To take on the challenges of digital transformation, organizations need leaders who can disrupt the status quo, mobilize change, and be increasingly client-centric.

Years of corporate experience informs my observation that senior professionals work very much as ‘individual experts or brands’ rather than as part of the professional service firm. Previous research underpinning the context is limited, although developing as the time for change approaches. Putting the individual ahead of the firm in this way leads to divisiveness and competition, making the professional firms an unpleasant environment in which to work. It takes a minimum of 10 years working very long hours before a professional can be considered for junior partnership and there are no shortcuts. It is this personal investment of time and effort that focus the individual on ensuring that his/her career goals are achieved despite the amount of competition. The ‘apprentice model’ is key, starting with menial tasks and learning from role models and experience, which makes it very hard to access new and external knowledge, broader perspectives and wider learning. I also postulate that failing to learn the cultural norms (dress code, travel rituals, pastimes) is a serious mistake, and the ultimate luxuries are time and space which are ‘the privileges of rank in the corporate tribe’. I challenge that in order for firms to experience the level of respect, engagement and commitment they want to hold onto within this change, they need to build community by giving value and meaning to each member. They need to create a high sense of belonging, and recognition for contribution by individuals, to enable all to ‘support the whole tribe and not just their silo’. The problem with this vision is that the push for professional standards and maintenance of proficiency in order to achieve professional status, does not leave much time for consideration of change. Instead this produces modern day ‘guilds’, which become closed shops, protecting the interests of individual members and status quo, rather than embracing the collective interest through change and responsiveness. This can be seen in professions such as medicine and education (Ramirez et al. 1996; Daresh,2000) when surgeons and head teachers are pushed into taking management roles, although it appears more concentrated in the legal profession where legal partners have their personal wealth invested in equity in the firm, and with larger numbers at the same hierarchical level, causing a more rigid response to change than those operating in other professions. This style of working is causing massive pressure, especially at senior levels and this is where individual coaching can support and enable a balance. There is also a personal cost where a culture of long hours and stress is driving increasing numbers of professionals to drink and drugs both within and outside the workplace. I surmise that professional people cannot possibly acquire all the new knowledge and experience on an individual basis and have to learn to share, in order to optimize and leverage the knowledge available to the firm. This can be achieved through developing networking and relational databases and sharing understanding of market sectors and demand, all of which suggest a role for a knowledge management function within the firm whilst learning to work collaboratively and smashing the silo structures. The post Evolving silo working to collaboration appeared first on The Performance Solution.

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I’d love to take credit for this provocative title, but, sadly, I can’t. This phrase was first used 45 years ago when a study showing little or no relationship between training and work performance was published. Most recently, it was used this past August for the title of a Harvard Business School working paper which demonstrated the same findings. What a Haul! Since 2012, U.S. companies have spent more than $150Bn every year on education and training. That’s a lotta dough! Incredibly, survey data collected from HR and training professionals peg the effectiveness of these programs at… are you sitting down?… between 10% and 50%. That means between $75Bn and $135Bn has been wasted EVERY year; no results to show for it. INSANE! How can this happen? Remember the many times you’ve told executives or managers their problem wasn’t a training problem and they said ‘Train ’em anyways.’ and you did? Or someone mistakenly thought a situation could be improved by training when, in reality, it couldn’t and that big program that got rolled out with so much fanfare went nowhere. All these add up and up and up. It’s the System! Countless studies and anecdotes show that business performance problems are the result of overall system deficiencies, not lack of individual knowledge. This means that factors like an organization’s roles, responsibilities, reporting structure, standards and work flow primarily drive performance. Even if people learn a better way to work, they generally can’t apply it to their situation, so teaching them a ‘better way’ is waste. The factors above are the very definition of a ‘value stream’ which is what Lean aims to improve. Stop Getting Robbed Understand and fix the value stream BEFORE creating ANY training! Otherwise, you’re fighting the tide. Training is in a perfect position to lead these efforts; people are coming to you with problems to solve. Applying Lean tools like PDCA, root cause analysis and good problem statements will keep you from jumping to conclusions and help you create genuinely effective training. Read about UPS’s driver training program in a previous post on their Circle of Honor recognition program. It’s a work of art. The Training Bottom Line How much are you (inadvertently) contributing to the Great Training Robbery? How much money does your organization annually spend on education and training and how effective are these programs at changing behavior and improving performance on the job long term? It could be a very scary number. Look it straight in the eye and vow to change your approach. My Lean Learning certification programs can help. Let’s Ride! Todd Hudson, Head Maverick The post The Great Training Robbery appeared first on Maverick Institute.

