December 2012 - Chief Learning Officer - CLO Media https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/ Chief Learning Officer is a multimedia publication focused on the importance, benefits and advancements of a properly trained workforce. Wed, 14 Aug 2019 19:20:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-CLO-icon-Redone-32x32.png December 2012 - Chief Learning Officer - CLO Media https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/ 32 32 Build Community for More Workforce Diversity https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/28/build-community-for-more-workforce-diversity__trashed/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/28/build-community-for-more-workforce-diversity__trashed/#respond Fri, 28 Dec 2012 01:05:00 +0000 http://live-talentmgt.pantheon.io/2012/12/28/build-community-for-more-workforce-diversity/ Diversity is at the top of many corporate priorities for 2013, but seeing progress requires thinking long-term.

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Demography is destiny, and for years now, organizations have come to recognize the continued march of diversity within American society.

Recent U.S. Census projections indicate the country will have a majority-minority population by 2043, meaning the combined numbers of Asian, Hispanic and African-Americans will outnumber the white population.

At younger ages, the transition will come much sooner than many think. For children under age 18, the magic year is 2018. That puts pressure on organizations to make workplace diversity and inclusion, particularly in recruitment, a top priority.

The call for more diversity and complaint about the lack of diverse candidates have been a “steady drumbeat” among HR leaders during the last 12-14 months, said Bill Sebra, North America president at Futurestep, a talent management consultancy and division of Korn/Ferry International. He expects the tempo to increase in 2013 as organizations realize the demographic reality but also the performance benefits of workforce diversity.

“The more diverse the organization is, the stronger the organization performs financially,” he said, citing a study that showed a 33 percent performance advantage diverse organizations enjoy over their competitors.

As the demographics of an increasingly diverse population become clear, the labor market forces constraining organizations are coming into focus as well. The picture isn’t pretty. There simply aren’t enough diverse candidates available in fields such as engineering and consulting or in critical management positions.

“In mid-tier managers, there is a critical shortage in virtually every organization, particularly for female professionals,” Sebra said.

Organizations that are setting what they see as achievable diversity goals are consistently failing to achieve them. Sebra cites one client that for several years running has aimed for 29 percent representation of women in its software and consulting business.

“On the surface you would think that was a very achievable goal, but they’ve not achieved it ever,” he said.

The problem in this case is a mismatch between the demands of the job — frequent travel and long hours — and conflicting personal and family commitments of many qualified female candidates.

To Build Diversity, Think Community
For talent managers, building greater workforce diversity requires a long-term approach that puts an emphasis on finding and attracting a diverse slate of candidates to join the company. It starts with a clear strategy and outreach to targeted communities, such as groups like Women In Technology. Talent managers should also look to their internal talent to act as representatives of the organization.

“Leverage the female executives or the diverse executives you have in the firm already,” Sebra said. “Get those folks out in the market. Let it be known that this is a great place to work and why.”

Candidates want to hear the real story about working at the company and see there are people like them who have achieved success. Leveraging internal talent to deliver that message ensures the organization is fishing in the right pond, Sebra said.

“You have to understand where the applicants live, what gets them excited about joining an organization or enterprise,” he said. “You’ve got to work that particular target audience with a little different strategy than you would your general population and you’ve got to capitalize on that.”

Quotas are being used more often, particularly at the board level, where the European Union is working to enact a requirement that 40 percent of corporate board positions be filled with women. But more important is that a goal or quota is backed up by an inclusive management approach, one that is welcoming of diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

“The key is getting focused on networking and pushing into those markets to make sure you’re being very inclusive, to make sure that we are sourcing in those places and carrying that message home. A lot of this comes back to the enterprise,” Sebra said.

Attracting and retaining diverse candidates comes down to creating an environment that they want to be a part of and then using those success stories to build a rich talent community. Sebra said recruiters need to take a different approach, moving away from a requisition-centric model based on immediate job role needs to a more purposeful talent-centric model where talent managers “look at the best talent in the market and then figure out where they fit in my enterprise.”

Professional sports teams do this well, he said, scouting for talent and potential first rather than filling an immediate hole in the player roster. Short-term spots will always need to be filled but the overarching goal is to view the long-term needs of the business needs.

“They are very intentional about being three, four or five years ahead of schedule about looking at the right talent so they can drive their enterprise forward, so they can take them to the playoffs,” he said.

