Lead the Change | March/April 2018 by Training Industry Magazine

M A R C H /A P R I L 2 0 1 8

LEAD the CHANGE MANAGING LEARNER DEMANDS | 16 Understanding Today’s Consumer Learner

THE 9-TO-5 EMPLOYEE IS DEAD | 28 Coaching a New Breed of Workers

A MANAGER’S ROLE IN TRAINING | 38 How Leaders Can Reinforce Learning

BUSINESS

PERSPECTIVES

MANAGING

WORLD-CLASS

TRAINING

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PERSPECTIVES - KE N TAY LO R

IT IS BECOMING CRITICAL TO ENGAGE AND DEVELOP THE MOST TALENTED WORKFORCE WE CAN, ALLOWING OUR COMPANY LEADERS TO SET LOFTY STRETCH GOALS AND BE AMAZED BY HOW THE TEAM ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS.

The success of our companies depends on how well we navigate the evolving business landscape. Our competitive advantage in the marketplace is no longer only dependent on having the best product or service (although that does help), it is becoming critical to engage and DEVELOP the most talented workforce we can, allowing our company leaders to set lofty stretch goals and be amazed by how the team achieved (or exceeded) those goals. What’s most exciting about the time we are all in, is that learning is right at the center of the “storm,” the change. More and more corporate leaders understand that everything the training organization does to help our workforce be better at what they do is becoming highly valuable. Corporate leaders now understand that you can’t simply hire fully developed employees with every skill they need to succeed; you’re going to have to bet on your company’s ability to build stars to be competitive. It doesn’t matter what size your business is, what industry vertical you are in or how old the company is, this change is here and happening. I would argue for the first time in a long while, not only are we at the eye of the change storm, we also have the weapons to successfully impact change across

the business. Never has the learning and development function had access to so much high-quality content, instructors, and new and effective delivery options to get that content to those who need skill development when and where they need it. We are also amassing data to understand real-time successes and failures, and really bring the idea of agility to the business support we provide our internal clients. Still not sure why this is exciting? The investments required to support our employees’ development are becoming more reasonable every year. Whatever we need to upskill our workforces is becoming more cost effective through technology advances and the inpouring of external funding to our market. The most successful companies will be those that best understand the needs of their employees and support their development, and I think we should embrace this challenge. Our goal at Training Industry is to provide you with the insights and tools needed to more effectively manage the business of learning. As always, we would love to hear your thoughts about the points of views shared in the magazine. Ken Taylor is the president and editor in chief of Training Industry, Inc. Email Ken.

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CO N T E N TS

TA B L E O F VOLUME 11

ISSUE 3

MARCH/APRIL 2018

FEATURES

16 MANAGING LEARNER DEMANDS

28 THE 9-TO-5 EMPLOYEE IS DEAD

38 A MANAGER’S ROLE IN TRAINING

MANAGING THE DEMANDS OF TODAY’S CONSUMER LEARNER By Oliver Craddock

Drive engagement and productivity by recognizing and valuing the needs of modern learners.

THE BEST WAY TO INSTANTLY IMPROVE YOUR EMPLOYEE’S SKILLS: EMPOWERING SELF-AWARENESS By John Eades & Christina Wilder

OPERATIONALIZING YOUR LEARNING STRATEGY TO EXISTING KPIS

28 32

THE 9-TO-5 EMPLOYEE IS DEAD: HOW TO LEAD THE NEW BREED OF WORKER

36 38 43

HOW COURAGE FUELS PERFORMANCE

Help employees on their professional development journey by increasing their self-awareness.

By Ajay M. Pangarkar & Teresa Kirkwood

Change the focus from learning outcomes to performance results to drive business value.

By Amanda Parry

A shift in mindset and adopting new behaviors is needed to engage today’s employees.

OPEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES TO SKILL UP By Christian Smythe

Retain top talent and brace for the changing workforce with open learning environments.

By Kevin Kopald

Lower turnover and drive business impact by fostering courage within your organization.

THE MANAGER’S ROLE IN REINFORCING LEARNING By Julie Kirsch & Shannon Wzientek

Increase learner retention and training effectiveness with the help of manager involvement.

IMPROVING TEAM EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH SERVANT LEADERSHIP By Jason Weber

Encourage and enhance team effectiveness by applying these six principles of leadership.

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I N THIS I S S U E

THOUGHT LEADERS

PERSPECTIVES

GUEST EDITOR

SCIENCE OF LEARNING

By Ken Taylor

Embrace the challenge of supporting employee development.

By Judi Bader

Make change stick by becoming a change champion.

By Srini Pillay, M.D.

Help navigate change with these brain-based strategies.

PERFORMANCE MATTERS By Julie Winkle Giulioni

Encourage new learning by adopting the act of unlearning.

BUILDING LEADERS

SECRETS OF SOURCING

By Sam Shriver and Marshall Goldsmith Support leaders through change with the help of training.

By Doug Harward

Creating a vision for change is necessary for long-term success.

LEARNER MINDSET

WHAT’S NEXT IN TECH

CLOSING DEALS

COMPANY NEWS

By Michelle Eggleston

Learning must be continuous to keep up with the pace of change.

By Eric Sharp

Increase engagement by leveraging the principles of enterprise learning.

INFO EXCHANGE

CASEBOOK

MEASURING IMPACT

Hitachi Consulting focused on performance enhancement by valuing employees’ experiences.

Creating an effective evaluation methodology doesn’t have to be as formal as you think.

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Strategic talent development can help organizations navigate the future of training and work.

Keep up with the latest in the training industry by reading news from the last quarter.

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EDITORIAL BOARD

MISSION Training Industry Magazine connects learning and development professionals with the resources and solutions needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ELECTRONIC:

JUDI BADER Senior Director of Learning Arbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant Group

SCOTT NUTTER General Manager, Research, AQP & Development Delta Air Lines

MICHAEL CANNON, M.ED. Senior Director, Head of Learning & Development Red Hat

MATTHEW S. PRAGER Executive Training Manager U.S. Government

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LORNA HAGAN Chief People Officer OnDeck

MARC RAMOS Vice President, Chief Learning Officer Sitecore

BARBARA JORDAN Group Vice President, Global Learning & Development Sims Metal Management

KELLY RIDER Vice President, L&D Content Strategy & Experience SAP Learning & Development

CATHERINE KELLY, MA, BSN, RN, CPTM Director of Learning Programs Brookdale Senior Living

DR. SYDNEY SAVION General Manager, Learning Air New Zealand

ADAM KUCERA Director of Sales Training & Support DISH

KERRY TROESTER Director, North America Sales Training Lenovo

PUBLISHER

SHIREEN LACKEY Talent Management Officer, Office of Business Process Integration Veterans Benefits Administration

NATASHA MILLER WILLIAMS Vice President, Talent Engagement & Development Nielsen

Training Industry Magazine is published bi-monthly by:

LAURA MORAROS Global Head of Sales Learning Facebook

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GUEST EDITOR JUDI BADER, CPTM

HOW TO BE A

CHANGE CHAMPION

No matter the change that we might be facing, those who are willing to embrace change and possibly even look for it, are working toward making a difference in our lives and the lives of others. While not every change is positive for everyone, let’s look at how one change has positively impacted the world: the evolution of cellphones. The first cellphone was invented almost 45 years ago. Martin Cooper, an engineer and general manager for Motorola, successfully developed the first portable phone in 1973. However, it was not until the 2000s that cellphones became more widely available and affordable. We can see just how impactful this change turned out to be for so many of us. People across the globe have embraced not only having a cellphone but the many day-to-day advantages it offers.

change in the way we communicate it – be that positive or negative. Technology is a prime example of how one might either embrace change or shy away from it. For instance, the use

EVERYONE IS UNIQUE WHEN IT COMES TO CHANGE. of emerging technologies in education. Over the years we’ve seen a huge difference in how the school system has adapted to new technologies, both within the classroom and communication with parents.

As leaders, we have the power to either build excitement through change or instill stress or even fear in others. That’s quite a bit of power to have, and it’s a choice we all make with every change we are responsible for.

Children are using computers as part of their everyday routine and are constantly exposed to new programs, software and other technical updates. Yet, they thrive in that constant learning and ever-changing environment. They have been able to take their familiarity with technology to the next level by becoming the cellphone experts in our society. While I can’t speak for everyone, the student-teacher relationship is reversed with my cellphone – my kids show me the newest tricks!

While some changes that are cascaded down the organization are beyond our control, we do have a choice in how we respond to them. Whether it’s a direct report, a peer, or even a customer, the people around us will experience

Everyone is unique when it comes to change. We will either seek it, embrace it, or avoid it, but the one thing we all have in common is that we can change. The key ingredient to successful change is communication.

OUR RESPONSE TO CHANGE IS A CHOICE

Be as transparent as possible and people will trust you. To truly make change work, we need to get everyone involved. So how do we get people to buy in? Understanding what’s important to the people around us and what they need is a good place to start. Remember the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) rule? Learn to recognize how to connect the change with WIIFM for those affected by the change, and make this a communication priority throughout the process. HELP SPONSOR THE CHANGE For organizations to be successful, change must happen. So, what really makes change stick? It’s the people who take action and are willing to be champions for the change at hand. Champions are people who are willing to advocate for change, not slow growth with resistance and negativity. Think of the many experiences in your life and reflect on how they have impacted you. Some good, and perhaps some not. All in all, you have likely learned something in every situation. As you lead others, remember to show your sponsorship for change in an encouraging way, so that you may allow others to be part of something that could potentially be the greatest change in their life or for your organization. Judi Bader, CPTM, is the senior director of learning at Arby’s Restaurant Group, where she provides leadership and training support to approximately 3,500 Arby’s restaurants, consisting of about 70,000 team members. Email Judi.

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SCIENCE OF LEARNING SRINI PILLAY, M.D.

BRAIN-BASED STRATEGIES

TO NAVIGATE CHANGE

Although change is part of the natural evolution of organizations, it creates chaos or psychological tension in the brain called cognitive dissonance. If you peered into the brain while this was happening, you would see its conflict detector actively engaged – a sign that it is letting go of the past to proceed in a new and unknown direction. Leading change essentially implies that your brain will have to lead the conflict detectors in the brains of all employees. It is a little like being a conductor of an orchestra, where the goal is harmony, with a constant threat of absolute cacophony. As you engage the audience, a few brain-based principles would help you extract the music from this occasion. BOOST BRAIN REWARD FOR CHANGE Involve all stakeholders in the choice. We often like what we choose, whether it’s better for us or not. And we reject things that we can’t have, even if we want them. This bias is called choiceinduced preference change (CIPC). For example, in a recent study, participants were asked to walk across a campus quadrangle wearing a costume reminiscent of Carmen Miranda. Another group of people were asked to push themselves uphill on a skateboard. When participants felt like they made a choice as opposed to being told to do something, they felt that people around them were less hostile, and the slope was shallower.

When we are part of a choice, such as the direction of a new strategy, or shifting budgets for innovation, we assign a higher value to that choice compared to when we are not part of that choice. Brain regions that assign value communicate this to other regions that will facilitate the change. ACTIVATE THE BRAIN’S RECALL OF PARTICIPATION Remind people that they are part of a choice. CIPC works with one caveat: you have to remember that you made a choice. You may have passively answered a survey and forgotten that you communicated a preference. If that happened, CIPC does not occur. A recent study found that CIPC occurs only when the brain’s episodic memory processor (the hippocampus) is activated. So even if you think that people have been part of a change decision, reiterate this to them. It will help decrease the resistance to change. CIPC is a form of rationalization, and the brain’s rationalization regions are indeed very active during this process. Also, they are activated almost immediately after the choice, so they powerfully determine the success of proceeding in the new direction. ACTIVATE THE BRAIN’S AWARENESS OF THE NEED FOR CHANGE Ask people to assess the magnitude of significance of the new direction. The left frontal cortex is a key brain region that must activate to keep pursuing new directions. And you can turn this region

on by spelling out why the new direction is better than the old one. On its own, the change may be undesirable, but compared to the alternatives, its value may be more obvious. Also, this region is turned on when you feel more self-control. But beware of the consequences of too much self-control. It will deplete your brain’s energy stores. If you truly want people to change, build “un-focus” time into the company culture. Change takes energy, and you have to manage brain energy well if you want people to feel energized by the change.

LEADING CHANGE IS LIKE BEING A CONDUCTOR OF AN ORCHESTRA. SUMMARY When asking people to participate in an organizational change, help them rewire their brains. Make them authentically feel like they contributed to the choice. Remind them that they did, and help them see why the new direction is better. Throughout this process, help them manage their brain energy well. When they do, they will be motivated to bear the chaos and tension that comes with change. Dr. Srini Pillay is the CEO of NeuroBusiness Group. He is also assistant professor (parttime) at Harvard Medical School and teaches in the executive education programs at Harvard Business School and Duke CE. Email Srini.

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www.niit.com

PERFORMANCE MATTERS JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI

UNLEARNING THE OTHER SIDE OF SKILLS/ KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” - Alvin Toffler, Futurist During times of change people at all levels of an organization desperately need new and expanded skills. But for many, the mind is already full, with little or no free space within which to invite additional knowledge. What’s required is not more, but actually less. What’s required is a focus on unlearning.