After the Red Sox lost the American League Championship Series, it was an easy decision to root for the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. Why? Joe Maddon, their manager, is clearly someone who thinks and practices Lean. He’s known for his lengthy team meetings and press conferences and liberally sprinkles them with aphorisms and koans. Here are a few examples that reveal his Lean nature. "Do simple better." This is a tee shirt Joe Maddon regularly wears and screams ‘LEAN!’. He doesn’t want his players to overcomplicate their jobs and continues by saying "I don’t want extra work. I don’t want too much information." Lean is all about eliminating non-value-added activities and waste that take time, energy and focus away from what’s really important, i.e., what the customer is willing to pay for. For the Cubs, those customers are fans hungry for a trophy after 107 seasons who watch the team (tickets and advertising revenue) and buy merchandise. With all the distractions, hype and expectations being placed on his team, simple is essential. "Respect 90." The distance between bases is 90 feet and this slogan encourages players to hustle at all times. In fact, ‘respecting 90’ was responsible for a Cub getting a base hit in Game 2 when a ground ball got bobbled for one second by the Indian second basemen. Baseball, like business, is overflowing with mostly useless statistics that confuse rather than clarify. A few simple, visual signals that easily communicate what’s happening right now are much more effective than a blizzard of reports you have to wait for and wade through. I’m sure Joe Maddon, sitting in the dugout, watches his players run the bases and assesses their current mood by how much hustle he sees. Then, he adjustments; a pep talk here, a player change there. "I love funk. The funk is good." While Maddon was specifically referring to the sidearm pitching delivery of one of his relievers, it shows his acceptance and appreciation for eccentric methods. Eliminating waste and creating new customer value is not easy and often times requires unorthodox thinking and methods, namely FUNK! People often worry more about how something looks rather than the results it actually delivers. The tendency is to go for the elegant, comprehensive solution that takes years to implement instead of the simple bailing wire and tape one that can be put in place tomorrow. And loving funk ties in nicely to a final quote. "You have to have a little bit of crazy to be successful." Maddon admits that he is indeed crazy and "crazy" is required for players to succeed. Lean also requires a bit of crazy. Big hairy goals like cutting defects or cycle time in half drive radical changes to polices, processes and procedures. They require questioning the very assumptions that underpin them. Sometimes the best improvement you can make to a process is to simply STOP DOING IT, which can sound completely crazy. Game 3 at Wrigley tonight. Play Ball! Todd Hudson, Head Maverick   The post ‘Lean’ Chicago-Style appeared first on Maverick Institute.