Sebra recommended organizations identify critical job families, growth regions and needed skill sets two to three years into the future and then build a community of potential talent to fill those needs.

“We can do that with diverse populations, starting to get out and using a talent community model to get our message out to very specific groups of people, job families and locations.”

Like demographic trends, a vibrant talent community is slow developing and can take years to come to fruition. But once it gets moving, progress is inexorable and self-sustaining. That’s a destiny to be desired.

Mike Prokopeak is the editorial director of Talent Management magazine. He can be reached at mikep@talentmgt.com.

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Learning Technology: Where’s the Money Going? https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/28/learning-technology-wheres-the-money-going/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/28/learning-technology-wheres-the-money-going/#respond Fri, 28 Dec 2012 01:01:00 +0000 http://dev-clomedia.pantheonsite.io/2012/12/28/learning-technology-wheres-the-money-going/ A new survey sheds some light on where learning leaders will invest in learning technology in 2013.

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Technology is still the hot topic in corporate learning conversations, but how are organizations putting their money where their mouth is?

A new survey by learning services provider Impact Instruction Group found that e-learning is still the top learning technology investment heading into 2013, with 86 percent reporting that they are investing heavily in the strategy.

Moreover, companies also reported they are focusing their investments in webinars and video — 66 percent and 56 percent, respectively — for learning delivery for next year.

The survey aimed to get a pulse on learning organizations’ technology strategies heading into the next year, including design and delivery, leadership support, strategy implementation and staffing skills requirements.

Surprisingly, investments in mobile applications, games and simulations for learning — which have garnered heavy enthusiasm among learning leaders of late — still remain relatively low heading into 2013, according to the survey. Just 22 percent of business leaders reported in the survey that they plan to investment in mobile applications; 14 percent said the same for games and simulations.

Amy Franko, founder and CEO of Impact Instruction Group, said despite continued interest and enthusiasm for mobile and game-based learning, it appears companies are still reluctant to make larger investments in those areas.

“E-learning has been in the mix for some time now, so that’s why it didn’t surprise me that it’s at such a high level,” Franko said. “… On many levels, it’s a proven commodity.”

Many learning leaders had to scale back investments in learning technology during the recession, as organizations were forced to cut budgets overall in training and development. Now that much of that funding is starting to come back, Franko said companies are sticking with what has already proven effective — in this case e-learning, webinars and video.

Still, some learning leaders think skewing investments away from mobile and other collaborative and innovative learning technologies is a mistake.

“The fact that these companies are spending little time investing in mobile, gamification and simulations suggests they aren’t spending much time thinking in the context of workforce engagement and overall better learning practices,” said Dan Pontefract, senior director of learning and collaboration at Canadian telecommunications firm Telus. “That, in my opinion, is just plain wrong.”

Franko said learning leaders must work to bridge the gap from interest to adoption to investment with senior business leaders when it comes to mobile and game-based technologies.

The good news from the survey, however, is that 75 percent reported that their leadership team’s interest in implementing technology-based learning technology is growing.

“I think the one thing that is important for any L&D professional is being savvy about the technology trends in the workplace,” Franko said. “… Leaders and executives have to make it a point to individuals what’s happening in technology, because it will directly affect [future] learning strategy.”

Frank Kalman is an associate editor of Chief Learning Officer magazine. He can be reached at fkalman@CLOmedia.com.

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Study: 2013 U.S. Job Forecast Better, But Still Cautious https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/27/study-2013-u-s-job-forecast-better-but-still-cautious/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/27/study-2013-u-s-job-forecast-better-but-still-cautious/#respond Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:00:00 +0000 http://dev-clomedia.pantheonsite.io/2012/12/27/study-2013-u-s-job-forecast-better-but-still-cautious/ While the number of employers who are adding headcount is trending up from 2012, so is the number planning to reduce staffs, according to a new study.

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Chicago — Dec. 27

Next year is expected to usher in more jobs, but U.S. employers will continue to play it safe, according to CareerBuilder’s annual hiring forecast.

Twenty-six percent of hiring managers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2013, up three percentage points over 2012. The study also points to heightened competition for high-skill labor and improved compensation trends.

The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30 and included more than 2,600 hiring managers and human resource professionals and more than 3,900 workers across industries and company sizes.

