MindLeaders: Fueling the Learning Revolution

LMS Market Still Strong, Despite Recession

Bersin and Associates is predicting that the $850 million LMS market will continue to grow at a rate of 10 to 15 percent. This is good news for learning and development organizations. The strength in the LMS market indicates that corporations view employee development as a business driver that they are willing to invest in. Training is moving out of “nice to have” into “must have.” Finally.

In addition, informal learning and the advent of social learning networks have changed the game. More and more corporations are trying to embrace information sharing, collaboration, and harness the power of informal learning that is happening within their organizations. In some cases the LMS is a major player in facilitating this. But certainly not in all cases.

The downside to the good news is that LMS systems are still difficult to manage. They are generally complex and in some instances cost millions of dollars and take a few years to fully implement. This issue is going to get worse over the next few years. Talent management and learning management are converging, and corporations are already wishing for more interoperability between LMS systems, talent management systems, and HRIS systems.

If your organization doesn’t have an LMS yet, chances are they will be looking at one in the future. If they do, ensure that there are clear goals for what functionality is important to the organization. Is it customizable reporting? Is it simply to serve up e-learning? Is it to provide an internal social network? Be clear about what is needed, and then assess vendors to determine if they have the potential to meet those needs.

What do you think? Is your company assessing or implementing an LMS system this year? What features are most important for your organization?

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Taking a certification exam requires preparation, commitment, and money. Serious effort and career succession plans are on the line. Want some extra confidence that, when test day arrives, you're properly prepared to pass? To get all Cajun-chef-y, at MindLeaders, we'll "gar-on-tee" that you're ready!

Our Certification Guarantee says that if you pass our study guide courses with at least an 80% score, you will pass your certification test or you'll get your money back. We're that confident that our study guides cover every objective and give you all the tools you need.

There's some back story to the Certification Guarantee. We've just now added this page to our web site and a big splashy Flash piece to the home page, but in reality, we've had this guarantee in place for years. Somehow, as time passed, a lot of people forgot that it was there.

But a month or so ago, a "Whatever happened to..." conversation brought the Certification Guarantee back to life. (Kind of appropriate for Halloween!) So we're dusting off the pledge, shining it up, and putting it in a place of honor so that everyone knows about it.

Study up and get certified. Give new skills and confidence to your IT teams or your project managers (this covers the PMP, too!). We gar-on-tee it!

Social Media's Rise Doesn't Mean Formal Learning is Dead

The landscape of employee development is shifting under our feet. While learning and development organizations are facing lots of changes, two developments are driving most of them.

·     Technology and social media are allowing information to be shared quickly and easily

·     Learning management and talent management are converging

Remember when e-learning came into the market and there was lots of talk about the death of instructor-led training? Stand up training is still here. E-learning is here. And now we have the influx of social media platforms and a lot of chatter about how it will wipe out formal learning (and e-mail and other forms of communication). And guess what? It won’t.

Formal learning is far from dead. The fact that learning management and talent management are converging is one reason why. Integrating learning into career development and performance improvement will always be formalized in organizations. And of course content lends itself to different deliveries. That which lends itself to instructor-led or e-learning formats isn’t likely to be completely replaced by the new social media and information sharing technologies. So social media's rise hardly means the death for formal learning. It does make for some interesting challlenges though.

Learning organizations are faced with helping organizations integrate these technologies in a way that makes sense. New roles will emerge and new skills will become necessary for learning organizations to move forward effectively.  But the ones who can will reap some real benefits. These new technologies let peers easily share information. They allow transparency between groups. They make it harder to blow smoke about what you are up to. They practically eliminate the ability to information-hoard. Yes, there are some who won’t like that much, but the benefit of easily accessible organizational knowledge is well-worth the price.   

Squeezing in Time for Training

Several years ago I worked for a newspaper, and one of my co-workers liked to wear a shirt that said, “I was put on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind I will never die.” All of us in the office thought it was hilarious and quite apropos. It seemed like we were always on deadline and running behind. And the thought of that making us immortal did lessen the stress.

Not much other than my job titles has changed since then. The workday pace certainly hasn’t slowed. My to-do list hasn’t miraculously gotten shorter, although there are an increasing number of books and tools to help me manage it better. I am always pulled in many directions at once. And I don’t think I am alone. This is the reality of today’s workplace. And it’s a tough competitor when you are trying to squeeze in time for training.