BUILDING A CULTURE THAT SUPPORTS UNLEARNING BEGINS AT THE TOP. Unlearning involves releasing what one has known, how one has performed, and practices that have worked in the past to make room for new learning and the new possibilities it can bring. It’s about shedding outdated mental models that no longer serve the individual or the organization. It’s about consciously exorcising old strategies, skills, approaches, tools, rules and procedures so that the mind is ready to take in and act upon what’s relevant today. While unlearning seems like it should be a welcome and liberating task, it’s a significant challenge for many individuals. First, what we “know” is deeply embedded beyond our conscious minds and is routinely translated to tacit knowledge and habits – both of which can be hard to recognize and even harder to overcome. Second, unlearning can be threatening.

It challenges our sense of competence. It forces us to let go of an expert mindset, which puts our contributions and even our identities into question. And if learning makes a person vulnerable, unlearning magnifies that sense of discomfort. Yet, despite the challenges, unlearning offers tremendous benefits. Most obviously, it frees up mental space and attention, allowing individuals to update their knowledge and evolve their performance to meet current needs. It creates new potential and new possibilities. It enhances neuroplasticity, helping the brain to continue to grow and change regardless of age. Unlearning builds greater adaptability and flexibility. It’s the key to innovation, as old ways rarely produce new results. And, with the introduction of countless exciting new jobs each year (and the routine obsolescence of outdated roles), unlearning is becoming increasingly vital to career survival and organizational success. Helping individuals embrace unlearning as a prerequisite for new insights, skills and results require a concerted effort throughout the organization, with support from executives, line leaders and L&D professionals alike. Building a culture that supports unlearning begins at the top. Senior executives must challenge themselves to revisit and streamline values, mission and strategy. Rather than adding to these important framing tools, they must rationalize and simplify what exists. They must audit, and edit, policies. Before introducing

new initiatives, they must identify the old initiatives that will be eliminated. And while executive support is essential, what line leaders do (or don’t do) may have the greatest impact on an employee’s willingness and ability to unlearn. Leaders need to: • Grant permission and set expectations around challenging what people do and how they do it. • Engage in ongoing dialogue with provocative questions that let others know that “how we’ve always done it” is not sacred and should be challenged. • Inspire curiosity, experimentation and risk-taking while being careful to recognize effort versus punishing failure. • Forge fresh mental models by encouraging people to embrace and construct innovative frameworks versus simply forcing new ideas into an old mold. Finally, L&D professionals can also contribute to a culture that embraces and leverages unlearning. Simply inviting people to consider what’s old and needs to leave to make room for the new can free up mental space and energy for new learning. And in these times of constant change, we must help everyone hold lightly what they know – anticipating that it will likely need to be unlearned at some point. Julie Winkle Giulioni has 25 years of experience working with organizations worldwide to improve performance through learning. Email Julie.

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IT’S ONLY THE MASTERS THAT MATTER.~

~PABLO PICASSO

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BUILDING LEADERS SAM SHRIVER & MARSHALL GOLDSMITH

LEADERSHIP, TRAINING & THE WAVES OF CHANGE

Consider the notion that if it wasn’t for change, people would care a whole lot less about leadership. Simply stated, leaders “get” change. They not only recognize its disruptive potential, they are acutely aware of its inevitable presence. And, while frequently recognized for their ability to “chart the course,” it is really a leader’s capacity to effectively “navigate unforeseen reality” that merits distinction. That’s nice, but you may be wondering what any of that has to do with training. On the basis of our combined experience over the years, we would suggest — quite a bit! In the November/December 2017 issue of Training Industry Magazine, we coauthored an article entitled “Training is Who We Are.” In essence, it identified a number of companies that leverage the reputations of their training functions as viable sources of competitive advantage: Why should you come to work at this organization? Because you will receive world-class training that (at a minimum) will position you for any number of important and exciting career options. So how do “world-class training functions” establish and maintain those reputations? Among other things, they consistently help the organizations they support identify and respond to “unforeseen realities” (i.e., change). Stated differently: The training function can be a built-in source of reality testing for organizations to gauge the viability of their mission, stated objectives and departmental priorities.

IDENTIFY At some level and in some capacity, the training department is responsible for conducting effective discovery. Traditionally, those discovery efforts consisted of comparatively simplistic needs assessments distributed to a defined target audience that informed the design and development of instructor-led events. Suffice it to say discovery in the realm of the training function has expanded exponentially. It currently targets any number of nontraditional stakeholders (like the nextlevel managers of those participating in training) and addresses pressing, emergent and highly complicated challenges (e.g., the electronic dissemination of information to a global audience in a world besieged by threats related to cybersecurity). There are also the often overlooked opportunities the training department has on an ongoing basis in order to gather valuable information. For example, it is not uncommon for a leadership training program to begin by asking learners to identify their most pressing leadership challenges. In real time, answers to those questions, especially if there is thematic consistency, can be leading indicators of noteworthy trends that may signal the need for a course correction. RESPOND When you view change through the lens of leadership what you see is regression. By its very nature, change disrupts. It takes focus and alters it. It takes commitment and challenges it. It

takes routine and dismantles it. In some cases, it can take experience and render it irrelevant. On the other side of all that commotion is the need to learn new things. Consider the training function as a “first responder” of sorts in service of that need. In that regard, it is difficult to imagine a true change initiative that somehow didn’t also include a visible

BY ITS VERY NATURE, CHANGE DISRUPTS. component of “retooling.” That retooling had better be relevant. It had better teach employees what they need to know and how they need to practice what they just learned in a manner that will accelerate development of an updated skill set. That retooling had also better be engaging. The training needs to be delivered or experienced in a manner that simultaneously builds both learner confidence and commitment. So, we suppose you could say that without change, there would be far less of a premium placed on leadership. And, without proactive and responsive support from training, leaders would be drowning in the waves of change. Marshall Goldsmith is the world authority in helping successful leaders get even better. Sam Shriver is the senior vice president of commercial operations and product development at The Center for Leadership Studies. Email Marshall and Sam.

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MANAGING THE DEMANDS OF TODAY’S CONSUMER LEARNER BY OLIVER CRADDOCK

A recent Mind Tools survey found that 40 Your people may be engineers, WHAT DO CONSUMER percent of managers do eight hours or more self-directed learning per month accountants, production line workers LEARNERS WANT? (see Figure 1 on page 18). And they do a or sales people, but they are all From social media, online shopping or lot of it in their own time. consumers too. Increasingly, they on-demand TV, to booking a restaurant, consume using their smartphones or checking the weather or finding NEW CHALLENGES FOR L&D directions, consumer learners are used to other digital devices. They are used being in control. Naturally, they are now PROFESSIONALS to getting access to what they want, bringing this expectation to training when they want it. They expect things and learning in the form of self-directed For learning and development (L&D) learning, where they choose the topics professionals, this brings a number of to happen at the touch of a button. And and content that are important to them, new challenges: at any specific point in time. they bring this expectation into their • How do you know what your people work lives. Deloitte’s seventh annual Mobile are learning, if they do it on their own?

These are your consumer learners.

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Consumer Survey, State of the smart, found that 85 percent of 16-to-75-year olds in the UK now own or have access to a smartphone. Deloitte by Bersin research shows that employees consult their smartphones an average of nine times an hour.

• How do you know they are learning from trusted sources? Research from CEB Global (now Gartner) suggests that employees waste 11 percent of their time every day on learning that doesn’t help with their job.

• If they feel that your organization doesn’t provide the kind of training and learning they want, how much damage is this doing to overall employee engagement?

THE COST OF DOING NOTHING Some organizations may consider that the rise of the consumer learner is a “get out of jail card,” shifting the burden of learning from the organization to the individual. Research suggests that this may be a very short-term view. Quality training and learning opportunities provided by the employer are often highly ranked in employer engagement surveys. It’s important to people that they have good opportunities for advancement and it’s the organization that provides it.

Consumer learners are used to being in control. Analysis of more than 1.4 million employees by Gallup shows that organizations with a high level of employee engagement report 21 percent higher productivity than those with lower levels of employee engagement. Highly engaged organizations are also much better at retaining their people, with 25 percent lower turnover of staff. The average cost of replacing an employee can be as a high as $109,676,

(when you factor in lost productivity, hiring costs and resources). Driving up engagement through better training and learning provided by you, the employer, can make a significant contribution to the bottom line through staff retention alone.

FACE-TO-FACE VS. ONLINE LEARNING No one is saying that traditional classroom or face-to-face training is obsolete. It plays a key role in many training scenarios and can’t just be replaced online. After all, if someone needs to learn how to drive a forklift truck, videos can be really useful, but ultimately, they need to climb aboard and turn the key.

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What is clear is that online training and learning is a core expectation of any quality employer in 2018. If you fail to provide that, it may be one more reason that valued employees may become disenchanted, disenfranchised and perhaps disappointed enough to look elsewhere.

FIVE DEMANDS YOU NEED TO MEET To meet the demands of the growing number of consumer learners in your organization, there are five key demands that you will need to meet:

1. TRAINING WHEN I NEED IT. An “always-on” culture means that your consumer learners no longer distinguish between in and out of work hours when it comes to training. Giving your people resources that they can access where and when they need it – whether that be at their desk, on their commute, or while waiting for a meeting to start – is vital. Our research suggests that training and learning takes place throughout the

week, including evenings and weekends (see Figure 2).

2. QUALITY RESOURCES I CAN TRUST. Oxford Dictionaries declared “post-truth” as its international word of the year in 2016, following high-profile online news stories accredited to sources that were actually fake. A report by Stanford University concluded that there were more than 150 fake news stories during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, reaching millions of U.S. voters. Analysis by Buzzfeed shows that in the final three months of the U.S. election, fake news stories on Facebook generated more engagement than the top news stories from major news outlets. If your people are using unreliable sources, this will have a directly negative impact on their effectiveness – and on that of your organization in the long run. The key is to invest in a solution where your consumer learners can easily search for what he or she needs, while you can remain confident that he or she

Figure 1.

40% 35%

% of managers

3. LOTS OF DIFFERENT FORMATS, PLEASE. Whether they have 10 minutes to watch a video on the bus or wish to spend their lunch break catching up on a webinar, having a choice of formats is important to (and expected by) your consumer learners. Our research shows that people are learning from traditional classroombased sessions as well as forums, webinars, videos, podcasts, workbooks and blogs. Do your consumer learners have access to this breadth of formats?

4. GIVE ME BROAD OPTIONS TO PICK FROM. To enable this flexible and accessible style of learning, your people expect to have access to a broad range of training materials. Obviously, training needs can differ from person to person depending on their situation, so it’s important to cater to a broad range of requirements and provide a wide range of topics to choose from.

5. I WANT TOTAL CONTROL OVER MY TRAINING AND LEARNING.

45%

The Global Human Capital Trends report from 2016, based on more than 7,000 responses, identified a new expectation from employees: “Employees at all levels expect dynamic, self-directed, continuous learning opportunities from their employers.”

30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0 0

Up to 1

Up to 2

Up to 4

Up to 8

Time spent on learning (hours) Prescribed Training Source: Mind Tools Survey, 2016/17

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is accessing high-quality, highly relevant sources that will benefit them and your organization.

Self-Directed Learning

This expectation can once again be traced back to their focus on technology, and their expectation to be able to consume information where and when they need it.

KEY STRATEGIES TO CONSIDER As a training or learning professional, you undoubtedly have legacy systems

in place. That doesn’t mean that your hands are tied. By taking a step-bystep approach, you could soon be offering your consumer learners the type of learning and training they expect and want. Ask them what they value most If you noticed that your customers were changing the way they interacted with you, you would probably carry out some market research to find out what was going on. Apply the same approach to your learners. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to find out what their “pain points” are and where they go for new information. Ask for regular feedback to tailor the learning experience to what really works for them. There is also a bonus to this approach. By seeing that you’re taking an interest and listening to them, your learners will feel more involved. As a result, they are likely become more engaged as you develop your training resources. Allow them to lead the way To provide your consumer learners with the flexibility they so clearly want, you need to manage them less and empower them more. This means taking advantage of the fact that your people want to learn, and that they are already doing it in their own time. This doesn’t imply that you should step back and do nothing. It just means that it’s now your responsibility to provide them with the right tools – it’s all about empowerment. Build an environment and experience that they will enjoy, will want to return to, and will recommend to others. The power of recommendation is huge for driving up engagement in your training and learning strategy. Invest in the right resources It’s important to give your learners the freedom to choose what they want to learn, but you need to be certain

Figure 2.

Online training and learning is a core expectation of any quality employer in 2018.

When I need it

During evenings and weekends

that they’re learning from top-quality sources. So, make sure that you invest in a wide range of well-researched, upto-date, on-demand resources that are tailored to the needs and goals of your learners and your organization.

During work hours at my desk

Recognize and value their learning Avoid thinking of training or learning as a task or a program that must be “completed.” Instead, it’s vital that learning is continuous and becomes a part of your culture. Your learners need to feel that their engagement in learning isn’t just noted, but also valued as a part of their personal and career development.

When I’m alerted to updated information During lunchtime During breaks

You can reward this engagement with recognition and celebration of their achievements. Even the smallest acts of encouragement will help to establish your workplace as a positive learning environment, ultimately driving engagement and productivity in your organization.

