tony Bingham, ASTD President and CEO. “Their accomplishments demonstrate how learning increases the performance and success of organizations worldwide.”
The Excellence in Practice Awards are presented to those organizations with proven practices that have delivered measurable results in achieving organizational goals. The 15 organizations and their partners selected to receive the Excellence in Practice Awards were
1. Cisco
2. DB Schenker
3. Farmers Insurance Group / University of Farmers, Field Training and Inner Harbor Partners for Improved Performance
4. Hewlett‐Packard Company
5. IBM
6. Infosys BPO Limited
7. MTR Corporation Limited
8. Reliance Industries Limited – Patalganga Manufacturing Division
9. ResMed Corporation
10. Satyam Computer Services
11. Shape Corporation
12. Sun Microsystems
13. Thai Yamaha Motor and Orchid Slingshot
14. United States Naval Education & Training Command, Center for Explosive Ordnance Disposal & Diving
15. United States Naval Education &Training Command, Center for Information Dominance
The Excellence in Practice Citations are presented to those organizations with practices that have shown that they will demonstrate measureable results. Thirty-four organizations and their partners were selected to receive Citations.
ASTD is accepting applications for the 2009 awards. Deadline to submit is September 22, 2009. Learn more at /ASTD/aboutus/AwardsandBestPractices/excellenceInPracticeAwards.
Network World Survey on Social Media
Let's start with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, LiveJournal, and Flickr. These are just a few of the social networks that, depending on your perspective, may be either invading or enhancing your corporate communications. In an effort to begin quantifying the impact and policies surrounding these services, the Webtorials Editorial/Analyst Division of Network World is undertaking a major study, and you're invited to participate.
Some of the issues that it will be exploring include
· How much of your site usage is business related?
· How much time do you spend at home and at work engaged in social media?
· Does your company have a policy concerning the use of social media at work? If so, how is that policy enforced?
· What do you see as the business value of social media?
· Do you segregate your business and personal social media identities?
· To what extent do you see social networks as evolving to be an integral component of unified communications?
Network World is eagerly awaiting your responses to the questionnaire here.
Learning Portals Represent A New Trend, Reports July T+D
Expertus and Training Industry Inc. announced the findings from their recent study, “2009 Study on Learning Portals & Informal Learning Technologies.” The study uncovered how learning executives’ use of learning portals has gained widespread momentum as a learning technology platform. The study defined a learning portal as, “a website where learners find, buy, or simply get access to training.”
More than 93 percent of respondents’ learning organizations have learning portals. Training organizations that train internal employees are by far the most frequent users of learning portals. However, two-thirds of those who train customers and more than half of those who train channel partners or vendors also use learning portals.
Within the next two years, 45 percent of respondents say they will upgrade their existing learning portal and 14 percent plan to launch a new learning portal. Most respondents use all of the 12 major learning tools and technologies listed on the survey in their portals. These include blogs, online coaching, polls, self-study programs, communities of practice, and more.
Improving learner and customer satisfaction was cited by 68 percent of respondents as a top benefit of having a learning portal. The other two top benefits are tracking and enabling informal learning and helping to integrate learning technology. Fifty percent of respondents said that including informal learning technologies in their learning programs was critically important and 39 percent reported that it was somewhat important. Less than 5 percent said that it was not important.
Execs Must Overhaul Risk-Management Approach, Says Accenture Report
The vast majority (85 percent) of corporate executives say they need to overhaul their approach to risk-management if the lessons of the economic crisis are to be used to improve business results, according to results of a recently released Accenture study.
Accenture’s 2009 Global Risk Management Study, based on a survey of 260 chief financial officers, chief risk officers and other executives with risk-management responsibilities at large companies in 21 countries, also found that 40 percent of respondents said that their companies already have increased or will increase their investments in broader risk-management capabilities in the next six months. Nearly another third (31 percent) of respondents said their companies are currently considering increasing their future investment in risk management capabilities.
Accenture’s analysis also pointed to a lack of integration of current risk-management and performance-management processes. While nearly half the respondents said that their company’s risk-management function is involved to a great extent in strategic planning (48 percent) or in investment and divestment decisions (45 percent), only 27 percent said the risk-management function was involved to a great extent in objective-setting and performance management. “Executives could improve their organizations’ performance and position themselves for economic recovery by linking and balancing risk management and performance management to aid their decision-making and increase shareholder returns,” said Dan London, managing director of Accenture’s Finance & Performance Management practice.
Survey respondents also identified a number of common problems with their risk-management functions, including
· ineffective integration of risk, return and capital issues in decision-making (identified by 85 percent of respondents)
· lack of alignment between the company’s strategies and its risk appetite (85 percent)
· insufficient enterprise-wide risk culture (82 percent)
· inadequate availability of timely risk, finance and business data (80 percent)
· lack of integration and aggregation across all risk types (78 percent)
· ambiguous risk responsibilities between corporate and business units (78 percent).
“The current economic downturn is the ultimate stress test of a company’s risk management function, and the lessons learned can be leveraged to restore confidence and create a stronger, better, integrated and aligned platform for improving performance under a variety of business conditions,” London said. “Leading companies recognize that an expanded, integrated risk-management program supported by technology that allows management to monitor risk-related factors across a company is not just a protective tool but one that can provide companies with a competitive edge in a constantly changing world.”
Read the full release here (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/email/headlines/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&div=1238322212&newsId=20090706005086).
Free Career Factbook for HR and Learning Professionals Released
Bersin & Associates announces the publication of The Career Factbook for HR and Learning Professionals. The Factbook is an in-depth analysis of the demographics and characteristics of today’s human resources and learning profession. This study was designed with the particular goal of helping HR and L&D professionals and executives understand what really drives success, job satisfaction, career growth, compensation, and engagement.
"It’s not surprising that the HR and learning profession is under great stress, given downsizing and restructuring taking place throughout business today," said Josh Bersin, president. "Surprisingly, the biggest challenge facing HR and L&D leaders is not a lack of resources, but rather, the lack of support and engagement from business leaders. The biggest challenge to the profession is building strong business alignment, credibility throughout the enterprise, and business acumen within the HR and L&D ranks."
The Factbook is based on data provided by approximately 1,300 survey respondents. Bersin & Associates estimates that approximately 1.2 million employees in the United States work in jobs related to corporate HR and learning.
Following are representative findings:
· HR and learning professionals are highly motivated by a desire to help people, improve their organizations, and gain the respect of their organizations. Compensation is a relatively low driver of job satisfaction in most areas of the profession.
