We’ve just launched our annual Speexx Exchange Survey and you’re invited to take part and share your thoughts on the current state of talent management and learning in organizations. For the fourth year running, we are conducting an industry reality check among HR and L&D Managers worldwide. The results will help to showcase the challenges and opportunities facing e-learning and global talent management. After all, that’s what Speexx Exchange is all about: getting real hard data and using it to make better decisions.Last year, we had extremely valuable feedback from more than 250 respondents resulting in several white papers and numerous contributions to conferences all around the world.Join industry experts and peers in the Speexx Exchange 2014-15 Survey and be part of this unique exchange on issues that move the world of talent and learning. Give us your view on the learning industry and win yourself a brand new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy smartphone that will help you get the most out of the Speexx mobile learning experience.   This is what Speexx Exchange is all about It´s almost a tradition now: Each year just before Christmas, Speexx Exchange brings together friends, customers and thought leaders from all over the world to take an in-depth reality check on the state of corporate e-learning and talent management. No future talk, just real hard facts. You will meet industry leaders, hear and talk about best practice for deploying global e-learning strategies and get the latest results from Europe’s leading talent management research. Speexx Exchange helps HR and L&D managers worldwide meet the challenges in managing talent across borders. Together, we’ll create a unique exchange of ideas between HR and L&D professionals from loads of different backgrounds, all based on real facts and best practice straight from the experts. You will return to work with brand-new insights and practical solutions for delivering real results. Join us on the eve of Online Educa 2014 for a day packed with networking opportunities, expert presentations, collaboration and - great food. To get a recap of tweets and images, follow us on Twitter: @Speexx, check out the event hashtag #SpeexxExchange and visit the Speexx Exchange Blog.

The world of work is changing, and changing fast! Globalisation, the internet, competition, customer expectations, changing talent pools are influencing  business change.  The ability for staff to be responsive to change is critical and it is clear that L&D leaders around the globe are waking up to that fact that their learning offering needs to be more clearly aligned to the rapidly changing demands of business. Talent Technology and change Talent , technology and change are at the top of business leader’s agenda and in our own Benchmark studies across the globe, there are clear indicators that L&D leaders are also sharing those priorities. We see that L&D are now looking beyond the course and turning to new technologies and approaches to modernise learning and support workplace performance.  Last year we saw that 9 out of 10 participants in the Towards Maturity Benchmark were looking to not only support organisational change but also to respond faster to changing business initiatives. The same number were looking  to integrate learning and talent strategies, support sharing of good practice within the business and find ways of engaging and retaining staff.  Unfortunately fewer than a third were successful in their endeavours. Early findings from this year’s Towards Maturity Benchmark show that expectations are higher than ever before but still limited progress is being made overall. So how can today’s L&D leaders modernise their learning strategy effectively to deliver a responsive offering that supports performance in a rapidly changing work environment? Unchartered territory? The course ( either face to face or e-learning) is the mainstay of the traditional learning strategy. It’s known, it’s familiar but is it foundation for a responsive and modernised learning future? Mobile learning, performance support,70:20:10, social and informal learning  all hold promise for supporting change. However, for many these concepts are unchartered waters and potentially risky options that may or may not work for you. Whilst these approaches are new  to some, they are not to us. Over the last 10 years, our research with over 3000 L&D leaders has shown that top learning companies have already started their journey and as a consequence are consistently delivering better results.  Organisations who are reporting more productivity, more engagement, reduced time to competency and better efficiency are those who have already taken steps to modernise their learning strategy. An evidence based approach to learning By analysis the behaviours of top learning companies, we take away the uncertainty of moving into unchartered waters by promoting  an evidence based approach to establishing a modernised learning strategy. Regardless of sector, size, or country the evidence points to 6 strategic foundations ( the Towards Maturity Model)  essential for all organisations looking to deliver a modernised learning strategy: Defining Need - prioritising what is important to the business - both strategically and tactically Learner context- prioritising what is important to the individual such as choice, motivation Work context - integrating learning into the wider context of work culture and talent Building capability within the L&D team  - to redefine their roles in designing learning , supporting performance and facilitating collaboration Ensuring Engagement - influencing change with all stakeholders Demonstrating value- consistently understanding and articulating the value learning at all levels Learn from others experiences and use them to shape our own When it comes to modernising learning in our own organisations, benchmarking our learning approach against the top learning companies allows us to learn from others experiences and use them to shape our own. Benchmarking is a collaborative activity.  Over the years, through collaboration with industry learning guru’s and top performing L&D leaders we’ve identified over 100 action areas that help organisations establish a firm foundation for a modernised learning strategy.  By taking part in the Towards Maturity Benchmark, you are drawing on proven insights that have resulted from 10 years of dynamic  collaborative knowledge. Benchmarking also has to be personal.  By reflecting on collaborative insights of others, you have a framework for making your own personal decisions that reflect your business and your learners. All benchmark participants are provided with a Personalised Benchmark Report that provides a profile for your organisation. This helps you make the most of the personalised data for your organisation in order to tailor the next steps that you need to take for you. Reality check In 2014, L&D leaders are clearly starting to prioritise new ways of learning and new ways of adding bottom line value to their organisations. But we need to do more than just talk about it, we need to take action , and take action quickly. We invite all L&D leaders to take part in the Towards Maturity Benchmark which is open until 31st July as part of your own reality check. 84% of L&D leaders from over 30 countries who have already taken part in the 2014 study said it provided them with new ideas to modernise their learning strategy. We’ll also be exploring key themes for modernising learning at Speexx Exchange in December and hope to see you there. Benchmark today  Note that the Towards Maturity Benchmark is completely free and completely confidential. Find out more here.

Now that summer is upon us, many of us are keen to leave work a couple of hours sooner than usual and enjoy the lovely weather. We could make up for this early finish by starting at 7am instead of 9am, or by staying later the next day. But will our employer agree to this? New UK legislation says yes. Across the country, employees are now legally entitled to ask their bosses for flexible working hours, even if they don’t have children to take care of. The only condition is that they have worked for the company for at least six months. Of course, employers can still decline requests in certain cases, e.g. if they can prove that the new work pattern creates additional costs or has a negative impact on quality and performance. Culture of presenteeism The UK has always had a strong culture of presenteeism (the act of attending work while sick), with work-life balance sounding like something from another world and so I’m interested to see how this new legislation will affect the working balance in companies there. In so many organisations, employees are under real pressure to be first in and last out of the office door, competing with each other to work the most overtime, regardless of whether they’re actually being productive during their 10-14 hour long working days or not. In addition to that, as work has become increasingly mobile, staff are expected to be always ‘on call’ and available, even during weekends, evenings or on their holidays. Being able to change and adapt our work schedule as we like might help to solve this. If we’re allowed to choose our working hours and can prove that we’ve been productive, be it between 7am and 5pm or 10am and 8pm, is there any point in being stuck to our desks at a particular time? Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, being able to schedule work according to your own preferences is a promising opportunity. With increasing globalisation, we find ourselves regularly working across different time zones, e.g. with people from the Americas or the Far East, meaning that we often have to be at work early or stay later. A flexible working arrangement would facilitate this, too. Allowing for downtime An article by Ferris Jabr in Scientific American shows that our brain needs some downtime to regenerate and become productive again. According to Jabr, rest does not equal idleness, but quite the opposite: downtime is "an opportunity for the brain to make sense of what it has learned", he writes. Just being physically present in the office for the sake of it will not lead to additional business. We all know from our days studying that our brain can only manage so much work per day and that regular breaks are necessary for us to be efficient while we write or learn. Thanks to smartphones and tablets, learning is now just as flexible as work itself, and can take place from remote locations. You don’t even need the internet for mobile learning - at Speexx, we’ve developed a plug and learn solution which allows people to study offline and synchronise their learning progress once they reconnect to the internet. This way, people continue their training as they prefer, whether it’s during the evening or while they travel. It’s all about finding the time and location suits us best in order to be productive. And of course, about making room for the occasional break to process the information we’ve taken in. Communicating change But let’s ensure that flexibility isn’t confused with generating even more presenteeism - we don’t want to be expected to start answering emails in the middle of the night in order to be ‘flexible’. As with most business issues, communication is key and management plays a crucial role in making sure that new policies are communicated clearly to everyone in the organisation. Our workforce needs to understand the benefits and potential downsides of a flexible working culture. Trust is a further crucial element. If managers show that they trust their employees to carry out their work effectively in a certain amount of time and are not counting their hours, employees will typically feel more empowered and motivated to be productive and drive real business results.

