Humanitarians work tirelessly to provide hope, resources, and relief in some of the direst natural disasters and conflicts around the globe.  Very few receive ongoing professional development and training either because they cannot afford it or because the classes take place in locations not accessible from the field. In partnership with leading humanitarian organizations such as the International Red Cross, UNHCR, Oxfam, and Save the Children, the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation launched DisasterReady.org to provide high-quality online training to humanitarian aid and disaster relief workers around the world. Registration is free and all users have unlimited access to more than 400 professional development resources including videos, webinars, and e-learning courses. More than 45,000 aid workers have signed up for DisasterReady.org from more than 190 different countries and the usage is expected to grow to 60,000 by the end of 2015.  Recognizing that many aid workers are on the move and not always connected to the Internet, DisasterReady.org’s training is now available on mobile devices and offline players.  With such a global and multi-lingual audience, we have worked hard to make DisasterReady.org accessible in English, French, and Spanish.  By making this no-cost training available to more humanitarians in their native language, we can reach even more of them and fulfill our mission of increasing the preparedness and effectiveness of humanitarians in natural disasters and conflicts around the world. Increasingly, aid workers are responding to these disasters in countries where they do not speak the local language.  And as aid organizations seek to work more collaboratively with their beneficiaries and local staff, being able to communicate in the local dialect becomes an operational imperative.  Unfortunately, access to high-quality language courses is often limited which places additional burden on the organization’s interpreters as well as national staff. This is why we are so fortunate to partner with Speexx to give disaster responders the opportunity to learn conversational basic English, French, and Spanish.  In recent months, demand for these courses has increased significantly as more humanitarian staff and health professionals have responded to the Ebola outbreak in French-speaking West Africa as well as the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Dadaab Refugee Camp, which is the largest refugee camp in the world, hosting over 400,000 refugees that have fled various conflicts in the larger Eastern Africa region.  I had the opportunity to interview a number of aid workers and hear firsthand about their experience working in this challenging environment.  One aid worker, Evanson Njoroge, has worked at Dadaab since 2008 told me about the Speexx French language courses he has been actively engaging with.  He reiterated that access to traditional learning institutions is severely limited when working in the field.  After taking the Speexx course, Evans can now work in emergency operations like the Ebola crisis in West Africa where French is actively spoken. For humanitarian response to be most effective in fulfilling their mission, they must build trust with their beneficiaries.  Having even a basic understanding of the local language allows the aid worker to better understand what the local population is facing and what specific interventions would be most effective.  Moreover, a direct conversation between humanitarians and beneficiaries helps break down any perceived barriers and fosters a more collaborative approach to long-term relief.

We’re excited to present the first of our three-part video guide which will help HR and L&D Managers harness the power of workforce mobility and big learner data. "Succession Planning and Talent Mobility" looks at the role of succession planning in today’s working context and how language learning will help a multi-generational workforce. It also highlights the internal organisational barriers that are likely to prevent a truly mobile workforce and offers practical tips for building a better succession planning strategy. Breaking down the barriers for better succession planning "Technology has broken down borders, enabling a truly global workplace, but in many cases the language barrier remains an obstacle to skills-based succession planning and employee mobility. A thorough succession management strategy involves foreign language and communication skills training for all staff, across the board.  Furthermore, if organisations get the process right, learner data can also provide unparalleled insight into the learning process. Talent management as we have known it over the past ten years is about to be reinvented, with a focus on engagement, experience, and empowerment." Armin Hopp, Founder and President of Speexx. And stay tuned for our next two videos about  "Navigating data protection regulations for a global workforce" and "How to drive corporate training with big learner data". Questions or comments? Drop us a line!  