· Experience, rather than education, is the biggest differentiator between executives and practitioners in the HR and learning profession. Most executives have line-of-business experience and emphasize skills such as planning, communication, and budgeting.
· The profession is comprised of highly educated individuals. Thirty-four percent of respondents have bachelor’s degrees, 51 percent have master’s degrees, and 7 percent have doctorate degrees. Generally, individuals are highly tenured. More than 40 percent have fifteen or more years in the profession; 66 percent have ten years or more. Sixty-two percent of individuals in the profession are female; yet senior HR and learning executives are more likely to be male.
· Average compensation ranges $67,381 for those with two to five years of experience to $115,200 for those with 15 or more years of experience. Managers can expect to earn 7 percent more than non-managers, directors can expect to earn 42 percent more than managers, and vice presidents and other senior executives can expect to earn 25 to 30 percent more than directors. But, it’s important to note that compensation is near the bottom of the list of motivators for those in the HR and learning profession.
· Professionals highly value talent management software, learning management software, assessment solutions, and executive coaches as important support resources for their organizations. Applicant tracking systems, HR technology consultants, and strategic HR consultants were rated lowest in perceived value.
The Factbook can be downloaded for free by visiting http://marketing.bersin.com/HR_Career_Factbook.html.
June 9, 2009
SumTotal Changes Acquisition Agreement
SumTotal® Systems announced May 27, 2008, that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with affiliates of Vista Equity Partners Fund III, L.P. (“Vista”) under which Vista will acquire all the outstanding shares of SumTotal common stock for $4.85 per share in cash, or approximately $160 million. The Vista Agreement was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of SumTotal.
The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 141.3 percent over SumTotal’s closing share price on April 3, 2009, the last trading day prior to the public announcement of Vista’s proposal to acquire SumTotal for $3.25 per share in cash, and a premium of approximately 196.9 percent over SumTotal’s average closing share price for the 30 trading days ending on April 3, 2009.
SumTotal also announced that, concurrent with entering into the Vista Agreement, SumTotal terminated its previously announced amended merger agreement with affiliates of Accel-KKR following the expiration of the negotiation period granted to Accel-KKR. SumTotal paid a termination fee of $6.67 million to affiliates of Accel-KKR.
Jack Acosta, chair of the Board of Directors of SumTotal, said, “Our agreement with Vista provides an increased all-cash premium to our stockholders and reflects Vista’s strong commitment to the transaction. Throughout this process, our Board has been steadfastly committed to maximizing stockholder value and we are proud of the value we have delivered to our stockholders. We look forward to working with Vista to ensure a smooth transition and complete the transaction as expeditiously as possible.”
“The transaction with Vista validates SumTotal’s strategy and is a testament to our leadership position in the marketplace,” said SumTotal CEO Arun Chandra. “This transaction is compelling for our company, our customers, and our employees and we look forward to benefiting from Vista’s expertise as we continue to deliver innovative solutions to our customers and execute to win in the markets around the world.”
Robert F. Smith, managing principal of Vista Equity Partners, said, “We are pleased the SumTotal Board of Directors concluded that Vista’s agreement maximizes value for all SumTotal stockholders and provides the best path forward for all of the company’s constituents, including its valued customers. We believe strongly that SumTotal is an outstanding company with a competitive advantage and bright future, and that, together with Vista’s operational expertise and experience in enterprise application software, we can continue to build on the Company’s market-leading position. We very much look forward to working closely with SumTotal’s management team, employees, customers and suppliers upon completion of the transaction.”
FaceBook Launches Open Stream API
Facebook recently launched the Open Stream API, which lets third-party developers use Facebook’s activity stream inside their own applications and services. With is launch, developers will be able to filter and remix the stream—consisting of status updates, photos, videos, notes, as well as likes and comments on all the above—as they see fit. They will also be able to create content directly in the streams; for example, an application will be able to change the user’s status update.
Such an open approach has done wonders for other social media tools, andd it means that we can soon expect hundreds of new applications developed for Facebook. We’ll see advanced applications like Tweetdeck applied to Facebook. For many advanced, tech-savvy users, Facebook’s homepage will become obsolete as they move on to applications that offer even more options. It also means that Facebook will get even more free PR as all these new applications start hitting the mailboxes of technology-oriented blogs.
All of this will, however, work only for users who give the individual application access to their stream. Twitter, for example, does not have this restriction, and although it probably won’t stop developers from creating applications on the Open Stream API, ultimately it will always mean that all these applications aren’t perfect; i.e., they don’t necessarily deliver all the data you see on Facebook itself. Beta partners include Adobe, which has created a stream Notifier.
Unkind Training Cuts
Spending cuts to training are a first, not a last resort in mature economies, but the consequences of hasty budget decisions could hinder a country’s ability to compete globally in the near future. That’s the reality facing U.S. and European organizations today, according to a recent report by Cognisco, "Knowledge: the New Commodity." American and European companies are slashing training staff and budgets, and while that might provide some relief to the balance sheet in the short term, it will reduce those organizations’ ability to compete with global competitors when the recession wanes.
A poorly trained workforce is already inhibiting business development in the U.S. According to a survey conducted at the 2009 World Economic Forum, 12 percent of respondents said an inadequately trained workforce was a barrier to doing business in the U.S. The same figure was 9.9 in Britain, 6.2 in China, and 4.8 in India.
Amid such gloomy prospects, even the status quo sounds promising. In Germany, 12 percent of manufacturing companies planned to reduce investment in staff development compared with 63 percent that planned to maintain the same level. Only 11 percent planned to increase their investment in training.
Large organizations in the United States reduced their training staff from 5.1 employees per 1,000 staff members to 3.4 from 2007 to 2008. Medium-sized organizations reduced their training staff from 7.0 to 4.9 employees during the same period. Investment in training declined 11 percent from 2007 to 2008 according to the Cognisco report and could drop again in 2009.
Organizations in developing countries are taking an entirely opposite track. Among 300 companies in various sectors in Asia, only 40 percent reported plans to cut investment in training, instead focusing reductions on travel or inventory. Training is the bridge to entering new markets because ideas and intangible assets are and will become the bedrock of the new economy, not products or services. The old division between manufacturing and services is being blurred. By building the skills of the staff, an organization can develop new products.
