Application integration is essential. It is not just a technical issue, but also a business issue. Companies require one source of the truth about their people and processes in order to manage, monitor, and measure progress and success. Yet understanding how software solutions that are used in business actually connect with each other remains elusive. There are many reasons why companies want their HR software platforms to be integrated, including the following. Data and Analytics—In order to run meaningful reports, understand the state of the business, and implement talent analytics[1], companies need the equivalent of a "single system of record". Well-architected systems integration helps to make sure that all data is coordinated, easy to find, and accurate. User Experience—People don’t want to log into multiple HR systems to get their work done. If systems are not integrated, employees and managers often have multiple systems with multiple user interfaces to use, making HR systems difficult to learn and potentially, not well-adopted. Accuracy and Compliance—Most HR programs have some legal and regulatory requirements. Did a certain employee complete the mandatory compliance training, for example? If systems are not well integrated, then these processes may not be easy to track, and it may be impossible to verify or report on compliance issues. IT Cost—When systems are not integrated by vendors, IT may have to pick up the bill "Integration projects" may be put on the back burner, further complicating HR’s ability to provide services to its stakeholders. Integration is clearly an essential consideration in deploying an HRIS system. Beyond the compliance requirements of a core HR system, HR professionals may want to integrate data from background checks; competency, skill, or behavioral assessments; benefits administration; payroll and tax services; or, workforce management functions, such as clock-ins/-outs. Making the Incompatible Compatible Application integration between unlike products is not trivial. Products created at different times or by different vendors use different data models—basically, they store information in what can be vastly different ways. Consider naming conventions as an example. One application may ask for first name, last name, while another may do the reverse; but it could be that neither has consistency in dealing with hyphenated names. One application may refer to the company name by a three letter acronym, while another uses the words written out; as the data is passed between applications, will it appear as two distinct companies? Therein lies the difficulty with integration—getting the data between two or more points the way the user expects to see and use it. It is for this reason that integration is so important and, without sound practices, analysis of data is challenging across applications. The majority of HCM software providers have long supplied standard, documented application programming interfaces (APIs) for practitioners to use in connecting to a variety of their custom and third-party products.  APIs are tools that specify how some software components should interact with each other. Generally, an API is a library that includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables—all of which are used by an IT staffer or a third-party technologist to create the integration between two applications, processes, or services.  The vendor in these instances has tested and certified the APIs for the use they will serve in the user’s environment.  Some bundle these as "connectors" which can be used to integrate two specific disparate applications—these may be chargeable, as is their implementation for the customer. Many users today integrate their talent management applications with their HRIS system of record, third-party products, such as other talent products from other providers, and services, such as prehire assessments and background checks, benefits, tax and payroll providers. These applications or services may or may not also be in the cloud (that is, accessible over the Internet via a browser or mobile device), rather than running natively in your data center. Users have choices in the way they choose to integrate all these disparate applications. Given the heterogeneity of the technology requirements today, many software providers support a third-party integration partner ecosystem to provide a choice to application users which need to integrate applications to an HRIS, or other third-party on-premise or cloud solutions. The integration of two very different systems, not only with each other, but with all of the related business applications and services on which HR professionals rely, is complex—hence time-consuming—and has to maintain the accuracy and integrity of employee data. Almost any data can be amalgamated via flat-file data transfer, but that is generally insufficient in providing the degree of integration companies rely on today. Third-party transport and data-routing tools exist, but often they too lack the deep integration that many organizations seek. Mind you, both of these measures serve to move data from one application to another. Middleware presents another viable option for integration. With the advent of SaaS and the rapid growth of cloud computing, middleware has had to address on-premise to on-premise data movement and consolidations, but also on-premise to the cloud, and even further, cloud-to-cloud integration. Many of today’s users of Cloud-based talent applications have tools available to ease the task. Documented APIs exist, and third-party applications and tools are available—many of which are certified by the vendors. Increasingly the vendors—recognizing that few of their customers live in a homogeneous software world, provide packaged integrations that are tested and often certified to address some of the many integration requirements of users today. Because these are not simplistic plug-and-play tools, they are likely to continue to require customizations as they are implemented to meet unique customer requirements. For managing talent, users often seek the ability to efficiently integrate data from their sourcing or hiring management software into onboarding, then to the employee profile, learning, and career preference applications - and then to their performance management and succession planning solutions, to name the more common. Acquiring all solutions from one integrated suite provider is one way to achieve integration; however, when your requirements cannot be met with that strategy, know that it is not an insurmountable show-stopper; you can look at other avenues.  It may cost you time (and perhaps expense), but the effort in amalgamating your data will likely prove worth the effort.   As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. This publication contains general information only and Deloitte is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. Deloitte shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this publication. Copyright © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.   [1]   For more information, Big Data in HR: Building a Competitive Talent Analytics Function - The Four Stages of Maturity, Bersin & Associates / Josh Bersin, April 2012. Available to research members at www.bersin.com.

