This week I met with a colleague from our school district. We had a lovely working lunch/coffee sharing ideas and current projects. I described our main Tech EDGE activities:    Laurie Friedrich and I have been working with Rousseau elementary at their invitation for over two years. During the time we developed a professional development model that seems to work well and is responsive to staff needs and time frames.    The UNL elementary education program has developed a class that focuses on tech integration while pre service teachers are in practicum. The instructors are available to teachers as are our preservice teacher. This makes trying new integration ideas a lot easier. It also allows us to reach another six! schools.    We offer a graduate class in tech integration to practicing teachers who have presevice teachers in their classroom. This class is offered at a great reduction in tuition to teachers and content parallels the one we have for preservice teachers.   We offer online resources through youtube, iTunesU and beyond.My colleague looked at me and asked: "Why are you doing this?" This is not the first time I have been asked that, and probably not the last. It always makes me stop and ask myself if in all the activity I have (35 presentations, 74 videos, 60 blog posts, 4 articles all last year) am I doing the right thing? These are my reasons:1. I work for landgrant institution. Working with our community is a big part of our mission. This is even more true of our college aiming to improve lives and communities across the State. Working with schools let's us have a measurable impact on the future.2. It allows me to make sure that the teachers leaving our program are truly ready to teach in the 21st century. The teacher we train will potentially teach into the fifth decade of the 21st century. We are responsible for making sure they have a solid foundation for their future growth.3. I can generate research on tech integration working WITH teachers to figure out what works. This is a new and exciting field and there is much we do not yet know. It is the kind of design work that calls for trrue partnership between practitioners and university faculty generating ideas and measuring impact.4. It is fun. There is no way around the fact that I love working with teachers, seeing impact, solving problems and coming up with innovative ideas for instruction.

I see this in many districts I work with. As new devices are brought in, someone has the "talk". Do not break them, if you take them home and they break you will owe us. Do not use it for anything personal. They talk about insurance, cost and consequences. They want everyone to take the devices seriouslyEvery meeting with a new batch of teachers I have a few admitting that the combination of their fears and the threat of insurance has caused them to leave the device in the box, or attached to the charger on their desk.I am here to say that that talk is destructive and counterproductive. Especially early in new adoption of devices. So e of the educators who are introduced to devices are scared before we say anything. Driving the point home with any kind of threat (percieved or real) drives the teachers on the fence about integration to avoid the new devices. And devices not used are not any better than broken ones.I understand the concern about costly devices. Three years ago when we got 30 iPads and I gave them to students I was worried. Lost some sleep, but I decided that I will take personal responsibility and try not to scare them off. It paid off big time, with one exception everybody used their device. I am pretty sure that had I started the iPad discussion with a stern warning half of my students would have left them at home (they actually told me that). Recently I worked with teachers on iPad integration and once again half of them did not get them out of the box. Why I asked? Because we do not have insurance yet! Turns out that insurance was to take it out of the building but too late, the fear factor already worked its magic.So if you can influence this- with students and teachers: make rules but do not scare, do not strike fear, we need these devices in our students lives and ours it is their future and thus our present.

At NETA I met many great teachers all interested in finding new ways to integrate technology into their instruction. It was great seeing so many familiar faces, especially since five years ago during my first visit I did not know many of the participants.One of the teachers who stopped by our poster on thursday afternoon confided: "I know I need to use some of this for my students. I have a facebook page but I never post. People get fired over facebook posts." This comment is not new, I actually hear it quite often from teachers who seem paralyzed by the fear of technology. I actually have even discussed it before on this blog. Thei frustration seems to grow as they seem to be afraid but also pushed to integrate technology. They feel between a rock and a hard place- and thus frustrated.This time I just got curious about the phenomena and whether there really was an epidemic of social media firings. I used Google to try and ferret out exactly how many teachers have been reported being fired because of social media activity in the last year. For all the media and teacher hype I found very few actual cases of full time teachers fired.1. In Smithville Ohio a teacher got fired over a post on Dairy farming. He was let go by the local school board but reinstitated (with back pay) after a short court battle. More here and here2. Texas teacher from Duncanville resigned over an inflamatory tweet here. It was quite extreme and she resigned.3. Ashley Payne resigned over facebook pics. See here. The main point was that she has resigned and was not fired (unlike most of the headlines)There were a few cases of substitute teacher "firing" mostly over posting of student photos.So is there room to worry?I would argue that anyone needs to be careful about social media and be a good citizen (not just digital).But1. Given 3.4 million K12 public school teachers around the country and with most on Facebook the incidence of firing seems to be extremely small.2. Teachers should not resign without legal council3. Read your district guidelines especially about posting photos of studentsConsult this page from the NEARemember that as a prospective teacher you need to excerice more caution.Do not let this stop you from participating in thoughtful technology integration your students will be missing out.