Rolls Royce is a prime example. Paul Mizen, an economics professor at the University of Nottingham and author of the report, cited the example of Hong Kong Airlines purchasing engines from Rolls Royce. The two companies inked a $1.2 billion contract this year, which included 700 engines made by the luxury carmaker, in addition to a long-term services contract. Such a lucrative deal would not be possible without the investment in training, which Rolls Royce estimates at £30 million ($43.5 million) annually. “It’s the market of the future,” Mizen says. “You can offer additional services that the customer has not seen in the past. It’s a way to exploit knowledge-based opportunities.”
—Michael Laff, T+D Senior Associate Editor
Companies Can’t Afford Complacency, Says Towers Perrin Study
As the global recession wears on, employees are feeling increasing stress in the workplace that, if left unchecked, could impact business performance, according to Towers Perrin’s Workplace Watch, a newly launched quarterly look at employee opinions across a set of large global organizations. Based on opinions of more than 650,000 employees, Towers Perrin found that only 55 percent of workers agree they can balance work and personal responsibilities, down from 62 percent just one quarter earlier. On the other hand, employee engagement—a key indicator of organization performance—has held steady through the first quarter of this year.
While the global engagement gap that Towers Perrin has measured and tracked for more than a decade remains, the current crisis has not, surprisingly, widened that gap. Contributing to this outcome is the fact that employees are actually clearer about their job responsibilities and have more confidence in their long-term career opportunities now than a year ago. But the data also confirm a drop in employees’ understanding of their company’s goals and long-term direction, as well as in their positive perceptions of leadership’s overall effectiveness—both of which could signal the beginning of a downturn in engagement levels as this year progresses.
The inaugural Workplace Watch compares updated data for the first quarter of 2009 with the five preceding quarters to evaluate how the economic downturn is affecting employees’ attitudes about work and levels of engagement. The first quarter 2009 data cover more than 650,000 employees working in a variety of organizations worldwide.
During the first quarter of 2009, favorable scores rose slightly on a range of items relating to organizational efficiency, communication, company reputation, and frontline supervisors, all of which contribute to positive engagement. Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of employees agree their company’s structure facilitates efficient operations, up from 66 percent in the last quarter of 2008 and 58 percent in the first quarter of 2008, suggesting the latest rounds of restructuring have been done thoughtfully and in a manner that doesn’t automatically demand doing more with less. At the same time, 91 percent understand how their work helps the company achieve its immediate objectives, a view that has held fairly steady over the six quarters studied. Over two-thirds (68 percent) feel their company offers long-term career opportunities for them, up from 60 percent at the beginning of 2008. And 77 percent agree their company is highly regarded by customers, up from 73 percent the prior year as well, suggesting employees recognize the efforts their companies are making to connect with the marketplace in this tough economy.
“These results show that many employees ‘get it’ in terms of what the company has to do in the short term to weather the economic downturn,” said Julie Gebauer, managing director. “They understand that the recession has required sacrifices, and they’re willing to do what’s needed to help their employer succeed—in part because they want to ensure their own continued employment. The fact that companies don’t yet face a growing gap in engagement is welcome news, particularly given the strong relationship between high engagement and high performance.
“That said, even the existing gap remains troubling since an ‘all hands on deck’ mindset is essential right now,” Gebauer continued. “Complacency about current engagement levels opens a company to significant risk that it will fall behind competitors, both in performance and talent retention, as the economy starts to rebound and it shifts to more of a growth mode.”
Not surprisingly, the data also confirm that fewer people are looking to change jobs right now. Seventy-one percent agree they’re not seriously considering leaving their current job, up from 64 percent in the last quarter of 2007. “While our data confirm people are less inclined to switch jobs right now, it’s important to turn those statistics around and remember that 29 percent of employees are still open to moving elsewhere,” Gebauer noted. “If engagement doesn’t improve before the upturn begins and the job market opens up again, these individuals could be the first ones out the door. With almost one in three people contributing to ‘latent turnover,’ this is another serious risk to rapid financial recovery and growth—especially if future attrition includes ‘A’ players and people in critical strategic roles. Smart employers will want to get ahead of the upswing in the employment trend, so when it comes back fully, they’re not watching a revolving door of talent.”
May 7, 2009
SumTotal Systems Acquired by Private-Equity Firm Accel-KKR
SumTotal Systems Inc., which makes talent management software, has agreed to be purchased by private-equity firm Accel-KKR in a deal valued at approximately $124 million. The deal to buy SumTotal began when another private-equity firm, Equity Partners Fund III, L.P., sought to acquire the company, resulting in a bidding war.
Initially, Vista Equity Partners proposed to acquire SumTotal Systems, Inc., for US$3.25 per share in cash in a transaction that values the company’s outstanding equity at approximately $103 million. Vista, which already owns approximately 13 percent of SumTotal’s outstanding Common Stock, is the company’s largest stockholder. Vista also announced that it was nominating three directors for election to SumTotal’s Board of Directors at the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on June 12, 2009 (including any adjournment, postponement, continuation or rescheduling thereof). Vista’s offer was detailed in a letter from Robert F. Smith, managing principal of Vista Equity Partners III, LLC, to SumTotal CEO Arun Chandra on April 3, 2009. Mr. Smith said, "We have concluded, based on our exhaustive work and that of our advisors, that the Company’s ability to realize significant value for its stockholders as a standalone public company during a lengthy and highly precarious business model transition is, candidly, subject to significant risk and uncertainty. As a result, we believe that a compelling, high-premium, all-cash offer is the most effective way to maximize value for all stockholders."
By April 24, ACCEL-KKR, outbid Vista Equity Partners by offering approximately $124 million for SumTotal. Under the agreement, Accel-KKR will pay $3.80 per share in cash for all outstanding SumTotal common shares. The purchase price indicates a premium of 89 percent over the stock's closing price of $2.01 on April 3, which was the last trading day before Vista Equity Partners offered to buy SumTotal.
According to industry analysts Bersin & Associates this is a good turn for SumTotal and the learning and HR software marketplace. Bersin writes that because ACCEL-KKR already has existing businesses in the market it has a better understanding of SumTotal’s potential for growth: “ACCELL-KKR sees the potential to bring together mid-sized players in HR software and build a larger player in integrated talent solutions. If this deal does go through, we may see ACCELL-KKR integrate these companies and perhaps even acquire other smaller players in this market.” Bersin adds, “The LMS market itself is growing at 8 percent or more, and the talent management software market is growing at more than 25 percent [based on the Bersin report Learning Management Systems 2009, released April14]. SumTotal, which is still primarily known as an LMS company, competes well in the market for integrated talent management software and has yet to leverage its opportunity here. Through the help of Accel-KKR, we believe SumTotal could build new partnerships which may accelerate its growth to 20+ percent annually.”