While the number of employers who are adding headcount is trending up from 2012, so is the number planning to reduce staffs — reflecting a mix of optimism and caution that has been characteristic of this recovery.

Twenty-six percent of employers expect to hire full-time, permanent employees in 2013, up from 23 percent last year. Nine percent plan to decrease headcount, up from 7 percent last year. Fifty-five percent anticipate no change in their staff levels while 11 percent are unsure.

The top two positions companies plan to hire for in the new year — sales and information technology — are also where employers expect to see the biggest salary increases.

Moreover, more companies are turning to staffing and recruiting companies and temporary workers to help meet increased market demands.

Forty percent of employers plan to hire temporary and contract workers in 2013, up from 36 percent last year. Among these employers, 42 percent plan to transition some temporary workers into full-time, permanent employees over the next 12 months.

Fifteen percent of small businesses — those with 500 or fewer employees — reported they plan to take out new lines of credit in 2013. While small businesses are showing more confidence in their hiring intentions, there are still concerns over financial stability and market demand. Plans to hire increased at least three percentage points across small business segments while plans to downsize trended up the same amount.

Source: CareerBuilder

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A Look at Learning’s Future https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/27/a-look-at-learnings-future/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/27/a-look-at-learnings-future/#respond Thu, 27 Dec 2012 01:01:00 +0000 http://dev-clomedia.pantheonsite.io/2012/12/27/a-look-at-learnings-future/ A slow but steady economic recovery is driving optimism toward learning investments.

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Firm spending on learning and development has been volatile since 2008, declining and recovering in reaction to the global financial crisis and its abatement. But in 2012, the economic recovery combined with a rebound in learning spending appeared to drive learning investments. When asked about their overall outlook for 2013, most leaders said they expect to continue their investment in learning management and content management systems.

Every other month, IDC surveys Chief Learning Officer magazine’s Business Intelligence Board (BIB) on a variety of topics to gauge the issues, opportunities and attitudes that are important to senior learning executives. For the last several years, members of the BIB have been asked to provide annual insight into their outlook for the year ahead. This month IDC compares how CLOs feel about corporate learning in 2013 to their outlook in recent years.

Things Are Looking Up
After last year’s downturn in optimism, this year more than 50 percent of CLOs are again optimistic about learning and development; they believe they have passed through the difficult economic period (Figure 1). A large number said they expect learning and development to “be integral to business growth in the next two to five years,” though one CLO said: “Learning as we know it will need to change and adapt to business needs.” Respondents also said they believe “the fight for talent is extremely difficult — providing learning is a company perk,” and learning will be seen as important “as long as learning leaders align what they are doing to the business goals.” Many see an opportunity as learning and development must “deliver smarter, more cost-effective learning transfer, not just learning programs.”

However, some CLOs think “economic factors are all unpleasant.” These CLOs expect a “continued lack of resources in general and change in leadership/philosophy regarding employee development.”
But overall, more CLOs believe that “economic conditions seem to have hit a floor … and in some areas are beginning to improve.” As a result, respondents said: “succession will increase … prompting investment in learning strategies.” In addition to the economy, some attribute optimism to a shift in the U.S. political environment: “Post-elections there will be a sense of stability.” Some see opportunities beyond simply development with a “focus on talent management as a whole.” This includes a shift to competency-based performance outcomes.

Further, economic conditions are slowly returning to pre-crisis levels and continue to impact learning budgets. But optimism is winning out, and some funding has found its way back into 2013 budgets.

Companies expect positive contributions from the learning organization to continue, although this expectation is somewhat muted compared to last year (Figure 2).

• Eighty-one percent of CLOs expect learning to
be more aligned with company business objectives in 2013.
• Somewhat fewer CLOs believe the perception of learning within their company will improve compared with last year, but this remains at more than 75 percent.
• Sixty-two percent of CLOs also believe their learning offerings and catalogs will improve in 2013, but this is a smaller percentage than last year.

Competencies, informal learning and instructor-led training (ILT) remain the most impactful activities in learning and development (Figure 3). While ILT remains important, the impact of less structured experiences such as informal learning, self-paced and mentoring demonstrate an explicit understanding of the role non-classroom experiences have in employee development. More CLOs are making use of informal learning, and respondents said it has huge potential if supported in a smart way. In some cases CLOs mentioned the infrastructure necessary to create an informal environment. One said he uses his LMS to capture tribal knowledge.

