Corporate Learning Facts from Bersin

The researchers at Bersin have launched "The Corporate Learning Factbook", a new study on the US learning market. According to Bersin the US learning market is worth $46.6 billion.

Some facts they found that you might be interested in:

• The corporate learning market grew by 5% in 2005, with fastest-growing spending rates in the technology and retail sectors. Spending increases by small and medium-sized businesses (6 to 6.5%) were double those of large enterprises (approximately 3%).
• The biggest percentage of program dollars go to management and leadership training, rated as a first or second priority by 37% of respondents. These investments are fueled by succession planning and the need to develop new and mid-level management talent.
• Spending per employee varies widely, depending on industry sector and company size. The spectrum ranges from $4,000 per employee in business services to $200 in retail. The average per learner expenditure is $1,412.
• LMS spending is typically 3 to 7% of an organisation's total training expenditures. Consolidation of LMSs is a significant trend, with 26% of large enterprises consolidating or reducing the number of LMSs within their organizations over the last year. One-third plan to consolidate in the next 12 months.
• The adoption of virtual classroom technology is high in most sectors. The study found that 60% of respondents are now using virtual classes as part of corporate training.
• One-third of training groups report staff increases over last year. One-half say staffing resources have remained unchanged, and just 13% have reduced staff size.

For more information, go to www.bersin.com/factbook.

Top Five Mistakes Made When Hiring or Promoting

The most common mistake organizations make when hiring or promoting managers and executives is failing to define and assess those roles most crucial to successful performance, according to a survey by Right Management.

The most common mistakes organizations make in hiring and promoting managers and executives are:

• 43% - Inadequately defining and evaluating roles critical to successful performance
• 41% - Insufficient grooming of high-potential employees (i.e. coaching, mentoring and training)
• 29% - Using overly subjective criteria
• 27% - Too much focus on managerial and interpersonal skills - and not enough emphasis on less apparent talents, such as morale or team building
• 20% - Giving inadequate consideration to people from outside the organization

Lower employee morale and decreased productivity are the biggest consequences of bad hiring and promotion decisions. Other negative consequences of bad hires and promotions include: lost customers and market share, and higher training, recruitment and severance costs, according to the survey.

Here is an interesting fact that a colleague of mine, John W. Howard, Ph.D., collected from SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management):

• More than half of applicants lie or exaggerate in applications and resumes! (We don’t know which part is lies!)

What do most employers do to try to improve this flawed information? We check references. (Unfortunately, reference checking is prone to all of the flawed information of applications, hard to obtain, and time-consuming.) To complete the information-gathering, we use that time-honored tool of the hiring process, the interview.

So what does an interview get us? More scary statistics...

• 63% of all hiring decisions are reached in less than 5 minutes of interview time. The next 25 minutes we spend does not change or improve this decision.
• Interviewers have less than a 15% chance of identifying lies from application information
  in an interview.
• Interviews predict job success only 14% of the time.
• As much as we try not to, demographic variables such as age, race, or gender influence interviewer judgments.

How can we overcome the multiple challenges described? Introduce as much good, accurate, reliable, valid information into the process as you can. Use valid, reliable, legally defensible assessments. Assessments may include behavioral assessment tools, workplace simulations, situational judgment, cognitive ability testing, etc.

When we have access to reliable, subject information in the hiring and promoting process, we also gain the following benefits:

• Turnover goes down!
• Cost of the hiring process diminishes!
• More hires become “Top Performers”!
• Most importantly, profits increase!

Seems like a good place to start!

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Shannon Lear Martin is the President of Austin, Texas based TrainUtopia (http://www.trainutopia.com) and has been helping companies improve their organizational performance to meet their business goals. She is also considered an expert in training effectiveness measurement. Shannon publishes a monthly newsletter “Training News You Can Use” , which is jammed with resources, articles and tips on performance improvement, training and development. She can be reached at smartin@trainutopia.com.

Coming to a Corporate Trainer Near You - No More Orders!

As I've been evangelizing to my clients lately, the role of the corporate "trainer" is evolving away from an order taker to that of a performance consultant.

“There is a very strong trend in the best-practice organizations to move away from being an order taker,” Marcia Dresner, senior researcher and consultant with Corporate University Xchange, said. “To move away from somebody who responds to ‘We need a course. Go and produce a course,’ to a much broader role as a performance consultant. Determine if learning is an issue and provide the appropriate kind of intervention rather than just throwing courses at a business problem.”

Sue Todd, President of Corporate University Xchange, said this move to the performance consultant role is indicative of a macro-level trend similar to the one the IT industry experienced a few years ago. “IT was really considered an order taker. People would ask for new technologies and new systems. IT would come in and put them up, and they would be there and nobody would use them. The company would get no benefit, and there’d be a lot of money wasted on a solution that didn’t contribute to improved performance. Training has followed that exact path in terms of their maturity levels and is coming to that point now where they’re really starting to get some credibility in organizations that they really can have a significant impact on performance.”

