An article in CLO magazine describes what it takes to make learning stick in the workforce.  As financial belts are tightened across the nation, it is important to evaluate each department and their measurable contribution to the workplace.  The question addressed in this specific article looks at the effectiveness or potential effectiveness of learning and development departments.  Are our people learning specific tools to help increase productivity?  Are our people being trained to work most effeciently?  How are our training sessions being assessed to determine these things?  Effective L&D departments can easily answer these questions but there are some key factors that help.

L&D doesn't happen in a bubble.  Training ought to be directly and clearly related to an individual's expected role.  The public schools are famous for making teachers of all disciplines sit through a training that doesn't effect their classroom.  Sure it may be good information, but wouldn't their time be better spent elsewhere?  Employers and trainers need to constantly evaluate their audience to make sure that learning is relevant, important, and useful. 

Follow-up is another key.  You can't introduce something new, expound on it, and then just expect everyone to jump in.  You must set up clear expectations for implementation and accountability for application.  When can we realistically expect our people to begin using this new tool?  Are our people really using this new tool like they ought?  Without these guidelines, implementation will be indefinitely delayed and your training resources will be wasted. 

When designing your next learning program, decide whether learning is worth it to the audience and then up the stakes if the current plan falls short. 

An article in Chief Learning Officer talks about the value of being flexible in a learning environment.  Silly Putty is used as an example of a substance that displays the qualities vital to the learning process.  Click here to read the full article for yourself.  As I reflect on the learning process, it occurs to me that flexiblity is important but so is plain flexing.  Sometimes in education or training circumstances it is necessary to remain rigid and unmoving. 

There are appropriate times to be fluid and stretchy, for example, in the delivery mode.  Learners may need to recieve the material in a variety of ways.  It is necessary that the educator be flexible enough to accomodate those variety of learning styles.  However, the WHAT of the delivery may not be a flexible point at all.  Educators need also to be able to recognize what they must remain firm on. 

As with any physical workout, the mental workout of learning a new skill or process will require some stretching and then some flexing.  The stretching allows the muscles to prepare for the development that is inherent in the flexing to follow.  Educators demonstrating the stretching through the use of a variety of methods and approaches to the classroom while the toning and building of change is based on remaining firm.   

"One Size Fits One", the title of an article in CLO magazine, discusses the importance of making the engagement in the workplace of utmost importance.  In order to do that, the article suggests that the workplace be "customizable and flexible", especially on issues like where and when employees accomplish their agendas, how they pursue and have access to further education and training, and how and when they progress through the workforce hierarchy.  The idea is that employees whose needs are met, who are challenged, and who feel comfortably engaged will become loyal to the employer. 

I agree that the ideal, utopian workplace is one where each individual is treated as such and valued for that individuality.  Where thoughts are encouraged, where hard times are understood, where ideals are shared, where folks feel at home....these are the hallmarks of such a workplace.  This type of environment is fostered through intentionality, being intentional about cultivating the potential within each individual.

But is this too lofty a goal?  Part of me thinks that the workplace just described is just a figment of my imagination, while the other, hard-working, part of me wants to say 'suck it up, it's a job not a marriage, you go to work to get paid and hopefully to enjoy it in the process but not to be fulfilled and completely satisfied'.  What happened to the ideal of hard work for the value of a job well done?  It doesn't require any stroking or exceptions, it requires that you show up and do what is expected of you, sometimes more but never less than that.   This generation of entitlement may have gotten it's claws too deep into the workforce.  We ought to be grateful for the job we have, not spending time wishing it was something it is not.  

Training and education organizations across the country are trying to appeal to the jobless masses with relevant course offerings and veiled promises of job placement.  Employers across the country are becoming more selective in who they will even interview, using qualifications, certifications, and education as the main sorting tools.  So it makes sense that these training organizations are offering more courses that are directly tied to the workforce.

I recieved a catalog in the mail today from a local community college.  They have dedicated an entire section of their course listings to workforce development.  I applaud their efforts to serve the community with relevant offerings, however, in some cases, I think they have missed the mark.  For example, under customized training, students can register for a course called "Rockstar Networking".  I understand that networking is a valuable tool in the business world, I am just not convinced that it can be taught in the classroom style.  And the instructor isn't even a rockstar!

It is good to see organizations getting on board with the idea of providing relevant training, certifications, and courses but folks run the risk of wasting what little money they may have on course that make a big promise but can't possibly have that much follow-thru.  My advice would be to stick to the courses that are specifically required for the field your are hoping to pursue.  There aren't many out of work adults who are still hoping to make it big as a rockstar. 

Organizations across the country, and the world for that matter, are streamlining their operations to ensure cost efficient management.  An article from Chief Learning Officer discusses the impact of cost cutting and the importance of innovation on an organization's bottom line.    Click here to read the article for yourself.  Training and education are essential if an organization wants to move forward.  The question is, how can these things be managed most effectively and still produce the desired results?

One way to ensure effectiveness is to employ a learning management system.  TrainingForce, a leader in LMS offerings, is a flexible, customizable option that allows an organization to track many different aspects of training and education.  This system allows you to monitor registrations, course offerings, material consumption and more.  For small operations one can choose less options and for the large organization one can have features added to suit their needs. 