Competencies’ top position reinforces last year’s findings that effective competency management represents a significant opportunity. A strong competency program has overarching benefits. One CLO said: “Accurate competency identification and learning allows departments to align more effectively with strategic goals.” But the role of competencies extends beyond learning to talent management. “We are using [competencies] not only for learning, but also for hiring,” said another CLO.

Some see leadership as an activity to address a deficiency. “We have had serious problems with middle leadership roles, and through additional learning and support, the positive impact should reduce the turnover and improve relationships,” said one CLO.

Other key activities with significant impact are:

Instructor-led training: While informal learning is considered to have somewhat more impact in 2013, ILT remains a core component of talent development because it helps organizations leverage and share expertise.

Self-paced e-learning: Even though self-paced, asynchronous e-learning has been available for many years, it has not been widely used for non-technology topics, but that is changing. CLOs recognize its scalability and how it changes the locus of responsibility for development toward the employee.

Mentoring: CLOs see mentoring as essential to leverage organizational brain share, on-boarding and succession planning. While this requires formal relationships and activities, CLOs said they believe it will link leadership and business competencies to personal goals.

Compliance learning: While CLOs from several industries indicated compliance learning is an important activity, health care executives mentioned it several times. “New industry regulations have placed a significant emphasis on compliance learning,” one CLO said. Another agreed and said: “Keeping the staff up to date with compliance from government and state organizations is the most important role of the education and learning department of our company.”

Learning portals: Learning portals are new to the list in 2013 and have several value propositions inside and outside the organization. The primary goal is convenience: “Learning portals will enable everyone to access learning/updates at their convenience whether they be internal or external. These will also enable us to track, design and implement effective learning,” one CLO said.

Informal Learning Needs More Attention
For the past four years, CLOs thought informal learning deserved more attention because it reflects the real world outside the classroom and knowledge that is more applicable to tasks (Figure 4). But CLOs who responded to Chief Learning Officer’s survey said, “There is strong agreement on the potential value and little knowledge about how exactly to support informal learning.”

Competencies reflect another area where the learning industry can help CLOs better realize value. CLOs and their staff indicate a broad need for more information on competencies. How to create a link between competencies and learning objectives and understanding the difference between competencies and performance measures are a few of the areas CLOs reported.

Leadership learning also has been mentioned as an opportunity for the industry for several years, but “I don’t think we have come up with a way to develop better leaders,” one CLO said.

Measurement also remains a challenge. Even though there are many new technologies and tools available, the critical component of what to evaluate remains a challenge. “Employees do not know how to design key measures,” said one CLO. Another agreed: “The industry tends not to measure the right things. We need to look at metrics that will provide better information on the outcomes of learning and how they relate to business improvement.”

Mobile learning is another topic that deserves more attention. “It is what we need to do now and in the future. It is not debatable,” a respondent said. But how it’s implemented is less clear. Some CLOs hoped the industry would provide guidance and best practices for this new learning technology. They said it’s up to the industry to describe what works in this methodology, not just spread hype about it being the next big thing.

Predictions for 2013
Much about the new year remains uncertain. While some think “if the economy doesn’t get better the trainers will really feel the pinch,” and others believe “the learning industry will grow with leaps and bounds,” most are in the middle. The challenges and opportunities that range from boomers retiring to advanced technologies create an exciting environment. Generally, CLOs feel cautiously optimistic.

From the investment research reported in Chief Learning Officer magazine in November, learning budgets look better for 2013. Almost 55 percent of CLOs expect their budgets to increase in 2013, and only about 10 percent of firms expect a decrease. At the same time, more than two out of three CLOs expect their organizations will develop more custom content, and the same percentage expect their companies to develop new techniques to deliver learning.

Some CLOs are concerned that the industry continues to chase the new toys because they’re fun. Technology is changing so fast, some worry they don’t have time to study how effective these modalities are. Others said technology has been hyped during the last several years, and will need to show value through measurement.

Beyond technology, some CLOs think the best education model might be flipping the classroom with tools such as Kahn Academy, which uses on-demand videos to teach concepts and content, and bring the learners together either physically or virtually to practice and apply what was learned. Several others expressed a desire to move away from formal toward other approaches.