SumTotal is the market leader and a global provider of talent development solutions. Based in Mountain View, California, SumTotal has offices across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
LMS Market Grows to $817 Million, Says Report
Bersin & Associates has released Learning Management Systems 2009: Facts, Practical Analysis, Trend,s and Provider Profiles, which details the pivotal changes taking place in the market for corporate learning platforms. According the research, this market has grown to $817 Million (projected for 2009) and continues to grow despite the economic downturn. Some report highlights:
· The market grew by 8.4 percent in 2008, slowing from a 10.6 percent growth rate in 2007. This growth is primarily occurring in mid-sized companies who are now purchasing SaaS (Software as a Service) learning platforms as part of their corporate HR infrastructure. Large corporations are consolidating and replacing their LMS systems and while nearly 70% of large companies have an LMS, many still need new, upgraded systems.
· The market is radically changing, being impacted by the tremendous growth in demand for informal learning approaches. More than 65 percent of organizations now believe that their highest value corporate training strategies rely upon informal learning: collaboration, coaching, learning on-demand, and social networking. However, the current LMS vendors have not yet tapped into this market, causing buyers to build their own “YouTube” systems for learning and impacting LMS future market growth.
· While LMS features are critically important to success, customer service and integration with other HR applications are more important drivers of customer satisfaction. I appears that learning technology has reached a point where “integration is more important than functionality.” Most major LMS vendors are rapidly building talent management feature sets, because more and more companies now realize that a standalone LMS limits many of their talent development application solutions.
The 345-page study is based on detailed briefings and product demonstrations provided by LMS vendors and an extensive quantitative survey of more than 525 LMS customers representing a broad cross-section of industries. Learning Management Systems 2009 discusses LMS market drivers, growth and requirements by segment, buyer needs, strategies for system selection, and research on implementation best practices. It also includes in-depth profiles and feature-by-feature evaluations of the top 30 solution providers. Vendors profiled in the report are: ACS, Blackboard, Business Training Library, CertPoint, Cornerstone, Element K, GeoLearning, GeoMetrix, HR Smart, Learn.com, LearnShare, Meridian KS, Mzinga, NetDimensions, Operitel, Oracle, OutStart, PeopleSoft, Plateau, RISC, RWD, Saba, SAP, Silkroad, SkillSoft, Softscape, SumTotal, Technomedia, TEDS, and WBT Systems.
An executive Summary of the report can be downloaded at http://www.bersin.com/uploadedFiles/041409_ES_LMS2009_DM_Final.pdf.
Oracle Acquires Sun
On April 20, 2009, Oracle Corporation and Sun Microsystems announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Oracle will acquire Sun common stock for $9.50 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun’s cash and debt.
“The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems,” said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. “Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system – applications to disk – where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves. Our customers benefit as their systems integration costs go down while system performance, reliability and security go up.”
There are substantial long-term strategic customer advantages to Oracle owning two key Sun software assets: Java and Solaris. Java is one of the computer industry’s best-known brands and most widely deployed technologies, and it is the most important software Oracle has ever acquired. Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle’s fastest growing business, is built on top of Sun’s Java language and software. Oracle can now ensure continued innovation and investment in Java technology for the benefit of customers and the Java community.
LETSI, ADL, and the Future of SCORM
The U.S. Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL) was instrumental in forming LETSI. At the time of its formation, LETSI was to take over the evolution and "stewardship" of SCORM from the ADL. This was reflected in LETSI's original organizational documents that identified the stewardship of SCORM as the first order of business in a broader program aimed at enabling and promoting global LET systems interoperability.
To this end LETSI initiated an open discussion of what needed to done with SCORM. LETSI set out to gather from the broadest possible set of stakeholders the requirements for a modernized framework. LETSI's "SCORM 2.0" Project drew over 100 white papers; spawned months of online discussion threads; and concluded with a sold out Workshop in October 2008. The results of the project, summarized in LETSI's Assumptions Document, made it clear that the community was ready to reconsider the underlying assumptions of SCORM and to focus on creating a modern framework to replace SCORM.
So, the plan has changed. Rather than transfer stewardship, the ADL Initiative will continue to develop and maintain SCORM and will assign certain rights to use SCORM to external organizations on a non-exclusive basis. In other words, ADL will continue as the "steward of SCORM" and will continue to work with other stakeholders as it has done in the past. LETSI will continue to participate actively in the SCORM community and will ensure that its Open Platform will meet the requirements of that community. Since a transition in ADL leadership is taking place over the next few months, the long-term relationships between the ADL and other organizations (including LETSI) remain to be clarified, but LETSI expects that the ADL will continue its long tradition of contributing to and applying the work of other organizations.
With the stewardship of SCORM supported by the ADL, LETSI will pursue its broader program of global LET systems interoperability. LETSI has turned its attention to the development of an Open Platform for Learning, which attempts to move beyond today’s learning and learning systems typified by single student, self paced, content “packages,” programmed instruction, and reliance on the LMS as the sole source of student information. The idea is that the broader LETSI community will develop together a common but flexible set of software tools, libraries, and infrastructure. This shared software framework, actual running code, will help all of the vendors and systems builders implement a core set of relevant standards more rapidly and more consistently. The new architectural framework will allow community-specific specializations and extensions. Each community will be separately responsible for the definition, implementation, and conformance regime for their extensions of the core libraries. If extensions find broader support, they will eventually be brought into the core.
For more information, go to www.letsi.org.
Call for Presentation for ASTD TechKnowledge 2010
ASTD invite you to partner with us to bring superior quality conference education to conference learner. This means submitting proposals to build core skills, share best practices and innovations, and lead the way on trends. Most of all, this means submitting proposals that are learner-focused and ensuring that each session is a learning experience with application to the participant’s work.
For 2010, ASTD has updated the submission process for the Request for Proposals (RFP). Please take the time to review all materials so your submission meets all criteria, giving you the best chance of being selected. Submissions are due by June 5, 2009. Guidelines are available at /content/conferences/techknowledge/RFPtk/.
April 6, 2009
E-Learning and the Economy
In February, Learning Circuits asked readers to tell us how their learning departments were adapting to these difficult economic conditions.