Maintaining accurate records and tracking course participation are essential to the bottomline.  TrainingForce is an easy-to-use solution that offers these options.  TrainingForce offers a centralized plan that helps you easily maintain your training needs at a reasonable price.  If you are looking to streamline your training department, consider TrainingForce.   

Whether you are an early childhood educator, a secondary teacher, or a corporate trainer, you will probably agree that it is much easier to teach to the top of the class.  Educators of all types find that students who demonstrate aptitude, ability, and desire are much easier to teach.  An Alexandria, VA area school is an example of this.  According to the Washington Post, T.C. Williams is on notice from the federal government that they had better close the obvious achievement gap, and soon!  This school, like many around the country, have just fallen into a pretty easy trap of teaching to the top and being so pleased with their success that the bottom gets overlooked.

So what about the bottom?  I have a theory about education and why some folks seem so satisfied with mediocre or less-than-mediocre achievement.  It's call the level of indifference.  In America, the land of opportunity, the mentality of parents has always been that 'as long as my children are better off than me, then I've done all I can do'.  For example, the illiterate parent may say that as long as my child learns to read, he or she has arrived at success.  That parent, and essentially that child, have reached the level of indifference where they no longer strive or desire to achieve any other educational goals.  Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to this.  Many children, out of pure determination and sometimes desperation, pull themselves up out of educational poverty and surpass even the highest of expectations.

My theory, however, may explain why and how a school like T.C. Williams has been allowed to facilitate such an enormous gap between the top of the class and the bottom.  Perhaps, those students who fall into the bottom have reached their level of indifference and they, and their parents, no longer desire to achieve any more educational goals.  I'm not saying it's right.  A school, a classroom should be a place where all students are challenged to increase their intelligence on a daily basis.  But this may just help explain the situation in Alexandria and elsewhere. 

Many organizations and operations are going global.  They are expanding their horizons to multiple locations around the world.  The top executives have weighed the risks, observed the markets, and have concluded that their product will be a success in this new location.  Inevitably the organization's dynamics are in for a major change.  Culture, currency, and time change are a few of the complications that await.  However, communication will be the most important change in the workforce.

Many global organizations rely on a few folks in key positions to speak multiple languages and to facilitate the necessary communications.  How revolutionary would it be, however, if an organization encouraged and provided language training for all employees?  According to an article in CLOmedia.com this may become more possible with a new offering from Rosetta Stone.  Click here to read more.   

If communication is open and accurate an organization can save itself many headaches and extra hours.  Encouraging employees to take the language learning initiative into their own hands allows the individual to feel more comfortable with the pace, content, and structure.  An organization that goes global with its domestic staff tackling the language barrier head on is more likely to experience success. 

As reported in the NY Times, educators are increasingly frustrated with Obama’s Race to the Top.  As school districts across the country crunch numbers and are forced to let go of quality teachers because of budget shortfalls, Obama and education secretary, Arne Duncan, are seen more like dog trainers trying to teach the rest of us how high and when we are supposed to jump and then rewarding us with a bone.

Education is not a game.  We shouldn’t be playing around with it.  True, it needs some major overhauling.  It also needs a large infusion of financial support that will go to supply physical needs and increase pay to hard-working, highly successful teachers.

But at the bottom of this education mess, we find people.  Students.  And families.  We could implement the most cutting edge, successful programs, hire the most qualified teachers, and fill the classrooms with technology but if we don’t address the problems that are plaguing students outside of the classroom, then we haven’t solved any issues.  Those things are only short term solutions to long term problems.  We have to help people learn to view education as a worthy, important endeavor.  Only then will this mess start to be sorted out.

Have you ever met an educator whose impact has been so profound and exceptional that their absence causes a Grand Canyon-like crevice in the environment?  These profound educators are few and far between.  Their existence and contribution to their immediate setting is significant but their influence reaches far beyond that time or space.  As their term comes to a close, how should the remaining members of the education community prepare for the transition?

It is important to remember that people can’t be replaced.  As soon as a position becomes available, folks tend to look for one of two things: someone who is very similar to the predecessor, or someone who is completely opposite to the predecessor.  Either way, you are destined to disappointment when the new person doesn’t live up to your preconceived expectations.  Keep in mind that everyone will bring something different to the table and then appreciate them for who they are and not for who they aren’t.

While it is fun to reminisce about the good ole days, it can be detrimental to progress to live in the past.  Reminding the new person of how great their predecessor was can lead to insecurity and resentment.  Again, it is important to focus on what the new person can and does bring to the table. 

Disengagement.  That’s the buzz word in an article in Chief Learning Officer.  Click here (http://www.clomedia.com/industry_news/2010/June/5214/index.php) to read the article for yourself.  Essentially, the article states that high potential employees are not engaged or satisfied in their current positions.  The question is why?

As the article explains, folks are disengaged although their positions seem suited to who they are and their talents.  As suggested, employers should seek to provide those high potential employees with the opportunity to find ownership and leadership roles within their position.

Even the best efforts of the employer may not turn a disengaged employee to a loyal, unwavering, wholly committed employee.  I would suggest that the pressures facing those high potential employees outside of the office are the most powerful source of disengagement.  Until employers can help employees balance stress like childcare and family demands, financial surprises, and more, there will be disengagement.  Life is tough and most of us feel at least some level of disengagement when life throws a curve ball.  Having an employer who is not only understanding, but actually helpful, will increase an employees commitment and satisfaction.