2008 Podcasts
July 2008
Are You Ready for Act II?
July 2008 T+D
The definition of retirement is outdated. The word retirement used to mean “withdrawal from one’s occupation or from active working life,” but it now has a multitude of meanings, including leaving your current job for entrepreneurship, entering a new phase of life and work, or finding meaning as a volunteer or part-time worker. Download podcast here.
Reinvent Your Career, and Get Ready for the Next 30 Years
July 2008 T+D
As the economy rebounds, the workplace will need older workers to fill a widening talent gap between the number of people available to work and the demand for workers, particularly those with skills and experience. Growth in knowledge-based jobs will lessen the demand for physical labor and reinforce acceptance of older workers. Download podcast here.
Leadership and the Small Group
July 2008 T+D
One unique task of leadership is to initiate a future that is distinct from the past. For this to occur, we need to recognize the power of the small group and see that real change is more dependent on creating strong communities than on providing more clarity and better blueprints about that future. Download podcast here.
The Year 2013: ARDDIE is In, ADDIE is Out
July 2008 T+D
ARDDIE is the acronym for analysis, research, design, development, implementation, and evaluation, with “research” being the belatedly new kid on the instructional systems design block. Download podcast here.
Informal Learning: Overlooked or Overhyped?
July 2008 T+D
Informal learning represents a unique and somewhat mysterious method in workplace learning and performance. But how much informal learning is actually occurring in contemporary workplaces? Is it helping or hindering performance on the job? Do learners even realize the opportunity for gaining actionable information through casual interactions? Download podcast here.
Deconstructing the Successful Global Leader
July 2008 T+D
To be successful in today’s environment, executives must be well-versed in communicating and operating within a variety of cultural contexts. Many global executives do their due diligence before embarking on an international assignment. They attend cross-cultural and intercultural training with one objective—obtain a list of dos and don’ts to be as effective as possible in overcoming future challenges. Download podcast here.
How to Avoid Becoming a Workplace Violence Statistic
July 2008 T+D
Workplace homicides are the number one cause of death for women in the workplace, and each year, more than 3 million workers in the United States become victims of physical attacks in the workplace. The U.S. Department of Justice says that one in four employees will become victims of workplace violence. Dowload podcast here.
June 2008
Doing Good While Doing Well
June 2008 T+D
This At C Level article on PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi explains why talent helps PepsiCo remain a force in the world economy and a force for good through three pillars of human sustainability, environmental sustainability, and talent sustainability. Download podcast here.
Elevating Aspirations at PepsiCo
June 2008 T+D
This article examines PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi’s Performance with Purpose program—operating principles and programs that offer company leaders the opportunity to work to achieve an integrated life, and many of them are seizing it. Download podcast here.
It's Branding Time at the Learning Corral
June 2008 T+D
As companies move away from the academic model of workforce training to embrace the broader talent management concerns of their organizations, one aspect of the endeavor has taken on new meaning—the need to create and maintain a recognizable brand identity around the learning and development function. Download podcast here.
Say Good-Bye to the Blame Game
June 2008 T+D
Initially, human performance improvement (HPI) professionals were viewed as trainers, and many professionals new to the field are still viewed through that same lens. But the field is broader now since experts can opt to analyze the entire operation instead of observing work flow on the shop floor or in the back office. Download podcast here.
Organizational Intelligence Surveys
June 2008 T+D
While surveys in general are commonly used for varied purposes in the context of workplace learning and performance and human capital management, organizational intelligence surveys are an entirely different breed of survey that account for strategic factors that enable or inhibit employee engagement, and other important organizational outcomes. Download podcast here.
Learning and Globally Dispersed Workforces
June 2008 T+D
Once new international locations are established, the learning function has to ensure that the newly integrated workforce is functioning with all the requisite intellectual capital to sustain the expansion. Download podcast here.
May 2008
What Can Training Do for Brown?
May 2008 T+D
After experiencing much higher than normal failure rates among Generation Y drivers, UPS had to change the way it viewed and delivered training. Instead of lowering its standards and the expectations for drivers, it altered the way it prepared them to hit the road. Download podcast here.
Talent Management: What Is It, Who Owns It, and Why Should You Care?