Although open-plan offices are supposed to encourage communication and collaboration, for many workers, the noise of other people communicating just means irritating, uncontrollable noise and no way to concentrate. Originally devised in Europe, the open-plan office is now the most common sort of office plan worldwide, primarily because it is often the most affordable workplace solution. For example, it is estimated that more than 70 percent of the labor force in North America works in an open-plan office. Throughout the day, workers are bombarded by noise: phones ringing, doors opening and closing, coworkers conversing. Naturally, employees complain about the noise, but what people don’t talk about is how the acoustics in open-plan offices actually make people sick. The inability to concentrate increases stress levels, but also undermines a worker’s persistence: stressed out workers give up faster. The only conclusion is that a loud office hurts the bottom line.The most common complaint has to do with speech privacy, which is the feeling that oneis being overheard, or that one is overhearing unwanted conversations. According to one acoustic specialist, human speech is considered particularly disruptive because the brain processes speech automatically: people can’t help but eavesdrop because they are physically unable to tune out. In a reasonably quiet environment, a conversation taking place as far as 20 meters away can be easily understood.At the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) in Berkeley, California, researchers surveyed 65,000 workers on four continents. Over half the people surveyed complained about a lack of privacy of any kind, and how they unwillingly became privy to the conversations of others. In one study of seven office buildings conducted by the CBE, over 70 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with workplace speech privacy.The problem is actually made worse by modern technology: computer equipment, air conditioning units and heating systems have become much quieter in recent years, which means the ‘white noise effect’ such machines used to have has also been diminished.Some companies and office space designers have been trying to counter the problem by adding sound-absorbing ceiling tiles, carpets or partitions. In the case of partitions, this also partially helps alleviate the feeling of having no privacy.Another alternative is to actually make the office noisier. This is often done by ‘sound masking’, which is the process of introducing a relaxing noise to the work environment, such as running water or music. This is popular in retail stores.In offices, white noise and pink noise are good choices because they unobtrusively mutethe impact of the distracting noise, especially human speech. Such noise can be played over speakers at low volume, or a special machine can be used.There’s yet another solution for those who work in a company that can’t or won’t make changes to counteract stressful noise, one that in this day in age, is not only a necessity for many people but also a hip fashion statement: headphones.

The four-day workweek is getting popular. More and more people are reducing their working hours to improve their quality of life, but also the economy is seeing the benefits. Professor John Ashton, one of Britain’s leading physicians, recently pointed out that reducing the standard five-day week to a four-day week would help battle work-related stress and also help tackle medical conditions. "My concern is that too many people are working too long hours and too hard," Ashton says. To put it straight: Our work-life balance is getting out of control.  A four-day week sounds like the appropriate solution to this problem. However, the biggest question is: Can I afford a 20% pay cut? Patrick Connolly from Chase de Vere, a British independent financial adviser, says: "People who reduce their working week will have less disposable income, so are potentially less able to consider saving and investments." He also points out that a decrease in contributions to one’s pension has the effect of it taking longer until one has put enough money aside for one’s retirement.For many people this might seem too much of a sacrifice. But consider that childcare andcommuting bills might drop. Or that by earning less one could slip into a new tax category and have just about the same amount of money left as one had during the five-day week. So it’s all about the math, working out the benefits and disadvantages that a four-day week can have for each individual employee. The benefits are often related to things that money can’t buy. People can spend more time with their children, study or learn other skills in their free time and most definitely reduce stress. There seems to be a new trend that employees are willing to give up part of their salary for exactly these things, so that they can enhance their quality of life.But it’s not just the employees who are starting to see the rewards that a four-day week has. At the American tech startup Treehouse, Thursdays have already become Fridays. Ryan Carson, CEO of Treehouse, says he sees a great connection between working less and being more efficient. Carson also points out that his employees take fewer sick days and leave doctor and other appointments for Fridays.What Treehouse is experiencing corresponds with the research of Anna Cootes, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation in London: "We know that people who work shorter hours are more productive, so that’s good for the economy," she says. "We also know that a workforce on shorter hours with flexible arrangements tends to be happier, more loyal and stable. And all those things seem to be good for business."A recent British government survey found that 57% of workers support the idea of a four-day week, and that 71% think it would make Britain a happier place. Happy employees, happy entrepreneurs - what more could you want?

According to a report by the Professional Contractors Group, contingent workers are the fastest growing group in the EU labour market. Numbers have increased by 45 per cent from just under 6.2 million in 2004 to 8.9 million in 2013, making up 25 per cent of the total professional workforce. When many people think of temps, they still think of typing pools busily working away in unison or that lad you don’t really know the name of who you see at the water cooler. But an ever-increasing number of companies are looking for specialised, short-term assistance as staff is brought on in different locations on a project-basis; people who temporarily lend companies their know-how and talents, whether that’s freelancers, consultants or external partners. This extended or contingent workforce is now a key component of corporate strategy and is changing the face of HR. What is driving this change? As companies find they need to improve their flexibility and their ability to react to changing market conditions and demand, as well as bridge critical gaps in their skill sets, they are looking to this segment to provide the answers. Answers that ensure short-term increases and reductions in the number of workers within a company can be managed with relative ease without affecting the core workforce. And importantly, location is no longer a barrier in the knowledge-based economy. Talent, as we all know, stretches beyond borders. More than ever before, companies can take advantage of the virtual reality of a remote and extended workforce to gain immediate access to expertise not present in their core staff. If a freelance programmer is required for a project run from Milton Keynes, the fact that they’re located in Thailand is now almost irrelevant; a marketing manager in Brasilia can collaborate online with a freelance designer in Moscow as easily as an accountant in Brighton can with his CFO in Manchester. The demand for knowledgeable and highly-skilled people means that expertise is becoming more important than physical location. And from the point of view of the worker, the ability to focus on particular types of work and have certain control over working hours and conditions mean that project-based work is an increasingly attractive option. Challenges lie ahead While using temporary staff has many advantages for companies in terms of flexibility and access to specialised skills regardless of location, these have to be weighed against disadvantages such as a perceived lack of loyalty to the organisation and possible impact on the company working culture. For this reason, HR specialists need to pay as much attention to their non-permanent workforce as to their core staff. As much as companies need to ensure they have access to this talent, they also need to make sure that their integration, however brief, is as seamless as possible. An HR strategy that utilises project-based workers can give companies access to highly-skilled talent, but it also has to facilitate quality interaction and engagement among the ‘new’ & ‘old’ workforce and across departments. Interacting with core staff is also important from the point of view of giving the non-permanent workforce a real sense of community, not to mention the ease of access to resources and ‘insider knowledge’. Effective communication Advances in technology mean that much of their common work can be done seamlessly from remote locations and the main barrier to cross-border collaboration is now communication. Cue training. Organisations who want to keep their competitive advantage will need to upskill staff in order to be better placed to deal with the challenges of having a highly mobile, dispersed and dynamic workforce. At Speexx, I’ve seen how effective business communication within a diverse and changing workforce can be successfully achieved with the perfect blend of advanced learning technology and teacher-led activities. Language skills provide the key to communicating and operating more efficiently and profitably across the workforce and across borders. As the trend for using highly-specialised temporary staff continues to grow, companies need to ensure they are ready to meet the challenge of an extended workforce.