The news from LAUSD (see here) who is suing Apple and Pearson has made the news and is probably hurting the chances of a large district buying iPads in the near future. Apple is an iconic company and I believe that it has exceptional products that work very well in k-12  and higher ed environments. You can see my reasoning in this short YouTube.HOWEVERThe fail in LAUSD has to do with two major problems. The first is not directly up to Apple, but instead to the partner Pearson education who offered up a not fully developed product to a large district. The second was the lack of preparation of teachers to meaningfully use iPads in the classrooms. These are common problems that are seen in a lot of tech integration including districts I work with. Adding to LAUSD and other district woes are restrictions on student and teacher uses through management software that prevents students and teachers downloading or accessing certain features. Notice that most of these problems are not directly linked to the Apple product but rather to the way it was rolled out.It's easy to give advice, but given the PR that Apple gets from failed implementation (definitely at the scale of LAUSD), I have radical suggestions about how Apple may prevent implementation nightmares. I suggest that Apple can use its position to insist on having certain pieces part of any sales contract and be brave enough to walk away from contracts that do not include them. I believe that such an approach actually fits with the way Apple image has been projected- no compromises, we know what is good for you and will insist on it!Remember this ad?I believe that the same approach is needed here. Walk away if implementation is doomed (yes I know easy for me to say).Here are the three elements that I think Apple should insist on when selling in Education:1. Insist on a reasonable professional development for teachers that goes beyond a single event. Part of the contract needs to be a reasonable plan for supporting teachers for at least one year. This can be part of Apple services (they do it extremely well in some places) or internal to a district or school, but insisting on a funded well designed PD is a must for successful integration (and good press, and renewed contracts). We all know what it should look like (if you don't watch out for our next publication).2. Insist on minimal or NO management software. The management software has repeatedly failed, updated and still falls short of the quick agile response that people expect from personal mobile devices. I will argue that it will never work because our expectation from mobile devices is inherently different from other devices. Students and teachers are perfectly capable of managing devices like iPads. Insist on the personal freedom to make decisions and learning to be a good digital citizens without external control (rewatch the video). I cannot express how many frustrated teachers I meet during PD that describe in exasperated tones how long it takes to use a new app that we just talked about and will take 3-4 weeks to get to them (if not more). For example an description from a teacher I worked with:"As easy as it may sound when someone says "oh, that’s easy, there’s an app for that", when working with public school property, it was definitely not easy to just download the apps I wanted.  After several frustrating, failed attempts at trying to download from the app store, I found out that despite having an apple ID to purchase, download, etc., from the app store, that does not carry over to School owned devices.  There was a protocol for getting an app put on a device that was owned by the district.  Unbeknownst to me there were several steps I needed to follow in order to get a single app downloaded to just one device, and there were three.  I could not simply ‘get an app’ downloaded within minutes like a personal device.  Nor could I just delete one that I didn’t like.  One of the biggest barriers so far was not being able to put the apps on the devices when I needed them. "  If you want teachers to use devices and give the product a good name (and repurchases) insisting on full access (even if just to free apps) would be priceless. The note to districts is always the same. If we trust teachers with the lives of 20 priceless six-year olds I think we can trust them with devices. 3. Make a push for OER (Open Educational Resources). The device gets much cheaper when it is coupled with an excellent free curriculum. OER is on the rise and may very well be a major part of the new No Child Left Behind Act. The move to OER can also pay for the aforementioned professional development. This last bit is not a must in my mind but a strong suggestion that will help use of the great aspects of the device such as iBooks, iTunesU etc.I love Apple products and think they have great promise in the classroom. That would be my roadmap.