In particular, we wanted to know whether their e-learning initiatives were on the rise or decreasing as a result of the economy. When asked whether their organizations were considering e-learning as a way to extend the learning function during the economic downturn, 71 percent of respondents said Yes. In the open responses, many readers noted that their companies were using web conferencing and virtual meetings as a way to keep workers informed of new initiatives and products. Some readers responded that their organizations were planning on re-using existing content by converting PowerPoint presentations to rich media for the web and indexing or tagging Word documents to PDF format to store in a searchable library. Others were encouraging departments to create wikis, podcasts, and blogs as a way to keep people updated.
Our next question asked respondents to pinpoint which e-learning solutions their organizations were planning to increase or decrease in the coming year. Not surprising, e-learning options seeing the greatest increases included web conferencing (66.7 percent), virtual conferences (65.3 percent), and in-house courseware using rapid development tools (65.4 percent). Social networking tools such as blogs and wikis topped the list at 66 percent of respondents planning to increase usage in 2009. Meanwhile nearly one-fifth (21.3 percent) of respondents are planning on decreasing their use of simulated 3D worlds for training.
|
|
Increase |
Decrease |
Same |
|
Games and simulations |
49% |
13.7% |
37.3% |
|
Mobile learning |
46% |
12% |
42% |
|
Off-the-shelf courseware (WBT) |
39.2% |
15.7% |
45.1% |
|
Online mentoring/coaching |
57.7% |
5.8% |
36.5% |
|
Podcasts |
54.2% |
4.2% |
41.7% |
|
Rapid e-learning development |
65.4% |
7.7% |
26.9% |
|
In-house developed courseware |
54.3% |
10.9% |
34.8% |
|
Simulated 3D virtual worlds |
34% |
21.3% |
44.7% |
|
Social networking tools (blogs/wikis) |
66% |
10% |
24% |
|
Virtual classrooms |
65.3% |
8.2% |
26.5% |
|
Web conferencing |
66.7% |
6.3% |
27.1% |
Finally, Learning Circuits asked readers if they were planning to postpone upgrading or purchasing e-learning or infrastructure tools in 2009. Half of the respondents were planning on delaying their purchase of a new authoring tool, and 45 percent were putting a new learning management system (LMS) on hold.
2009 Emerging Leaders in Training Outsourcing
Training Industry, Inc., recently announced its fourth annual list of "Emerging Leaders in Training Outsourcing." Training Industry frequently reviews companies that provide outsourced learning services and conducts assessments to determine the experience, expertise, and capabilities of training suppliers.
Seven of the 15 companies on the 2009 list are headquartered outside of North America. According to Dr. Jim Hanlin, chief marketing officer of Training Industry, Inc., "With the growth in global training initiatives, we are pleased that so many international companies completed our survey. We congratulate all of those selected for this year"s 'Emerging Leaders'... list. The growing number of global training outsourcing initiatives makes this year's group of companies extremely helpful to those corporations and government agencies searching the right partner to deliver worldwide training.”
The list includes:
- Vangent, Inc.
- Hemsley Fraser
- Harbinger Knowledge Products
- Ardent Learning, Inc.
- The Learning Factor
- PerformTech
- Bharti Learning Systems Limited
- Aptara
- Talent2 International
- InfoPro Learning
- Tricore Interactive, Inc.
- Disney Institute
- TTi
- Tata Interactive
- Upside Learning Solutions.
For more information, go to http://www.trainingindustry.com/training-outsourcing/top-companies-listings/2009/2009-emerging-leaders.aspx.
The People-Less Office
You’ve heard of the paperless office—that green idea to be achieved someday far into the future. A more realistic initiative is the people-less office. In an increasingly mobile world, a number of major Fortune 500 companies are literally expanding workspace, outside the office walls. Organizations are adopting “alternative workplace strategies,” at an accelerated rate throughout the last five years.
According to a survey conducted by CoreNet, 86 percent of respondents reported having some kind of flexible workspace program with 40 percent of those starting five or more years ago. Nearly half of the employees participating in the initiative gave up an office entirely. Employees need not worry about long commutes, and organizations receive payoff in the form of reduced real estate costs and a smaller carbon footprint. An overwhelming number of respondents believe the movement will gain strength over the next three years. “Companies were caught with excess office space from 2001 to 2005,” says Richard Kadzis, director of special projects for CoreNet. “They are paring back.”
Kadzis says that there are several reasons why the alternative work space arrangement is taking hold. The costs of maintaining office space is reduced, resources are conserved, and the work-life balance needs of the current workforce are met. The expansion of the business day with electronic devices, added to the inclusion of international employees, has changed the dynamic of the 9-to-5 of a generation ago. As expected, middle managers are slow to embrace the change. The overworked supervisor fears that employees who work at home are watching daytime television or seeking better daycare. Another factor contributing to resistance is the lack of daily contact between employees and managers.“They are the most difficult to convince,” Kadzis says of middle managers. “The thinking is, ‘If I can’t see them, I can’t manage them.’”
It is unlikely that the whole world will be telecommuting in the next five years. Offices in the future will have a higher percentage of workers who spend more daytime hours working at home. However, regular meetings among staff will be scheduled once or twice a week. Some organizations now utilize “home-based collaboration centers” whereby employees can meet on neutral ground between home and office. “There will always be a need for a place,” Kadzis says. “What people are realizing is that work can happen anytime, anyplace.”
—Michael Laff, T+D Senior Associate Editor
Australian Publication: Call for Papers
Impact: Journal of Applied Research in Workplace E-learning, a publication of the E-learning
Network of Australasia (ElNet), has been established to address the paucity of research publication avenues with a particular emphasis on e-learning in organizational and workplace settings. It will be a fully online journal, publishing refereed and non-refereed contributions from both researchers and practitioners relating to the design, implementation, evaluation and management of workplace e-learning across a range of sectors and industries. Submissions are invited for the special, inaugural issue of the journal, the theme of which is “Current issues and future directions in workplace e-learning: Mapping the research landscape.”
The deadline for submissions is June 1, 1009. For more information go to http://journal.elnet.com.au/impact.
Priming the Training Pump
The training field will receive a boost from the recent economic stimulus bill. Here’s a breakout of how the money will be distributed.
March 10, 2009
Training is a Major Focus of the U.S. Stimulus Package
The massive $787 billion dollar stimulus legislation, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1), was signed on February 17th by President Obama. The bill is designed, in part, to stimulate the economy and to create millions of jobs across the United States.
The stimulus package includes more than $5 billion in training for a variety of programs across a number of U.S. federal agencies. The bill will invest heavily in new technologies, infrastructure projects, and health care. It also calls for investments to help laid off workers get back to work. An important part of the legislation allocates $3.9 billion to the Department of Labor. $2.95 billion will be used for training and employment services through FY09. The Department of Labor has 30 days from Feb. 17th to allocate funding to the states.