We just finished our 8th annual IMPACT research conference in Florida, and our theme was Bold HR - pushing the envelope on talent and HR practices, reinventing what we do, and starting with a fresh sheet of paper.   Let me start by saying that theme turned out to be perfect. We had more than 500 committed, passionate, hard working HR and L&D leaders joined us from around the world (US, Europe, India, Australia, Taiwan, Quatar) and everyone agreed that this is a transformational period for HR and learning leaders everywhere. In my keynote I cited some important research: Among 3,300 HR and business leaders, today the average gives HR a C- in our ability to directly impact the talent challenges in our companies  Nearly 1/3 of all new CHROs are coming from non-HR backgrounds, demonstrating how CEOs want new thinking brought into the HR function Zenger Folkman research shows that business leaders who are "Bold" in their thinking (vs. those practicing "Good Judgement") are 11X more likely to succeed in today's business environment. So the message is clear:  in order for HR to thrive and add value in today's new world of work, we have to be bold in our thinking, bold in our strategies, and bold in the redesign of what we do. What does the world Bold Mean? Let's look at the dictionary: "Not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff." "Courageous and daring." "Not hesitating to break the rules of propriety." "Thinking beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action, being imaginative." How Bold are you in your HR strategies and programs?  Is your team able to innovate and reinvent your HR and talent programs? Are you courageous and imaginative in your recruiting or management practice? Our research suggests that if you aren't being bold, you're probably falling behind. The Four Principles of Bold HR  As we spent the last year preparing for our conference, I identified four key principles for Bold HR today. (You can download our overview here.)  First is B: Build the Irresistible Organization The first principle is to focus heavily on the employee engagement and culture. Today, as I discuss in Forbes, "Culture is the New Black." Every program, strategy, and investment you make should focus on helping people become more productive and engaged. Mo Jesse, the CEO of Earl's Kitchen and Bar, told the story of how he dramatically turned around their chain of restaurants by focusing heavily on empowering their people. Rather than try to "fix the menu" or "hire celebrity chefs," Mo spent time listening and learning at the grass root level, and focused on making Earl's a fun and empowering place to work. Within two years their revenues and margins grew and customer satisfaction started to skyrocket. Our research clearly shows that employees today are more demanding than ever - so the #1 thing we must do, regardless of our role in HR, is focus on building programs and strategies that make work fun, engaging, and more enjoyable. Making work easy is actually very hard work - but as our research and stories showed, when we trust and focus on our people, the business responds rapidly. As I described in my keynote, building an Irresistible Organization is not always easy. Today it means creating great jobs, hiring for fit, supporting managers and leaders, creating opportunities for growth, building a flexible and fun environment, and delivering on inspirational leadership. These are difficult tasks to do well, and every company will create engagement in their own unique way. Part of this new world of engagement is a focus on real-time feedback and giving employees a voice. We talked extensively about this topic throughout the conference and an exciting set of new vendors with real-time feedback and engagement tools has emerged to help. The second is O: Own the Leadership Agenda One of the biggest areas you impact the business is in your ability to help select, coach, and develop leaders. More than 87% of companies rate "gaps in their leadership pipeline" as a critical business issue and the challenges of leadership are a perennial problem. Today, as Millennials make up the largest segment of the workforce, we have to think about leadership from the bottom up. First line leaders (who typically make up 40% or more of the leaders in your company) are continuously under stress as they learn their new role. If you take the time to coach and develop leaders early in their career you build brand ambassadors for life. Facebook, for example, has a business rule:  a movement into leadership will not be a promotion. This simple idea helps make sure that people who move into team leadership