Overall, companies believe the outlook for the learning function is similar to industries overall. “Do not expect learning to grow significantly,” one CLO said. “It will more likely follow an uptick in the economy than lead it.”

Cushing Anderson is program director for learning services at IDC. He can be reached at editor@CLOmedia.com.

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Tuition Assistance’s ‘Fiscal Cliff’ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/tuition-assistances-fiscal-cliff/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/tuition-assistances-fiscal-cliff/#respond Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:02:00 +0000 http://dev-clomedia.pantheonsite.io/2012/12/26/tuition-assistances-fiscal-cliff/ If the U.S. economy heads off the so-called fiscal cliff, how will tuition assistance programs be affected?

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As the U.S. economy stands at the brink of a “fiscal cliff” — a combination of tax increases and spending cuts by the federal government set to take effect Jan.1 unless a deal is worked out before then — the way corporate tuition assistance programs are taxed also hangs in the balance.

If the Budget Control Act of 2011 is allowed to go into effect Jan. 1, tuition reimbursement money may become taxable. Currently, any money given to employees for continuing education is distributed on a pre-tax basis, under two sections of the tax code.

Most companies use the section of the code that caps pre-tax spending at $5,250 per employee and allows employees to use the money for education pertaining to their current or future careers. However, this section of the tax code will be reversed if the law is allowed to go into effect — meaning the second remaining section, which does not have a cap of pre-tax dollars and mandates that the funds be used only for education pertinent to the employee’s current job, not “future” jobs, will stand on its own.

Why should learning leaders be concerned? For starters, any employee who submits a reimbursement after the start of 2013 could receive a check for far less than expected — likely less than the cost of the course. And with reimbursements generally peaking during the winter (December and January) and spring (May and June) periods, most companies will process more than 50 percent of all tuition reimbursements during those four months.

That means that, despite actually taking the course in 2012, the repayment won’t reach the employee until the 2013 tax year.

Companies offering tuition assistance programs need to make some plans for handling this change soon. Companies first need to investigate how their current tuition reimbursement plan works. Is the company using Section 127 (the section that caps pre-tax dollars and opens the door for courses for current and future development), Section 132 (the one that doesn’t) or both?

If the company is using Section 127, the next step is to assess the impact of the fiscal cliff.

To be sure, there’s a chance that the Budget Control Act of 2011 will be repealed in 2013 and that the tax provisions allotted prior to Jan. 1 will be reinstated retroactively. That means that if you do change your administrative processes to process checks post-tax after the beginning of the new year, you may be able to go back and reprocess these transactions pre-tax if the tax treatment is allowed retroactively.

If a company opts to reimburse on a post-tax basis, it could always decide to “gross-up” an employee’s reimbursement so that it covers the entire cost of the course on a post-tax basis. This process is confusing and labor intensive to say the least. And again, this added money would need to be recouped if the tax treatment were to be reinstated retroactively.

Other companies may consider switching their tuition assistance program’s tax treatment from Section 127 to Section 132 for tax year 2013 and beyond. But this may or may not be as simple as it sounds. There may be other tax implications in doing so. If this is the intended course of action, a tax adviser must be consulted.

Whatever course of action a company decides to take must be communicated to employees to minimize confusion and apprehension, especially among those workers midway through a degree program. With the end of the year looming, reimbursement requests are now coming in daily and will continue to do so through the first of the year. The time to communicate is now.

Teri Shipp is vice president of client services and marketing for EdAssist, a managed education provider. She can be reached at editor@CLOmedia.com.

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Part 2: Doing What With Whom https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-2-doing-what-with-whom__trashed/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-2-doing-what-with-whom__trashed/#respond Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:01:00 +0000 http://live-talentmgt.pantheon.io/2012/12/26/part-2-doing-what-with-whom/ The focus must shift to establishing a universal set of competencies and an infrastructure that will link activities from pre-hire to post-hire.

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Tony Anello, regional executive vice president at SHL, a talent measurement company, said though there is now a more common framework underneath the two functions, they still work too much in silos. The focus now must shift to establishing a universal set of competencies and an infrastructure that will link activities from pre-hire to post-hire, and building talent communities so leaders can determine how and when employees may be right for other positions throughout their career.