Following the trend of mass mobile device adoption, educators increasingly contemplate possibilities of using iPads in classroom. State-of-the-art mobile technology is getting more and more popular in different settings and schools are no exception. Adoption of mobile devices is transforming traditional classrooms into a place that delivers real-world knowledge using efficient tech resources. What is it that makes iPads popular? In the era of digital data and online communications, iPads are able to reach spaces traditional teaching methods cannot. These spaces mostly refer to the Internet and a variety of applications and pieces of information available online. Constant access to important educational resources is probably the major benefit of using iPads in classroom but it’s up to an educator to find the right ways to use it. An additional reason to consider using iPad as an educational tool is the fact that learners have been actively using it in private purposes for years. So, what’s the point of limiting their use in classroom if teenagers already have a constant access to them outside of it? Even though not every school or classroom is an appropriate setting for iPad implementation, educators should definitely consider the possibilities and embrace mobile technology just like their students did in their everyday lives. Where are the gaps? Collaboration. I believe most of us remember the times when collaborative school projects meant gatherings at someone’s home after school. These projects would usually be done properly and we’d have a great time working on them. However, such a project would always make us spend too much time on the very organization, which is why there usually wasn’t enough time for more than a single project per semester. With the development of web tools such as Dropbox and Skype, it has become a lot easier to organize teams of people to work on a single project. Since communication is smooth and team members can view or edit files remotely at the same time, a project could be finished much faster. In this regard, iPad can be a crucial tool for enabling the shift towards collaborative learning. Research. The Internet has changed so many aspects of our everyday lives by providing us with constant access to useful resources. This revolution has significantly transformed higher education and created more opportunities for academic development and research. Though it becomes increasingly difficult to find reliable information in the sea of different websites, the Internet remains the most efficient research tool one can make use of. The access to educational websites, free online libraries, dictionaries and encyclopedias changed the way we approach learning today. By allowing their students to use iPads in the classroom, teachers practically train them to develop their research skills. Foreign language learning. There are different ways in which iPads can contribute to efficiency of foreign language classes. Language courses need to be interactive in order to enable students to gain real-world knowledge and sufficient speaking and listening skills. With an iPad as an interactive platform it is easier than ever to practice language skills. Plethora of free or low-priced apps can help students work on critical language skills on their own. Simple applications for learning grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation, as well as interesting online exercises enable even young learners to start working on their language skills. Besides this, students can join language learning networks and communicate with native speakers, which is frequently impossible in traditional classrooms due to the general deficit of foreign instructors in certain regions. Now and Then Conservative educators may still refrain from introducing tech innovation, believing that their centuries-long teaching methods can work for new generations the same way they have been working for the old ones. This may be true to a certain extent but is not the reason to ignore the benefits of mobile learning. After all, education has always been in line with the requirements of the society, its purpose being to equip students with real-world skills. Similarly, iPads can refresh traditional classrooms by introducing the look and feel of the real world that everybody faces after school. This world is increasingly mobile and digital and there’s plenty of reasons to include it in class curriculum.

MOOCs (massive open online courses) are courses delivered over the web to potentially thousands of students at a time. Until recently, they have been predominantly found within higher education and had little impact on corporate learning. How many companies are using MOOCs? Early results from the Speexx Exchange 2014-15 Survey show that this is changing. According to the first respondents, 34% already offer corporate MOOCs for some of their employees, and 32% plan to introduce them by 2016. The remaining respondents (34%) are not planning any Corporate MOOC initiatives in the foreseeable future. What’s the potential of corporate MOOCs? We also wanted to know your take on the potential of corporate MOOCs. 30% of respondents consider them to have a high potential, while 54% rate their potential as average and 16% as low. So although over a third of respondents appear to be using some form of Corporate MOOCs already, the majority are not yet fully convinced of their impact on learning and development in the workplace. HR and L&D Managers need to fully understand the pros and cons of MOOCs and have a real strategy when it comes to implementation and meeting the desired outcome. What do you think? Speexx Exchange survey and event We’re excited to see how the survey will pan out and invite you to join in and have your say. You’ll even have the chance to win a new smartphone of your choice. The results will be published in a new white paper towards the end of the year and you’ll also get some exclusive insights at our annual talent management forum Speexx Exchange. Join the survey now! You can also complete it in German or French.

To the west, the vast Atlantic ocean. To the east, France. In the middle, the islands of Britain and Ireland. Or should that be Great Britain and Ireland? Or perhaps England? And what’s the deal with the United Kingdom anyway? To the west, the vast Atlantic ocean. To the east, France. In the middle, the islands of Britain and Ireland. Or should that be Great Britain and Ireland? Or perhaps England? And what’s the deal with the United Kingdom anyway? Getting the terminology right is not easy, but getting it wrong could spell the end of a beautiful friendship. The reality is that there are literally thousands of islands nestled in these waters. Geographically speaking, these islands make up the British Isles. The two largest islands are Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain comprises three countries: Scotland, Wales and England. The island of Ireland is made up of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Perhaps in an effort to avoid long-windedness, people often use the term ‘Britain’ for ‘Great Britain.’ But technically, ‘Britain’ refers only to England and Wales, while ‘Great Britain’ includes Scotland. The term ‘British,’ however, should always be used with caution. In Ireland, for example, use of the geographic term ‘British Isles’ is discouraged because it links Ireland to ‘British’ and subsequently, the political entity of ‘Britain.’ Instead the terms, ‘these islands’ or just ‘Britain and Ireland’ are increasingly preferred. The term United Kingdom, or to give it its official name, ‘the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ includes Great Britain, Northern Ireland — also referred to as Ulster — and several smaller islands, including the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, and the Scilly, Orkney, Shetland and Hebridean archipelagos. The United Kingdom and Ireland are both sovereign states. But other larger islands, like the Isle of Man (in the Irish Sea between Ireland and England) and the Channel Islands (in the English Channel between southern Great Britain and northern France) are what are referred to as Crown Dependencies. This means they have their own government and Chief Minister, but all legislation must ultimately be assented by the Crown. Given the abundance of inclusive titles, why then does it seem that the majority of people from this neck of the woods call themselves English? Probably because a huge number are in fact English. England occupies a position of prominence because it is the largest country, with the largest population. Its capital, London, is the biggest city, and home to the royal family and seat of government. The English language also stems from England. While the English are immensely proud of being English, the Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish and Irish are just as proud of the fact that they are not. And being called such is an insult to their heritage. So, when on the islands, it’s best to tread very carefully!