or managerial roles are doing it because they truly want to add value through the success of others. We, in HR, have to constantly focus on helping the company identify great leaders and make sure the organization understands that leadership is not a destination, but rather a journey. Today there are literally hundreds of vendors, models, and consultants to help you build great leaders. Bold HR means you innovate, identify the characteristics of great leaders in your own company, and build a leadership development program that speaks to your own company's culture. By the way, the leadership development market (over $14 billion) grew by more than 14% last year - part of owning the leadership agenda is making sure that your CEO and other leaders feel comfortable to invest continuously in this area and they put their personal time into helping you push the leadership agenda. Third: L - Leverage Learning Everywhere The third part of Bold HR is to focus heavily on learning.   Income inequality and the fast-growing economy has shown that now, more than ever, people are in a mad scramble for skills to help them improve their professional careers. MOOCs, video learning portals, online learning academies, and learning marketplaces are everywhere.  (LinkedIn just acquired Lynda.com for $1.5 Billion, 10-times sales.) This disruptive growth in online learning has forced corporate learning departments to catch up. Our research shows that corporate learning has exploded as an issue (moved from 8th to 3rd biggest topic in business leadership this year) yet only 14% of chief learning officers feel fully aligned with their business leaders. Today HR organizations must reinvest in learning and provide engaging, relevant learning experiences (and assignments) to employees at all levels.  Millennials expect developmental assignments and job rotations every year, and most companies are struggling to redesign their strategies to make this work. At the IMPACT conference, our award winning program was a fantastic early-career global management program at Marriot. Through this program young employees spend their first two years on rotational assignments at various hotels around the world, learning management jobs in various parts of the hotel. This program is so exciting that it's now a huge tool for recruitment and employment brand. Fourth, D - Demand data. The fourth dimension to Bold HR is to get good at data. Listen, we in HR are the last part of business that hasn’t totally gotten our data act together.  Nobody would run finance or sales without good data, so now its time to do the same with HR. This new area of People Analytics is far more serious than the "HR Analytics" we’ve done in the past.  As one of our top HR leaders put it, we have to "spend time where the money is being made"  We are being asked to directly advise on critical business questions: Why are some sales teams outperforming others? Why do we lose certain high performers? Why do some nursing units or service teams deliver better outcomes? And why do some parts of the organization suffer from higher fraud or errors than others? The answer to all these questions lies in people analytics, and that is our bold new charter for the coming years. And One Final Thing  Let me leave you with the most important element of all:  YOU. You and your HR leadership have to "be bold." I was at a large consumer goods company a few months ago and the CHRO and I were talking about the issue of their HR "personality." This is a very well known company with a reputation for being one of the best places to work for ambitious marketing people around the world. And they have some of the smartest and most passionate HR people I have met. She told me that the biggest challenge her team has is "standing toe to toe with business leaders" and giving them the feedback and advice HR believes they need. While HR professionals certainly don't run the business, we are often the ones with the information and insights business leaders need to dramatically improve performance. If we can't boldly and confidently deliver our message, we won't be heard. This is an exciting time for the HR profession. The global economy is growing, recruitment is more competitive than ever, and a new generation of workers is demanding opportunities and changes to the way we work. Now, more than ever, is the time for HR to be bold, reinvent, and lead our organizations into the new world of work. I want to thank all the participants, vendors, and support people who made IMPACT 2015 our best-ever conference. We look forward to working with you on your own Bold HR strategy in the year ahead.