“That goes along with an increase in accountability,” Dresner explained. “People need to be accountable. Business leaders are insisting that learning be accountable for results. Leaders do not want to hear learning professionals tell them how many courses they taught. They want to hear how sales are improving or how profits are improved as a result of learning. Many organizations are doing this by sitting down with their business leaders beforehand. That’s the other really important trend. The one that says ‘We are going to decide what the purpose of this intervention is before we do it. We need to agree on the metrics that will measure our success.’”

Hallelujah and Amen! Metrics, anyone?

Click here to read full article.

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Source: Chief Learning Officer Magazine, June 2006.

The Key to Fixing Employee Weaknesses

In a perfect world, managers would never have to worry about employees that don't meet performance expectations. Employees would come onboard with the requisite skills, they would easily adapt to change, and if there were any skill gaps, they would eagerly put in extra hours and training to reach their full potential. In the real world, however, employees manage to slip through the interview process and come into an organization under-prepared. Others fail to progress with changing times and responsibilities. And some just don’t get it, and they make no attempts to improve their performance (read: government employees within two years of retirement).

According to a nationwide survey from NFI Research, the top course of action for managers to deal with weaknesses in their subordinates is to discuss the weakness. The next leading courses of action are to provide additional training, support, regular meetings and then put them on notice.

Even with ongoing performance discussions, only 20 percent of senior executives and four percent of managers said they are extremely successful at correcting weaknesses in others to meet the manager’s expectations or requirements. There are also times that the person and the task or job are no longer a fit, but the challenge is to identify it sooner rather than later for the benefit of both parties.

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Shannon Lear Martin is the President of Austin, Texas based TrainUtopia (www.trainutopia.com) and has been helping companies improve their organizational performance to meet their business goals. She is also considered an expert in training effectiveness measurement. Shannon publishes a monthly newsletter “Training News You Can Use” , which is jammed with resources, articles and tips on performance improvement, training and development. She can be reached at smartin@trainutopia.com.

Nano-Learning: Bite Sized Chunks of Knowledge

Elliot Masie, president of The Masie Center and the director of the Learning Consortium, has done it again. He is one of the premiere thought leaders in the learning world, and has now come up with a new approach to learning, Nano-learning.

Right now, most learning modules start at 15 minutes and often cover hours or days of involvement. But most learning moments are teachable moments. Malcolm Knowles described the perfect teachable moment as the intersection of a small question with a great small answer. That is at the heart of nano-learning.

You can read the full article titled "NanoLearning: Miniaturization of Design." on the Chief Learning Officer website.

Bringing Government Training into the Measurement Era

I recently spoke at a meeting for education and training personnel from a variety of Texas state agencies. Needless to say, it was an education for both sides. Recognizing the need to measure training effectiveness is more apparent in the private sector (think profits), and less developed in the public sector.

In the corporate world, training departments are maximizing their ability to be internal consultants to better align training deliverables and outcomes with corporate goals and objectives. The main goal for a corporate training initiative is to improve people's skills, knowledge and abilities to positively affect the bottom line. In the government arena, training departments have a budget and they need to spend the money or lose it the following budget cycle.

My entire purpose in this presentation was to demonstrate the many ways workplace competencies could be used to measure and demonstrate the ROI (Return On Investment) of training through conversion of performance improvement into dollars. Dennis Kravetz of Kravetz and Associates has written and spoken at length on this incredibly valuable topic.

One of the areas I covered was using individual and aggregate workplace competency scores to determine focused training and development needs. Many of the group stared at me like I had grown a second nose. One attendee commented, "You mean training departments actually get that kind of information?"

Another person told me, "All we really use are smile sheets, and we know that's not enough."

I proceeded to educate the group on the variety of uses for workplace competencies, all of which better align training delivery with the needs of each job. In addition, if you have a baseline of the individual's competency, you can re-measure after training delivery (or after time back on the job) to further assess the true impact of the training on workplace performance.

By the end of the meeting, each person had a new box of tools to take back to their department - measurement was their new motto.

Despite the fact that many technology advancements have come from the military in the past, I think it's safe to say that the corporate world is leading the way in development of targeted training and measures of effectiveness.

Remember, what can be measured can be improved!