As a learning professional, what should you know about this bill, and what can you do to help your organization take advantage of these opportunities? The majority of the training funds will be allocated through the publicly‐funded workforce system. You can access information about how much of these resources are coming to your states and communities by reaching out to the executive director of your local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) or to the manager the local One‐Stop Career Center in your community. Information about how to contact your local WIB or One‐Stop Career Center may be found here: www.servicelocator.org/wibcontacts/.
A significant portion of training funding – $750 million – is being devoted to competitive grants for high growth industries, and $500 million of these funds will invest in projects as part of the new Green Jobs
Act. If history repeats itself, the competitive grants will require active private‐sector participation with community colleges or higher education institutions. Additional information about the grants will be available on the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration website at www.doleta.gov. In the meantime, if your organization is interested in partnering on a future grant opportunity, it is a good idea to reach out to the president of your local community college, technical school, or university.
With billions devoted to training, it is clear that U.S. lawmakers understand the important connection between learning, job creation, and economic recovery. This increased focus on training means that everyone in the workplace learning and performance profession has a huge opportunity to engage in the economic recovery efforts. Let’s work together to help our organizations and communities make the best use of their investments in training and development.
A summary of the training investments as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can be found at /NR/rdonlyres/BBA60336-2D0C-407A-BF42-20F3CCBCE9F5/0/Stimuluscommunicationfinal.pdf.
Baker’s Dozen in Learning Outsourcing
HRO Today announces its picks for leaders in the learning outsourcing field. Last year when they surveyed the learning industry, integration with talent management was all the buzz among providers. Today, it’s all about cost savings. What a difference a year makes.
To determine the listing, buyers were asked to participate in an online, anonymous survey regarding their experience with their current service provider. The survey instrument measured user satisfaction along with breadth and quality of service and deal size, as well as other issues. HRO Today ranked only providers for which we were able to compile enough statistically valid customer data. Although HRO Today could not obtain statistically sufficient data for two providers—Accenture and Element K—existing market data indicates that both are among the top providers of learning services and should be included in this listing; however, they were not ranked as a result.
The list includes
1. Raytheon Professional Services (RPS)
2. IBM
3. General Physics Corporation
4. Hewitt Associates
5. ACS Learning Services
6. Convergys Corporation
7. RWD Technologies, LLC
8. Achieve Global
9. The Training Associates Corporation (TTA)
10. GeoLearning, Inc.
11. Intrepid Learning Solutions
Accenture
ElementK*
For more information, go to http://www.hrotoday.com/magazine.asp?artID=2273.
BEST Awards Now Accepting Applications
The ASTD BEST Awards recognize organizations that demonstrate enterprise-wide success as a result of employee learning and development. We are looking for organizations that get it: They use the learning function as a strategic business tool to get results.
Established in 2003, the BEST Awards Winner’s Circle includes small and large private, public, and not-for-profit organizations from around the world. Award winners demonstrate that they are excellent in many aspects of the learning function:
· learning has an enterprise-wide role: involved in the executive team, creating solutions to business issues, and setting organizational strategy
· learning has value in the organization's culture: learning opportunities for employees, C-level involvement, learning for growth of the organization, and innovation
· learning links to individual and organizational performance: alignment with the business, efficiency, measurement of the effectiveness of learning, and success with non-training solutions for business needs
· investment is made in learning and performance initiatives.
The deadline to submit applications is March 31, 2009. To learn more, go to /ASTD/aboutus/AwardsandBestPractices/bestAwards.
Entertainment, Engagement, and Education Survey
Tata Interactive is conducting a survey on the link between entertainment, engagement and retention in in e-learning for the corporate domain. The survey aims to take inputs from people spearheading e-learning development for major organizations. The survey has 12 questions and should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. Learning Circuits will post Tata’s results in a future installment of Headlines.
Here is the link: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/93139/entertainment-engagement-survey.
NAM to Offer Manufacturing Skills Training
Occupational Health and Safety online reports that the National Association of Manufacturers has established a new Manufacturing Skills Certification System. The program is designed to fill gaps and is attached to a competency model.
From OHS Online: The NAM system will help new workers and newly unemployed workers seeking new careers. "At a time when millions of Americans face unemployment, manufacturing jobs with excellent salaries and across all skill levels are unfilled because of the lack of qualified applicants," said John Engler, NAM's president and CEO. "These tough economic times call for clear pathways to help new and transitioning workers gain the skills they need for good jobs."
Read the entire article at http://ohsonline.com/articles/2009/03/04/nam-to-offer-manufacturing-skills-training.aspx.
February 2, 2009
ASTD Releases an Economic Survival Guide
How will your learning department adapt during these difficult economic conditions? According to ASTD’s State of the Industry report, more than 70 percent of the average number of learning hours per employee is spent in front of a live instructor—how will you support the same level of learning for your organization when travel and other budgets are cut? ASTD has compiled a list of action items to help your learning department be as efficient and effective as possible when you face the possibility of slimmer resources.
Of course, one item is to use technology-based learning applications. Currently, from the ASTD State of the Industry report, 30 percent of learning hours are spent using e-learning. While this percentage has increased over time, use of instructor-led training is still dominant. You may realize some cost savings, added flexibility, and greater reach by considering e-learning or virtual platforms. Have you thought about some of these ideas?
· Shift some of your most widely used training programs to e-learning applications or virtual delivery formats. Don’t forget about rapid design software, performance management software, and learning management systems. You may pay for upfront development fees but the cost-savings will be realized quickly.
· Use technology-based simulations to provide a new way of learning. Some off-the-shelf simulation products may work for your most immediate needs.
· Encourage more communities of practice, wikis, and blogs.
· Use webinars and podcasts for short, just-in-time learning opportunities.
For more resources, go to /ASTD/aboutus/Economic-Survival-Guide/actionplan.htm.
Training Is Taking a Beating in Recession, Studies Find
Workforce Management reports that the recession is leading organizations to slash spending on training, two recent studies show. Average training expenditures per employee fell 11 percent in the past year, from $1,202 per learner in 2007 to $1,075 per learner in 2008, according to a report issued January 23, by research firm Bersin & Associates.