Josh Bersin has led the market with a message for HR practitioners at all levels:  Be Bold! Take the reins, mobilize the troops, and capture the HR and Talent field in your organizations.  The mantra for the HR community includes - perhaps for the first time—words such as "innovate," and "become data-driven," to "boldly go where no HR team has gone before." Hyperbole aside for a minute, the charter remains; but stepping up to the proverbial plate requires fearlessness and gumption; willingness to take a risk, and the courage to lead. Today’s HR leaders recognize this. Boldness is not just for the HR department however: companies that supply software for managing HR also face the need for such decisive action.  One example is SilkRoad, a SaaS-software company that launched a core HR product a few years ago that failed to meet the standards the company sets for itself.  Here is where the bold part come into play: management decommissioned the product and went back to the drawing board; rather than trying to be all things to all people, the new product which emerged, SilkRoad HRMS, is far more focused, leaving areas to third parties where third parties may do them best, such as payroll and benefits management. Product providers can be bold in their market strategies as well. Consider innovative ways to look at HR, such as "how much core HR is enough?"  What does a core HR software solution need to look like for, for example, a mid-sized company that has no international employees?  When talent profiles sprouted in the last decade, many of us analysts hypothesized that that employee profile could "take over" the system-of-record employee profile in the core HR system.  For many of the vendors that today provide  both core HR and talent  management systems  (such as talent acquisition, learning, career, performance, and succession management), that integration has happened:  there is one employee profile that contains both employment information and talent information.  But the innovation comes in with those suite providers who are talent-only - often linking to a third party HRIS system.  What employee information is indeed sufficient?  Some talent solution vendors see an opportunity to support their users—again, mostly less complex business environments—with one employee profile stemming from an integrated talent suite. Think about it: One single point of truth for information about a given employee without the complexities that sometimes accompany an HRIS.  The boldness of replacing a traditional HR system with a talent management system and an employee profile—no matter how complete—may not be sufficient in organizations that rely on the HRIS to determine ACA eligibility, as only one example.  But you must admit it is intriguing at a time when companies are looking for less complex ways of managing their businesses. I’m not forgetting HR however; consider emboldening your team. Look where you can reskill or upskill your department with the skills they will need for the rest of the decade.  Improve business acumen across the HR team. Upskill analytic skills. Enhance proficiency with today’s technology. Collaborate tenaciously with other divisions in the organization.  Build internal project management and change management proficiency within your team. Re-envision HR; re-envision the solutions you use every day, or if you are a solution provider, that you create. Consider revision -a word that does not mean "do over"—but "to look at with new eyes." Let’s be bold enough to re-envision and  revise.   This publication contains general information only, and none of the member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, its member firms, or their related entities (collective, the "Deloitte Network") is, by means of this publication, rendering professional advice or services. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified professional adviser. No entity in the Deloitte Network shall be responsible for any loss whatsoever sustained by any person who relies on this publication.   About Deloitte Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of DTTL and its member firms. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.   Copyright © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited

Hello! I am the newest member of the Bersin by Deloitte analyst team and it is a pleasure to make your virtual acquaintance! My research focus is leadership and succession management and I look forward to lively conversations around these important and interesting topics with you. A little bit about my background: prior to joining Bersin, I pursued a dual career as leadership researcher and consultant and I worked closely with organizations in both the USA and Europe (I am Austrian!) to drive methodical and practical business research. I consider leadership as both a social process as well as an organizational phenomenon and I am excited about our future research endeavors that will help us understand how best to leverage human leadership capital for individual and collective business outcomes. The way we think about leadership has changed dramatically in the past few years. Hierarchical structures, centralized decision-making and a "subordinate" workforce are expiring principles, as markets and business challenges rapidly change and organizations are required to engage a new type of workforce: future employees. Future employees - who, by the way, may already be working at your organization! -  will have grown up in a fully digitalized, connected and diverse world  in which new forms of work habits  and values  have emerged. Their requirements for being engaged, motivated and inspired may differ from what most organizations have seen before. The question for companies has become: How to build leaders who are able to connect with this kind of workforce so that strategies are executed and business goals can be met? Participants needed for new leadership research study! Reading a lot of secondary literature, my current research suggests that one effective response can be to develop a highly responsive, adaptive and flexible type of leadership, on the organizational and the individual leader level. In the coming weeks, I am conducting research interview to this effect and I am currently looking to talk to HR and business leaders who want to participate in our research! If you are interested in a 30-minute phone call with me, or know a senior HR or business leader who is, please send me an email: aderler@deloitte.com. I look forward to hearing from you! 