On my way to/from work On the way to meetings I don’t do it

And as word spreads about how you value your people’s development, recruiting top talent may become that much easier too. Oliver Craddock is Deputy CEO of Mind Tools, one of the world’s leading online content providers for soft skills training and development. Email Oliver.

Source: Mind Tools Survey, 2016/17

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EMPOWERING SELF-AWARENESS THE BEST WAY TO INSTANTLY IMPROVE YOUR EMPLOYEES’ SKILLS BY JOHN EADES & CHRISTINA WILDER

I T’S EASY TO UNDERSTAND WHY

THE MODERN WORKFORCE DOESN’T GET EXCITED ABOUT TRAINING INITIATIVES. SURE, THEY ARE THE END CONSUMER AND THE PEOPLE ORGANIZATIONS WANT TO UPSKILL, BUT RARELY ARE TRAINING INITIATIVES TRULY ABOUT THEM. MOST INITIATIVES GO SOMETHING LIKE THE FOLLOWING.

A business unit president tells human resources or training and development the team is struggling with a particular skill. Training professionals build programs and/or source the best content partner based on modality and cost. Project champions are assigned and business leaders (maybe even the CEO) get on board and deployment begins. Two months later, the team realizes the results aren’t what anyone expected. There were some positive takeaways in the form of smile sheets or encouraging feedback, but the skill gap still exists. It was Albert Einstein who defined insanity as doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Yet, there your organization is, months later, trying to defy the definition of insanity, by trying to close skill gaps the same way in your next training program. Don’t fear, you aren’t alone. We experienced the same challenge in our business when we launched a leadership training course. Riding the wave of elective online learning courses, six thousand professionals eagerly signed up to take the online microlearning course. Everyone on the team was beaming with excitement, eagerly ready to document engagement. Then reality hit, and our hopes came crashing down. Less than 5 percent of professionals who enrolled completed the exercises and finished the course. Regardless of whether the course was elective or directive, the numbers

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weren’t even close to acceptable for any organization. With the wind knocked out of our sails, we realized we had to find a better way.

AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH A common practice for officers in the Marines is to put together what they refer to as an “Iron Council.” This group consists of five or six direct reports and peers of an officer. A few times a year the Iron Council meets with their officer in a group setting to provide feedback about the leader’s performance over the past few months. The feedback isn’t meant to make the officer feel bad about their performance or to promote a forum to air petty grievances. Something amazing happens after these Iron Council meetings. While feedback can be tough to hear for most, officers find themselves on a mission. The officer takes the opportunity to increase self-awareness of their leadership performance and identify specific things they can do to improve moving forward. When provided with further formal leadership development opportunities, the officers are engaged and take ownership of their education. The practice of the Iron Council got us thinking. Why don’t organizations do the same for their people to close skill gaps?

IDENTIFY THE CORE OF THE SKILL BEFORE YOU HOLD UP A MIRROR TO ANY LEARNER. The report exposed a manager’s strengths and weaknesses in 16 core leadership competencies as rated by their people. We didn’t berate them or focus on the negatives. All we did was put a mirror in front of them so they could objectively see how they were doing, just like the Iron Council in the Marines. After managers received their customized report, they were prescribed one microlearning module a month to address their weakest competencies. What happened next was interesting. The engagement and completion percentages of learning content shot

through the roof. In some organizations we saw monthly completion percentages jump to the 95 to 98 percent range. Regardless of whether your organization prefers directive over elective training, instructor-led training over virtual, two-hour modules over microlearning, or PowerPoint over video, Figure 1 illustrates an approach to instantly improving your employees’ skills.

INTEGRATING SELF-AWARENESS INTO TRAINING Using self-awareness as part of your training initiatives will not only increase engagement, but also increase the likelihood training will be applied and skills will improve. Here are some tips for creating an effective training initiative using self-awareness:

1. PINPOINT THE CORE OF THE SKILL Identifying the core of the skill will greatly enhance your ability to define the most important aspects of the initiatives.

FIGURE 1

We had to test out the idea. Instead of launching another generic leadership development program, we started with the core of the skill (what was most important). Then we deployed a Welder Leader 360° assessment. The assessment was geared toward the manager’s performance of the core skill and completed by both the manager and their direct reports. We compiled the results into a personalized leader profile report and delivered it to the manager in either an instructor-led session or a virtual 30-minute coaching call.

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AT NO TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD HAS THERE BEEN A MORE “ME-CENTRIC” WORKFORCE. As an example, if a VP of sales says, “We need to improve our sales team’s negotiation skills,” don’t start building or evaluating every program on the planet around negotiation. Instead, determine the core skill needing focus. In the case of negotiation, the core skill could be providing value at every stage of the sales process so “the close” is a natural next step, or it could be to improve the sales team’s skills when the contract is on the table in front of both parties. If turning managers into leaders is a skill you want to develop, ask yourself what is at the core of leadership in your organization? Do you want more servant leaders or command and control leaders? The point is to identify the core of the skill before you hold up a mirror to any learner. Without this step, your initiative could be exposed to massive failure.

2. EMPOWER SELF-AWARENESS Self-assessments with thoughtprovoking questions are a great place to start. If it’s applicable to the skill, 360° assessments are a powerful way to get direct reports, peers, or even bosses to provide feedback to the learner. Assessments are just the first part of improving self-awareness. Revealing the results is where the real shift begins to happen. If you can make delivering results an empowering experience,

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your learners will open themselves up to receiving it. These experiences could come in the form of one-onone coaching, group discussions, or an instructor-led or virtual session.

3. PROVIDE CONTENT TO CLOSE THE GAP Take into account individuals will have varying degrees of proficiency in the skill assessed. A combined directive and elective content approach is proving to be the most effective for organizations. If you’re thinking of implementing a similar initiative, you can first put all front-line managers through a one-day program. Next, push one assigned microlearning module a month. Then, provide access to an ondemand library of content they can

TIPS FOR USING TECHNOLOGY TO INCREASE SELF-AWARENESS Video In a world obsessed with social networking apps like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, video has become a powerful way to communicate and transfer knowledge. Video is a great way to capture your people practicing or performing a skill. The recording allows the learner to see flaws in their performance. This works great for sales skills, public speaking, or storytelling. Audio Customer service departments have mastered the use of audio recorded calls. Managers and the customer service representatives listen back to their performance for training purposes. The popularity of podcasts and other audio books have opened people up to listening on their commute. Create audio recordings of meetings or calls and allow people to listen during their commute into work.

access to improve in specific areas of need or when particular needs arise. Learners are able to feel empowered to close their skill gaps while everyone has the same opportunity to learn what the organization considers “good looks like” in terms of performance or proficiency.

WHY IS THIS APPROACH SO IMPORTANT TODAY? The answer to closing skill gaps lies in the art of appealing to the modern learner’s self-awareness, combined with their intrinsic desire to improve. While some organizational leaders might think, “My people will improve because we pay them, so they must do it.” The truth is, no one truly closes a skill gap, until they want to close it. At no time in the history of the world has there been a more “me-centric” workforce. The modern learner cares about themselves, but they also value their professional development as much, if not more, than any time in history. Instead of just throwing more content on your LMS, buying another license to some online learning platform, or spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a learning program, consider first if you’re appealing enough to their desire to improve. What’s going to help them be open and willing to improve their skill? The answer lies in increasing their self-awareness. John Eades is one of LinkedIn’s 2017 Top Voices in Management & Workplace. He is the CEO of LearnLoft, host of the Follow My Lead Podcast, and author of the upcoming book, “The Welder Leader.” Christina Wilder is VP of learning strategies and content development at LearnLoft. She brings over 12 years of instructional design expertise to create training programs that move the needle. Email John and Christina.

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OPERATIONALIZING YOUR LEARNING STRATEGY TO EXISTING KPIs By Ajay M. Pangarkar CTDP, CPA, CMA, & Teresa Kirkwood, CTDP

Congratulations! Your business leaders recognize how essential your employee development efforts are to ensuring business success. This may be surprising, especially if your budget was recently cut, but the reality is organizations possess one competitive advantage: developing and leveraging the knowledge available to deliver differentiated value.

every business leader’s list of priorities and its role is only growing. The L&D role is no longer relegated to job skills development and compliance. Leaders expect learning’s role to contribute to mitigating risk and managing change, while ensuring improving performance.

Leveraging this knowledge advantage is, however, somewhat more involved. Current business environments are more complex than simply upskilling employees to meet new challenges. Learning professionals must make their efforts precise and relevant to deliver real value. Business leaders expect learning efforts to contribute toward achieving definitive business results, or more specifically, improving business performance.

THE NEED FOR “KNOWLEDGE” IS AT THE TOP OF EVERY BUSINESS LEADER’S LIST OF PRIORITIES.

Achieving business results through learning solutions is challenging since it’s never about delivering direct value. Your efforts must manage a business menagerie of unforeseen risks, continuous change, and attain related performance expectations. This reality is compounded over time as business environments become increasingly competitive. Why should L&D pay attention? The need for “knowledge” is at the top of

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This is L&Ds time to shine and live up to expectations. Business leaders expect to facilitate these new realities by being more informed, acquiring timely and relevant knowledge. Simply, they must learn what they need to know, when they need to know it and as quickly as possible. Change and risk are close relatives providing for valuefocused learning opportunities as both ultimately impact performance.

To make it more practical and relevant, business leaders consider learning as organizational knowledge. This involves people, culture and infrastructure. Incidentally, these are the same elements learning professionals must incorporate into their training initiatives. Business leaders expect learning to focus on performance outcomes and not learning effectiveness. The learning is the process to achieving well-defined performance expectations, ultimately contributing to reducing risk and facilitating change. Learning professionals must maintain perspective. Even though their role is growing for decision-makers, it is only one of many means to an end. Accountability for performance improvement doesn’t solely rest on learning professionals, but rather, being one element for a complete performance-focused solution. The disparity between L&D and business leaders is wide and each may as well be speaking a foreign language. Learning professionals must be able to communicate their efforts and actions in a business literate capacity. Ultimately, L&D is a business function within a business expecting it to deliver business results. And the common denominator is performance.

In this context, the learning support opportunities are very apparent.

Where Does L&D Begin? The first step is to discover how your organization functions and, subsequently, where it derives and drives business value. The first part of this statement provides process context and the second part identifies precise areas to deliver significant learning impact. In both instances, the first step is discovering the series of primary business activities flowing precisely to deliver value to the customer. This systematic business process is known as a “value chain” (see Figure 1), differentiating business processes as primary and supporting activities. Essentially, it provides clarity for core business activities that organizations must execute to derive strategic value and determine overall profitability. The value chain is about uncovering efficiencies within internal processes without hampering business effectiveness. This is a strategic opportunity. Within each primary value activity involves relevant operational connections leading to explicit strategic objectives. It is among these activities and interdependencies where learning opportunities occur to deliver sustainable business value.

Figure 1

The value chain’s support activities, the learning function in this case, exist to enable primary business activities (see Figure 1). Don’t let this categorization

LEARNING IS CENTRAL TO FACILITATING OPERATIONAL PROCESSES. fool you. Learning is central to facilitating operational processes. Leading organizations tend to focus more on support activities, especially learning, to derive differentiated value within the operational processes. Even so, many learning professionals continue to act passively waiting for operational managers to approach them for specific employee concerns. While the value chain is central to discovering precise operational learning opportunities, this is only part of the learning value story. The value chain

Technology

Human Capital

Procurement

Primary Activities Innovation

Customer Need Identified

Design

Operations

Develop

Time to Market

Make

Market

Supply Chains

WORKPLACE LEARNING

Revisit your organization’s mission statement. Identify the primary elements within it, defining why the organization exists. Then ask, “How does learning contribute to achieving this objective and the processes identified?” This will lead you to the business activities to focus your learning efforts. Within these activities, identify the value chain processes to target your interventions. Finally, be proactive and meet with the respective operational leaders to identify their performance expectations. These expectations are defined explicitly with the performance management framework. Through defined performance objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs), business leaders focus their efforts, and the efforts of employees, on value chain activities that create the most value. Eventually, it allows learning to address relevant employee needs by aligning with management’s performance expectations.

What Exactly is Learning’s Relationship With Performance? Performance management frameworks provide leaders with a tangible and realtime scorecard, allowing them to adapt internal processes to meet changing market conditions and customer expectations.

Supporting Activities Infrastructure

processes always align with the mission statement. Focusing on the mission and aligning with the value chain will position L&D as a trusted business partner.

Service

Customer Need Satisfied

Every performance framework generically derives four key business areas from the value chain. Leaders refer to these areas as perspectives focusing on financial requirements, customer expectations, internal processes, and learning and growth. Drs. Robert Kaplan and David Norton, co-founders of the balanced scorecard and strategy map, introduced the concept of “learning.” These foundational performance frameworks describe

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learning as an essential enabling perspective providing primary activities to deliver a sustainable competitive advantage. Figure 2 illustrates learning and growth’s relevance and relationship within a performance management framework.

Making Connections: Strategically Mapping Learning Just like the value chain, interdependence is central to every performance framework. Leaders at all operational levels are held accountable to specific, relevant and connected performance metrics. Business leaders expect to see correlations among performance expectations. When done properly, they can trace or map performance relationships from the front-facing operational need to the ultimate performance objective: achieving the mission. Targeted learning opportunities lie within these performance interdependencies.