May 2008 T+D
Talent management has been practiced by organizations for decades but is gaining new urgency as companies find they cannot quickly muster the talent they need to achieve their most critical goals. The fact that success comes down to people and what they know how to do is no surprise to learning professionals, but most have been notably absent from key roles in talent management. Download podcast here.
Forecasting Great Service
May 2008 T+D
A successful multi-year learning initiative helped Universal Weather & Aviation maintain customer and employee centricity as the company continues its growth. Dowload podcast here.
Why (Most) Training Is Useless
May 2008 T+D
Many companies—if not most—use training as a business version of a “quick weight loss” program. They hope that by training people in new things, they can quickly bring about behavioral changes among their employees. It almost never works. Download podcast here.
Uncovering the Unconnected Employee
May 2008 T+D
We coined the phrase “unconnected employees” to describe employees who lack the skills to build effective business relationships. As experts in business networking, we’ve been convinced for many years that networking is the overlooked and underestimated professional competency. Download podcast here.
Competency Management: Cracking the Code for Organizational Impact
May 2008 T+D
Competency management is central to talent management initiatives, which have become critical in light of the impending skills shortage. Download podcast here.
April 2008
Safeguarding the Intellectual Capital of Boomers
April 2008 T+D
There are some extremely compelling reasons for giving the concerns of boomer employees top billing. Download podcast here.
Flexible Phase-Out
April 2008 T+D
Where an organization’s options regarding retirement are not constrained by a traditional defined benefit pension plan, retaining people, rather than rehiring them after their formal retirement, is the preferred course of action. Download podcast here.
Learning Pathfinder
April 2008 T+D
Creating an unobstructed pathway for employees to select their own training and manage their own career sounds rational, but few organizations permit such exploration. It is the end point of self-directed learning, whereby employees have full control over what they learn and how it is applied. Download podcast here.
Is Your Sales Team Stuck in the 1890s?
April 2008 T+D
A unique sales culture has developed over time. And to understand the development of sales cultures across the globe—including Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia—you need to examine if your sales team is operating in a selling era of 40 years ago or if it is well positioned to thrive in the new emerging era of sales competency that is necessary in today’s business climate. Download podcast here.
Management Onboarding
April 2008 T+D
Despite dramatic evidence of the impending talent shortage, few organizations adequately protect the investments made when hiring new managers. The traditional orientation program, with its focus on policies, procedures, benefits, and other administrative issues, comes up woefully short when integrating employees into organizations. Download podcast here.
March 2008
Scouting for Leaders
March 2008 T+D
There is a major transformation taking place at Girls Scouts of the USA and it has nothing to do with cookies.
This 95-year-old not-for-profit organization’s sweeping efforts to increase its appeal and relevance to 21st-century girls focus on leadership development and provable outcomes that benefit girls, families, and communities. Historically known as a premier leadership development organization, Girls Scouts is remaking itself with a revamped business developmental strategy. Download podcast here.
DNA of a Global Leader
March 2008 T+D
Senior leaders who can operate globally are the essential piece of a global talent strategy, but many companies don’t yet understand how to identify and develop this new generation of managers. Download podcast here.
Recipe for Change
March 2008 T+D
Fostering an employee culture that is flexible and adaptable, alert to new circumstances, able to shift gears, skilled in team building, and capable of cross-disciplinary communication is challenging for any organization. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established a national leadership program as a critical feature of its strategic planning process. Download podcast here.
Talent Management Up for Grabs
March 2008 T+D
Four learning executives from Verint, Allstate, Krempl International, and Rollins discussed myriad topics at the Learning@LearnShare conference in Atlanta, including should own talent management, the hazards of using too much technology, and what to do about a CEO who doesn’t want to teach. Download podcast here.
Organizational Culture
March 2008 T+D
Workplace learning and performance professionals understand that culture can easily limit much of what we need to do. But, because culture is hard to pin down in practical terms, let alone to effectively change for the better, it remains a baffling issue. Download podcast here.
Blueprint for Planning Learning
March 2008 T+D
In a knowledge economy, an organization's ability to quickly adapt to changing realities is critical to its success. To facilitate the upkeep of knowledge and skills, workplace learning professionals seek innovative training design models and delivery methods so they can provide the right information at the right time to the right people. Download podcast here.