“The other thing that is really important is to have the organization understand — regardless of department — what are the highest impact roles within a company, and how can we work together to create talent strategies to help with those? You want to talk hard dollars and ROI, that’s really where you can show a return,” Anello said. “Also, L&D should be capable of supporting competencies. Recruitment looks for those behavioral competencies on the front end, but often just the skills are developed down the road. Competencies and the support of those competencies is important as well. There may be a modern day addition to this, and that’s the ability to be able to measure some nontraditional things such as learning agility or openness to change.”

He said learning leaders have to proactively address business issues and understand how talent solutions can address them. Otherwise an organization may suffer the cost, putting up hard dollars to implement stopgap succession measures or searching for talent when the company has to change strategies.

The CHRO also has a key role to play in positioning learning to achieve its greatest impact. Providing that individual has a seat at the proverbial strategy table, he or she can advocate for learning as an active business driver.

“If that chief HR officer has the credibility and has an understanding and appreciation of the value of what learning and organization development expertise can bring, it’s a beautiful partnership,” said Jane Dowd, director, learning and organizational development, College of American Pathologists. “I experienced it myself in my almost 14 years as chief learning officer at NorthShore University HealthSystem.”

But to enable the relationship to reach that partnership level requires awareness and interconnectedness, Dowd said. That’s not always easy; she said many CLOs feel that HR gets in the way and can be a derailer for speed and effectiveness.

Both the CHRO and the CLO essentially have the same goal: to drive change and help an organization meet its strategic objectives. Dowd said holistically, to change behavior one must consider all the different tools available, and that includes not just learning investments but incentives, hiring criteria, rewards and recognition, and performance management. Each tool may not apply to every situation, but that’s where the partnership comes in.

“When I think of the big change goals that I was charged to help drive in my years as a CLO at NorthShore, our partnership with HR was critical to getting it done and done right,” Dowd said. “You can move forward but if you aren’t connected, and you aren’t communicating and the different people strategies aren’t aligned, you will have discord and not necessarily meet your objectives either as easily or as smoothly or potentially not at all.

Avnet’s CHRO MaryAnn Miller said her CLO works closely with the company’s vice presidents of HR, who support the business directly. “Besides meeting with me and engaging with me on the higher-level organizational concerns, she understands their specific needs and does regular pulsing to understand whether or not our corporate learning organization is supporting what they need in the regions.”

The CLO also welcomes the opportunity to help those vice presidents of HR customize development solutions to meet their specific needs and travels to other regions to get to know the teams on the ground and view cultural differences within each business.

Tracy McCarthy, senior vice president, chief human resources officer for talent management software company SilkRoad Technology, said she too works closely with the company’s head of internal learning and development. They met in December at the learning leader’s request to ensure both HR and learning initiatives for 2013 were focused on the same things.

“I thought that was perfect,” McCarthy said. “That’s really how it should be. It’s not HR versus learning; it’s about working together. There has to be mutual appreciation and understanding of each role and some clear definition. Part of it is building that really good relationship so there aren’t the feelings of, oh, this person is stepping into my territory. Let’s get rid of the territory stuff and really collaborate. Be in contact so it’s natural to build that synergy between the two departments.”

Part 3: Speak Now

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Part 4: Is the CLO Role on Its Way Out? https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-4-is-the-clo-role-on-its-way-out__trashed/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-4-is-the-clo-role-on-its-way-out__trashed/#respond Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:01:00 +0000 http://live-talentmgt.pantheon.io/2012/12/26/part-4-is-the-clo-role-on-its-way-out/ What is increasingly common is instead a head of talent management role with recruiting, succession management and talent development melded into one.

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John DiBenedetto is the executive vice president and chief people officer for General Parts International Inc., so he understands the CHRO role. He was also chief learning officer for retailer Wal-Mart.

But he said that particular function may be on its way out. What is increasingly common is instead a head of talent management role with recruiting, succession management and talent development melded into one.

“I can’t speak for every industry, but in my own industry where sales have been pretty soft, I don’t know if you’re going to get your money’s worth by having just a chief learning officer,” he said. “I look at my colleagues at Lowe’s, Home Depot; they’ve merged those two jobs together.

They’re high-ticket, highly priced jobs because they’re usually officer level people, and more than the economics of it, the functionality of the job makes sense to combine it.”