"Hello, my name is…" Orientation is the chance to teach new hires all about the company culture and help them fit in as well as prepare them for their individual duties on the job. But one study has shown that trying to make new employees ‘fit in’ is a less successful onboarding approach than encouraging new hires to simply be themselves. In the hopes that new employees will be happy and productive in their new positions, most companies offer some sort of orientation program, which many Human Resources departments call ‘onboarding.’ This traditionally includes a tour of the company, an explanation of company procedures, a packet from human resources and plenty of direct and indirect information about the corporate culture. According to Harvard Business School Associate Professor Francesca Gino, this approach to orientation is too company focused; no emphasis is put on the value of the new employee himself. In fact, it discourages self-expression, which could eventually lead to job dissatisfaction and possibly even to an employee retention problem. Many companies openly admit that they hire new personnel from outside because they want the infusion of new ideas. So why stifle exactly that desire during corporate onboarding? Gino, along with her co-authors Daniel M. Cable from the London Business School and Bradley R. Staats from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, hypothesize that a few small changes in the way companies handle new employee orientation could have a dramatic effect on employee retention. The primary change is an emphasis on the value of employee individuality. To test their theory, they conducted a field study at Wipro, a major business process outsourcing company in India. The company had been experiencing extremely high turnover. The field study divided new employees into three groups: a control group, which would go through the company’s usual orientation process; a second group which focused on organizational identity and a third group which focused on individual identity. The control group focused on skills training and awareness of company culture. The other two groups received the same training, but also an additional hour-long presentation related either to the corporate identity or individual identity and answered questions related to their topic that emphasized that focus in a meaningful way. The two identity groups also received fleece sweatshirts embroidered with either the company logo or their individual names, respectively, which they were then asked to wear for the duration of employee training. Seven months later, Gino and her team evaluated how the changes to orientation affected how long the new employees stayed with Wipro. The result: The turnover rate in the control group was 47 percent higher than the individual identity group, and 16 percent higher than the corporate identity group. Encouraging new employees to think about what they could contribute to the company had had an effect. Impressively, the additional cost and time needed for either the corporate identity or individual identity sessions was minimal. The Indian company Wipro was so impressed that it redesigned its orientation process accordingly. If, as Gino believes, requiring new employees to ‘fit in’ rather than be appreciated for their new blood and individuality does in fact affect employee retention and job satisfaction, maybe it would pay off for more companies to reevaluate their onboarding process.

We live in a world where job hopping is the new norm and millennials are impatient, career-savvy, and don’t expect to stay in a position for more than three years at a time. This has created a highly fluid and fast-moving job market which is forcing organisations to rethink their succession planning. Whenever an employee is promoted or switches companies, they leave a skills gap behind. A gap which usually needs to be filled within a short space of time. This results in a last-minute, expensive and time-consuming hiring process or, in other employees having to take on the person’s tasks - we’ve all been there and know how frustrating it is. At the same time, there is a demographic change going on, with an ageing workforce and the challenge of finding young talent to take on new roles. Succession management comes at a cost Many have tried to put the cost of losing and replacing a good employee into figures. Estimates range from 1.5x to 3x the salary of an employee if we take consider the cost of hiring, on-boarding and training new talent, as well as loss of productivity and potential errors while the new hire is still learning. On top of that, we’re dealing with non-tangible costs, such as low employee morale as a result of a colleague leaving. Despite the many job hoppers sprinting around the recruitment market, companies often report difficulties in finding the right people with the matching skills. According to CareerBuilder[1], you can expect to lose almost £10,000 (€13,900 EUR) for every position that is vacant for over three months. Step 1 - Audit your talent pool regularly How can we ensure sure we’re not left with a glaring and costly gap when one of our best employees suddenly announces they are leaving? Many organisations are turning towards their internal talent pool and trying to fill these gaps from within - a strategy which serves as an invaluable insurance policy for talent. We can start off by planning ahead and not assuming everyone will be sticking around forever. If A goes, who else could do their job at short-term notice? Is B ready for this or are there still some skills missing? Regular skills audits help to prevent a crisis situation when somebody leaves. Technology nowadays enables us to carry out large-scale and standardised audits so that we’re fully aware of what talents we have and what we’re lacking. In fact, many talent management system providers have already embedded succession management into their solution - this is something that almost 60 per cent of HR and L&D managers require nowadays[2]. Step 2 - Build a culture of mobility and knowledge sharing Fostering a culture of mobility, where employees are willing and able to move to a different department or country, will put us in a far better position for dealing with sudden skill shortages. We can work on this by training our employees in intercultural awareness, foreign language and communication skills. Moreover, regular job rotations will allow employees to acquire skills they wouldn’t normally have access to. For example, a product manager could spend a month in the company’s marketing division to get some valuable insights and also to strengthen ties between the two departments. This will result in a much richer internal talent pool and boost employee motivation, since ongoing learning and development will become a fundamental part of their daily work. Another facet of mobility is allowing employees to collaborate across borders in virtual workspaces, where knowledge and