Leaders apply strategy mapping as an extension of the performance framework’s four perspectives. Mapping illustrates cause-and-effect relationships among primary activities. The strategy map design, and subsequently the performance framework, shows clear interrelationships among the internal processes and the intangible assets to derive value, ultimately creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The following example demonstrates the process. Assume ABC, Inc.’s strategic objective is to increase revenue. This requires an increase in sales and production (these define financial KPIs). Achieving these financial KPIs requires deriving related customer performance objectives. In this example, we assume increasing sales and revenue requires developing loyal customers and repeat purchases. The customer KPIs will require specific internal processes to meet the customer interactions such as developing new products and making client interactions simpler.

Figure 2

Strategy Support Activity Enabler Learning & Growth Perspective Learning & Growth (L&G): the source for innovation and creativity contributing to strategy Drivers provide learning and growth with their business objectives.

Primary Activity Drivers Financial Perspective Satisfying customer needs leading to increased sales and revenues Customer Perspective Innovative and improved processes leading to new services and products for customers Internal Process Perspective Skilled and empowered employees that continue to improve internal processes

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Enabler(L&G) supports and delivers solutions in line with objectives.

Even though this is a simple example, strategy and performance mapping is never meant to be cumbersome. It should emphasize and focus upon the interrelationships among the three primary operational perspectives driving strategy. The learning and growth perspective supports and enables the three primary perspectives. In this example, learning professionals must identify opportunities to add value within the value chain process. Collaborating closely and measuring the improvement using the relevant operational KPIs within these business activities, learning professionals focus their learning efforts on the specific business needs such as sales, customer service and product development.

Bringing It All Together Learning professionals must be able to demonstrate how training can deliver tangible value to business leaders. To do this, first determine your organizations’ strategic objectives using the mission as a guide. Second, identify primary value chain activities adding value and that correspond to strategic expectations. Third, utilizing an existing performance framework, analyze the value chain business activities for targeted learning opportunities. Finally, strategically map the learning opportunities to the primary activities demonstrating measurable improvements with existing KPIs. Ultimately, learning professionals must position workplace learning as an enabling, value-creating operational business partner. Develop relationships with value chain operational leaders and focus on performance results instead of learning outcomes. Start now to develop tangible performance solutions that resolve value-driven business concerns and contribute directly to strategic value creation. Ajay M. Pangarkar and Teresa Kirkwood are co-founders of CentralKnowledge.com and LearningSourceonline.com. They are award-winning performance management strategists, authors of three books, and course authors for LinkedIn Learning. Email Ajay and Teresa.

How prepared is your organization for Digital Transformation? Take a look at how Skillsoft's customers are aligning priorities for their organizations’ Digital Transformation

HAVE YOU HAD REQUESTS TO ALIGN/CURATE LEARNING RESOURCES TO HELP SUPPORT YOUR ORGANIZATION’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION?

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TOP DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION CAPABILITIES: • Required understanding of new technologies (include AI, IoT, ML, etc.), existing and emerging technologies • Designing new digital customer experiences • Developing new business models that capitalize on new technologies and experiences • Leading and managing in the digital age

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THE 9-TO-5 EMPLOYEE IS DEAD: HOW TO LEAD THE NEW BREED OF WORKER BY AMANDA PARRY

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The way people work has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of large, stable organizations and strict 9-to-5, Monday through Friday schedules. Now, people work anywhere they have Wi-Fi. A series of evolutionary trends have forced employees to shift not only their hours and expectations, but their mindset. They must be agile and open to new opportunities in order to keep pace and stay employed. More and more, they expect that growth and global economic shifts may require them to look elsewhere for opportunities. With these factors at play, the assumption is leaders’ mentality and skill set have kept pace. But according to recent research from Deloitte, only 28 percent of millennials feel their organization is making good use of their skills. Millennials have made it clear: they want to spend more time discussing new ideas/ways of working, developing leadership skills, and receiving coaching. Unfortunately, leaders are unsure how to coach this new breed of worker to keep them feeling valued and engaged. The good news is that it IS possible to not only manage, but actually mentor today’s employee. The solution lies in recognizing the forces affecting employees and their work, now and in the future, and empowering leaders to adopt a new mindset and set of coaching behaviors to counteract them.

Five Converging Forces It’s easy to see that the cadence of work is different. As a result, flextime, remote, part-time, and contract schedules are the norm. According to the 2017 Deloitte Millennial survey, twothirds of employees born after 1982 are working some type of flextime schedule.

Technology In 2018, barriers to groundbreaking technology are non-existent. Anyone with internet access and a credit card can take advantage of cl oud-based deployment to find solutions that fit their needs.

New Behaviors The influx of new technology leads to new behaviors. Employees are more open and transparent and accustomed to collaboration. In addition, employees at all levels of the organization are sharing what they know on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Slack. Thought leadership no longer comes from the C-suite; anyone can be an influencer with the right ideas.

Globalization Boundaries no longer exist and business is the great equalizer. We are all taking part in a global economy and the language you speak and the currency you use matter less and less.

Millennials According to a 2016 study in Forbes magazine, millennials will comprise more than one of three adult Americans by 2020 and 75 percent of the workforce by 2025. This demographic shift has forced everyone to adapt.

Mobility Today’s employee can work anytime, anywhere, on any device, forcing employers and leaders to adjust expectations and renegotiate what “urgent” means.

These are the effects, but how did we get here? What caused this rapid shift? The changing landscape of work can be traced back to five factors.

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But the More Things Change… While almost every aspect of work has radically shifted, there is one thing that hasn’t changed: people! In spite of dramatic economic and societal shifts, people’s innate need to belong, feel good about their work, and contribute in a meaningful way is more important than ever. Unfortunately, it’s harder and harder to do as evolutionary forces continue to

4 MORE WAYS LEADERS CAN COACH (AND CONNECT WITH) TODAY’S WORKER Building a strong employer-leader relationship is crucial. Here’s what leaders should be doing to engage individuals at every level: • Hold a 1:1 meeting weekly: Encourage leaders to schedule a set time each week and avoid moving it around or canceling it. Employees need to know they are a priority. • Initiate non-transactional conversations daily: Leaders of remote workers tend to make their conversations all business. Emphasize how important it is to ask about people’s lives outside the office. • Call or Skype more than email: The majority of communication is non-verbal. Tell your leaders how important it is to hear an employee’s voice and see their face. • Answer employee email same day: For remote and flextime employees, leaders should recreate in-person office “pop-ins” by not allowing too much time to pass from request to response.

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place demands on employees’ ability to stay engaged with and loyal to an employer over time.

The Game Changer: Coaching Conversations So, what’s the solution? Will employees’ needs continue to outpace leaders’ ability to adapt? One solution is increasing the sheer number of conversations leaders hold. According to Gallup, employees whose managers hold regular meetings with them are three times more likely to be engaged. It’s also been shown that a culture of frequent conversations yields higher productivity and team function. Unfortunately, a growing divide still exists despite countless conversations between leaders and their direct reports. As it turns out, it’s not the number of the conversations leaders conduct, but the quality of the interaction. A typical conversation between employee and supervisor is often not as focused, and therefore not as effective as it could be. Ineffective conversations become even more of a “miss” when you consider leaders tend to have fewer conversations because of time and place restrictions. Conversations become a game changer when they are not just conversations, but coaching conversations. What’s the difference? A regular conversation meanders across a variety of topics with no stated agenda. In contrast, a coaching conversation features a structured framework that a leader employs to impact the decisions and actions of the employee. Leaders can make the limited interactions they have more important and impactful by bringing a framework to conversations they’re already holding. In fact, it’s as simple as asking questions and listening more.

Exploring a New Mindset Typically, leaders approach coaching their teams in one of two ways. The most common is with an outside-in mindset. This approach is characterized

by lots of advice-giving and “telling,” or in other words, a one-way sharing of knowledge. There is nothing wrong with this approach and it’s absolutely necessary during onboarding or when an employee is learning a new software program, for example. However, it’s not the most effective way to lead people to make decisions on their own. An InsideOut mindset produces better results. It focuses more on getting existing knowledge out of the employee

IT’S NOT THE NUMBER OF THE CONVERSATIONS LEADERS CONDUCT, BUT THE QUALITY OF THE INTERACTION. and less on the manager sharing their knowledge. A leader approaches a conversation with the goal of asking questions rather than giving direction. This creates employees who are empowered to own outcomes, make faster decisions, and offer up new ideas more frequently.

Three Conversations with Today’s Employee A new mindset is just the beginning. It’s critical for leaders to begin engaging in conversations that move both the dayto-day work and the manager/employee relationship forward. There are three types of coaching conversations that great leaders should hold with their teams: breakthrough conversations, check-ins and feedback, and alignment conversations. It’s important that leaders are adept at which conversation to hold when and how to conduct each one effectively.

Breakthrough Conversations What: A conversation initiated by a manager or employee when the employee has a goal. When: Held when an employee asks for help, shares a challenge, or asks for perspective. How: The GROW Model. The GROW Model is a coaching process and decision-making model co-developed by Alan Fine that helps people gain focus and speed their decision making. It features four distinct phases in which the leader asks the employee a series of several questions to streamline their thinking. For example: 1. G oal: What do you want from this discussion? 2. Reality: What have you tried so far? 3. Options: If anything were possible, what might you do? 4. Way Forward: What and when is the next step?

Check-Ins and Feedback What: A conversation initiated by a manager to assess progress and provide feedback. When: Held regularly to hold employees accountable and to keep people aware, informed and on track. How: • Keep it brief: Don’t interrupt the flow of work. • Ask open-ended questions: Avoid asking questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” • Let the other person talk first and more often.

Alignment Conversation What: A conversation initiated by a manager to gain alignment and agreement.

When: Held when someone is unaware of an issue, doesn’t know or agree with direction, or refuses to cooperate. How: Alignment conversations are tough conversations charged with emotion, so it’s important leaders practice the three “P’s” prior to holding them. 1. Prepare: Get clear on the goal, the reality and the options if alignment is not possible. 2. Plan: Write down a map of the conversation and anticipated responses. 3. Practice: Discuss the plan and practice until it becomes second nature.

THE INFLUX OF NEW TECHNOLOGY LEADS TO NEW BEHAVIORS. Work in 2018 looks nothing like it did even 20 years ago. While employees have adjusted to this new reality, it’s clear leaders’ communication skills have fallen a bit behind. But it’s not too late for them to catch up! If leaders bring the right mindset to every interaction and practice holding three types of conversations more effectively, they can quickly get up to speed and more closely align their coaching to what employees want and need. The result? Employees who feel valued and heard and commit to a long-term relationship not just with their manager, but with the company as well.

Amanda Parry has more than 15 years of corporate experience in management, marketing, product and instructional development. As the director of marketing communications at InsideOut Development, she has authored many articles and webinars on leadership development and coaching. Email Amanda.

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OPEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

HAT COMES TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU HEAR THE TERM “SKILL UP”? FOR EVERY GAMER OUT THERE, IT MAY REMIND YOU OF A TIME WHEN YOU “LEVEL UP” OR GAIN EXTRA SKILLS OR ARMORY TO DEFEAT AN INFAMOUS BOSS OR A FORMIDABLE TEAM IN A SPORTS GAME. FOR LEARNING PROFESSIONALS, THIS DEFINITION OF “SKILL UP” IS NOT TOO FAR FROM THE TRUTH EXCEPT THE “GAME” INVOLVES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE NEW SKILLS GAINED ARE USED TO COMBAT COMPLACENCY AND PAVE THE WAY FOR ADVANCEMENT IN THEIR CAREER.

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When it comes to the process of skilling up, it is important that employees have the adequate resources at their disposal to increase their marketable skills. By increasing their skill sets, both as part of and outside of their job descriptions, employees will be able to advance their career and integrate more fully into professional teams. According to the 2017 Jobvite Job Seeker Nation Study, the main reason people left their jobs in the last 12 months has been salary, which accounted for 30 percent. However, it appears that millennials have different priorities and are looking for growth opportunities, with 21 percent stating that was the main reason for leaving a job. This is compared to an average of 16 percent across all other ages. Another interesting statistic from this survey showed that 35 percent of employees would leave their current jobs for an opportunity to grow. Additionally, one-third of all people would take a pay cut of up to 10 percent

to pursue a career that they are more passionate about. According to the same research, job satisfaction is down. In 2017, 64 percent of job seekers are satisfied at work but 82 percent of them are open to new job opportunities. In contrast to the previous year, 74 percent were satisfied at work and only 74 percent were open. Some may suggest that this is due to the increasing number of hyper-hoppers in the workforce. A hyper-hopper is someone who changes jobs every one to three years. The frequency of hyper-hoppers has increased from 34 percent in 2016 to 42 percent in 2017. Millennials and those earning less than $25,000 are most likely to change jobs every one to three years. This dissatisfaction suggests that there’s a lack of monetary appreciation and lack of growth opportunities in today’s labor market, particularly for younger employees.

EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES TO SKILL UP BY CHRISTIAN SMYTHE

Find out what learners want – what they need in order to successfully skill up. However, the hyper-hopping trend is rooted in a lack of loyalty. Most workers are ‘logging’ in after hours, with 45 percent checking and actively replying to their emails after hours and a further 19 percent who do it on a daily basis. The greatest reason for younger workers to leave a role is to address their work-life balance. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of 18- to 22-year-olds leave for this reason, versus 18 percent of people in their 30’s and 14 percent of all job seekers. Passion projects are also important to young people, with 33 percent of them likely to have a second income through a passion project, almost twice the amount of older

workers (17 percent). In order to pursue their passion projects, 10 percent of younger workers would take a 50 percent pay decrease. This demonstrates that the workforce is willing to be more fluid with employment, so long as personal fulfillment issues are addressed. Much of this fulfillment can be addressed by that feeling of appreciation and growth opportunities, both of which can be fulfilled through skilling up.

An Age-Old Question The labor market is in a unique state at this present moment. People born in the 21st century will be entering the job

JOB SATISFACTION In 2017, job satisfaction was down. Roughly 64 percent of job seekers indicated they were satisfied at work, and 82 percent of them were open to new job opportunities. In contrast, in 2016, 74 percent were satisfied at work, and only 74 percent were open to new opportunities.

market from now on and the job market will have to implement some 21stcentury thinking to accommodate this new labor force. What’s apparent is that the younger generations have a bleaker view of what the world of work will do for them. According to Jobvite, only 19 percent of 18- to 22-year-olds believe that job prospects will improve for them. However, 45 percent of people over 55 believe it will improve. Despite the overall trend of people believing work prospects will not improve, there is considerably less optimism for younger people. Skilling up could be the key to conquering that pessimism. And contrary to past beliefs that the fear of automation was the largest threat to the workforce, 1 in 4 of all current workers see Generation Z, those born after the year 2000, as the largest threat to the job market, according to the Jobvite research. Younger people (18-

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to 22-year-olds) feel most threatened by Generation Z (27 percent). People over 55 feel less threatened by this new generation entering the workforce, where only 19 percent feel threatened. For those, particularly millennials, who feel threatened, skilling up will help them feel more secure, increase their confidence, and help them push on in their careers.

WITH AN OPEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, LEARNING ISN’T FORCED, IT’S GUIDED. Why an Open Learning Environment Makes Sense These findings show the importance of learning and development (L&D) in order to retain employees and keep them happy. But what’s the best learning environment to implement? The key, first and foremost, is to listen to your employees. Find out what they want – what they need in order to successfully skill up. In the workplace, we know how many modern employees value self-direction, especially as it pertains to learning. This yearning for self-direction makes sense. We all learn differently and retain knowledge in unique ways so learning should tailor the needs of each individual. In order to accommodate self-directed learning that can still be supported by learning professionals, consider implementing an open learning environment supported by technology. So, what is an open learning environment? It is one supported by proper technology that incorporates content, located centrally, that stretches beyond the basics of what is needed to fulfill specific job requirements. The content can cover a variety of industries and topics, and at the end of the day, employees choose what they want to consume. After all, they know in which

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areas they’d like to grow. Also, an open learning environment combines published content with collaboration features and tools that allow employees to network and exchange feedback with peers, clients or experts. Here are three benefits of implementing an open learning environment within your organization:

INCREASE EMPLOYEE LOYALTY.

With an open learning environment, learning isn’t forced. Instead, it’s guided. With curated resources, employees consume content at any point in the day. They are in control of their professional development and have the ability to pinpoint the exact resources that will teach skills they need to improve. Additionally, with an open learning environment, employees use the resources at their disposal to skill up and grow knowledge in areas that will better equip them for future positions within the organization. The benefit for learning professionals? After viewing what employees are consuming more often, and viewing which content is resonating most within the organization, they can recommend content to employees along with their personalized career development path. This guided, yet still self-directed model may just be the ticket to building loyalty among employees and their current organizations.

INCREASE COLLABORATION, ONLINE AND OFFLINE.

By providing options to collaborate with colleagues, like-minded professionals and experts online, you allow employees to expand their talents by enhancing their thought processes. In the workplace, this transitions into more active conversations about learned concepts and increased thought leadership among employees. People who learn new approaches through collaboration are much more likely to pass the information on to others and

thereby a continuous learning and collaborative culture is established.

ESTABLISH A NETWORK OF TEAMS.

The 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report discusses the rise of “network of teams,” meaning employees are increasingly adapting to contributing to projects outside of their job descriptions. Supported by an open learning environment with content, a professional network and collaborative tools, employees are able to learn more efficiently about what’s needed to contribute to the overall organization. This increases internal mobility, and in turn, reinforces a shared culture and everyone working toward a common goal.

Conclusion Open learning environments provide a number of benefits for both employees and their employers. For the workforce, it gives them greater freedom to learn, the opportunities to skill up at their own pace and into their own desired direction, and gain vital knowledge that enables them to advance their career and contribute further to their organization at a potentially higher level. This, in turn, benefits the business as it is often cheaper than traditional learning courses and builds greater trust. As we have seen, the “new” workforce, particularly millennials, are pessimistic about their prospects, but skilling up through open learning environments may be the answer for both employees and employers. It provides an opportunity to build trust and makes employees feel appreciated. In the end, businesses may find this to be the best way to retain top talent and prepare their workforce for the changing nature of the workplace. Christian Smythe serves as head of content and partner strategy for BlueBottleBiz, the first collaborative learning platform for business professionals. Email Christian.

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HOW COURAGE FUELS PERFORMANCE BY KEVIN KOPALD

When we talk about training, three outcomes typically rise to the top as the most important: knowledge, skills and attitude (although some talk about abilities instead of attitude, depending on the source and the purpose). Theoretically, we can train for the first two, but we have to hire and promote for the third.

Training for knowledge is memorization and testing, and training for skills is practice and feedback, but training someone for attitude isn’t quite so cut and dry. While we may not be able to train for attitude, we can certainly influence it. Attitude is built through experiences, perceptions and situations. One can change perceptions through positive experiences, and improve attitude, if in fact an improvement is required. Knowledge is learned information, and skills implement knowledge. However, with the wrong attitude, skills alone won’t cut it, and at that point, knowledge does not matter. If you look at the state of the American workforce, and the fact that according to Gallup Corporation employee disengagement in the U.S. is at 70 percent, you begin to realize that while many people know what to do, and even how to do it, they either “don’t feel like it” or are not ready or able to

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give their best when they walk into the office each day. Attitude has many emotional facets and is usually reflected in behaviors and actions. So, a poor attitude will produce a low, dysfunctional work ethic, with a low degree of collaboration and innovation. There is a subset of this population who are disengaged not because they dislike their job, but because they are lacking in one vital component within themselves that enables them to fully contribute and generate the results for which they were hired. This component is courage. When we think of courage we think of fighting lions, saving kittens and running into burning buildings. The MerriamWebster definition of courage is “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” It’s not just about danger, it is about a mental strength in the face of difficulty. Courage enhances our abilities, it

strengthens our mindset, enables us to believe in ourselves and effectively utilize the knowledge and skills we have acquired. So, what happens when courage existent? Courage is knowing what needs to be done and foraging despite feeling anxious or afraid. Courage is composed of two factors: competence and confidence. Competence comes from knowledge (knowing what to do). Confidence is gained from skills (knowing how to do it by applying the knowledge). Think of it like this: Attending a live concert and being able to sing along with every song is knowledge; and getting up on stage and playing the guitar is a skill. But if there is a fear of performing for a crowd, then a lack of courage to leverage the knowledge and apply the skill will result in a lack of performance. Having a skill (e.g., selling, negotiating, debating, presenting to a group, participating collaboratively in a meeting) is either learned from experience or from a formal training that allowed for a solid knowledge transfer to develop into a skill. However, if someone cannot use the skill to its potential, it is squandered. So, what quells the courage to use skills? A few things have the potential to do it.

CULTURE OF FEAR A fearful, unsafe organizational culture is one of the most common killers of courage. People can be courageous outside of work, but a territorial manager who clearly doesn’t want feedback will cause people to keep their mouths shut. People ask themselves, “Should I be the problem-solver and contribute what I was hired to contribute, or should I keep my mouth shut so my manager is not threatened by my experience?” People don’t quit jobs, they quit their managers. In his article “People Leave Managers, Not Companies,” Victor Lipman says that challenges arise when employees are not working as productively as possible. A fearful

culture will prevent collaboration and innovative thinking, and that can be devastating to the overall success of an organization.

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY People often say, “in my honest opinion,” as if they had been untruthful until that point, and that verbal graffiti is being replaced by phrases such as “in full transparency…” However, is the team really transparent? The hard part about transparency is that if you say you are transparent you really need to be. Combine this with the fact that in many cases someone is only using the transparency concept to be abrasive and giving it an acceptable name. True transparency embraces courage because it requires all to know where they stand at all times. Transparency requires people to speak up and contribute with respect and honesty. Ray Dalio’s “thoughtful disagreement” and “radical transparency” is proof this approach works. If the goals of the organization is the goal of the conversation, people should not take feedback or contrary opinions personally, in fact they should expect them and encourage them. Transparency is who we are in a perfect world and it is what we must be if we are truly going to be collaborative and innovative.

VISION, MISSION AND THE GOALS OF THE ORGANIZATION It may seem that these would be three separate items, but in fact, when it comes to courage, each one of these leads to the next. Without these three components in place, it is difficult to maintain courage and utilize learned skills. Understanding the vision of the organization allows employees to feel a part of something bigger than just their own contribution. Being aligned with the mission enables them to understand how the organization views itself, and

where it is going. Being aligned with the goals of the organization means they can understand what their job is and how it actually contributes to the bottom line every day. When these factors are clear, an ownership attitude is enhanced, the kind of thinking people have when they are working from their heart, not just showing up to put in their time. If someone sells a product for the sake of selling, they are simply providing products. However, if they understand what that product does or means or how it helps their customer, they see a responsibility to provide a required solution for a customer – it is more than just a job.

COURAGE IS COMPOSED OF TWO FACTORS: COMPETENCE AND CONFIDENCE. Salaries paid to people who are merely showing up, or to eight people in a meeting when only two are talking, or those with creative ideas who fail to bring them forward are costing corporations billions of dollars every year. Bring courage to the table, nurture it, expect it and foster it within your teams and organization. It will yield more fulfilled employees, lower turnover and increase both top- and bottom-line results. Kevin Kopald is an organizational development professional with Global Performance Group, a performance improvement firm with a deep and focused expertise in developing the dialogue skills necessary for a higher level of employee engagement, sales and negotiation skills, and innovative thinking. Email Kevin.

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The Manager’s Role in Reinforcing Learning By Julie Kirsch, CPTM, and Shannon Wzientek, CPLP

Development doesn’t end when the program concludes; it’s only just begun. Having regular opportunities to practice skills on the job promotes retention. Learners change their behavior when their direct managers and leaders provide continual reinforcement through a series of communications and activities before, during and after the program takes place.

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What Defines Success? What happens in the classroom is just the beginning; it’s what happens after the door closes that matters. The effectiveness of training is assessed on knowledge transfer, application and results, a combination that can’t happen without retention. Simply put, retention requires the information to stick, after which it can be recalled, applied and make the impact intended. Once the skills and behaviors are inherent, then you have reached success, helping to increase proficiency and shape a leader.

Unfortunately, this ideal scenario often isn’t reality. Studies indicate that 70 percent of information is lost in 24 hours and 90 percent within a week, according to Dr. Art Kohn. These numbers are unsettling, considering that U.S. training expenditures totaled over $70 billion in 2014.

Take Action Applying adult learning theory and instructional design naturally promotes retention. Make learning experiential and active, highlight relevancy through

Development doesn’t end when the program concludes; it’s only just begun.

examples, or reiterate the information in different ways. Although these approaches help, they don’t stop the retention loss. Compare this process to a workout. You participate in a yoga class. You learn new techniques, receive detailed instructions, practice several times with the class and independently, and leave feeling energized and confident. However, you don’t find the time to practice on your own for a week or two. After which, you find yourself trying to recall the flows and feeling sore. Give it

a month, and you’re not even sure where you’ve placed your mat. How would this scenario differ if you checked in with a yoga practitioner immediately and frequently after the class? It would be harder to let that mat collect dust, as this level of support would motivate and keep you accountable. When applying this concept to the learning experience, it’s critical to incorporate the learners’ direct managers throughout the process. These individuals are the catalyst for retention and true behavior change.

The Manager as a Stakeholder Good managers attract candidates, drive performance, engagement and retention, and play a key role in maximizing employees’ contribution to the organization. As a good manager, you must work to increase your employees’ engagement and productivity, which involves becoming an active agent in their learning. Learning can’t be entirely left to human resources (HR), the chief learning officer, or any other learning

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and development (L&D) professional. They don’t have the bandwidth to be continuous facilitators of each individual’s learning and performance improvement. They aren’t close enough to the action on a daily basis to provide instructional experiences, identifying when and where they will have the most impact, as performance improvement expert Stephen Gill points out. This is when managers can influence the experiences, promoting true learning and retention.

It Starts on Day One New employee orientation is the first impression employees get of the quality of the organization and the nature of the relationship with their manager. This is a pivotal time, as research shows that one of the biggest reasons employees leave a job is because of poor relationships with their managers. Take the orientation as an opportunity to make a positive impression by emphasizing how you value the employee’s development. You can take actions such as induction activities involving reviewing the experience before and after the orientation, providing guidance on application of the information received, identifying a “buddy” for ongoing support, and arranging for shadowing a staff member during interactions or project work.