DiBenedetto said the chief talent or chief people officer needs a broader skill set, with more competencies than just understanding adult learning because he or she will have to work with senior business unit executives to develop a deep leadership bench. Once that bench has been identified, candidates have to be professionally developed. That may involve technical skills enhancement, stretch assignments or other strategies in line with succession management.

“And then you’ve got to be well-versed with the tools,” he said. “Today everything is electronic. You have e-talent management solutions, e-performance management solutions, and generally you see that [chief talent or people officer] job own all those components. You sometimes see recruitment integrated in there like I have with my company.”

He said both CHRO and CLO provide value, but “I’m not seeing a lot of the CLO title anymore. I think it’s run its course because it’s more broad than that when you’re talking about talent. You’re talking about human capital across all levels, whether it’s at the hourly level, non-exempt or management level, or senior executive level. I think you get more bang for the buck when you combine the two together.”

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Part 1: A Marriage of Equals https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-1-a-marriage-of-equals__trashed/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-1-a-marriage-of-equals__trashed/#respond Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:01:00 +0000 http://live-talentmgt.pantheon.io/2012/12/26/part-1-a-marriage-of-equals/ Talent leaders have to break down silos, collaborate and align employee development activities to maximize resources and deliver improved performance.

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When a relationship is good, it’s like a marriage where both parties are better off together than they are alone.

When the relationship is between the chief human resources officer and the chief learning officer, that marriage can be beneficial for organizational and workforce development, but only if they communicate, align their agendas and respect one another’s boundaries. If they don’t, employees’ careers may suffer, organizational resources may overlap or be misused and business needs may languish unmet.

The relationship between the CHRO and CLO varies by organizational reporting structure, but in general the latter reports to the former. The reporting relationship, however, may be less important than the learning leader’s level of access to information and desire to use learning and development as a business driver versus a desire to showcase subject matter expertise.

For example, at technology distributor Avnet, the chief learning officer participates in global meetings, presenting information on best practices and benchmarking as well as any information from internal customers that can be used to develop the company’s learning strategy.

MaryAnn Miller, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, also has a monthly meeting with the CLO to evaluate progress on existing initiatives and determine whether or not changes occurring in the business require a shift in learning strategy or delivery. Miller said this level of collaborative interaction works well because it ensures learning programs are not developed in a vacuum and that they are effective.

“I’ve had some CLOs who were so focused on being the best or what other companies are doing, benchmark data, that they’re not targeting the strategies specific to our business,” she said. “Then they don’t get the level of participation and support from the business that is needed.”

These types of CLOs work in a silo, and essentially go rogue, Miller said, because they believe they are the learning expert. But expertise without considering the business need can cause problems when budget time rolls around. Miller said her team has to compete with other functions for funding. If business leaders don’t feel development programs meet their needs, they will withhold resources.

Development touches many talent management functions, including recruitment, succession planning and performance management. Working in silos weakens each group’s ability to leverage the others’ expertise.

On the other hand, collaborating within a common framework ensures that employees get the most meaningful careers, and that the company reaps the most benefit from their service.

Will Lewis, senior vice president and staffing executive at Bank of America, said it’s critical that his recruiting work align with the learning function so the company can identify the best talent, on-board them effectively and provide development paths and experiences so employees can continue to grow inside the organization.

“At the very top of the house, the learning function, our generalist and our staffing function are talking at all levels of the company. … They’re not done in silos; it’s done as part of our overall people strategy,” he said.

But how exactly should the two groups work together? At Bank of America, Lewis said the talent group informs the learning team about the types of tools and materials needed to spur employee performance.

The learning team, on the other hand, can share intelligence on skills or capabilities that employees may be missing. Perhaps the function is spending an inordinate amount of time coaching and training for one skill set. Lewis said that information could help the recruiting team focus its talent identification efforts on individuals who have or can easily learn those skills the organization needs but lacks.

No matter who offers what to whom, to partner effectively, an organization should have an overall people strategy. “It should not be all about HR,” Lewis said. “And it should truly be informed by whatever the business needs are for that company. If it’s driven by the business itself, and then HR says how can we help solve this need, and they’re a part of that discussion at the table, you’ll get where you need to be.”

Further, if the learning function works with HR on the front end to plan initiatives and strategy, its contributions are less likely to end up as “bolt on” items that need to be made to fit.