If you and your staff you don’t make time for training, it won’t happen. It’ll get lost in that workday frenzy, buried in the marathon list of to-dos. So here are some strategies that have worked for me over the years to squeeze in the training I needed.

• Block out time on your electronic calendar so that you will be reminded to start training and others will know you are busy.
• Put a sign on your door or cube entrance to encourage others to go away until you are finished. Humor is acceptable.
• Use some earphones to deaden the inevitable noise around you. You don’t have to pipe music into them and no one has to know that but you.
• Borrow a vacant office or small conference room for your session. If they can’t find you, you can’t be bothered. Plus you’ll look like you are doing something really important, which you are.
• Schedule time for group discussions and debriefs to ensure that information is shared at the end of projects.
• Declare a training time-out for you and your staff, say a couple of hours on a Friday afternoon each month. (No one is working on Friday afternoon anyway and the time-out is valuable for everyone.)

This list isn’t comprehensive, but simply things that have worked well for me. What strategies have worked for you? How do you squeeze in time for training?

Thanks for the vote!

MindLeaders is a finalist for a 2009 “Best of Elearning!” Award and we’re just so excited about it. Of course, part of the thrill is that the Best of Elearning awards are the only reader’s choice awards in the market. That makes the honor extra special to us. We appreciate all those readers who took the time to nominate us, and are so happy that we have had a positive impact on your learning experience. Thanks for the vote! (And keep taking those courses!)

As long as I have you here, we’d like to know what topics you’d like to hear more about. We want to make sure this blog (and any other content) we create is addressing your interests. So don’t be shy! Leave a comment and let us know what topics you’d like to hear more about. You could even point us to posts from the last year that you’ve found to be particularly helpful. We appreciate the feedback!

Leadership Mastery Demands Experience

Leadership development programs utilize many different tools to help build future leaders. Everything from courses to workshops to books can help the beginner begin to establish some level of competence. The trick is moving from competence to mastery. In this month’s issue of Leadership Excellence Kim Lamoureux argues leadership mastery is only attained through experience. Thus companies who wish to create a team of exceptional leaders will establish ways to accelerate learning experiences.

Creating experiential learning opportunities for leaders isn’t a quick and easy solution. (And throwing a new leader into the role with a “sink or swim” attitude isn’t what we’re talking about.) Lamoureux suggests three methods for incorporating learning experiences into your leadership development program.

1. Simulations – Lamoureux’s examples center on in-person simulations where a team role plays different situations. However, online simulations and decision trees can provide this element as well. As usual, a blended approach will likely yield the best results.
2. Job Rotation – Many companies choose the best and brightest for their rotation programs. Rotating members through different jobs provides quick experience and a broad base of knowledge to draw on when making business decisions. It also allows management to see the relative strengths and weaknesses of participants and choose roles that fit them well for permanent placements.
3. Action Learning – Action learning uses small teams to work on and solve business problems. I see this as more of a leadership practice approach. A bit more involved than a couple hour role play simulation but not as long-term as a two year job rotation. The team is assigned a business problem project and then leaders are evaluated on ability to perform under pressure, define recommendations, deliver solutions, and how well the team functioned as a group.

I particularly like the action learning approach. Maybe it’s because I worked in project management for so long, but projects are good crucibles for molding talent. Projects allow for fixed-deadlines and show how well people behave themselves when under pressure to deliver results. It also gives people a framework to work within that they are familiar with while trying to learn new skills.

While these three methods are great suggestions, I’m sure there are other effective techniques to give young leaders some good learning experiences. What other experience-based activities have you seen in leadership development? Were they effective?

The Golden Rule of Training

Is the recession over? It may be too early to say, but there are some signs of recovery. Unfortunately employment isn’t one of those things. Employment recovery lags since employers don’t want to add headcount prematurely. But even in this atmosphere there are some interesting trends that everyone should pay attention to. An annual study from Robert Half International and CareerBuilder.com found that:

• Over half of employers polled planned to hire full-time employees in the next year. About 4 in 10 will hire contract workers, project workers, or part-time employees.
• 4 in 10 employers expect the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to create jobs for their organizations over the next couple of years.
• 6 in 10 employers are willing to negotiate with qualified candidates for higher compensation.