We’ve just published our latest white paper which you can download now for free. "Navigating Data Protection Regulations in L&D" offers HR and L&D professionals some guidelines for tackling data protection so that it does not become an obstacle to providing effective employee training and development. Organisations have become increasingly concerned about securing personal data held within e-learning systems. In the face of ever-stringent regulations, some have even gone as far as locking down entire systems or withdrawing access in certain countries, and often unnecessarily. The NSA and GCHQ spying revelations have not helped e-learning either, and some organisations are having second thoughts about putting data in the cloud at all. The EU Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC), which aims to protect individuals’ personal data, has come to be interpreted differently in just about every European country and just as organisations have got to grips with this, they face a major update to the legislation, not least fines of up to 5% of turnover for data loss incidents. Companies looking to implement learning solutions on a global level are likely to hit the issue of data protection head on. Dealing with different countries and languages means managing varying regulatory environments around data protection Want to find out more? Get the white paper for free via http://www.speexx.com/en/resources/whitepaper-request-form.htm And to take part in our global Speexx Exchange survey, click here. Tell us about how your organization is managing e-learning, social learning and mobile learning and you could win a brand-new smartphone of your choice.

The department of human resources was once thought of as a non-revenue generating part of the business that was overly bureaucratic and superfluous. But quite the contrary, an excellent HR team is vital to every healthy company. Human resources is responsible for evaluating the cost-benefit analysis of an employee and limiting financial risk associated with personnel. The HR team handles recruitment, redundancy, industrial and employee relations, continuing education and employee development, benefits and compensation, internal conflict management and employee performance. So HR doesn’t just hire and fire: It ensures that people get along, that the company remains legally compliant and it helps manage internal crises. Essentially, it is the lifeblood that holds a corporation together. Unfortunately, at many companies, the Human Resources Manager (HRM) is not regularly invited to board meetings and is often excluded from business planning. At the same time, the HRM is expected to handle the acquisition and distribution of a corporation’s most highly valued intangible asset: human capital. But this is exactly the problem. An HRM cannot perform all of his duties effectively without being part of higher level corporate planning. HR experts recommend that one or more HRMs should sit on the company’s board to help make high level decisions. This is especially true for companies whose entire business model relies solely on the value of their human capital. This way, when the bear market approaches, HR will be equipped with the expertise it needs to successfully re-evaluate the system, while maintaining employee morale. HR can also strategically advise managers on the best way to implement leaner operations. Likewise, in an employee’s market, HR can advise management on how best to improve employee satisfaction in order to retain the best workers. Every company should remember that while HR might not be responsible for revenue, it is directly responsible for a corporation’s top client - the internal client. Therefore every corporation should value its importance and keep their HRMs in the loop.

Learning and communication are basic human phenomena which can be seen in us from a very early stage. According to Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, young children learn by observing peers and adults around them and imitating their behaviour. This act of imitation is then either rewarded or punished, and children will keep adapting their behaviour accordingly as they grow up. But once we hit adulthood, learning tends to take on a much more formal and organised role. Classes at school and university expect us to absorb knowledge, learn things off by heart and be able to repeat them verbally or on paper in order to pass. And in the workplace, formal training typically takes place in virtual or face-to-face classes together with a trainer and our colleagues, alongside our usual work schedule. I say formal training because another important way of learning which is more difficult to grasp and measure but plays a huge role in our daily work lives. Asking a colleague to quickly explain a computer programme or hearing the board members talk about the company strategy without a formal presentation are just some examples. So learning is an ongoing and often subtle process, as we’re constantly working out ways to do things better, even if it’s something as minor as a new key combination. Networked learning According to Harold Jarche, social learning is all about building and maintaining networks. Here, we connect with each other, try to access each other’s knowledge and learn through our interactions. For HR and L&D managers, social learning is still a relatively new concept. In a formal training scenario, you would need to make a proposal about what the training’s objectives are, allocate a budget, training provider, and report the outcome following the training. Social learning, on the other hand, is much less tangible than this, which is why it has not been too widely, or at least consciously, adopted by organisations so far. But if we could find a way to stimulate the social aspect of learning among employees and build connectivity, this could have a highly positive impact on student motivation and satisfaction. Social learning on the rise In the Speexx Exchange Survey, only 22 per cent of HR and L&D managers said that their organisation had a social learning strategy, 51 per cent did not have one and 27 per cent planned to implement one in the near future. A third of respondents (34 per cent) said that social learning would be considered within the next three years as high. The data seems to imply that although just over a fifth had some kind of social learning strategy implemented, more organisation are opening up to other methods of learning. I’m keen to see what this year’s survey results will reveal. In any case, I believe that workplace learning needs to be treated as a much more human matter, not just a formality with a fixed beginning and an end. In an ideal world, management would encourage their workforce to learn from their peers, tap into each other’s knowledge and skills base, regardless of whether they can put a figure on it at the end or not. Read more via Training Journal.