We have recently finished a parent survey in rural Nebraska about digital technology use. A few things became clear (though not really surprising).1. All participants had access to the Web in one way or another.2. All participants had access to multiple devices. The most common were smartphones and tablets with laptops a close third. Over half of the respondents had family access to 4 or more devices.3. Email, social media, and web surfing were the three most common personal uses.Parents also worried about device use for children:The number one worry is inappropriate sites, social media, and interacting with strangers online (27%). A close second is the worry about how children choose to spend their time, namely overdoing device use (19%). Parents were also worried that devices will limit social interaction and creativity (11%) and will not have enough physical activity (8%).I am a parent and an educator. Two of my kids grew up before the age of the mobile device (well they had a Gameboy) and two are living through this age of mobile digital devices.Yes my kids have access to iPads. No, they are not addicted and they do spend time outside, in extra curriculars, and playing off line. And, like most parents I am still searching for the best way to manage a balance between device time and opportunities to learn in multiple ways. At the same time I am aware of the opportunities that the devices present to be creative, interactive, and learn about the world. Oh yes and have fun.So here are some rules I live by:1. Limit access to devices in both location times and a general time limit. For example we take iPads with us for car use on long trips but never on local drives.2. No social media until we feel it is appropriate (maturity over age) and safe.3. On iPads you can easily prevent web access and app store access so kids can't buy anything, although we do not do this. We've had conversations with our kids about what is appropriate and we do not share our iTunes password which means they cannot purchase any app without us.4. Make it fun to do other things. For that we have to participate, digital devices are a fun alternative when you are bored BUT it does not beat a good game of capture the flag.5. Maybe most importantly, kids do not have to use "educational apps" to learn or be creative. Many of the apps challenge kids to be problem solvers (the room anyone?), creators (minecraft), or artists. Embrace the learning!

Sometimes your LMS feels much like that relationship you know just isn’t working, but are reluctant to end. You’ve invested so much time and energy into making it work. You’ve laughed together, cried together—but at the end of the day, your needs just aren’t being met. So how do you know when it’s just time to move on? Here are our Top 8 Relationship Deal-breakers: 1. After everything we’ve been through, I still want more… So much time, so much effort spent, but still not seeing the results in your bottom line? There comes a time in every relationship that you have to ask yourself if it’s wise to keep investing in something that you know isn’t working, or whether to accept the lessons learned and move on. 2. We have different needs… Your needs are your needs - you can make certain concessions, but at the end of the day, if your LMS doesn’t easily adapt to fit with your ever evolving needs, or doesn’t have the flexibility to push out content with the speed or precision you require…then it might be time to look for a more agile solution. 3. I can’t fully figure you out? One common LMS mistake is that "more must be better", when the opposite in fact is true. It’s possible to be too robust, too many bells & whistles that clutter the platform and don’t add real value. This overload actually detracts from the usability and the overall learning experience. 4. You’re never there when I need you… During discovery and initial rollout, there was a helpful team to walk you through the process. Post-implementation, that support dwindled until you’re pretty much on your own. You deserve better! Look for a solution that approaches your relationship with needs analysis, experience design, launch support and continued partnership. 5. I can’t take you anywhere! It’s a mobile, multi-device world and learners expect their content to be where they are - not the other way around.  If your LMS doesn’t support the ever-growing mobile workforce, then you may have outgrown your LMS. 6. It’s not you - it’s me…OK, it’s you… When you first met, you saw many of the qualities you were looking for in a learning solution, and figured you could mold the rest into what you needed it to be. Well, we all know how this story ends! Avoid entering a relationship with unrealistic expectations. If you do then you’ll end up trying to shoehorn your processes around a mental blueprint of what your LMS is ‘supposed’ do—and not what it ‘can’ do. 7. You don’t like any of my friends… Not all systems play well with others. If your LMS isn’t fulfilling all of your needs, and throws a technology tantrum when asked to work alongside other complementary solutions, then perhaps it’s time to find a more progressive partner. 8. I know I said looks don’t matter—but they kinda do… If your LMS has all the charm of a database, you can’t expect to maintain that loving feeling. Even solutions, which may have ‘once upon a time’ been leading edge, over time with add-ons and patches, now more closely resembles the bride of Frankenstein than the fresh-faced solution you once courted. The important takeaway is that a system’s ‘under the hood’ power doesn’t count for much if the user experience is poor. Technology advancements during the last few years have made LMS replacements a much less daunting option. So, while the decision to replace an LMS still isn’t an easy one, breaking up is doable and often beneficial. What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below or via Twitter. Written by Sabrina Prudham The post You & Your LMS: Top 8 Relationship Deal-breakers appeared first on Axonify.