The last finding is perhaps the most surprising, since you’d expect employers to be less willing to negotiate with an abundant labor pool. The problem with the abundant labor pool is that there is still a shortage of skilled workers. Employers who participated in the study reported that over 40 percent of the resumes they receive are from unqualified candidates.

This is good news for qualified candidates and a mixed bag for employers. Employers who take care of their employees, provide fair compensation, and adequate opportunities for development will differentiate themselves from those who don’t. There’s also a warning shot for organizations that are cutting benefits and piling on the work with the attitude that employees “should be happy to have a job.”

• More than half of polled employees plan to make a career change or go back to school when the economy improves.
• A Monster.com poll found that 89 percent of employees would consider switching jobs.

The current labor market may lull managers into thinking that their actions don’t matter since immediate impact isn’t felt in turnover and retention numbers. But employees will remember how they were treated during this tough time and actions now will either ignite the desire to leave or retain talent. And guess who will hit the door first? That’s right. It’s the high performers.

The Golden Rule still applies. Treat others fairly and with respect. And for employers there is also a Golden Rule of Training. Give employees opportunities to grow and they’ll perform better and stick around longer. That same study showed that 20 percent of employees hoped for better benefits as a retention tool. At the top of the wishlist? Tuition reimbursement or subsidized training.

What if Learning Was Free?

A few weeks ago Seth Godin blogged that if TV ads were free, people would have learned to do advertising by simply doing it. Without that barrier to entry, people would just do advertising instead of talking about it and obsessing about it because it’s expensive.

Harold Jarche picked up on the parallels that can be drawn with corporate learning.  Instructional design systems and curriculum development is expensive. It takes time and energy. And once created, no one wants to do it again, or make significant changes to it.

Technology is removing barriers to entry in every industry and discipline. Internet technologies make distributing information to lots of people cheap. Want to engage with a community and ask for their feedback? Consider a focused blog directed at that audience. Want to build a collaborative group? Enter social media platforms. Didn’t get the results you wanted? Try, try again. After all, in the brave new world of technology learning really can be free.

But here’s the trick. You’ll have to let go of some control. You’ll have to facilitate and be a conduit, rather than a director. This can be scary, but it can work. Need proof? Take the Work Literacy site which helps teach Web 2.0 technology to learning professionals. Cost to develop: Zero. Time to create: A week. Content updates: Courtesy of participants. So there’s the proof that it can work. (Check out the site, it’s got some great content.)

Oh and get out there and start experimenting! If it doesn’t work the way you’d hoped, try something else. But stop waiting. The time is now.

What do you think? How has technology removed the barriers to entry for learning? Are you experimenting enough?

Voting is open for the Best of Elearning Awards

The voting booths are open for the "Best of Elearning" 2009 awards from Elearning! Magazine (also a fine publication to sign up for if you're in the learning field). These award nominations are based completely on public voting.

[The magnanimous, community-building part:] This is a great chance for your voice to be heard and to nominate your favorite elearning products and companies.

[The self-serving horn-tooting part:] And if you're a MindLeaders client, I sure hope you'll remember us for the content and LMS categories!

Voting closes this Wednesday, September 30th. Visit the ballot to submit your thoughts. You can vote for as many or as few categories as you wish.

Keep up with ADA, FMLA, and H1N1 news with our latest courses

MindLeaders has released 27 new elearning courses, with a special focus on the latest in human resources regulations and flu health.

We've updated the "Managing within the Law" series to include the latest regulations for ADA and the FMLA. And for those who subscribe to our Health and Safety package, new courses have been added about the Swine Flu and the H1N1 pandemic.

All of our newest courses are in the following series. These courses are automatically added to your course lists for everyone who has course package subscriptions.

• CompTIA Network+ 2009 (N10-004)
• Managing Within the Law: Complying with ADA Requirements as of 2009
• Managing Within the Law: Family and Medical Leave Act as of 2009
• Visio 2007
• Health and Safety
• Swine Flu
• Pandemic: H1N1 Flu
• Identity Theft: What is it?
• Respirators: Change Schedules
• The Ozone Standard
• Powered Industrial Trucks - Part 1
• Powered Industrial Trucks - Part 2
• Powered Industrial Trucks - Part 3
• Shift Workers
• Boilers

Enjoy the latest, and as always, please let us know any questions or requests!