Start Building a Better, and More Credible, Business Case for Learning Those of you who truly believe training ROI is the savior of training validity, beware, this truth will hurt. We strongly suggest trying to keep an open mind. Using ROI to gauge training impact, especially training ROI, can severely distort the true value that it actually delivers to the organization. The problem is that among learning professionals it’s hard to avoid a training conversation without hearing "training ROI-this" and "training ROI-that". And naturally, learning professionals are brainwashed into believing that their business leaders expect to align "bottom line" results with training’s contribution to business goals believing ROI is the answer. Training ROI is a lie. It is nowhere near the answer and it isn’t even an appropriate measure for training. This is an exceptionally troubling belief, and as a learning professional, it should be troubling to you, too. It was encouraging to see a possible tipping point when some common sense actually started to recognize how misleading this methodology is. Regretfully, this does not appear to be the case. The problem is that "training ROI" does not appropriately apply ROI in the manner that your formally business-educated leaders expect. ROI, from a leader’s perspective, is about tangible assets providing long-term contribution (something training can’t validate)  to the organization’s profitability. This is impossible because firstly, training is not a tangible asset and secondly, training ROI is attempting to prove training validity strictly from a budgetary, cost-benefit analysis. This is not what your leader’s ROI is about. What business leaders expect to see from training is not necessarily what you think. Training ROI’s biggest misrepresentation is believing that business leaders must see tangible financial results for the money allocated to training. While this may sound plausible, it quickly disintegrates. Your business leaders recognize that training is an intangible business activity and one that clearly acts as a business enabler, not a direct financial contributor. Essentially, it is a cost, not a profit center. Training ROI, however, attempts to strong-arm learning professionals into believing otherwise. The following are only a two of many reasons why this proposition is of great concern. Confusing "Investment" with "Contribution" Have you ever had an argument with your spouse or close friend and eventually realized that you are both arguing about the same point from different perspectives? Well, this is the type of argument training ROI proponents are having with their business leaders. Both parties want to validate the need training delivers to the business. That said, it is true that business leaders expect training to demonstrate positive results but they recognize that training contributions are intangible and often intertwine with other business activities. Training ROI proponent’s sole purpose, however, is proving that training delivers a positive financial impact over and above immediate training expenses. You may be asking yourself, "What’s the difference?" The difference is based upon clearly defined financial and accounting principles and how business leaders use these principles to value long term costs versus operational expenses. Training ROI proponents fail to differentiate this relevant point and is why training ROI is invalid for business leaders. Putting this in more relatable terms, the training ROI perspective is similar to someone telling you to invest $100 to receive a 10% return (the ROI). You expect to receive $10 for the $100 invested. But from a business leader’s perspective, the $10 is not a real return. They want the $100 to help other investments grow and produce positive results having them each generate $10. Leaders want you to "leverage" $100 to skill their employees to produce an immeasurable contribution to business growth. Training ROI is an Invalid ROI Measure In the same way training ROI proponents confuse "investment" with "contribution", they attempt to convince you that your leaders will accept the training ROI formulas. Simply put, no way would any business-educated leader accept the training ROI methodology as being a valid financial calculation. The main issue is that training ROI presents itself as being equally credible to generally accepted ROI calculations leaders learn in business school. Regretfully, this is not entirely accurate. While training ROI attempts to borrow from financial and accounting concepts, it strays away from respecting fundamental financial/accounting principles to arrive at an appropriate ROI result. More importantly, your leaders utilize ROI concepts well beyond calculating "expected revenue divided by expenses". They leverage more complex ROI concepts such as net present value (NPV), internal rates of return (IRR), cost-volume profit (CVP), and contribution margin (CM), to name a few. Training ROI "experts" claim that the methodology holds equal credibility and base their calculations on these long standing financial concepts but are way off the mark. In every instance of these valid ROI calculations "training" is simply one of many monetary components to evaluating the overall investment at hand. When presented with these facts training ROI fundamentalists suddenly come up with a variety of other reasons as to how the methodology actually works. It is safe to say that for any training ROI proponent, this is a moving target and you must avoid the "shell game". So, Now What Do We Do? Simply put, Learning professionals rarely mean ROI when they say ROI. "Plain" ROI is certainly an important metric for leaders. But it falls short of helping us to understand workplace learning’s contribution to business goals, or how we can improve its actual contribution. Even your leader’s standard ROI calculation is too limited and inappropriate for the complexity and the intangibility to evaluate learning efforts. Learning professionals must agree that when "we" state "training return on investment" "we" actually intend to say, "training contribution" to business objectives and performance improvement. We must also agree not to measure all training activities to such an exacting standard because, 1) it will inaccurately account for items beyond your control and, 2) if you do, your leaders will hold you accountable to these results. To appropriately gauge and improve learning effectiveness it is essential to factor in the strategic and operational intent of a company’s learning efforts. And if your organization is into (big) data analytics, then be certain that the learning results you include into the analysis appropriately reflect its contribution to improving overall organizational performance. By following the inaccuracies and inconsistencies of the training ROI methodology you guarantee that theresults will skew incorrectly from the data business leaders analyze. Don’t fall victim to the misleading temptation of training ROI; respect how your leaders use business tools and how they view intangible business activities such as training.

After hours or even days of work, you finally have the perfect CV. And you’ve found the perfect position to apply for. Now you need the perfect cover letter. This can make the difference between getting an interview and being ignored. Cover letters are an important communication tool and you cannot conduct a job search or application without them. A strong cover letter produces a positive first impression. People who send exceptional letters are noticed and strongly considered for the best job opportunities. It makes good sense to take the necessary time and effort to write an effective cover letter. If you take it one step at a time, it will look great and make a great impression. It should be just 3 or 4 paragraphs, and no longer than one page. The main purpose of the letter is to introduce you and your CV to an employer. Use the letter to demonstrate how your skills, knowledge and accomplishments match a specific position or organization. Think of your cover letter as an introductory sales letter - you want to motivate the employer to read your CV and invite you for an interview. The first thing to do when writing your cover letter is to think about the job or company. You want to be sure you have your facts straight about the company or organization and about the field or industry. What are the main skills or criteria that the employer is looking for? By understanding the position, the company and the field, it will be easier to imagine exactly how you fit in. Then think about yourself in relation to the position offered. You should be able to explain why you are interested in the position, and what attracts you to the company. Does your past experience show that you have the skills or qualities that the employer is seeking? You need to explicitly demonstrate this in your cover letter. The cover letter is also an opportunity for you to give the employer any other relevant information: Things like availability, dual citizenships or other commitments could play an important role. Remember the cover letter is a different document than your CV and should be treated as such. Use it to support the information you supplied in your CV. You are not repeating your CV, just highlighting the most relevant points. Now you’re ready to do the writing. Be absolutely sure you have the correct employer details and that your contact details are correct. Use the first part to introduce yourself and describe what you want. In the main body, demonstrate how you and the company or job match. At the end of the letter discuss the next steps. This may be suggesting a meeting, asking for an interview, or preparing for a phone call. Remember that it is crucial that you show that you are genuinely interested in the position and in the company. It is equally important to be succinct and unique. Show the employer that you are different and that you know what you want. You may want to mention a project you are currently involved in. Sometimes it helps to use a clever quote to show you understand the company mission or vision. Try to make a connection between something you’ve done recently and the company. Demonstrate your suitability for the position by highlighting your most relevant past experience, which proves you meet their criteria. As always, have somebody proofread your letter. Be sure to check spelling, especially names. And make doubly sure that you have correctly followed the instructions specified by the employer. And don’t forget to sign your name!

We’re excited to announce that the agenda for Speexx Exchange, our annual talent management form in Berlin, has just gone live. Take a look at what we’ve got in store for you this year. ‘Modernizing learning - how to get the edge in business‘ Laura Overton (Managing Director of Towards Maturity) ‘Is training just for leaders and high potentials? Managing L&D for different hierarchy levels‘ Peter Holmark (Head of TLO Development, Nokia Networks) ‘What’s the best talent system for you? Best-of-breed or integrated?‘ Ahmed Limam (International HR Technology Expert) ‘Learning as a service - delivering real value for the bottom line‘ Richard Gregory (Head of U+, Rentokil Initial) ‘So we march north - what CEOs really want from learning‘ Nic Laycock (Owner, Amos Laycock Consulting) ‘Are you disaster-ready? Effective online training for humanitarian aid workers’ Atish Gonsalves, (Director, DisasterReady.org) ‘Get smart - how to create an engaging learning experience‘ Estella Miranda (Usability and Interaction Designer, SEW-EURODRIVE) Harald Stoll (Product Manager, TTS GmbH) Check out the full agenda. About Speexx Exchange It´s almost a tradition now: Each year just before Christmas, Speexx Exchange brings together friends, customers and thought leaders from all over the world to take an in-depth reality check on the state of corporate e-learning and talent management. No future talk, just real hard facts. You will meet industry leaders, hear and talk about best practice for deploying global e-learning strategies and get the latest results from Europe’s leading talent management research. Speexx Exchange helps HR and L&D managers worldwide meet the challenges in managing talent across borders. Together, we’ll create a unique exchange of ideas between HR and L&D professionals from loads of different backgrounds, all based on real facts and best practice straight from the experts. You will return to work with brand-new insights and practical solutions for delivering real results. Join us on the eve of Online Educa 2014 for a day packed with networking opportunities, expert presentations, collaboration and - great food. Want to find out more? Visit our conference website and save your seat today.