Bersin said its figures include training budgets and payroll. Bersin also said the U.S. corporate training market shrank from $58.5 billion in 2007 to $56.2 billion in 2008, the greatest decline in more than 10 years. Bersin’s report echoes a November study by training services firm Expertus and research provider Training Industry. The survey of 84 corporate and government training professionals found that more than twice as many respondents expect training budget decreases rather than increases for 2009.
Forty-eight percent expect their budgets to decrease in 2009, up from 41 percent in 2008. Only 17 percent expect their budgets to increase in 2009. In addition, since 2008 budgets were first approved, far more saw decreases (38 percent) than increases (11 percent). Bersin president Josh Bersin said organizations funneled money and staff into traditional and “often nonstrategic” training programs in good years.
“When budgets became tight, organizations with a traditional training focus suffered most,” Bersin said in a statement. “Today’s business world demands a combination of formal and informal learning with an emphasis on collaboration, knowledge sharing, social networking, coaching, and mentoring.”
The new reports confirm the old theory that training is among the first things cut during hard times, which today include a U.S. economy estimated to have contracted by more than 5 percent in the fourth quarter, an unemployment rate that rose to 7.2 percent in December and thousands of job cuts announced daily. Trimmed training budgets also come amid a broader reassessment of employee development. In recent years, experts have argued that workers increasingly see career development as vital in an employer. At the same time, traditional, formal training in classrooms or through computer coursework has come under fire as less effective compared to less-formal modes of training, including on-the-job learning and the use of social networking tools such as corporate wikis.
Peter Cappelli, management professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has suggested that employees share in the cost of training. In particular, he argues for tuition assistance programs, in which employees invest their time and effort on classes and class work.
In its 2009 Corporate Learning Factbook, Bersin said it found that companies have changed training program priorities; moved to coaching, informal learning, collaborative activities and other less-costly training methods; and increased reliance on outsourcing.
Techno Craze
The February issue of T+D reports that an overwhelming majority of U.S. workers value technology in the workplace so much that almost 40 percent would consider changing jobs to work for an organization that is more committed to providing access and training in the latest technology, according to a survey commissioned by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.
· Americans working in professional services are more likely (90 percent) to say that technology is critical to their individual productivity at work, when compared with those working in manufacturing/construction (80 percent), direct services (77 percent), health (77 percent), or education (72 percent).
· Men (43 percent) are significantly more likely than women (31 percent) to suggest that they would work for another employer that provided more in-depth training on the latest technology.
· Americans working in the manufacturing sector (52 percent) are significantly more likely than those working in direct services (43 percent), healthcare (39 percent), other sectors (39 percent), professional services (37 percent), or education (22 percent) to say that they would consider leaving their employer for another company that makes better use of available technology.
· Hispanic workers are more likely to consider changing jobs for greater access to or training in technology. Sixty-five percent of Hispanic respondents said they would consider switching jobs for better access, and 63 percent said they would consider switching for more technology training.
Game On! 1st Virtual Training to Challenge U.S. Business Teams
With more companies seeking more high impact, cost-effective learning, BTS USA, Inc. will launch BTS Tournaments, the first-of-its-kind virtual business simulation competition between companies. This innovative approach to business acumen training has been available in European. Companies, whose participants, from such organizations as AstraZeneca, Eriksson, Nokia, and Novartis rave about the experience. In fact, Nokia and Eriksson have squared off in a competitive challenge with Nokia winning. To date, 30,000 overseas managers have taken the challenge since 1997.
The program will launch in March 2009, with tournaments held throughout the year. Teams of 3-5 spend a few hours a week over 10 weeks competing against other teams from other companies in a multi-discipline business simulation. They run a simulated multinational company over a period of four years using the real company name but fake balance sheets, starting from a level playing field. Participants test their acumen under time pressure and against competitors with coaching from BTS.
For more information, go to www.btstournaments.com.
January 20, 2009
Bersin’s Predictions for 2009
Every year Bersin & Associates provides predictions for the coming year in order to facilitate planning. Last year, it anticipated the expansion in the talent management market and the evolution toward more collaborative solutions. But no one – not even renowned financial gurus—predicted our current economic state. Obviously, the economy will have dramatic influence on next year's predictions. Here are just a few of the trends the analysts firm foresees.
Budget cuts force restructuring of HR and Learning and Development (L&D). In research for the recently published TalentWatch, 26 percent of responding organizations are involved in major restructuring. Another 30 percent of respondents are in companies with a new top management team, and another 19 percent are going through a merger or acquisition. Reducing costs is now the top business issue for HR and L&D executives. At the same time, the corporate training market shrunk by nearly 17 percent in 2008, the largest drop since we started our research. The result is a focus on the centralization of HR and L&D functions to reduce costs and integrate training and capability development with talent management. Bersin also foresees staff reductions and layoffs of senior executives. Unfortunately, we'll likely see more of the same in 2009.
Succession management emerges as a critical issue. When a major business change occurs—whether it's reorganization, layoffs, or the departure of a key executive, succession plans give you the ability to rapidly identify key talent. Unfortunately, Bersin research shows that most companies have not yet instituted a complete succession process covering critical roles, and many still lack executive succession planning. Talent-driven companies such as Goldman Sachs, IBM, and Cisco have thrived despite the economic climate. They do this by maintaining steady investments in the leadership development and succession management. On the flip side, we've seen front-page examples of companies without succession planning—such as Yahoo—and the business impact that comes with a leadership void. Succession management will be a topic of great interest to corporate boards, business leaders, and Wall Street in the coming year. It should be high on your own list.
The LMS market continues to grow and shift in focus. Most companies are now in their second or third LMS implementation, and most large organizations are now focused on consolidating LMSs to one centralized system. The software-as-a-service model has made it easy for companies of any size to implement an LMS. However, while growth continues, customer need is causing the LMS market to expand into two different directions—an expensive proposition for solution providers.
On one hand, customers want the LMS to bolt onto the corporate talent management software system, so that all performance and development plans can directly access the organization's existing learning catalog. This has led every major LMS vendor to build out their own performance and talent management software. At the same time, customers now realize that the LMS will never be a "destination location" for employees. In fact, logging into an LMS is typically an uninteresting—and often daunting—experience. Consequently, customers are now building learning or knowledge portals. These portals present a wide variety of information and tools in the context of an employee's job.
What this means is that the "bread and butter" functionality of LMSs is still critically important (in fact, you can't really run a training organization today without such support), but perceived by the customer as a given. Customers now are looking for portal-based architecture and talent management functionality.
The LMS market will remain important and strong in 2009. However, some vendors will struggle to determine in which direction to move their solutions.