ideas are shared via virtual conferences, wikis and chats. Knowledge needs to become fluid and transferable and this can only work if the right communication skills are in place. Step 3 - Remember that one size doesn’t fit all Despite the many opportunities technology now offers us for identifying skill gaps, if you’re dealing with subsidiaries all over the world, chances are you’ll need to adapt your strategy to local customs and expectations. Succession planning in North America will be different from succession planning in China. So somebody moving from New York to Beijing will not necessarily go through a smooth transition. For opposite sides of the world to work together effectively, we cannot rely on technology alone. Instead, we must embrace cultural differences as part of the organisation and be prepared to provide ‘human’ support such as intercultural integration, language training and local guidance. Only then will our talent and skill pool be truly fluid. The bottom line? Keep your talent happy for as long as you can but don’t assume they won’t need a successor at some point. [1] http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=3%2F6%2F2014&id=pr807&ed=12%2F31%2F2014 [2] http://marketing.bersin.com/succession-management-technology.html

We are frequently reminded through advertising and marketing of how many  Multinationals claim to be ‘truly global’ in their approach to business. But for many, words like Values, Integrity, Social Responsibility have all become much more marketing fodder than actual maxims by which to guide a company. But what does that actually mean to be a global organization anyway? Well this piece will deal with what it is not. The reason for this article is driven by a conversation I had with a bright young manager who was working for a large multinational. She is based in SE Asia, where she was born and had recently taken a couple of trips overseas to visit the group head office.  That was when she got to witness first hand a disparity in standards, policies and what she described as ‘simple decency’ between the Western home of the company the Asian overseas operation. She explained to me that she knew there would be a different wage structure. The economies were very different, but did not see the reason why areas like health and safety had to have such differing standards. The question was posed and she was advised that the company had always met its legal obligations in each of the countries it operated. ‘Why did the company simply not create a standard that exceeded the ‘letter of the law’ approach she further ventured ?’ She told me at which point she could feel the atmosphere changing in the meeting and if the Head of Global Compliance had a panic button under the table it would have been pushed and she would have been forceably removed from the room. She took home from the head office the employee handbook and began to become increasingly moved agitated until a conference call was requested with HR at the head office. She discussed with them areas where the company had either exceeded the legal requirements in the home country or where new incentives had been created but not replicated elsewhere in the world. The quality and size of the workspace - ‘ You get what we deem to be acceptable in the local market and your are generally smaller people’ Health Coverage - ‘it would simply be too expensive to provide everyone with the same levels of coverage’ Maternity/Paternity Leave- ‘ it would be economically unsound to follow our model given the size of the families in Asia’ She also questioned why there was a random drug testing policy in Asia and why this had not been replicated throughout the group. She was told there was never the ‘need’ anywhere else, although it was not explained why the ‘need’ had been established in the first place in the Asian operation. Needless to say she does not work for this group anymore. She does work for another multinational however, but one that has created global standards. She tells me they are not perfect, but that its OK, because the employees see it is a work in progress and that the company genuinely seems to want ensure a global approach is taken. The new company have also cultivated local rather than purely expatriate leadership and that the average turnover is a little under 5 years rather than a little under 18 months. "Even the most rational approach to ethics is defenseless if there isn’t the will to do what is right." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Learning management systems (LMS) are becoming mission-critical software applications that allow corporate L&D teams to package and deliver digitalized learning content to learners in an efficient, effective and compelling way. While of course those organizations already using an LMS know how beneficial LMS can be, organizations that are new to the game often face a battle to convince decision makers of the benefits that an LMS can bring, in return for the investment.  That’s why we thought it would be useful to highlight five of the chief benefits that LMS can bestow on an organization. Lower training costs-per-head. If L&D professionals want to win over the CEO, Finance Director and departmental budget holders, they should be able to demonstrate that LMS can impact the bottom line of the business. The good news is that studies show that LMS, (by way of it’s ability to deliver e-learning content), has reduced training costs by anything from 25% to 40% in organizations where it has replaced face-to-face learning models. LMS can in theory drive down costs and boost profits. Removing the admin burden. LMS, by way of it’s built in tracking system and highly automated assessment, monitoring and reporting can remove a huge amount of the admin burden associated with traditional HR processes. This can bring benefits for different stakeholders, for example, you’ll be able to deliver more training with less staff which should impact the bottom line and impress profit-center managers. But, also your L&D staff will be able to spend less time doing basic admin and more time improving the quality of learning content and enriching their jobs, increasing L&D staff engagement. Can automate mandatory training delivery and improve compliance. Many workers are required to receive mandatory training in areas such as: health and safety, diversity and inclusion, anti-harassment and bullying, etc. Compliance training often requires a lot of box ticking and delivering this kind of training via traditional decentralized methods can be very laborious and management intensive. An LMS can simplify what can be a complex, box-ticking process by automating: scheduling, booking, delivery, tracking and reporting of mandatory training. Centralized learning environment. Centralizing functions in many areas of a business can lead to efficiency gains, by removing duplication and allowing better sharing of information. It’s no different in training. An LMS will