Part 2: Doing What With Whom

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Part 3: Speak Now https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-3-speak-now__trashed/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/26/part-3-speak-now__trashed/#respond Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:01:00 +0000 http://live-talentmgt.pantheon.io/2012/12/26/part-3-speak-now/ Industry experts weigh in on how corporate learning and talent management have continued to intertwine.

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“Corporate learning used to be very much about simply on-boarding people and training them upfront to have a certain basic level of information. Learning has morphed into an ongoing exercise to enhance and develop the employee. That collaboration between CLO and HR needs to be tightly integrated.”
Carol Leaman, CEO, Axonify Inc.

“I can remember working at a Fortune 500 in HR and — this was a decade ago — it was very administrative and compliance focused. Learning was the new sexy place to be, and this group would create all this wonderful training, and then lob it over to HR to deliver or implement. Many times I rolled my eyes and thought, these people really have no clue what’s really going on with our workforce.”

Tracy McCarthy, senior vice president, chief human resource officer, SilkRoad Technology

“Everyone was talking about the war for talent a decade ago; then it went back burner primarily in response to the recession. But more and more baby boomers are that much closer to leaving the workforce. You have this tremendous pent up demand in organizations for how are they going to back fill that talent — do they outsource, do they buy the talent, do they develop the talent? If you superimpose the global nature of workforces on top of that, it’s going to make it very complex. If those two roles can’t effectively work together, it’s going to be difficult for that company to achieve solid results.”

Adam Stedham, senior vice president, learning solutions, GP Strategies

Part 4: Is the CLO Role on Its Way Out?

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How Not to Be a Crashing Bore at the Office Holiday Party https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/21/how-not-to-be-a-crashing-bore-at-the-office-holiday-party__trashed/ https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2012/12/21/how-not-to-be-a-crashing-bore-at-the-office-holiday-party__trashed/#respond Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:04:29 +0000 http://live-talentmgt.pantheon.io/2012/12/21/how-not-to-be-a-crashing-bore-at-the-office-holiday-party/ This is the time of year when you will be flooded with earnest online advice on what NOT to do at your office party. If you follow the tips to the letter (like don’t put on a sombrero and throw down a bunch of tequila shots), you avoid the possibilit...

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This is the time of year when you will be flooded with earnest online advice on what NOT to do at your office party. If you follow the tips to the letter (like don’t put on a sombrero and throw down a bunch of tequila shots), you avoid the possibility of a pink slip the next day. You also miss a great opportunity to show the boss you have a little personality – and score major points over your more timid and docile competitors. So, here are five tips on how not to fade into the wallpaper at your holiday party.

1. Talk to the spouse of your boss. I don’t mean just mumble “high, nice to meet you” while staring at your Footjoys. Really talk – there is something he or she is passionate about and it is your job to find it and obsess over it along with the spouse. No matter how lame it is.

2. Wear one go-to-hell item. If it is formal attire, throw on a Kris Kringle bow tie along with the black tux. Or a candy cane pocket square. Some snappy, vintage wool tartan pants look good with a blue blazer for business casual, or the same in skirt and sweater for women. If you are a bit “husky” and really funny by nature, toss on a Santa hat. You get the idea. WARNING – the rule is only ONE go-to-hell item per outfit. More than that you look like a municipal-course golfer in Toledo. Not good.

3. Listen to every word the boss utters. See rule 1. Really listen. The key to making an impression is not to drone on about your interests outside of work, like Madden football or online poker, but to let the boss impress you with hers. Even if you barely say a word other than to encourage her storytelling, she’ll walk away thinking you have bonded because of your shared interest in African butterflies.

4. Bring a cigar in your pocket. Even if you never touch tobacco, at some point you might be standing outside and some senior partner will be grumbling about the no-smoking fascists in the office. Present him with the stogie for a present. He’ll remember you.

5. Talk about religion and politics. This is for when you are stuck with a couple of your boring peers. If you want to escape, launch into some rant about how we should tax dogs, or adopt the Mayan calendar for Daylight Saving Time. They’ll think you’re crazy and walk off, giving you more time for chatting up the boss’ husband.

I hope you’ll find these ideas helpful. I know you won’t find them anywhere else. Yes, they are meant in the playful spirit of the holidays, but there are some ideas that might work for you. Try them out and let us know what happens.

Have a great holiday everyone! Thanks for your readership and commentary during 2012, and we’ll talk soon. Unless the Mayans get us first.

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