Will we make social (or peer-to-peer) learning worse by creating incentives for community managers and members that are based exclusively on activity targets such as the following? number of downloads, views and hits average ratings number of contributions (or uploads) There is a systematic relationship among purpose, methods, and measures.  Imposing only activity targets (or measures) into the social learning ecosystem will create a de-facto purpose and constrain the methods of learning.  Such contingent metrics (i.e., if you do this you will get that) will shift the focus from the higher purpose of social learning (i.e., how do I do learn more and perform better and help others to learn more and perform better?) to surpassing previously achieved activity metrics (i.e., how do I survive in a social learning system?). An obsession on activity targets will always increase costs and create more waste.  Such a focus is detrimental to content quality, community motivation, and community attitudes.   The community will focus on the incentives from achieving activity targets (or the rewards) rather than on improving how they learn, collaborate, and network. Imposed activity targets will manipulate and often destroy collaboration, blindly promote a single and arbitrary purpose, deter risk taking, and reduce creativity. A better approach is to derive targets from the purpose of the "learning ecosystem" according to the point of view of community managers and members.  Put the targets (or measures) in the hands of the people managing and participating in the learning ecosystem and you will see increased creativity and innovation, and a step change in the level of success. Remember to also think about how to intrinsically motivate the community.  Permit community autonomy, create a shared sense of community purpose, and create confidence in the role of the community towards helping people to achieve mastery and success. I recently viewed a recorded lecture from John Seddon that has greatly influenced my thinking about the role of activity targets in a social learning ecosystem.  The lecture is one hour in duration and it is focused on the organizational system rather than on a social learning system.  I believe many of John’s observations and findings relate to the social learning ecosystem and I encourage you to view his video. John Seddon Video Tagged: learning community, measurement, social learning

As a learning and development professional you are probably always on the lookout for ways to create more value - particularly for any ideas that don’t take a lifetime to develop and cost the Earth! But not all learning solutions of value need come at a great investment. The most powerful - and least leveraged - learning solution is peer-to-peer learning. Workers learn more from mentors, coaches, peers, and members of their professional networks than from any other source. Recent advancements in social media make it possible for you to take peer-to-peer learning to a new level with a surprisingly low commitment in terms of time and money. Is it safe to use social media for learning? Is peer-to-peer learning safe? A major concern or fear expressed by business leaders is that widespread and facilitated peer-to-peer learning will create an unusable mess of low-quality and inaccurate exchanges and content. Business leaders typically demand that all training content must be reviewed, approved, or tested before it is published and delivered. No wonder employees often receive too little training, too late. Are learning professionals suffering from a "one size fits all" content quality policy? What sort of training situations must have high quality content in the first instance? The answer is any situation where there is no room for error. We expect and need our surgeons, nuclear power engineers, and police officers to go through high quality learning programs. Otherwise we might see a rise in wrongful death or injury, legal battles, and other severe consequences. The point is that only some training situations require high quality content in the first instance. Is the concern about content quality in a peer-to-peer learning system legitimate? What are the chances that some employees will pick up and follow an incorrect approach suggested by another employee, and that this would result in a wrongful death or injury, or a legal battle? Guess what? This already happens today when employees provide inferior advice and suggest inaccurate methods of working, through e-mail correspondence, phone calls, and face-to-face discussions. There are no controls in place to ensure that employees share only high quality, approved, and relevant content in an e-mail, phone call, or face-to-face discussion. The good news is that social media will bring many discussions and content exchanges, good and bad, to the surface where the information in those exchanges can be seen and appropriately addressed. Good social media policies will help contain corporate risk and liabilities. And an appropriate mix of content quality control points will help identify and remove low quality content. Tools and methods are available to help create safer peer-to-peer learning solutions. Want to know more?  Read my article on Learning Solutions Magazine: learning solutions Tagged: collaboration, informal learning, peer-to-peer, social learning, social media

This podcast by Teemu Arina effectively illustrates the imperative for change and how social media are shaping our future workplace. Tagged: social media