Mapping out specific, ongoing efforts and engaging the learner in this process is the next step. The learner will get the most out of the plan if she or he feels strong ownership of it by taking part in the development process. Plans should include actions such as check-ins, coaching and reinforcement activities to facilitate the application of the knowledge. Also, professional development rarely includes only gaining knowledge and skills. It often includes selfdevelopment and recognizing one’s capabilities and areas of opportunity. With the right guidance, learners are often the best experts at realizing their own needs for self-development.

Commit to Opportunities A person’s motivation to transfer training back to the job is shaped during the learning experience. It comes as no surprise that when learners perceive learning as relevant, useful and valuable, they are more likely to apply their newly learned skills. Influencing factors include: • Acknowledging the need to improve job performance, • Belief that the new skills will help, and • Practicality and ease of transferring skills to improve performance.

Remember these factors when exploring your employees’ career and development aspirations. During these conversations, talk about how the employee wants/ needs to grow, enabling insight into potential development opportunities. Document these ideas in an individual development plan so you and your employee can refer to them regularly and update accordingly. Budget necessary funds for resources the learner will need. A budget may be necessary for course tuition and materials, self-study materials, videos, training fees, time and travel to attend courses, and other expenses. If a development option involves attending a specific course, agree on expectations during the registration process. Talk with the employee about what she or he expects from the program and share what you want her or him to gain from attending the program. This is also a great time to talk about any prework required. Take development seriously. You’re providing the money and time for an employee to attend a course, so treat it like an investment in the person and your organization. Ask employees to be sure they can dedicate the time out of the office for the course and if they can’t, suggest rescheduling. Provide support by reallocating workloads while they are attending the course.

HOW MANAGERS CAN OFFER SUPPORT Here are a few activities that managers can be involved in to support ongoing learning and retention: • Coaching and guidance: Conversation starters for cultivating commitment include: ○○ How can you put these ideas into practice? ○○ What could you do today to get started? ○○ What support do you need from me? ○○ Reinforce with recognition

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• Informal training: Integrate activities such as discussion of a specific scenario or a demonstration. • Stretch assignments: Give learners access to challenging work or the opportunity to be a member of a project team. • Knowledge-sharing: Encourage problem-solving group activities both on and off the job. • Maintain and grow a performance culture: Foster an environment

where mistakes are not penalized, and people can openly review issues and questions and come up with solutions. • Experimentation: Performance improvement is rarely a straight-line progression. After training, people frequently take two steps forward only to then take one step back. Acknowledge this issue and provide leniency for discovery opportunities.

Know that by helping your employee develop, you’re also helping your team and organization develop.

Provide Ongoing Feedback and Support After the learning has been delivered and the learner is back at work, action is needed. Even if things seem fine, regular check-ins are a must; making your employee aware of this process promotes accountability. Check-ins should consist of ongoing affirmation and support, opportunities to demonstrate the new skills being applied, and timely and targeted feedback. Greater manager involvement in L&D promotes the notion of lifelong learning and improves the quality of these activities. Line managers, rather than HR or personnel specialists, are best placed to understand both the organizational and individual needs, according to Stephen Gibb. Promoting and facilitating the process of the learners using and retaining what they’ve learned in training takes little time, but it makes a significant difference. Discussing results and providing feedback is motivating, demonstrates that the manager is watching and supporting their efforts, builds accountability, and helps sustain the energy required for behavior change.

The Other Ingredient Engagement of the manager is critical, but he or she can’t go it alone. When both the manager and the learner are committed to ongoing focus and development, they reach the winning combination. All too often we see that learners don’t take the extra steps needed for retention. They attend the training, but then return to their desks to tackle work piled in their absence while the new information they received slips away. Post-assignments are commonly implemented to combat this loss, but, these too, are often perceived a burden or simply completed to check the box.

For example, a post-assignment was implemented to support a leadership development program. The learners were tasked with reading an article that was methodically selected, reinforcing the concepts learned in a dynamic way. They

All too often we see that learners don’t take the extra steps needed for retention. posted their reactions on a discussion board and answered questions that were carefully crafted and vetted. Can you guess what happened next? The discussion board was empty except for a few diligent learners taking the time to complete the assignment. One post was exceptional and completed by a high-potential individual. Later, this individual expressed frustration with the assignment, perceiving it to be nothing more than busy work. If learners can’t perceive the value and impact, it does become busy work for all involved.

Awareness and Defined Steps The empty discussion boards are alerts that something is amiss; the misstep is not making the value and impact evident. When someone participates in a session, monetary and time investments are made. With the average employee investing 34.1 hours in formal training annually, according to ATD research, they certainly don’t want to waste time any more than L&D professionals do. It’s likely a matter of employees being unaware that retention takes effort. For an optimal outcome, both the learner and his or her manager need to make the effort. There are approaches to avoid this inadvertent pitfall and to act against retention loss. They are as follows:

• Increase awareness: Make learners aware of the retention paradox and provide the supporting data. Awareness shifts perceptions, and the support and effort are recognized. • Inform: Advise them of the efforts that will be taken to ensure retention, including the role of the manager. Unknown problems can’t be solved; acknowledging that one exists is the first step. • Set them up for success: Involvement in the planning and evaluation approaches is valued and creates buy-in, so ensure that the learners can weigh-in throughout the process. This can range from self-selection of activities to individual goal setting. • Incorporate accountability: Identify specific expectations, including actions, goals and timing, for both the manager and learner, promotes prioritization and accountability. • Make it stick: Commit to the process and make it happen. Embedding it into the overall learning process makes it a default piece of the programming over time. Awareness, manager involvement and learner ownership are the key ingredients to the recipe for success. Focusing on and implementing specific efforts that involve the right players stops the retention loss and has the potential to significantly increase the effectiveness of your training long after you close the classroom door. Julie Kirsch, CPTM, is the director of program development at CohnReznick, LLC, focusing on business strategy-based learning, talent development, and differentiating performance from potential. Shannon Wzientek, CPLP, is the learning and development manager at CohnReznick, LLC, where she is responsible for designing, developing and administering training in a variety of formats. Email Julie and Shannon.

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Improving Team Effectiveness through Servant Leadership

Identifying how to help your team work more effectively can sometimes seem like the million-dollar question. When looking through leadership theory and strategy, identifying a team effectiveness strategy can feel like a “pick one and let’s see” approach. Over the past few years, servant leadership has been gaining traction as an effective way to increase overall effectiveness within our workplace teams. For clarity, team effectiveness is generally defined as the capacity a team has to accomplish their goals and objectives. Servant leadership has been visible within literature since the 1970’s. It was at that time when Robert Greenleaf developed his theory of servant leadership. After reading Hermann Hesse’s “A Journey to the East,” Greenleaf realized the value of a leader who truly sought to serve those within his care. Since this time, servant leadership has been discussed and applied to a variety of professional settings to develop a construct that could be more clearly understood and applied within organizations. Perhaps our best glimpse into how Greenleaf understood servant leadership is summarized in what he offered as the best test of servant leadership. “Do those served grow as persons: do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or at least, not be further deprived?”

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IDENTIFYING A TEAM EFFECTIVENESS STRATEGY CAN FEEL LIKE A “PICK ONE AND LET’S SEE” APPROACH. To better apply servant leadership to our teams, Dr. Justin Irving and Dr. Gail Longbotham conducted a study titled, “Team Effectiveness and Six Essential Servant Leadership Themes.” In their research, they found that if leaders who followed the servant leadership methodology applied these themes to their workgroup, there was a significant increase in overall effectiveness. The themes are as follows: 1. Providing Accountability 2. Supporting and Resourcing 3. Engaging in Honest Self-Evaluation 4. Fostering Collaboration 5. Communicating with Clarity 6. Valuing and Appreciating

PROVIDING ACCOUNTABILITY

Through the lens of servant leadership, accountability is ensuring each member of the team is accomplishing the goals that were identified by the team. For many, they hear the word accountability and they become uncomfortable due to a perception of negativity.

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Accountability is a good thing and is something all teams need to have established to effectively accomplish their goals. However, accountability is a skill that many leaders are excepted to understand, yet this is a skill that is often overlooked when providing onboarding and development training. Looking at the root of accountability, communication is one of the key pillars. If there is an identified issue with a team, one of the first elements that should be examined is communication. As the leader, have you clearly explained your expectations of the task? Does your staff know what is expected of them in their role? Have you made too many assumptions when assigning duties? These questions will foster discussion within your team to help identify if the problems are due to a misunderstanding or lack of clarity on what is to be expected of them.

SUPPORTING AND RESOURCING

According to Irving and Longbotham, this theme highlights the importance of leaders supporting their workers and providing necessary resources for the accomplishment of their goals. One of the key elements of this theme is empowerment. Think about the requirements that each of your staff faces. Do they have what they need to get the job done? This question moves beyond physical equipment (although, this is important) and examines whether staff feel they can make the decisions they need to. It is not uncommon to hear staff say that they are “scared” or “uncomfortable” of making independent decisions to complete their duties as they are worried of the response from their supervisor. If this is the case, then the leader can consider this by asking what

support and/or resources they need to be successful. In some cases, it may be additional communication pathways, or it may be that they need insight on who they can collaborate with. Regardless of the reason, as the leader, it is important that we take the initiative to seek out that information.

ENGAGING IN HONEST SELFEVALUATION

No one is perfect. For many leaders, admitting faults and decision errors can be difficult. There are times when it feels

DAILY LEADERSHIP REMINDERS To assist with the implementation of servant leadership theory, the following questions have been developed as daily reminders or checkpoints for leaders. 1. Is my staff held accountable for their actions? (Providing Accountability) 2. Does my staff have what they need to get the job done? (Supporting and Resourcing) 3. Have I truly examined myself before others? (Engaging in Honest Self-Evaluation) 4. Do I encourage and support collaboration? (Fostering Collaboration) 5. Do people really understand what I am saying? (Communicating with Clarity) 6. Does my staff know how much I appreciate them? (Valuing and Appreciating)

easier to push the blame onto someone or something other than ourselves. However, if we truly seek to connect and influence our peers and followers, then we need to become comfortable with admitting our mistakes. Asking yourself questions like, “Have I communicated the vision clearly?”; “Have I provided the support and resources needed for my team to be successful?”; and “Have I held my team accountable to ensure the goals we set are being accomplished?” These questions could easily be answered with a “Yes,” and one could move on. But the focus should be to identify whether your actions contributed to the success of the team or if your actions caused roadblocks for the team.

WE ALL HAVE A DESIRE TO KNOW THAT OUR ACTIONS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

Even if you answered “No” to one, or all, of the questions this does not mean that you can ignore the issue or error. Rather, this is a chance to bring the team together and strategize how you will all overcome the issue together.

FOSTERING COLLABORATION

Breaking down silos and barriers can seem like an insurmountable task for many. However, silos and barriers cannot be broken down unless someone makes the first move. To start, a leader should look within their team to identify if staff

is effectively working together. Are there any barriers that need to be addressed within the team first? Once you feel confident that the team is effectively collaborating, encouraging partnering with other teams may be an appropriate next step. There have been several examples where multiple teams within an organization are conducting work that relies on the actions of each other, yet there is absolutely no collaboration between the divisions. Irving and Longbotham suggest leadership should “encourage workers to work together rather than competing against each other.” For many, the reason they chose not to work with others is due to negative past experiences. We know that we cannot undo the past, but what leaders can do is provide opportunities for positive experiences to become the new norm.

COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY

When examining team dynamics, communication is the most commonly identified skill that needs to be improved. While communication is the easiest to identify as an area for improvement, this is generally the hardest skill to improve. Why? Well, we are guided by our assumptions, perceptions and expectations. These three elements can make us believe we are strong communicators; however, these three elements can also significantly hinder our communication efforts. Within servant leadership, communicating with clarity encourages the servant leader to truly seek if people understand the message they are sending. An example of this is the ability of the leader to clearly communicate a clear vision to their team. Does the team know where they are heading? Do they understand how their work moves the team toward that vision?

If they don’t, then it is a good time to have that discussion with the team. If they do, then ask them at regular check-in’s how their work for the week or month has helped move the team forward.

VALUING AND APPRECIATING

We all want to be appreciated for the contributions we make to our team. Regardless of how we want to receive that recognition, we all have a desire to know that our actions are making a difference. As a servant leader, how are you letting your team know you value and appreciate their contributions? Laub (1999) suggests that building up others through encouragement and affirmation is one of the primary means by which servant leaders can develop people. Being intentional and specific in sending thank you emails or personalized notes detailing the work they did and how it benefitted the team is one example of showing your staff how much they mean to the success of the team. While literature on leadership and team effectiveness will continue to expand, one question will remain: “How do I move my team from good to great?” The six essential themes of servant leadership can be used as a framework for leaders to use when assessing the effectiveness of their teams. Make these themes visible to the team. Reference them and be willing to discuss them on a variety of levels. When we have teams that are engaged and have clear direction, amazing things happen. Jason Weber is the training director for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation where his team is responsible for designing and delivering training to 3,400 employees across Wisconsin. Jason is also currently completing his Doctorate in leadership studies through Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Email Jason.