We’re excited to invite you to our next joint webinar! On 6th November, we’ll team up with our friends from Training Orchestra to bring you an exclusive webinar about optimizing training management. Learn how to get the most our of your training strategy and ask our experts everything you’ve always wanted to know about training management software. Corporate training involves a lot of paperwork, control procedures and project management. In this webinar, we’ll help you improve your organizational efficiency and reduce management costs by using a training management software. Join us live and find out Which typical management issues you can expect during corporate training projects How to improve your workflow during a training project How to benefit from a training management software Save your seat! About Stéphane Pineau Stéphane Pineau founded Training Orchestra after some years at BCG and Ernst & Young. His goal by founding Training Orchestra is to provide companies a fully streamlined and integrated Training Management solution in order to optimize costs for L&D departments for both corporate clients and training providers. About Training Orchestra Training Orchestra was founded in 2001 by Laetitia Nourry and Stéphane Pineau and quickly became the European leader in Training Management Solutions. It provides an integrated, full web software dedicated to the whole training ecosystem : L&D departments, Corporate Universities, Extended enterprise and training providers. With nearly 500 000 users and 1 billion Euros of training budget managed through its solutions, Training Orchestra embraces the whole training process (financing, project management, legal, provider relationship, portal) and takes part in both strategic and operational performance of corporate training activities. Translated in 16 languages and 46 currencies, Training Orchestra has been able to convince more than 250 customers of any size including Airbus, Worldwide Flight Services or Johnson&Johnson. Find out more.

I was encouraged to read that employment in the UK is looking up this quarter and that people are feeling more positive about their job security and prospects. In fact, the proportion of UK residents in employment has returned to pre-recession levels, with jobs growth in London up by 2.3 per cent since 2008. When taking a closer look at the situation, however, we’ll see that wages on the whole have dropped, and that many candidates have had to take on part-time work when they would have preferred a full-time position. Furthermore, a lot of companies seem to be cutting down on entry-level jobs and expecting their new hires to come into a new job with plenty of experience and the ability to get results from day one. This makes it particularly difficult for new graduates with little work experience, who are hoping for a company to train them up during their few years. Where have all the skills gone? A recent CBI report showed that almost 60 per cent of UK businesses worry that they won’t have enough skilled employees to meet their future needs. For example, around 90,000 new engineers are required each year, but the Institute of Engineering and Technology found that 60 per cent of its members feel their business is threatened by a shortage of engineering professionals. Another issue is our ageing workforce, which makes it difficult for businesses to find employees to fill entry level vacancies. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people aged 60 and above in the UK is expected to increase by 13 per cent by 2020. In Germany, my home country, organisations are facing a similar challenge, with skills demand exceeding supply. Around a fifth of Germany-based organisations are now trying to deal with the skills shortage by retraining current employees in-house to carry out tasks for positions they cannot currently fill. More than a tenth are taking on people who don’t necessarily tick all the boxes in the job description, but offer them additional learning and development programmes on the job. Sourcing from overseas For UK-based organisations, one way out of the situation is to seek alternatives from other countries. Many are now looking beyond UK borders to find fresh talent. According to The Guardian, graduates from the EU are becoming an increasingly attractive option for local employers. On average, they are older, more skilled and more experienced than UK graduates, says a CIPD report, and therefore more employable than a lot of UK graduates. A further factor which I consider vital is the level of language skills these EU graduates bring to the country. In the increasingly globalised business world, the ability to speak a second or even third language on top of English is a huge competitive advantage. As we all know, Britons tend to lag behind when it comes to speaking a foreign language, making it difficult to compete for a position in a multinational company, be it in the UK or mainland Europe. Pushing forward As we approach the New Year, it’s time to start thinking about how to address the skills shortage in a sustainable yet cost-effective way. If skills in the market are scarce, new hires will have to learn within the company once they’re on board. For this, learning needs to become part of our corporate culture, which, in turn, is often complex and expensive. Early results from the annual Speexx Exchange 2014 Survey have shown that a third HR and L&D managers are now turning towards corporate MOOCs to train their workforce. 34 per cent already offer some form of MOOCs to their employees and a further 32 per cent plan to introduce them by 2016. The remaining respondents (34 per cent) are not planning any Corporate MOOC initiatives in the foreseeable future. Millennials, who are tech-savvy and will make up 50 per cent of the global workforce by 2020, are more likely to be able to work with this type of tool independently, at a cost much lower than traditional training. Nevertheless, we need to keep our staff engaged by communicating corporate changes and strategies clearly and effectively - this goes for learning and development strategies, too. Otherwise, we risk making our employees feeling like interchangeable numbers, which will eventually cause them to look for opportunities elsewhere. The human factor, such as regular contact with a trainer or coach can make all the difference. What it comes down to is empowering our learners to take control of their own skills development, but still offering regular motivation and guidance by an expert trainer. HR and L&D Managers play an equally important role in supporting learners and staying up to date with their progress and results. Only with consistent communication and engagement will workers feel motivated to acquire the skills they need to help make their company thrive.

L&D spend is under scrutiny as never before. Historic lack of connection between learning and the enterprise creates a perceived irrelevance that risks marginalisation. Yet CEO’s value learning as part of their stewardship of organisations. This article outlines recent research and a suggested way to put learning central to performance improvement and the delivery of stakeholder value. L&D is in a fight for survival as a business function. For too long it has appeared to operate on a different agenda from the operational business priorities, treated as an overhead and feel good factor for employees, not understood by line leadership and seen by them as a harmless irrelevance. Harsh? I don’t think so. I have heard it too many times and seen the outcome as L&D resources are slashed in a world where the value of every Euro spent is critically evaluated. Is there a way forward? I believe there is. This blog suggests a way in which L&D can take its rightful place as a key business lever. Early this year I was invited by a renowned organisation to research and provide some insight onto what C-level Executives should be measuring in learning. The answers surprised and encouraged me - as someone who has fought throughout my career against the current fashion of trying to ROI learning. Ajay Pangarkar’s recent blog excellently lays out the fallacy of that argument. In the technology pervaded 2010’s we can measure pretty much anything we want to - and the temptation is to measure everything! It is the era of Big Data. But in learning, what is it really important to measure in the enterprise context? The world that is now emerging has radically different characteristics to the one that entered the financial crisis. Stability and established paradigms have been challenged and in many ways have disappeared, replaced by behaviours aligned to a new, chaotic, unpredictable, faster moving world - but one in which tracking and measurement are much greater constituents.  So, in our learning world what is it important to measure, what value does measurement add, how can it be done in ways that make it worthwhile as a contribution to performance? The requirements of the 2010’s are for a new and radically different set of skills, set in the context of a world that is more amorphous as a result of social learning, and yet one which paradoxically has the ability for ever greater precision. The new skill set is difficult to measure and is itself changing. The temptation for the talent management  professional is to erect ever greater and more detailed profiles, assessment models, development processes, measurement frameworks and mechanisms. However the Chief Executive seems to have little interest in such detail. Their requirements are quite simple - people who can perform, and they have limited patience with the detail of the talent management and HR world. My research illustrates that C-level Executives use very few words to describe the characteristics they seek in their workforce, but at the same time they are searching for real meaning in those descriptors. Their focus is business performance, and in this context the contribution that learning can make to improvement. Their concern is for the 21st-century skill-set. Many senior executives do not seek measures of learning (other than the expected efficiency and governance data), opting instead for a "felt" level of comfort that their organizations and their people are able to adapt quickly to changes necessitated by business conditions—especially agility and innovation. ROI therefore carries little weight in the CEO’s assessment of learning in their organisation. So too does the generation of efficiency statistics that all too often simply look like the L&D function’s attempts to justify its existence. Another model is needed - and it is one that has to start with the CEO and the leadership team. Together they are charged with creating stakeholder value - and that means value for all the legitimate stakeholder groups in the enterprise, including of course its employees. That value goes far wider than the creation of financial returns, and is hugely greater than the demonstration of compliance. Talent management statistics are sterile, analysing imperfectly a single and mostly static view of the living and evolving community that is any healthy organisation. The measurement model that is relevant to learning is one that provides clear line of sight from those few critical stakeholder satisfaction metrics through to the tactical and operational indicators used to manage the learning function. A simple example - a key stakeholder requirement may be "image in the market place". Clearly employee behaviour is a key component of that image so the metrics chain will drill down to activity (note that I do not mention courses!) undertaken by the L&D function that leads to behaviour recognised in the external world as of a superior standard. Those metrics are as likely to be subjective and anecdotal in relation to employee behaviour as they are to appear in hard facts about the learning function. At an early stage in my 40 years experience in the learning environment I learned a powerful lesson from my client C-level Executive. I proudly showed him some stunning ROI statistics about a very successful training programme that had clearly had major impact on the macro business performance. He thanked me kindly - and dismissed me from his office with the comment "That’s great, but as the guardian of the health of this organisation I actually am investing now in people development that may only show itself in an overt outcome in maybe 10 years time. The cost of what you are doing in learning is miniscule compared to that value". It is not measurable - and need not be if the C-levels believe that it is money well spent! Our challenge in L&D is to look for and contribute to the metrics that will enable the organisation to prosper in an unpredictable world and to survive in the harshness of the current realities. We will only be able to do that when we "join" the business as people with unique and powerful insight and skills to help solve business problems.