Should online communities have a better reputation?  Should you join and participate in one more online community?  Are online communities profoundly changing the world for the better? Here are four examples of how online communities have changed my world: I was organizing a conference in London UK for a client.  I researched the internet (blogs, discussion threads, social networks, etc.) and found 2 very interesting speakers to participate.  One was from Finland and one was from the USA.   The first time we met in person was at the conference.  We continue to network and collaborate to this day.  One of the speakers connected me to an incredible career opportunity. I created a post on my blog and promoted it via Twitter and some of my Linked In groups.  I received an invitation on Linked In from someone who wanted to join my network.  I accepted the invitation after reviewing his profile, and confirming a mutual interest and benefit.  This contact invited me to help create a new social learning website for a professional community, introduced me to some other people who included me in a conference event, and provided a professional recommendation for me on my Linked In profile.  I recently arranged a 6 month contractor role in the home country of this contact and we are planning to meet in person for the first time.  He has a yacht and wants to take me sailing. I targeted a few companies where I would like to work.  I used Linked In to identify people in leadership roles in these companies and introduced myself.  Two of the leaders willingly spoke with me to explore opportunities to work together.  I did not go through the traditional RFP process and spent very time and money on business development and marketing activities.  I am presently discussing a 6 to 12 month contractor role. I participated heavily on the blog of a well known thought leaders in my field.  I contributed to discussion threads, commented and rated contributions made by others, and helped connect some of the other community members to each other and to "content."  One of the leaders reached out to me.  This leader acted as a coach and mentor, and a reference.  Eventually this leader hired me for a contractor role.  The first time we met in person was just 30 minutes before meeting our client for the first time.  We are now talking about a longer term partnership. How have online communities changed your world? The authors of "the 2020 workplace" make the following predictions for online communities: You will be hired and promoted based upon your reputational capital (for example - successfully turning professional communities into increased business value for the organization and creating a stronger personal brand). Recruiting will start on social networking sites (at least 80 percent of recruiters will tap into online communities as the first stop to recruiting global talent). Corporate social networks will flourish and grow inside companies (corporate participation in social networks may be as critical in the 2020 workplace as managing cash flow). I was inspired to write this post after receiving a link from one of my network members (Kim Burt) to Richard Millington’s blog post where he shared examples of how online communities have changed his world. Tagged: collaboration, learning community, social networking

I read an interesting article from the New York Times.  Below are some points that I thought were worth bringing to the surface.  Feel free to read the entire article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1 In recent years, cognitive scientists have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve how much we learn from studying.  But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on. For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where you study improves retention. So does studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting, rather than focusing intensely on a single thing. We walk around with all sorts of unexamined beliefs about what works in learning - most of which are flat wrong. Take the notion that people have specific learning styles.  Some are "visual learners" and others are auditory; some are "left-brain" students, others "right-brain." In a recent review of the relevant research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists found almost zero support for such ideas. Cognitive scientists do not deny that honest-to-goodness cramming can lead to a better grade on a given exam. But hurriedly jam-packing a brain is akin to speed-packing a cheap suitcase, as most students quickly learn - it holds its new load for a while, then most everything falls out. Forgetting is the friend of learning.  When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it. That’s one reason cognitive scientists see testing itself — or practice tests and quizzes — as a powerful tool of learning, rather than merely assessment. So, alternating study environments, mixing content, spacing study sessions, self-testing or all the above — will turn a grade-A slacker into a grade-A student. Tagged: research

Step 1 - Strategize: There is no one "right" Social Learning strategy, and there is no one right way to develop one.  The approach to strategy development depends on several factors such as your organizational structure, existing learning programs, organizational learning culture, and the value executives place on informal learning.  The most powerful approach to strategy development, from my experience, is to develop one that is business-driven - aligned to larger company goals like increased innovation, increased collaboration across traditional organizational silos, reducing reliance on the aging workforce, compressing time to performance, etc.  