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Shannon Martin is the President of Austin, Texas-based TrainUtopia (www.trainutopia.com) and has been helping companies improve their organizational performance to meet their business goals. She is also considered an expert in training effectiveness measurement. Shannon publishes a monthly newsletter “Training News You Can Use” http://www.trainutopia.com/news.htm jammed with resources, articles and tips to help companies improve their approach to training and development. She can be reached at smartin@trainutopia.com.

iPods Invade National Semiconductor

Here's a news item that I ran across today that made me wonder, "How on earth will this add value to the organization?" Don't get me wrong, I love the iPod, but I don't see it enabling value for their customers. Bravo to the sales team at Apple for getting this deal.

National Semiconductor said today that it is giving each of its 8,500 employees a 30GB fifth-generation iPod. The company said the iPods will be used as communication tools at National, allowing employees to download National podcasts and other communications. “We’re looking for new and more effective ways to communicate with our employees—and the iPods will help us do both,” said Brian L. Halla, National’s chairman and CEO. “Our employees were vital contributors to our most successful year in National’s 47-year history, and we wanted to equip them with the tools to help us create more value for our customers,” said Halla. “The Apple iPod exemplifies the next stage of the consumer electronics revolution as content such as downloadable music, movies and digital photos—as well as a compelling user experience—takes center stage.”

With the advent of Web 2.0, and Learning 2.0, etc. the iPod is indeed a part of this evolution of the digital learning space. There are some incredible learning solutions being offered via podcasts and the iPod's video capabilities (see podTraining as an excellent example), but can National Semiconductor ensure that the iPods are used exclusively for business-related activities (is that even a requirement)? It remains to be seen...

Diversity: Beyond the Black and White Basics

Every now and then, I realize that I haven't given certain topics recent consideration. Diversity has been out of sight, out of mind for me lately- and then I read the following results of a recent survey regarding diversity, and it jumped to the front again!

According to a recent survey of 3,100 senior HR executives, minorities often get less coaching in organizations today. The Novations Group Internet survey found that 25 percent of respondents report that minorities get coaching at a lower rate than their proportional presence in the workforce. In addition, the survey stated that virtually no respondents reported that minorities receive executive coaching at a higher rate.

“We have found that coaching, mentoring and sponsorship to be part of most companies as an informal system, and that over the past decade, coaching has been generally extended to an increasing number of employees because it is a key driver for upward mobility within organizations,” explained Audra Bohannon, vice president of diversity and inclusion practice for Novations Group. “We looked at the high-potential groups in these organizations and how minorities were represented, and they tended to be represented in small numbers if at all.”

Diversity inclusion strategies, which are about understanding, valuing and making the most of the individual differences, can help organizations achieve a culture that supports and values every employee. In fact, organizations that tend to thrive today value diversity and are committed to developing a culture and workforce that will support the expanding global marketplace. “The data shows that a homogenous group that is performing well versus a diverse group that is well managed that the diverse group will outperform the homogenous group because you get diverse opinions, you get diverse thought, ideas and experiences. It really allows you to go to a higher level,” Bohannon said. “However, a diverse group that is allowed to run amuck, that is not managed and that is not embraced, tends to under perform compared to a homogenous group.”

Because learning and development opportunities can be directly linked to increases in retention, it is important to provide all motivated employees with the tools, including coaching, to ensure opportunity. However, to offer everyone opportunity for growth is difficult when many organizations’ budgets are strapped. Organizations will need take an out-of-box approach to provide personal growth opportunities for all motivated employees.

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Source: Workforce Performance Solutions Magazine, June 6, 2006

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Building Trust - Foundation for a Better Workplace

Nine out of ten employees experience gossip and backbiting as the number one breach of trust at work.

Lack of trust also leads to workers who don't feel like their manager is always acting in their interest, and workers who sense they can't take co-workers at their word. The result is a disfunctional workforce, let alone an HR migraine!

While the importance of trust is widely recognized as a foundation for successful relationships these days, many organizations are now incorporating it as part of their mission statement or even adopting it as a core competency. There are still plenty of problems for companies in addressing this area.

Step one is making workers aware of how trust is built, violated and, whenever necessary, repaired. Training programs that define trust for employees and provide them with instruction for preserving and fixing it should be given on an ongoing basis, but primers may be necessary at certain critical junctions in a company's life such as during mergers and acquisitions.

Training that emphasizes the importance of communicating fears and concerns directly with managers and co-workers, rather than relying on the old gossip mill, therefore, is essential.

In addition to unclear (or unused) channels of communication, workers may feel their manager doesn't trust them if they end up doing work that doesn't take advantage of the skills they were hired for. When people have skills, abilities or insights they are not able to offer, they often feel as though they are not being trusted by their leaders. They feel as though they are not being perceived as trustworthy, and not feeling trusted, they are not trusting in return.

Trainers and HR execs who are able to effectively match employees' skill sets to their work may see an organization that's not only more efficient, but one that suffers a lot less from interpersonal problems.

Source: Inside Training Newsletter, May 31, 2006