It used to be that you got what you paid for. If you wanted the best, you had to pay some pretty penny for it. Cheap stuff was just that: cheap. Like, you couldn’t get a Mercedes for the price of a Yugo. And, with cars, you still can’t. But with software, it’s different. You see software, unlike physical products, doesn’t have a raw cost for each copy. Heck, with Cloud-based software, you don’t even need DVDs or a box to sell it in. You just have the costs of developing it and keeping the servers running, both of which have huge economies of scale. That’s why software like TalentLMS can be so affordable. Case in point, our starting plan, at $29 per month for up to 25 users, comes down to a little over a dollar per user. You probably spend 5 times as much per day just for coffee. TalentLMS brings expensive features in an affordable package But don’t just take our word for it. Ask Capterra, the hugely popular website for business software reviews and guides, that awarded us the 1st price for the most affordable LMS Software. The ranking, which you can see here, was based on each LMS’ average monthly cost, total number of features offered for that cost, and customer reviews. TalentLMS soared past the competition with 4.5/5 stars for Functionality, 4.5/5 stars for Overall Quality and 5/5 stars for Value, resulting in a 96/100 total score — and the 1st place! Capterra also lists some of the features that TalentLMS supports, which combined with the "Most Affordable LMS" award, read as if a top of the line BMW got the "most affordable car" award: Course management, Completion tracking, Learner portal, SCORM, compliance, Course authoring, Assessment tools, Learning paths, Blended learning, Compliance management, Mobile learning, Webinar integration, Branding, Social learning. And still, TalentLMS has way more features than that And not just small things either! As complete as it may be, this list doesn’t include many of our great features that you’ve shown through the years matter to you, like our support for reporting, infographic creation, multiple branches, microlearning, offline learning, eCommerce, survey engine, gamification, file management, certifications and SSO. Not to mention the numerous integration options, and TalentLMS’ enterprise-ready REST API. Oh, and our fully native mobile clients for iOS and Android. We are very proud that TalentLMS is being recognized not just as a great corporate training platform, but also as an affordable one — a platform that enables businesses, big and small, to embrace eLearning. And we will continue to make sure that when you subscribe to TalentLMS, you get way more than what you pay for. The post Affordable luxury: TalentLMS wins Capterra’s "Most Affordable LMS" ranking appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Corporate eLearning is in a class of its own - but it’s not isolated from other business elements. eLearning in a corporate setting has to be structured, compliant with various regulations, universally adoptable and financially viable across many geographic regions. That’s because corporate eLearning has to be scalable. With all this in mind, what is going to change in the world of corporate eLearning in 2017? In this article, we’ll cover 6 trends that we believe (from a combination of data and personal intuition) are going to play a key role in the development of corporate eLearning in 2017. Some of these are rather revolutionary ideas; many, however, are in fact older trends that - astonishingly - haven’t been widely adopted specifically within a corporate eLearning setting as of yet. Without further ado, we present to you: 1. Adaptive programs and further diversification of delivery options eLearning is a great concept and over the years its effectiveness and uses have only grown. Admittedly, however, static eLearning - meaning how it was when the concept was first developed back in late 20th century - is not as effective for today’s audience. eLearning just needs to be mobilized to the best of its capabilities, that’s all. Adaptive eLearning programs offer so much more than static eLearning, as they accommodate specific users’ requirements, allowing them to progress through certain areas that they are evidently more familiar with, quicker than others. Providing different options for eLearning delivery is also a way to make training suitable for each individual, and by combining this ‘freshening up’ of content with brand new features such as 3D Learning, you’re onto a winner. We realize that more recent technological developments such as 3D Learning may not be adopted within corporate eLearning for some time, but adaptive programs are a no-brainer. The only real barrier is cost. The actual process will barely change, making this an appealing investment due to its likelihood to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and achievement of learning outcomes while causing minimal disruption to operations. 