The strategy should paint a compelling picture of the future state of Social  Learning, clearly articulate the business case for change, and outline the roadmap for how you will get from "here" to "there" (including what must change, stop, and continue). Deliverables: A Social Learning strategy and approach document. User Stories for selected networking, collaboration, knowledge management, and learning technologies to help stakeholders imagine and see "how it looks in action." A list of expected challenges, uncertainties and risks with a supporting mitigation plan. Defined methods and tools to monitor and evaluate Social Learning behaviors and benefits realised. An end-to-end High Level Approach and Process Definition for "Implementation and Support." Benchmarking data (in order to validate the overall strategy and approach). A list of critical success factors and key planning assumptions. Step 2 - Implement: Select, procure, install, develop, prepare and test the ‘Social Learning’ eco-system’ (technology, sites, policies, procedures, governance, and team members).  I advise you to conduct a proof of concept and pilot test before committing to an enterprise wide implementation. Deliverables: Mobilize a Social Learning eco-system (technologies, governance, policies, procedures, services, and roles).  Initially you might consider focusing on the most important communities of practices or workforce roles - where the business has the greatest need.    One type of community that merits organizational hosting and orchestration is referred to as "Horizontal."  Such communities are comprised of people who work according to end-to-end methods, on methods that cut across regions, departments or business units, and methods that require a high degree of collaboration and consistency.  Examples are supply chain management and financial management. Another type of community that merits organizational hosting and orchestration is referred to as "Vertical."  Such communities are comprised of people who share a common job role focus and who tend to work within the same department or business unit.  Examples are front line managers or sales representatives. Assign at least one community manager to each Horizontal or Vertical community of practice.  This role is critical to the success of the Social Learning system.  The people in this role will provide oversight on usage and policy compliance, manage content, manage community engagement, track and report trends-needs-benefits-impact, and help resolve issues. Provide basic training for "users" on the administration and use of each selected platform or technology. Implement a Change Management plan to increase awareness, understanding, commitment, and buy in.  See step 4. Step 3 -  Source and Develop Content: Develop, source, and repurpose "content", and place it on the Social Learning system prior to the go live date. Deliverables: Select and develop 5 and 10 subject matter experts (SME), from each of the targeted communities of practice, to create content, and to comment or rate content shared by other community members. One of the first duties of the selected SMEs is to front load the Social Learning system with "content".  The content will be presented in the form of blogs, wikis, discussion threads, podcasts, documents, etc.  The "targeted users" will need a reason to use the new Social Learning system on day one.  Front loading the system with "content" will help create some attraction and persuade many of the "targeted users" to log on - and then come back again and again.  The SMEs will also need some training and orientation in order to perform other duties such as monitoring discussion forums, connecting people to people and people to content, and promoting "good" content via ratings, adding the content to their favourite’s page, and providing special mention of the content on their blogs. Populate the home page with engaging information: Latest news about the community and individual members. What’s new?  Recent contributions made by community members. What’s popular?  Show members what other members are viewing and doing. Who’s new? Showcasing members who have recently joined. Who’s popular? Featured members, member interviews, member rankings and other techniques that show members who are most popular and favored. Notifications highlighted in the top bar to show users when community members have commented on their posts. Step 4 - Engage the Business: Engage with the business to build stakeholder sponsorship, leadership support, and to understand the cultural challenges and work environment realities.  This will help you to drive the desired ‘Social Learning’ behaviors and outcomes. Deliverables: Stakeholder Map for each of the targeted communities of practice and workforce roles, as well as for IT, HR, Communications, and Knowledge Management teams. Documented concerns, uncertainties and expectations of stakeholders and community members, and an associated communication plan and engagement approach. Creation and delivery of communications and engagement deliverables and activities (including the change management plan from step 3). Service description for supporting the targeted communities of practice or workforce roles, and a dedicated point-of-contact for each. Step 5 - Monitor and Evaluate: Monitor use of technology, networking patterns, knowledge sharing and consumption, and discussion threads in order to evaluate the business case, identify best practices, unblock challenges, and improve the ‘Social Learning" approach and outcomes. Deliverables: A list of required ‘data’, proposed ‘data’ sources, developed tools, and a data collection plan with clear timeframes and responsibilities. Report(s) of key findings, conclusions, results, and recommendations.  Community participation profile optimization progress report.  Measure the percentage of community members that are acting as a Consumer, Creator, Connector, Carrier, or Caretaker and compare this result to the target profile.  In addition, assess how well community members are fulfilling each of the 5 aforementioned roles (they might need additional training, tools, guidance, or motivation). Tagged: learningstrategy, social learning