February 2008
Designing Outside the Box
February 2008 T+D
In many ways, designing e-learning is a nearly impossible task. Any ineffective solution is expensive, but poorly designed e-learning ups the ante in wastefulness.
Download podcast here.
Second That!
February 2008 T+D
Joe Miller, vice president of platform and technology at Linden Lab, which operates Second Life, talks about how this 3-D virtual world gives learning a new delivery mechanism.
Download podcast here.
Sprinting Toward the Finish Line
February 2008 T+D
Training is in full force for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but one type of training doesn't involve a stopwatch or qualifying heats. Instead, it involves personnel who serve the public and athletes at the games.
Download podcast here.
Welcome to the New Global Frontier
February 2008 T+D
Significant changes in business have occurred since the emergence of the knowledge economy, and those changes are altering the roles of leaders.
Download podcast here.
January 2008
Learning Is a Powerful Tool
January 2008 T+D
Caterpillar Inc. has never shied away from a learning challenge. CEO Jim Owens tells T+D, “Learning is essential to our aspiration to be a great company.” Download podcast here.
Building a Learning Infrastructure
January 2008 T+D
Reaching a global audience of more than 100,000 learners in 40 different countries requires a robust learning infrastructure that comprises three major elements: governance, a learning technology infrastructure, and an alignment process. Caterpillar University is responsible for that infrastructure. Download podcast here.
What’s the Big Deal About Employee Engagement?
January 2008 T+D
For several years, employee engagement has been a hot topic in the executive suite. It has also captured the attention of workplace learning and performance professionals, but according to many experts, engagement isn’t a new concept. Download podcast here.
Learning Influences Employee Engagement
January 2008 T+D
While it is widely accepted that employee engagement is vital to business success, there is no obvious path in pursuit of it. Many organizations have started to rely heavily on the learning function for engagement support, according to an online study by ASTD in conjunction with Dale Carnegie and Associates and the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). Download podcast here.
See How They Learn
January 2008 T+D
Learning opportunities are everywhere, it seems. All it takes is a little imagination to connect the dots. Indeed, these scenarios serve as reminders that in today’s era of instant computer access to training, some of the best avenues for creating learning and modifying behavior can still be decidedly low tech. Download podcast here.
2007 Podcasts
December 2007
At C Level Series Flight Plan: Interview with Southwest Airlines CEO
December 2007 T+D
For more than 30 years, Southwest Airlines has soared to great heights, but new realities in the airline industry may threaten to stall its growth. We talked with CEO Gary Kelly about how the airline is coping with change. Download podcast here.
The Future of Learning and Work
December 2007 T+D
Several prominent thinkers—Noel Tichy, Howard Gardner, Tom Rath, Malcolm Gladwell, Mark Penn, and Tim Ferriss—gave their insights on the makeup of the future workforce, the importance of learning in hiring and retention, and the importance of coaching in future workplaces. Download podcast here.
Executive Coaching Builds Steam in Organizations
December 2007 T+D
Why do senior executives insist on coaching for their employees? Because executives now believe that coaching has become invaluable. They recognize that it can increase the quality of leadership skills at all levels, improve retention of leaders, help new leaders succeed, and address management behavior problems. Download podcast here.
November 2007
Polish Up Your Crystal Ball
November 2007 T+D
By maintaining an inventory of current competencies, consistently revisiting the conversation with executives, embracing strategic context, and putting some incentive behind competency forecasting, your organization can polish up its crystal ball and generate better information to fuel effective succession planning. Download podcast here.
Some IT Training Remains Traditional
November 2007 T+D
Online training, blended learning, and other up-start methods may be the rage as organizations move away from traditional classroom instruction, but in the IT field, instructor-led training remains the preferred method for many applications. Download podcast here.
Implementing Your Succession Plan
November 2007 T+D
The existence of a company succession plan doesn’t ensure success. There are still potential challenges that need to be addressed. Download podcast here.
Big Time Challenge
November 2007 T+D
This article by Sherry Hollock, vice president of talent and organizational development at Macy’s, highlights the learning and development challenges that Macy’s Inc. faced when a merger added more than 70,000 employees to the store chain’s payroll. Download podcast here.
