In the latest Workforce Development community newsletter, we discuss the differences between office politics and office networking, and why you need to embrace both ideas.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Workforce-Development-Blog/2013/07/Who-Advocates-for-You
Blog #1: The nature of organizations has changed, and the leaders they require in the future will be fundamentally different from those they require today. It is time to recreate leadership for the requirements of the modern organization.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Global-HRD-Blog/2013/06/Rereate-LeadershipBlog-1-of-4
If you are a manager and you want an increase in your employees’ engagement and productivity, you need to become an active agent in their learning. You can’t leave learning entirely to HR, the CLO, or any other training professionals in your organization. They should not and cannot be the sole source of new knowledge and skills. They don’t have the time and resources to be continuous facilitators of employee learning and performance improvement and they aren’t close enough to the action on a day-to-day basis to provide instructional experiences when and where they will have the most impact. However, as a manager, you can make a difference in employee learning and, therefore, engagement and productivity by creating a “learning alliance”
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Workforce-Development-Blog/2013/05/Managers-Role-in-Employee-Learning
Judging people prevents us from collaborating effectively at a time when collaboration is essential for higher performance in organizations.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Newsletters/ASTD-Links/ASTD-Links-Articles/2013/05/Want-Greater-Collaboration-Its-Time-to-Start-Joining
While reviewing a book proposal a few weeks ago, it struck me that here was another great missive working on the assumption that people get to choose their leader. It was suggesting that what you need to do to be a great leader is figure out why your followers are following you.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Workforce-Development-Blog/2013/04/Would-Your-Team-Choose-You-as-Their-Leader
How many times have managers heard some version of the following?
Every time you do work you could have delegated, you’re nothing more than the highest paid member of your team!
If you are not delegating, you are not managing.
Don't fall into the trap of continuing to do the particular things you really loved doing before you became a manager.
If you can’t let go, you are over controlling and not developing your people.
If you continue to get caught up in the details of doing work you could have delegated, you’ll be “thinking too small to think big.”
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Workforce-Development-Blog/2013/04/Can-Do-Leader-Blog-1
On March 15, the House of Representatives—through a vote of 215-202—passed HR 803, The SKILLS Act (Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills). This bill would reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The House now sends the bill to the Senate for consideration. The Senate has not yet proposed a bill to reauthorize WIA thus far in this Congressional session.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/ASTD-Blog/2013/04/Workforce-Investment-Act
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/ASTD-Blog/2013/04/ASTD-2013-Press-Release
Value creation is at the heart of free enterprise. A company transforms lower value inputs into highly valued outputs that customers are pleased to purchase because what they're receiving is worth more to them than what they're paying. That is the formula for a successful business model, but please, let's just keep that between us, ok? It is clear that the core process of value creation in a company relates to value from a customer's point of view, but other value creation must happen in parallel, not least of which is talent management.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Workforce-Development-Blog/2013/03/VALUE-CREATION-in-the-BUSINESS-of-PEOPLE
The results of the 2012 presidential election offer both good news and bad news for President Obama. The good news is that he now has another four years to work on improving government performance. The bad news is that he now has another four years to work on improving government performance.
This somewhat tongue-in-check assessment is based on the fact that while the Obama Administration faced a number of challenges during its first term—including its share of workforce management challenges—what's coming up could make the first four years seem like the good old days. This view was reinforced during a round of individual interviews with the federal government's top human resource (HR) leaders: the chief human capital officers (CHCOs).
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/The-Public-Manager/Archives/2013/Spring/Challenges-and-Opportunities-for-Second-Obama-Administration