enable you to centralize your training content, resources, personal development plans, assessment and progress outcomes all in one place. It makes it much easier to see who has done what, to see which content is working and which is not, and to deliver consistent training. It will also make it much easier to produce reports and analytics, giving you 20:20 vision into training delivery, making it easier for you to target learning content to the areas where it is most needed. Means you can deliver bite-size learning on demand. LMS enables organizations to deliver the traditional 1 day course in a series of perhaps eight, 1 hour digital chunks over a course of a few weeks or months. This is called bite-size learning. Learners can take these e-learning courses on demand at a time to suit them on their PC or mobile device. This makes it easier for the modern, time pressurized user to fit learning into their schedules. Studies show that this form of training delivery increases both learner engagement and recall. Share with us your experiences using an LMS and how it benefits your organizations training  

Whether it’s a private cloud or a public one, and even if you don’t know what or where that cloud is, chances are, you’re probably already using it. Cloud computing is a general term referring to any kind of service hosted over the internet. More specifically, cloud services refer to hosted services which are located in big blocks of servers in one or many places around the globe and are accessed over the internet. These server blocks are considerably larger than those found in any one company, and provide servers for multiple companies simultaneously. The nebulous name was inspired by the symbol traditionally used to represent the internet on diagrams: a cloud. There are many different versions of cloud computing, of course. Companies pay a certain amount per month for use of the internet service, such as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) or storage as a service (StaaS). In the case of SaaS, a hosting service provides and manages software and makes them available to companies of all sizes using a central server. What this means is that companies no longer have to worry about what versions of software have been installed on a particular machine or at a particular location because users can simply log on to the host site and access what they need from the cloud. For start-ups especially, the cloud can be a financial godsend. Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) can be either private or public. A private cloud only offers its services to a limited number of customers but a public cloud sells its services to anyone on the internet. Naturally, companies don’t really want people to know exactly how many servers are being used to host their services. However, Amazon Web Services is believed to be the largest public cloud provider, running an estimated 450,000 servers. Other companies, like IBM, Microsoft and Salesforce, are big players in the field of commercial cloud computing as well. Probably the most frequently used cloud service is Google, which offers its software and services free to billions of users worldwide in the form of email, photo sharing, online productivity tools and even website creation tools. There are drawbacks to cloud services, of course. Cyber security is the most vexing concern. The increasing use of Web 2.0 technologies and collaborative work make the concept of keeping information absolutely secure a problematic issue no matter where data is stored. Giving up complete control of private data is another reason cited by companies for not yet embracing the cloud. In other cases, the need for restructuring the company in order to accommodate the cloud is too daunting a task. And what happens if the power goes out? While uncommon, a power or internet outage could be very damaging. Ronald Rivest, a professor of computer science at MIT, thinks part of the problem is cloud computing’s rather innocuous name. He believes terminology plays a crucial role in how we perceive a particular technology. ‘If we go around for a week calling it swamp computing, I think you might have the right mindset.’

One of the great things about working in e-learning is getting to meet your customers face to face and hearing how your solution has made their life easier. We recently met with Ursula Hostettler of Mobiliar, Switzerland’s oldest private insurance company, to talk about the benefits of blended learning for training her staff in English, German, French and Italian. Watch the video here: What Mobiliar says about blended learning with Speexx "We have contacts and partners abroad, for example, we’re a member of Eurapco, which is an alliance of different insurance providers, such as Gothaer in Germany or Covea in France. They’re insurance companies that collaborate on an international level. They work together to analyse potential new risks and threats such as terrorism or climate change. This allows them to exchange new ideas about how to deal with these issues and develop new business models. Switzerland is unique in the sense that we’re a multilingual country. Our company is headquartered in German-speaking Switzerland, in Bern, but we have a second main office in Nyon, which is in French-speaking Switzerland. So here we’re already dealing with people who speak German and French and need to be able to communicate with each other. Furthermore, we have about 80 independent general agencies which receive guidance and products from our headquarters. But then they work locally and regionally. Then there’s another quite funny situation in the Canton of Wallis, where our staff and agency members need to learn English. Why? Because a lot of English people spend their holidays here! On top of English, French and German, there’s also a demand for Italian, of course, since we have an Italian-speaking Canton as well. So in order for these people to work together internally, they need to have the right language skills. For some time, our employees had been asking for a learning solution that would allow them to study languages independently, not in a classic language school setting. For example, we sometimes have whole departments asking for specific courses, but then it turns out there aren’t enough people of the same skill level to get a whole class together. So we had a look around and found that blended learning might be worth a try. That’s when we came across Speexx and started a pilot project with 50 people. I really value Speexx as a flexible, personable and competent partner. You can call them anytime, explaining your needs and the blended learning solutions are delivered very quickly and unbureaucratically, and most importantly, in a useful way. We also find the prices very reasonable. Finally, what’s important to us is that our employees really enjoy learning languages with Speexx. So it’s a really elaborate and diverse blended learning solution."