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CASEBOOK

TRANSITIONING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TO PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT BY KARIN LEVITT

Aligning development plans with targeted business goals can change the nature of performance management and improve the employee experience. At Hitachi Consulting Corporation (HCC), performance management is an old concept with a new mission: performance enhancement. With the company already engaged in a significant business transformation, leaders felt the time was right to reexamine the intent of its performance management program and align it with the direction of the organizational and cultural change already underway. Greater simplicity, transparency and a positive employee experience were key objectives. A NEW MISSION A variety of company feedback mechanisms had captured what people did not want in their performance management program. Gaining consensus on what they did want to target in the future required the performance management team to engage in open dialogue with leaders, managers and employees across the global organization, and to consider trends in the marketplace. Led by a human resources leader and performance management leader, information gathering activities were conducted over a 12-month period as an iterative process of listening, designing, presenting proposals and adjusting based on feedback.

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As plans developed, a focus on employee development became a predominant theme. With that in mind, all components of performance management were considered in scope for revisions, and all design changes were done with an eye toward this cultural shift. IT ALL BEGINS WITH GOALS Hitachi Consulting historically defined goals for what the employee was tasked to deliver (goals and key performance indicators) and how they went about conducting their work and interactions with others (company values and success factors). Learning and skill development goals were documented in a learning management system. When writing an annual review, managers focused on the what goals: the concrete deliverables that support the company and clients. Company values and success factors, more difficult to observe and measure, were often considered secondary, and focused on only when a serious problem or breach occurred. Skill development activities were discussed separately, somewhat disconnected from performance management. IMPLEMENTING THE VISION OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT To realize the vision of a developmentfocused performance management program, the organization agreed upon several changes. This included ensuring ongoing feedback through the addition

of quarterly progress checkpoint meetings, and improved peer feedback through the simplification of an existing peer feedback tool. Another significant change was to align company values, success factors and skill development to the what goals. By doing so, the inherent business value of those factors would become more evident. To bring this alignment to life, the goalsetting process at the beginning of the year asks employees and managers to consider which company values, success factors and skills align directly with each annual goal. This requires the staff to think about company values, success factors and skills in the context of delivering business results. • Goal: What am I tasked with achieving? • Target/Success Measures: What target/ measure do I need to attain to meet the goal? • Action Steps: What steps will I take to get the job done? • Company Values and Success Factors I Need to Use: What company values and success factors will I need to use to accomplish this? • Top Skills and Competencies I Need to Use: What are the top skills and competencies I will need to use to successfully achieve this goal?

With this done, when the time comes to write the annual review, it is easier to show how the skillful use of these “soft” measures contributed to the success of the business goals, or how the lack of those capabilities affected the result. Each goal is described in a traditional SMART goal format, as shown in the first three columns of Table 1. This defines the goal, success measures and the actions to be taken to meet that goal. Before submitting the goal, the employee and manager also agree on two to three of the most critical company values, success factors and skills needed to meet that goal, shown in the last two columns. DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Self-development and skill growth are considered an important expectation of employees at HCC. As such, progress and achievements toward meeting the stated development goals are factored into the performance appraisal at the end of the year. Doing so makes the annual review a more holistic assessment of the employee’s performance and contributions and recognizes the business value of investing in the development of skills and competencies. MAKING IT HAPPEN Even positive change is hard. In an organization already engaged in a business transformation, limited time was left to focus on incorporating a new approach to performance management.

With identification of the most critical company values, success factors and skills complete, the manager and employee can collaboratively reflect on the skill level required and assess the employee’s current proficiency level. If proficiency gaps exist, urgent development needs become apparent.

EVEN POSITIVE CHANGE IS HARD.

These development needs are documented in a third type of goal – development goals. Essentially seen as an individual development plan, this section documents the intended skill development goals for the coming year. Employees and managers can also identify activities to support longterm career development goals that reflect the employee’s career trajectory and aspirations.

To gain commitment for this change, workshops were delivered in stages, beginning with the most senior level staff and moving throughout the organization. Branded as “What You Need To Know About…,” the series focused on each change as that change was implemented and available in the performance management system. While this spread the change management program out over time, it delivered only

TABLE 1

what was needed, just in time, easing the assimilation of new information. A goal-setting workshop for an intact team of managers was designed to provide a guided walk-through of the performance management system, with step-by-step demonstration and stop points to allow individuals to work on their own goals in the system, with live, real-time help available. This investment empowered leaders to take the next steps with their staff. GOING FORWARD As with any transformation, some employees quickly recognize the benefit of the change and adopt immediately. Others will embrace the change after they have an opportunity to intellectually observe and explore the process. Over time, as HCC’s employees engage in a performance management program focused on their own individual growth and development, the company anticipates increased trust in the process, better performance and an improved employee experience.

Karin Levitt is the global director for learning and development at Hitachi Consulting. She has over 20 years of experience delivering innovative approaches to learning and organizational development programs for employees ranging from college graduates in their first job to company leaders. Email Karin.

EXAMPLE OF GOAL Goal

Build custom widgets for three clients

Target/Success Measures 25 widgets produced annually per client

Action Steps

Conduct needs assessment with client

Company Values and Success Factors I Need to Use Critical thinking

Document design and get client’s signoff

Top Skills and Competencies I Need to Use Widget design Negotiation Honesty/integrity

Build and deliver by end of contract year.

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MEASURING I M P A C T

TRAINING EVALUATION: IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE AS FORMAL AS YOU THINK BY JAMES D. KIRKPATRICK & WENDY KAYSER KIRKPATRICK

Kelly stared at the email she had just received from the divisional vice president. It said, “The top training initiatives going forward will be evaluated for effectiveness, with a report being submitted at the conclusion of each event.” “Great,” Kelly muttered to herself. “How am I going to do that? I don’t even know where to start!” You may feel the same way Kelly does when you are asked to evaluate your own training programs. Here are some simple ways to create an evaluation plan, with tips for before, during and after the program. CREATE A SIMPLE EVALUATION PLAN DURING THE DESIGN PROCESS The easiest way to get started with training evaluation is to view it as part of your design process. When you think about goals for the program, how it will be structured and the specific content, think also about what you would want

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to confirm along the way and report at the end. If possible, have a conversation with stakeholders to find out what information they will want to receive at each of the four levels of training evaluation. The following questions are examples of what you might ask them. Level 4 Results: What outcome do you wish to see after this program? What would make this program a success in your eyes? Are there key metrics that should be improved as a result of this program? Level 3 Behavior: What exactly do you expect training graduates to do on the job as a result of this program? What would be considered “good performance”? What support and accountability resources are available after training? What will we need to do to ensure that training graduates do what they are supposed to do after training? (You might also ask trusted line managers and supervisors these same questions.)

Level 2 Learning: Do you want test scores and/or other types of data related to the learning that was accomplished during the program? Level 1 Reaction: To what degree are you interested in knowing what participants thought about the training program itself? In most cases, stakeholders will be most interested in data from levels three and four. Once you are clear on what information they will want to have reported to them, think about what information is useful to you to ensure that the program is of good quality. These are typically items at levels two and one. They do not require as much of your time and attention, but there are probably a few pieces of information you will want to know and track. After you have compiled the list of required data, build the processes and tools to collect it right along with the training content itself.

BUILD FORMATIVE EVALUATION INTO YOUR TRAINING MODULES

this information, such as a dashboard, to create friendly competition.

An easy and low-resource way to gather evaluation data is to build formative evaluation into your training modules. Formative evaluation is that which occurs during the training itself. Examples of this include:

2. Reinforcing: What can you, along with the supervisors and stakeholders, do to send the message that the outcome of this program is important? Can you get a message into the company newsletter, on a bulletin board or in an intranet message? Are you able to launch reminders via email? Is the content complicated, such that refresher courses or roundtables would be beneficial?

• An instructor asking during the program how things are going for participants • A question in an asynchronous online module asking participants to document if they are grasping the content • A “ticket out” system, in which participants are asked to comment on an aspect of the program as they leave the room for a break Gathering formative information is beneficial because it does not take additional time and resources, and it provides data that instructors of live programs can react to on the spot, enhancing the experience for participants. FOCUS RESOURCES ON SUPPORTING ON-THE-JOB PERFORMANCE AFTER TRAINING Most of your training evaluation resources should be focused on what happens after the training, when your training graduates are attempting to apply what they learned in their real work. For important initiatives, ensure that all four areas of required drivers are supported: 1. Monitoring: How will you know that training graduates are doing what they learned? Find out if their supervisors have the time and are willing to monitor and report on their performance. Or, consider if a peerto-peer or a self-monitoring and reporting system should be put into place. Think about a fun way to share

3. Encouraging: Who might be able to help training graduates and keep them going if they get stuck? Would a buddy system assigned

FORMATIVE EVALUATION IS THAT WHICH OCCURS DURING THE TRAINING ITSELF. during training be appropriate? Are supervisors willing to add this topic to their team meetings and during employee touch bases? Do you have a mentoring culture that would make it comfortable to set up mentor/ mentee pairs after training? 4. Rewarding: If this is a major initiative, can you check to ensure that formal reward systems are in line with what training graduates are being asked to do on the job? For example, if they do what they are supposed to do, will they get a good performance appraisal, and perhaps an annual pay increase? Also consider small, informal methods

of reward, such as a pizza lunch or bonus jeans day for the department with the highest compliance scores after training. A note or word of praise from an executive can also be very meaningful. PUTTING YOUR EVALUATION PLAN TOGETHER The key to all of these ideas is that they are set up prior to the training, during the planning phase. If you wait until after training, you might be too busy, and it may be difficult to gain the support you will need from others. During the planning process, you will not only create your evaluation plan, but also build the simple tools you need to gather the data and set up the systems required. You will have conversations with stakeholders to determine how much support you can expect, which, when done early, will also give you some time to gather more support, if needed. Such conversations will also clarify what you may need to accomplish on your own. If you are still intimidated, just pick one program and give it a try. Incorporate this discipline of addressing evaluation during the design process, and you will have a strong start to creating an evaluation methodology in your organization. Each time you use it, you can develop and expand it. Before you know it, you will be systematically evaluating programs, improving outcomes and reporting results to your key stakeholders. Jim Kirkpatrick and Wendy Kirkpatrick are co-authors of the book, “Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation.” Together they run Kirkpatrick Partners. Email Jim and Wendy.

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SECRETS OF SOURCING DOUG HARWARD

CREATING A VISION FOR CHANGE

We’ve all heard how the workforce is changing. I don’t think there is much question about the need for change in how corporate training meets the needs of the business as well as the learner. But I do think the question we should be focused on is, “Do we really know what we should be changing to?” There has been lots of information published on how millennials learn differently than previous generations. Speaking as a baby boomer, I’m not convinced that’s true. Although I’m not as technologically savvy as my younger colleagues, I would like to think I learn as well as I did when I was in my 20s. So, is the issue that people learn differently today than before, or do they just use different tools to learn? Depending on the answer to this, it will speak to what changes we should be focused on. To better understand whether people learn differently now than in previous years, let’s review some industry research. In the late 1800s, a German scientist named Dr. Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted extensive research to understand how people learn. His conclusions formed three very important principles. 1. Learning occurs better when information is consumed, or tasks are performed over an extended period of time, as opposed to being consumed in large chunks in a single event. 2. Through repetition, learning increases faster early on, and exponentially slows down over the number of repetitions.

3. When repetition or reinforcement is not adequate or appropriate, forgetting can and will occur. More recent research by Dr. Anders Ericsson takes these principles further by stating that learning occurs best by “doing,” or rather, studying, practicing or performing the task repetitiously. But Ericsson states that to achieve a level of performance considered to be at an expert level, we must practice that skill through purposeful and deliberate practice.

L&D MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEADING THE CHANGE. I think we are all interested in helping our constituents reach a high level of performance on the job. And neither Ebbinghaus, Bloom, B.F. Skinner, Ericsson or any of our most influential learning scientists found that the learning was different based on the age of the adult learner. So, this brings us back to the question of what are we trying to change to? Is transforming the training function about creating more digital content? Will infusing more technology into the delivery of courses change the learning process? Technologies are wonderful enablers to help us provide information to the learner in unique and interesting ways. But if we don’t fully embrace the idea that learning occurs over time, through repetitious exposure to information, through practice and doing, then creating single events of

technology-based courses means we are spending a lot of effort and dollars trying to do the same wrong things more creatively. Creating high-performance training is about integrating many of the elements of learning into a well-planned, comprehensive, curated, role-based personalized development program. It’s about integrating assessments for measuring skills, correctly onboarding, providing formal classroom training at the right time, having access to ondemand microlearning objects when the need arises, and providing well-trained coaches to assist in the development cycle. And it’s about being deliberate in designing embedded practice into the day-to-day job routines. Yes, it does include using technology, but for the purpose of providing the learner greater access and timeliness to information during the learning process. Not just for making it more interesting or aesthetically pleasing. From where I sit, we have many questions to ask about how we change, and of course what we should change to. But the most important thing we as learning leaders can do is take responsibility for leading the change. Not following the trends or behaviors of the past but being innovatively creative in changing the learning process and evolving from an events-based world of training to a systems-based view of learning. Doug Harward is CEO of Training Industry, Inc. and a former learning leader in the hightech industry. Email Doug.