As a proud Towards Maturity Ambassador, I’m delighted to see another hugely successful Towards Maturity Benchmark Study this year, if not the most successful one so far. What’s it all about? In case you’re not familiar with the work of Towards Maturity, the TM Benchmark considers a number of performance indicators that represent the impact in the workplace and has developed best practice benchmarks (reflected by the Towards Maturity Model) to support ongoing improvement. In the 2010-11 Benchmark, a new Towards Maturity Index (TMI) was developed as a single benchmark of implementation maturity across the 6 work streams. It is designed to help organisations understand and improve the health of their learning technology implementation. This year, over 600 L&D professionals from 45 countries joined the study, of whom 42% were multinationals and 74% had managerial responsibility. A further 5,000 learners were also surveyed about their learning habits and expectations. What did this year’s results show? Organisations are recognising that empowering learners through technology is more important than ever before. For example, I was excited to see that 26% of respondents are investigating MOOCs as part of their corporate learning strategy. This actually resonates with our own Speexx Exchange Survey, which has shown that 31% already use corporate MOOCs in some areas and a further 32% plan to implement in the next two years. A further question highlighted that 31% rate the potential of corporate MOOCs as "high". The results also show that L&D managers are looking for more flexible, on-demand learning solutions which their learners can use away from their computers and the traditional classroom. 74% of organisations are now using mobile devices for learning purposes, which is extremely encouraging to see. In the Speexx Exchange Survey, we wanted to find out what is hampering mobile learning implementation. The top three barriers cited were "corporate data security issues" (28%), low user adoption rates (19%) and "lack of BYOD policy" (18%). Why does this matter? Today, having a modernised learning strategy means focusing on learning outcomes rather than just inputs. L&D managers need to respond faster, support learning and performance at the point of need and improve efficiency at the same time. Although it’s not only about technology per se, many organisations are finding that modernisation cannot be achieved without it. There is still a large gap to be closed between companies’ ambitions and achievements: this year’s Benchmark showed that only 31% of organisations are actually achieving the benefits they seek in terms of L&D. Next steps The Towards Maturity Benchmark is a great resource I can thoroughly recommend to any HR or L&D professional aiming to drive business growth with a more skilled workforce. It includes transparent information about what the top 10% companies are doing differently and shows which gaps still need to be closed. Get your free copy here. And if you’d like to meet Laura Overton, Director of Towards Maturity, in Person, join us at Speexx Exchange in Berlin this December, where she will be hosting the event and presenting the benchmark findings.    

For some, they’re just an extraneous layer of management. For others, they’re the ‘glue’ that holds a company together: middle management - a breed which often finds itself in a sticky situation. Middle managers make big-picture strategy applicable to day-to-day work. They identify staff needs, make improvements to processes, note opportunities where client interfaces can be improved, and relay information up the ranks. In a nutshell, they act as a go-between between the upper and lower echelons. They are the glue holding the company together. Yet, come a financial crunch, they come unstuck very quickly. Downsizing waves in the ’80s and ’90s revealed that middle managers were the first to be let go. And though flatter hierarchies are more prevalent than ever in the 21st century, when culling season begins, one of the first tiers to be affected is still middle management. In 2011, home improvement behemoth, Lowe’s, announced that it would lay off 1,700 middle managers. At the same time, it laid out plans to hire up to 10,000 part-time weekend staff. Its goal was to improve customer service at peak hours. When the space system division of the aerospace and defense company, Lockheed Martin, decided to downsize its workforce of 16,000, it made 25% of its cuts to middle management. Is it any wonder then that middle managers show very high levels of dissatisfaction? A recent Accenture survey revealed that 20% of middle managers are dissatisfied with the organization they are with. Their primary reason? A lack of opportunities for advancement. In other words, no escape from the ‘extraneous layer’ category. Being slotted into one position, without any prospect of a move, even a lateral one in most cases, was one of the primary reasons for middle managers to seek out new positions. Though ever cognizant of the lay-off statistics, other reasons for dissatisfaction also emerged within the group, including micromanagement and a lack of respect by senior managers. Very often, middle managers find themselves in the unenviable position of having no authority, but all of the accountability. They must constantly navigate through the relationship waters, listening to those above while at the same time being responsive to those below - an especially challenging task during a period of restructuring, when these waters can get very choppy, and middle managers are severely impacted by the changes themselves. So, given the costly nature of high staff turnover, what can companies do to retain middle managers? The first step, according to experts, is to institute a development plan which involves senior management. Sending managers on training programs communicates a willingness to invest in them. Getting managers actively involved in strategy, in changes and in the roll-out of new strategies will increase buy-in and a feeling of ownership so that bearing the brunt of accountability is a little more palatable. Peer-to-peer workshops, allowing middle managers from across an organization to discuss some of the issues they have in common, alleviate the feeling of being the ‘only one’ dealing with issues. And finally, fair treatment and recognition for all. Managers who feel they are being treated fairly are far less likely to jump ship.