Every day, we’re faced with innumerable potential conflicts and misunderstandings every day, be it face to face, on a phone call or in an instant message. Not only do we all have our own individual communication style, but our different cultural and professional backgrounds, even our generation, impact on the way we convey and perceive information. Lost in translation When communicating across borders in a foreign language, there is bound to be some misunderstanding at some point. If one of the speakers uses a term the other has never heard of, they may be asked to clarify (which isn’t as simple as it sounds) or the other person may just let it go and then miss other important details. Then, you have the many false friends where two words sound similar in two different languages but actually mean something completely different. For example, the word "actual" in Spanish or "aktuell" in German means "current, present, up to date", whereas in English, "actual" means "existing in fact" or "real". As a language and communication skills training provider, we’re constantly dealing with managers who want their workforce to communicate better. One of our customers once reported an extreme case where an employee had been refusing to answer phone calls from abroad, for fear of not understanding the person on the other end and subsequent embarrassment. Improving their language skills gave them back the confidence to deal with calls from outside of their country. So you think you speak English? Even when we think we’re speaking the same language, things can go wrong. For example, a British lady was once asked to "bring a plate" to a party in Australia. Not being from Australia, she simply assumed her host might be short of crockery, so she ended up bringing three plates and a bunch of flowers just to be polite. What this means Down Under, however, is to "bring a meal" with you. Even many native speakers of English are unfamiliar with this expression. If you think of all the different kinds of English spoken around the globe, the possibilities are multiplied exponentially. Miscommunication can also lead to expensive or even dangerous problems. In 1983, a Boeing 767 ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet altitude, about halfway through its flight. The reason? The fuel requirements were assumed to be in litres but they had actually been recorded in gallons! Then of course, we have non-verbal communication - certain hand or body gestures are considered rude in some cultures but completely standard in others, as we’ve all experienced when travelling abroad. Instant tips for better communication Below are some ideas for reducing conflict and errors in our daily communication with others. This is by no means an all-inclusive list! Gather information. No, this doesn’t mean we need to become part-time spies. But if we have time to prepare for a conversation in advance, it’s good to find out more about the person we’ll be talking to. What is their background, their working style, what can other people tell you about them? The same goes for the conversation topic itself - try to comprehend it in all its breadth and depth and think of problems it may have caused in the past. This will help the communication to run much more smoothly. Learn to listen actively. How often do we really listen to someone without skipping back and forth in our brains or being distracted by something else altogether? It is very rare for someone to listen with the simple goal of understanding the other person. This isn’t something we’re taught in school either. For the speaker, any form of passive listening is very frustrating because they feel that what they are saying is not being valued at all. Active listening means putting aside distracting thoughts, not mentally preparing a rebuttal, showing the person that you are interested (e.g. through body language) and not judging their words. Paraphrase. This is actually related to active listening but such a key factor that I think it deserves its own bullet point. Paraphrasing, i.e. feeding the information back to the person in your own words, is one of the best ways to make your interlocutor feel they are being heard and minimise any room for misunderstandings. It will also help you to become a better listener and put yourself in another person’s position because you will be relaying the information to yourself on an ongoing basis. Assume you will be misunderstood. Yes, it is far safer to go into a conversation assuming you will be misunderstood rather than understood. We’ve seen how quickly misinterpretations can arise and how much room there is for bad communication - so don’t assume everything is crystal clear to others just because it makes sense to you. Monitoring your own words (not just the other person’s!) will help to avoid ambiguity and ensure that you are fully understood. You can also check how things are going by simply asking the other person if what you’re saying makes sense every now and again. A nice saying by Anaïs Nin goes ‘We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are’. Read between the lines. Is the other person folding their arms, shifting about in their seat, avoiding eye contact or frowning? Chances are, they are not happy about something you’ve just said and you should try to find out what’s going on. Perhaps they have simply misunderstood something, or perhaps there is a real conflict. Either way, it is much healthier to deal with problems openly than pretend they do not exist, which will most likely build up an underlying problem between you two. Communication is the glue holding everything together and it’s what can make or break a situation, a relationship, even a whole company. It will never be perfect, but if we keep a few simple steps in mind, it can definitely be improved. I’d be interested to hear what other tips you have!