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CONGRATULATIONS

TOP 20 COMPANIES

Check Out Our 2018 Watch List Companies

The Top 20 Companies are a service provided by Training Industry, Inc. Due to the diversity of services offered, no attempt is made to rank the “Top 20s.”

LEARNER MINDSET MICHELLE EGGLESTON

HELPING EMPLOYEES FIND TIME FOR L&D

Business impact is the number one measure desired by CEOs, according to LinkedIn Learning’s 2017 Workplace Learning Report. Yet, only 8 percent of those senior executives currently see the business impact of learning and development (L&D). This is a drastically low number considering learning professionals want to demonstrate training’s value. So, what gives? Learning professionals fail to show the value of training for a variety of reasons, and according to LinkedIn’s research, getting employees to make time for L&D is at the top of the list. Proving value is not just something the business wants to see, it’s also what learners need. Today’s learners starkly contrast learners from a few years ago. With technology evolving at such a rapid pace, L&D is struggling to create learning solutions that can meet their needs. And when they do create those solutions, learners are challenged with finding the time to learn. If the average shelf life of skills is less than five years, then learners must continuously be learning to keep up with the pace of change. It’s a juggling act of priorities on most days for the average employee, so adding to their workload is not really an ideal option. How can L&D help employees factor in learning on a regular basis? Here are a few ways that learning can be considered during the work-week. CHAMPION LEARNING People must want to learn before any real change can take place. Yes, employees

can be required to attend training, but the outcome will likely fall short of turning into real behavior change or performance improvement. People require motivation to make a change, take on a new project or learn a new skill. Inspiring employees to learn requires tapping into their goals and values. Understanding their daily work challenges and long-term goals can help learners find value in training and learning new skills. LEVERAGE MICROLEARNING Focusing on learning opportunities in a one-hour or less timespan makes learning during the day much more obtainable. Maybe your organization offers webinars, e-learning, video or other bite-sized content, but don’t be discouraged if your company doesn’t have the resources. There are lots of free webinars and content available online. L&D should vet these resources and share them with employees. Managers should work with employees to set performance goals and suggest any skills that need improvement, and direct employees where to find applicable training. Q&A SESSIONS The ability to ask questions and receive immediate answers is helpful for all employees. Providing an open forum within the organization for employees to ask job-related questions can be a beneficial use of time. This could be a useful addition to regular department meetings or could be a social learning feature within a learning management system. As is often the case, if you

have a question about something, it is likely that someone else has the same question.

LEARNING MUST BE ENGRAINED IN COMPANY CULTURE TO TRULY BE SUCCESSFUL. UTILIZE PEERS Asking for feedback and advice from knowledgeable peers is a great learning exercise. These are watercooler-type conversations that can occur through email, instant message or literally the watercooler. These exchanges may include asking for advice on a workbased situation or feedback on an idea or assignment. People naturally want to help others, so don’t be shy about asking for advice even when deadlines are looming. Your peers are often your best resource. There are countless opportunities to learn throughout the day. The onus of learning is rightfully on the learner, but with a little direction from managers and L&D, employees can find value in small day-today activities. Learning must be engrained in company culture to truly be successful. Managers should be having frequent conversations with employees about skills development and learning opportunities. Helping employees find value and time for learning can generate positive rewards for the business and the learner. Michelle Eggleston is the editorial director at Training Industry, Inc. Email Michelle.

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WHAT’S NEXT IN TECH ERIC SHARP

7 PRINCIPLES OF ENTERPRISE LEARNING

In 2001, a group of software developers got together to discuss the state of the laborious software development methodologies of the day. Their conversation led to the creation of the Agile Manifesto, a set of principles outlining a new and lightweight method to completing software projects. Since that day, thousands of organizations have made the adjustment and harvested the benefits of these lightweight principles. I believe enterprise learning needs a similar set of principles. Adjusting our paradigm is going to be critical in order to meet the needs of our employees. These seven principles can be used by a learning leader to take their organization into the next era of enterprise learning.

1 | EMPOWER OTHERS. Empower employees and managers to curate their own learning experiences with whatever resources they need. Pressing curation nearer to the learner increases quality and validity, and let’s be honest, they are currently curating from Google anyway. Encourage self-directed learning and sharing amongst teams.

2 | CONNECT LEARNERS TO VALUABLE RESOURCES. Connect learners with each other (and to insights and feedback) for exploration, guidance and coaching. While organic connections will happen, you will need to initially engineer useful connections and interactions. In my opinion, this is the underutilized flywheel of employee engagement.

3 | DECENTRALIZE LEARNING. Provide tools to learners where they work. Learning follows the path of least resistance. Speed, simplicity and easy access matter most. So, make self-driven learning meaningful by curating the right resources and tools that are accessible by the employee in their workflow.

4 | CHANNEL CURIOSITY RATHER THAN COMMAND AND CONTROL THE LEARNING PROCESS. People can already learn anywhere, anytime, all by themselves. So, spend less time worrying about how to manage and track workers’ training and more time figuring out how to channel and feed their curiosity.

LEADERS MUST BALANCE ORGANIZATIONAL IMPERATIVES WITH INDIVIDUAL GOALS. 5 | INVEST IN ADAPTIVITY, NOT EFFICIENCY. Let go of the fantasy of one integrated system that does everything, all in a simple, seamless app. We know it’s nice to imagine. It feels familiar, it sounds safe and it would be efficient. But locking all your processes, content and users into one monolithic system won’t help you adapt when requirements and priorities evolve,

or when new, better options emerge. And they will.

6 | SHIFT PEOPLE’S PERSPECTIVES. Efficiency is not the only reason to invest in learning technology. The real goal is making your business and your people more productive, responsive and competitive. There is a large dissonance if your technology doesn’t facilitate just-intime learning. Think agile!

7 | DIG THE DATA. Use analytics, data science and machine learning to make key decisions and “ofcourse” your employees. “Of-course” refers to setting the goal of having employees say “of course” when they carry out an activity (i.e., it just makes sense). It’s much better than “wow-ing” the learner. All leaders (not just L&D leaders) have a role in impacting change and improving performance and skills across their company. Leaders must balance organizational imperatives with individual goals. Autonomy in learning can be measured against the principles above. As a result, employee engagement increases, workforce skills are enhanced and the learning culture at a company shifts into the modern age. Like the Agile Manifesto was used to change an entire industry, principles of enterprise learning can be leveraged to change your organization. Eric Sharp is the co-founder and chief technology officer at Degreed. Email Eric.

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CLOSING D E A L S

ACQUISITIONS AND NEW STRATEGIC PLAN POSITION CORNERSTONE ONDEMAND FOR THE FUTURE OF TRAINING BY TARYN OESCH

Cornerstone OnDemand, a cloudbased learning and human capital management software company, has been busy over the last year. In November, the company announced a $300 million strategic investment from Silver Lake (a global technology investment firm) and LinkedIn. At the same time, Cornerstone launched a new strategic plan that includes “leveraging its leadership position in global learning to expand its presence

RESKILLING AND UPSKILLING WILL BE CRITICAL TO FIND THE TALENT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUTURE OF WORK. in e-learning content,” according to the press release. Jason Corsello, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development at Cornerstone, says the new plan is to support the “next phase of growth for the business, going from $500 million in annual revenue to a $1 billion revenue company.” The plan includes several key components. First, following the model of many other large software companies, Cornerstone will start contracting delivery and implementation services to partners. “We believe our partnerfirst model will strengthen our extended ecosystem,” says Corsello, “and enable our clients to embrace our diverse and wellestablished partner network of global systems integrators such as Deloitte, IBM, Wipro and DXC Technology.” Cornerstone is also expanding into new markets, including e-learning content. For example, the company strengthened

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its relationship with LinkedIn last month, announcing an agreement in which the two companies are collaborating to provide LinkedIn learning content to Cornerstone customers. The press release announcing the partnership described the partnership as allowing customers to “[weave] continuous, lifelong learning into daily employee activity while also addressing extensive organizational learning requirements.” This type of learning strategy, which combines daily learning aligned with organizational needs, is increasingly important as companies compete for skilled talent and employees look more and more for employers who provide opportunities for professional development. As a 2018 World Economic Forum report stated, “As the types of skills needed in the labour market change rapidly, individual workers will have to engage in life-long learning if they are to achieve fulfilling and rewarding careers. For companies, reskilling and upskilling strategies will be critical if they are to find the talent they need and to contribute to socially responsible approaches to the future of work.” This strategy is also behind Rallyteam, a startup founded by former Cornerstone employees and in which Cornerstone is an investor, participating in an $8.6 million Series A funding round last year. Cornerstone’s strategic venture arm, the Cornerstone Innovation Fund, invests in and collaborates with early-stage cloud startups, according to Corsello. He adds, “We believe Rallyteam is addressing a big opportunity as it relates to the ‘gig economy’ and mobilizing talent. Rallyteam intelligently matches

employees to projects, tasks, ideas and people, enabling teams to quickly selforganize and companies to respond faster to change.” What’s next? In 2017, Cornerstone launched its learning experience platform, which uses artificial intelligence to personalize learning, and a video-based subscription service, Cornerstone Content Anytime. Corsello says the company plans to add new capabilities this year, including playlists, intelligent search and discovery. He adds, “Our learning experience combined with modern content is geared toward closing skill gaps and developing both” hard and soft skills. In addition to its learning products, Cornerstone is investing in its recruiting and performance suites, “adding a new candidate experience, native mobile applications and AIassisted career development applications that enable employees to control their career ambitions.” Finally, Corsello says Cornerstone is partnering with Institute for the Future, a think tank, to prepare clients “for the future of work.” The two organizations just released a forecast report called “Future Skills: Get Fit for What’s Next,” describing “the monumental shift that needs to occur” in how we work and learn. As employees, organizations and entire economies prepare for what the World Economic Forum is calling “a reskilling revolution,” Cornerstone is positioning itself as a resource for companies looking to navigate that revolution with strategic talent development. Taryn Oesch is an editor at Training Industry, Inc. Email Taryn.

C O M PA N Y N E W S

ACQ UI S I T I O N SAN DPA RTN E R SHIPS Inkling Systems, Inc. (“Inkling”), a leading enterprise software platform for field workforce operations management, announced its acquisition by Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”), a global investment firm with $6.7 billion of capital under management. The acquisition provides Inkling with growth capital and operational support to help the company realize its vision to power deskless workforces. Novo Group, Inc., a national recruiting and management consulting firm announced its merger with Xcellero Leadership, a leadership and organizational development firm, to combine their collective expertise and tools, and expand talent consulting offerings. Together they encompass the full Talent Lifecycle, from finding and recruiting talent, to ensuring that investments achieve sustainable growth.

Press Ganey announced it entered into two agreements with HealthStream, Inc. that will advance the delivery of patientcentered care. First, Press Ganey acquired HealthStream’s patient experience and engagement businesses. Second, Press Ganey will offer learning and development content on HealthStream’s workforce development platform as an integrated component of Press Ganey’s transformational platform of safety, quality, patient experience and workforce solutions. Mercer, a global consulting leader in advancing health, wealth and career, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., and edX, the leading nonprofit online learning destination, announced a strategic alliance bringing together Mercer’s consulting expertise in helping organizations build their workforce for the future with edX’s MOOC platform to provide quality education.

SAP SE and Callidus Software Inc. (CallidusCloud®) announced that SAP America, Inc. will acquire CallidusCloud, the leader in cloud-based Lead to Money (Quote-to-Cash) solutions. CallidusCloud offers a full suite of sales performance management and configure-pricequote solutions. The combination of SAP’s assets with CallidusCloud’s will deliver an end-to-end, fully cloud-based ‘Lead-to-Cash’ offering. Mandel Communications, industry leader in communication skills training, announced a technology partnership with Orai, the leading mobile talent development solution that brings personalized coaching to employees at all levels. Orai combines advancements in AI with Mandel’s communication expertise and content to enable users to assess their communication skills, get actionable feedback, and measure results over time.

INDUSTRY NE WS INTRODUCING OPPSOURCE APTITUDE SOLUTION

OppSource Aptitude™, a customer engagement platform powered by machine learning, was launched. By marrying their sales engagement platform with cutting edge machine learning technology, OppSource can create a platform to facilitate a holistic sales experience for a variety of sales professionals. COACHING AS A SERVICE

Sales development representatives (SDRs) and business development representatives (BDRs) are often left to fend for themselves when it comes to learning the company message, tech stack, systems and processes, until now. ScaleX.ai, powered by specialized

sales systems, announced Coaching as a Service to enable SDRs and BDRs to outperform against their set meeting and pipeline targets. DIGITAL ECONOMY TRAINING TO MILITARY SPOUSES

Simplilearn, a digital economy training company, and the National Military Family Association (NMFA), a nonprofit that works to strengthen and protect military families, have created scholarships for spouses of military personnel. Through these scholarships, military spouses and their families can take Simplilearn’s online courses at significant discounts and better prepare themselves for today’s highdemand technology jobs.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS TO FOSTER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Skillsoft, the global leader in corporate learning, announced Special Olympics will deploy Percipio to enhance its leadership academy. Special Olympics will use Percipio, the first intelligent learning platform, to improve the impact and performance of its leaders around the world through training.

INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING COMPANY NEWS? PLEASE SEND TO EDITOR@TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM

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