We’ve just won the Global E-Learning Award for the Excellence in Blended Technology category, yay! The award ceremony was held in Mumbai last Friday as part of the Global Learn Tech Conference. This is organized by the World Education Congress, which showcases the most successful and innovative applications to the delivery of education and training. The World Education Congress explores how education can help develop mental, emotional and physical skills to help facilitate personal excellence as well as psychological and socio-economic wellbeing, in the challenging times the world faces today. Armin Hopp, our Founder and President commented: "We’re absolutely delighted about winning this award. The recognition reaffirms our commitment to offering excellent blended learning solutions in the ever-shifting landscape of corporate learning. Over the past 20 years, we have won more than 200 prestigious awards including the Worlddidac Award, the International E-Learning Award, the Seal of e-Excellence, the eLearning Journal Award and many more. On behalf of Speexx, I would like to thank our customers for their continued support and the World Education Congress for this fantastic award." Our very own Sanesh from Singapore office flew over to take part in the conference and collect the award in person. A big thanks to the World Education Congress for selecting us! Check out our other awards here.   About the World Education Congress The World Education Congress explores how education can help develop mental, emotional and physical skills to help facilitate personal excellence as well as psychological and socio-economic well-being, in the challenging times the world faces today. The World Education Congress focuses are: To influence the evolving culture of education and educational pedagogy To build on a vision and strategies for higher education To provide exposure to latest education tools, technologies and solutions To encourage collaboration and partnership among institutions For more information, visit http://worldeducationcongress.com/

We all remember Adam Smith’s ‘Invisible Hand’ term from our university days or a business context. According to this theory, if consumers are given the right to select products freely and sellers can decide what they produce and sell, the economy will settle on patterns and prices that benefit the community as a whole. In such a self-regulating market, Smith argued, there would be no or little need for government intervention. Can this 18th Century economic theory be applied to the modern workplace? In some ways, I think it could. Although Smith’s words were written over 200 years ago, I’m somewhat reminded of them whenever I hear about the need for ‘employee empowerment’ or ‘peer-to-peer learning’. Forward-thinking organizations are already shifting towards a dynamic, team-based work approach with flat hierarchies and away from an autocratic management style. I’m not suggesting that managers slam their office doors and leave employees to sort themselves out, hoping the Invisible ‘managerial’ Hand will somehow take care of things. It’s not that simple. New patterns Today’s working generation does not expect to be supervised and told what to do by a manager from 9 to 5. In fact, sticking to fixed working hours has become almost impossible, since employees can easily work from home, on business travel or have to shift their schedules to suit other time zones when working with colleagues from overseas. And this possibility for employees to handle their own workload and schedule is a form of autonomy in itself. Another area that is changing rapidly is L&D. The digital revolution allows our staff to acquire and share knowledge through mobile devices from virtually anywhere in the world. Corporate MOOCs, learning apps and virtual classroom sessions have become the norm. Early results from our annual HR and L&D survey show that 93 per cent of organizations have already implemented some form of e-learning. Furthermore, the top e-learning benefit that HR and L&D managers have registered for their workforce is ‘flexibility and instant accessibility’ (56 per cent). Ultimately, this flexibility is what will drive our employees’ sense of empowerment. Instead of passively receiving information and exercises from a teacher, staff members are now encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and collaborate with their peers in transferring skills and knowledge. In the light of ever-tightening training budgets and a general skills shortage on the market, this could be exactly the approach we need. Collaboration - nobody said it was easy So where does this leave management? The growing buzz around peer-to-peer learning and working habits suggests that firms need to start decentralizing their decision-making processes and move towards technologies that facilitate employee empowerment and communication. Hierarchical silos are being removed and instead, networked learning is on the rise. This new scenario requires leaders to display very different kinds of skills compared to just 10 or 20 years ago. But are they ready for this? According to a recent study by the APQC, there is a significant gap between the soft skills leaders need for success and those they actually possess. For example, 61 per cent agreed that emotional intelligence is crucial for good leadership and business success, but just 32 per cent believed their organization’s leaders actually have emotional intelligence. 72 per cent rated collaboration as a vital skill, yet only 52 per cent thought their leaders possessed it. This is worrying, but with some practical approaches, managers can start to acquire the skills they need to foster a more collaborative working environment. Whether a manager is working on a project, giving feedback or learning, there needs to be a shift in behavior and attitude. Two-way processes are the way forward. Instead of just disseminating information, leaders must be prepared to learn new things themselves, even if it’s from somebody less senior to them. Moreover, the appraisal should be a chance for employees to express what they like or dislike about their role and working environment, instead of just receiving feedback on their own work. Employees should also be given the feeling that they are trusted to manage their own learning and work in teams without being supervised all the time. It may be challenging at first, but building a culture of open communication and collaboration will create true engagement and give your best talent a reason to stay and make your business flourish.

The first 200 responses to our annual Speexx Exchange Survey are in and we’re excited to share the early results with you in our latest e-learning infographic. This survey was conducted in late 2014 among senior HR and L&D managers, C-level executives, training managers and e-learning strategy developers from four continents. Here’s what we found: E-Learning Spendings 61% of organizations plan to increase their e-learning budget within the next three years. (This time last year, the figure was at 57%). But currently, and similar to 2013, almost half (47%) of our respondents invest less than a tenth of their training budgets in e-enabled learning programs. Just 7% of organizations invest more than 50% of their budgets in e-learning solutions. Mobile and social learning on the rise Mobile and social learning allow students to continue building and sharing knowledge and skills outside of the traditional classroom. 76% of HR and L&D managers we asked about this allowed and/or provided mobile devices in the workplace, yet only 26% actually use them for learning purposes. This represents a significant gap between technology’s potential and its actual usage. We also wanted to know what’s hampering mobile learning - the number 1 reason cited was "corporate data security issues". If you want to find out more about this, read our latest white paper on Navigating Data Protection Regulations in L&D. As for social learning, 75% rate its potential as very effective or somewhat effective, yet just 24% are currently using it. However, a further 19% plan to implement some form of social learning in the coming three years. Top E-Learning Benefits So what are the advantages that HR and L&D managers have registered in e-learning projects so far? The number 1 benefit by far was "flexibility and instant accssibility", cited by 56%. Last year, this benefit also came top of the list, chosen by 51% of respondents. Next in line, although with a much lower number of votes, is "reduction of direct training costs" (cited by 16% this year and 18% in 2013). Furthermoe, 12% of organizations find that e-learning allows them to speed up time to value, compared to 9% last year. Want to have a say in the survey? Join here and you could even win a new smartphone.

Speexx Exchange is over for this year and what an amazing time we’ve had. Thanks to everyone who attended and helped to shape some brilliant presentations and lots of food for thought for tackling HR and L&D challenges. Shanghai, Paris and Berlin: Speexx Exchange 2014 was all about finding practical approaches to new learning strategies that can be applied in the workplace right away. Over 300 attendees from over 25 countries joined, representing global organizations such as Nokia Networks, United Nations, Rentokil Initial, Ericsson, Weber-Stephen Products, E.ON, Siemens, SEW-Eurodrive and many more. Over the course of several weeks, our global events series took us through a unique exchange of innovative ideas and concepts. Speexx Exchange kicked off in Shanghai with more than 70 HR and L&D professionals from some of China’s leading domestic corporations, as well as some foreign organizatoins. The half-day event took place at the Shanghai Radisson next to the People’s Square in downtown Shanghai. We partnered with local HR consultancy Martinsen Group (a subsidiary of UK-based Thomas International) who brought some great new insights into leadership training in China. The journey continued in Paris on December 2 at the Salon des Miroirs. Here, we met with Nicolas Hernandez of 360Learning, Stéphane Pineau ofTraining Orchestra and Olivier Gauvin of Opcalia. Some exclusive research findings and discussions gave attendees a unique insight into the latest e-learning and talent management trends. Find out more. The final Speexx Exchange edition took place in Berlin on December 3 and featured experts Laura Overton ofTowards Maturity, Peter Holmark of Nokia Networks, Ahmed Limam of Global HR Technology, Richard Gregory of Rentokil Initial, Atish Gonsalves ofDisasterReady.org, Nic Laycock of Amos Laycock Consulting, Estella Miranda of SEW-Eurodrive and Harald Stoll of TTS. A full day event, Speexx Exchange Berlin kept delegates engaged from start to finish, with fresh perspectives, loads of networking and a World Café discussion to wrap up.