The 70:20:10 framework - where 70% of the learning is on the job, 20% from colleagues and 10% from formal courses and reading - is proving an effective tool to support the transition of learning and development to the new world of work. The workplace is becoming increasingly flexible and borderless - the traditional nine to five is rapidly phasing out. Learning now needs to be just as fluid as the mobile collaboration that employees have come to expect as part of their working life. Organisations that are allowing employees to work smarter, whether at home, at work or during business travel, and on the device of their choice, are also exploring how to make learning content available anytime, anywhere and on any device. Mobile learning provides on-the-job relevance (the main part of the 70:20:10 approach), and performance support is provided at the point of need. The 70:20:10 training and development blend can help accelerate learning to support a changing business. As technology and the internet revolutionise every sector, organisations are having to respond by releasing new versions of products and services much more regularly to meet customer demand and compete in the marketplace. Employees must stay up to date with evolving client and consumer demands and this requires regular upskilling. Traditional classroom-based training methods no longer meet the challenges of the fast-paced and globalised business world. Online and flexible training, where the learner is in charge of what, when and how they learn, is more agile and effective, yet organisations have concerns about how this fits in with the 70:20:10 approach. The 20% element of the 70:20:10 approach recognises that people learn from people and that informal learning has an important part to play. A good first step in creating a knowledge sharing culture is to find out what leaders know and how this could be useful for their teams. It is crucial that both HR and employees recognise that important knowledge sharing in the workplace can take place through wikis, web meetings and even informal chats. How to embed 70:20:10 Have a clear strategy in mind: It is vital to document what you want to achieve with the 70:20:10 approach, as well as why and when. At the same time it may be necessary to abandon the traditional ‘command and control’ learning framework and allow the learner a lot more autonomy. Be a good communicator: Employees need to understand the importance of learning beyond the classroom, so express it in clear, relevant language, both online and offline. Introduce the 70:20:10 framework and its advantages to all members of staff across all subsidiaries and hierarchy levels to get them on board. Have a global communications strategy in place so that colleagues can communicate smoothly across borders with fewer errors and misunderstandings. For example, a developer in Brazil can reach out to a colleague in Japan to ask for advice if both have a common business language; this will usually require the business to support their employees in foreign language training. Don’t forget the human factor: If budget allows, let employees spend some time in a different subsidiary abroad and meet their international colleagues face to face instead of only talking via virtual meetings. This can be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience, both personally and professionally, and can motivate employees to improve their language and communication skills and widens their cultural awareness. Remember that one size will not fit all: 70:20:10 is a broad framework and the proportions will vary depending on function, industry, seniority level and the countries involved. Before starting a 70:20:10 initiative, plan how you will measure the results: One approach could be to ask employees to keep a log of their learning and development under each heading. The impact of 70:20:10 70:20:10 is primarily an agent of change for extending our thinking about learning beyond the classroom and other structured, event-based development activities. Good use of the 70:20:10 framework results in increased focus on supporting effective learning and development within the daily workflow, naturally and at the speed of business. Organisations working to a 70:20:10 framework for learning and development should see more business agility, with an increased ability to meet changing market demands and stay ahead of the competition. If HR is realistic about the fact that learning no longer needs to take place in a traditional classroom, they open up a lot of opportunities for employees. They can learn from joint projects with their peers, through trial and error while solving a complex problem and through mobile learning apps on their tablets. Happier employees, who feel they have the performance support they need to cope with their day-to-day workflow, means happier customers and more business value from each employee working to their potential. In turn, an organisation with motivated individuals who feel they are having their learning and development needs met and that they are working for a competitive business will be well-placed to attract and retain the best people. Motivated employees will drive the 70:20:10 themselves, once they understand the benefits, and will seek out more learning opportunities suited to their schedules. Organisations are looking not only to reduce the time it takes to provide training, but also the time it takes to translate that training into business impact and this is where 70:20:10 provides real business value. Combined with better communications, this approach will help organisations unlock their full potential.