2. Collaborative and social (heard that before) - but actually implemented! Although we’ve had the technology for a while, corporate eLearning, in particular, is an area where social and collaborative practices simply are not being adopted. Speaking from first-hand experience, eLearning remains relatively siloed and thus significantly less effective than it is capable of being in corporate environments. Let’s succinctly explain this with a slightly nerdy metaphor: far too often, eLearning remains much like a neglected Intranet system when it has the potential to be a popular, active social network in a corporate setting. Although collaborative and social aspects of eLearning such as group tasks, gamification (which we’ll cover later) performance leaderboards, forums, video conferencing etc. are nothing new, 2017 should finally be the year that these elements come into play in the corporate training world, big time. 3. Author diversity This one is a personal hunch rather than data-backed or experienced-based like the rest of the trends in this post, but we do truly believe that - perhaps even only to a minor degree - author diversity will grow in 2017. With eLearning possessing the capability to be a company-wide training device for large multinational corporations, we as an industry must embrace and drive this. Employing culturally diverse authors - many of whom who could work remotely - is a way of providing a more comprehensive eLearning platform on a global scale. That’s the kind of thing that appeals to the corporate giants of this world, so we expect to see it develop in the year to come. 4. Fully responsiveness across devices Again, this is nothing new to us. Being able to take an eLearning course on a desktop, laptop, tablet or other mobile device is commonplace, and so it should be. The problem is that a vast number of companies still believe that their employees only require their eLearning to be available on their desktop. We wish we could report where they got that information from - but it’s quite possible that in 99% of cases if they spoke to their employees, the outcome would be completely different. The issue is that if a work-from-home culture isn’t present, employers can’t imagine their employees wanting - or being able - to engage in eLearning anywhere other than their desk. The reality that we acknowledge, however, is that work-from-home or not, eLearning must be accessible across all devices. For example, mLearning would allow employees to be more productive, handing them the opportunity to take time away from their desk and work in a different environment that is, most likely, less monotonous - and more mentally stimulating. There’s also the possibility of giving your employees the option - if they wish - to make the most of their commute or lunch break to complete their designated training. 5. Gamification Gamification has yet to gain real traction, despite predictions that by 2015, 40% of the world’s 1,000 biggest companies would utilize some form of gamification. However, there are signs that these ambitious predictions may not be totally ridiculous in their estimations. WallMart - publically regarded as the largest organization globally by revenue - undertook an enormous scale (75,000 participants) gamification project in order to improve safety and efficiency. The results? A reduction in workplace accidents to below industry average, and lost time cut by 50% - in just 6 months! In a more recent report, Gartner have reeled in their expectations of gamification, touching upon how their research has uncovered dubious attitudes towards gamification from organizations who doubt it’s capability to be a long-term device for engaging their staff. That said, Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce now, and what better way to engage millennials than with gamification? 6. Increased senior buy-in Many of the trends we’ve discussed in this article relate to a shift in attitude towards corporate eLearning. Senior personnel at such organizations are coming to a realization after, for example, observing the success of eLearning as a delivery method across their industry. Whatever the cause, the realization is this: that in the vast majority of cases, a lack of participation or non-achievement of desired learning outcomes often relates to internal attitudes rather than eLearning as a method of training. To help solve this, confidence, enthusiasm, and obvious buy-in to the platform from the top down are essential. eLearning is not going away; in fact, it’s growing. Perhaps C-levels are realizing that too - expect to see a gradual alteration in attitudes towards eLearning in your organization over the course of the next year. Conclusion We’ve often focused on emerging technologies that have the power to transform the corporate eLearning landscape. But, as is true for most businesses, the most powerful element in this equation is not the tech itself, but rather the attitudes of the users, the learners and their bosses. We hope this list might bring some clarity as to what you really should strive for in the year to come, and where the industry is going towards. The post Corporate eLearning in 2017: 6 key trends to be aware of appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Performance management has been labeled as "a waste of time, demoralizing, and stupid." Why the sudden hatred? And more importantly, what can you do about it?

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The insanity of work is at an epidemic level.  Our own work suffers. If we're honest, quality and innovation have been replaced by minimal effort delivered as quickly as possible.  We're doing the easy things fast to feel productive when the impact we are making is minimal. Perhaps this is why companies are reorganizing and trying to change cultures.  I do not believe organization structure change helps if the people in the organization are addicted to busy-ness.  Bold leaders are stopping and asking what can be done to minimize busy-ness. Want help taking back your own energy and power? Bring our Power of You learning experience to your team. We’ll focus on each individual, help each person craft a better way to choose the appropriate emotions, help them learn to focus and get back to their personal ‘stable’ base more quickly- allowing them to be more effective at work. Schedule in 2016 for the special rate of $10,000 + travel for up to 15 learners. Connect with Brittney for more details or to add this to your calendar. bhelt@russellmartin.com , 317-475-9311 x3.