To get all ten predictions—and suggestions for dealing with their impact—by download the complimentary report, “Enterprise Learning, Recruiting and Talent Management 2009: Predictions for the Coming Year.” The report covers social networking, Learning 2.0, training spending, career and capability management, performance management, talent management systems, learning in the multi-generational workforce, and recruiting tools and strategies. Go to www.bersin.com.
New Study from HCI and Cornerstone OnDemand Reveals Corporate Social Networking Trends in Talent Management
While the formal implementation of social networks and Web 2.0 tools within corporate intranets is still in the early adopter phase, new research shows that an increasing number of organizations are informally experimenting with and benefiting from the use of these tools for business purposes. The study, conducted by global professional association and think tank Human Capital Institute (HCI), along with leading integrated talent management software provider Cornerstone OnDemand Inc., revealed that more than half of the companies surveyed use communities of practice/groups and chat/instant messaging (IM), with other popular applications including corporate social networks (49 percent) and blogs and/or wikis (39 percent).
For the comprehensive report, "Leveraging Social Networking & Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools in Enterprises," HCI polled nearly 200 of its senior human resources (HR) membership in September 2008 regarding their use of corporate social networks and Web 2.0 applications for business purposes. Research also included in-depth interviews with senior HR executives to reveal emerging best practices and early indications of the value and challenges of using these tools in the enterprise—particularly for learning and talent management.
"Corporate social networks and Web 2.0 tools can have profound implications around the talent lifecycle, employee productivity and engagement, and channel effectiveness, as well as brand and product awareness, which affects the bottom line," said Allan Schweyer, HCI executive director and senior vice president of research. "These new technologies are likely to be among the high-demand applications of the next generation of employees."
According to HCI research, there is a heightened awareness among HR and talent management professionals regarding the benefits of these collaboration and knowledge-sharing technologies for acquiring, onboarding, managing, developing and motivating employees. This includes allowing for better informal training by using communities of practice (29 percent) and threaded discussion boards (29 percent), improved communications via communities of practice (42 percent), and faster knowledge transfer via wikis and blogs (26 percent). Respondents also believe that implementing these tools will allow them to access and retain corporate memory and tacit information that could provide significant organizational benefits.
Despite the increased experimentation and perceived benefits of leveraging Web 2.0 applications in the enterprise, organizations included in the research felt that user adoption (37 percent) was among their greatest barriers in using these tools for business purposes, with lack of integration with corporate networks or other business applications identified by some as an inhibitor to employee usage. Creating a compelling business case for the tools (34 percent) also was seen as one of the greatest barriers to corporate usage.
"It is essential for organizations to get beyond the hype of these new technologies and to develop practical implementation strategies that support real business goals," said Charles Coy, director of product marketing for Cornerstone OnDemand. "Integrating social networking and collaboration tools with existing applications for learning and performance regularly used by employees will increase the chances for engagement and participation."
Cornerstone recently launched a new platform, Cornerstone Connect, that takes a contextually relevant approach to corporate social networks based on specific use cases, such as employee onboarding, social learning, workforce planning and alumni engagement. "By rethinking the way we approach talent management and integrating Web 2.0 tools such as communities and wikis into our overall solution, our clients are better positioned to succeed when dealing with modern workforce challenges," added Coy.
To request a copy of "Leveraging Social Networking & Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools in Enterprises," please visit www.humancapitalinstitute.org.
LinkedIn Boosts Its Talent Management and Recruiting Tools
Workforce Management reports that LinkedIn will release an expanded suite of tools for corporate recruiters in the next few weeks, building on the success of its Recruiter applicant tracking system that approximately 900 enterprise and small-business customers have signed up for since its debut almost a year ago.
Officials at LinkedIn said the online business network’s corporate solutions group will soon offer four additional recruiting-related upgrades for business customers, starting with customizable company information pages that corporate customers can configure to match a job opening to the profile of the LinkedIn member reading the material.
The privately held, Mountain View, California-based company will also offer an improved e-mail marketing campaign tool that lets corporate customers tap into LinkedIn’s existing InMail network to broadcast job openings or other messages to its 33 million members. Rounding out the new features are an expanded banner advertising program and a flat-fee annual subscription for job board postings.
At least one recruiter familiar with the new services worried that they could potentially backfire and turn off LinkedIn’s members by making the service seem too commercial. But company officials maintain they’re being sensitive to those concerns. “Anything we do to make money must be beneficial to the free-network membership,” said Mike Gamson, head of LinkedIn’s corporate solutions group. “The talent management platform, it’s another reason to be on the service, because someone’s more likely to find their dream job here.”
For the complete story go to http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/26/08/38.php.
Tech Masters
It may come as no surprise that an employee’s age is a tell-tale indicator of his approach to technology. Millennial employees look beyond salary and benefits when choosing their employer. They are increasingly seeking companies that accommodate their personal technology preferences.
The January issue of T+D reports that young professionals report a growing demand for high-tech devices to connect with colleagues, friends, and family, according to a recent study by Accenture. In addition, 60 percent of Millennials are either not acquainted with their companies’ IT policies or are not prone to follow them. “The Millennial generation has attitudes and expectations that are very different from prior generations,” says Gary Curtis, Accenture’s chief technology strategist. “They have grown up multitasking with an array of personal digital devices and networking capabilities that the digital world enables.”
The study of 400 U.S. Millennial students and employees (aged 14 to 27) uncovered trends that companies need to adapt to as quickly as Millennials adopt them. Millennials are selective about their preferred technology tools. More than 20 percent of respondents stated that employer-supplied technologies did not meet their expectations. Another 52 percent said that state-of-the-art technology is an important factor in selecting an employer.
Younger employees do not feel a need to seek approval for technology use in the office. Respondents admitted to using or accessing applications that are not supported by their employers for work-related activities, including mobile phones, instant messaging, and social networking sites. Finally, the Millennial employee is redefining the technology boundaries within the office as he seeks alternative communication channels. Younger employees spend fewer hours per week than their older colleagues sending and receiving work-related email. Instead, Millennials prefer using online chat, instant messaging, and RSS feeds to correspond with customers. However, only six percent of survey respondents say their organization provides online chat and instant messaging, while 21 percent say that they should.
“The message from Millennials is clear. To lure them into the workplace, prospective employers must provide state-of-the-art technologies,” Curtis says. “In order to acquire and retain the best talent, organizations must understand the technologies that the new workforce expects and then find a way to support their employees without compromising enterprise security.”
—By Ann Pace, T+D Editorial Assistant