This was our first time at the BIG show … and it really was big. From what I heard, there were over 10,000 people there from all over the world. It truly was a fantastic experience to meet and learn from a global audience. We had a lot of fun, here’s proof: Axonify’s Angels … and bodyguards (Left to right: Dave, Sabrina, Carol, Lois and yours truly). In this post, I wanted to share some key insights that we gathered from attendees after listening to them explain some of their biggest learning challenges:  Challenge 1: Bite-Sizing Learning Learners have less time to learn and the reality is that L&D departments have fewer resources to spend on creating elaborate learning programs. Enter bite-sized learning. This is truly the best for both worlds. For learners, bite-sized content allows the learning to be weaved into the workday as opposed to isolated into a specific event. For the L&D department, creating bite-sized content is not only faster but it allows for the learning to be delivered more often.   Key insight: Making learning more digestible will not only make delivery easier but will also increase retention. Challenge 2: Engaging Experiences Storytelling, videos and gamification. These were some of the big ideas floating around in answer to the question of how to make learning engaging. Many organizations are starting to realize the cost of disengagement and as a result they are seeking innovative ways to engage learners.  Key insight: A truly engaging learning experience would have fulfilled its purpose once it creates an intrinsic desire for learning. Challenge 3: Communicating With The Front Line A lot of executives we spoke with mentioned that they have a need to communicate directly with front-line employees. This goes beyond traditional email communication because they want to deliver a message that transcends mere words on a screen. Executives are looking for a way to communicate their vision into the hearts and hands of their entire organization.  Key insight: Cultures are driven by vision. L&D departments have the opportunity to transform organizational culture by ensuring that the organization’s vision is reinforced every day.  Challenge 4: Diagnostic Tools Many learning professionals we spoke with are looking for tools to help diagnose the status of learning within their organizations. Learning organizations need to know what employees don’t know so that they can figure out how to allocate scarce resources appropriately but more importantly, figure out where resources are being wasted. Key insight: Knowing what your employees don’t know is equally as important as ensuring they know what they need to know. What were some of your big takeaways from ASTD 2014? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below or tell us your stories on Twitter.  Written by Shum Attygalle The post Four Big Insights From ASTD 2014 appeared first on Axonify.

A wave of tributes has greeted the passing of Donald Kirkpatrick - visionary and architect of the ‘Four Levels of Evaluation’. Dr. Kirkpatrick’s work revolutionized the concept of training evaluation, and subsequent measurement of learning ROI. With a lifetime worth of contributions to the L&D community, and unwavering dedication to work-related learning and performance, Dr. Kirkpatrick’s voice and methodologies have become the gold standard within organizational learning & development. Often cited as a legend of the industry, his pioneering work continues to significantly influence those who are new to the learning industry, as well as seasoned veterans in the areas of communication and leadership. Dr. Kirkpatrick’s work created a ripple effect that continues to spread ever outward, influencing people at every level of the industry, an impact that is surely immeasurable. "To me, Donald Kirkpatrick was a pioneer in the field and someone to whom I admired and looked up to. His work influenced my ideas about evaluation, tracking behavior change and the power of a simple idea to change an industry. It still amazes me, the history of his model…how it grew and grew and became so influential. It is a great example of letting an idea run free. The power of ideas. The model is useful and beneficial for all types of learning and, importantly, it is easy to understand and apply but complex enough to deal with the issues of evaluation that we are experiencing today." Karl Kapp Professor/Consultant at Bloomsburg University "Dr. Kirkpatrick will forever be remembered for his immense contribution to our industry. His ‘Four Levels of Evaluation’ model is woven into the very fabric of the Axonify solution, helping connect measurable learning to tangible business results. He was a pioneer, a thought leader, and a personal inspiration - he will be greatly missed."Carol LeamanCEO, Axonify "So much has already been said about the impact that the Four Levels of Evaluation have had on several generations of trainers - revolutionizing the way we measure program impact. What was memorable for me was Dr. Kirkpatrick’s final presentation in Orlando in 2011. He shared with a packed room the emotional, spiritual connection that he has to his Four Levels model. It was a rare and inspiring glimpse into how much passion there is within some of the leaders in our field. L&D was much more than a job or industry function for Donald Kirkpatrick. It was his life’s purpose, and he shared all that he knew freely to help everyone be the best we can."Juana LlorensATD Community of Practice Manager, Learning and Development "He will truly be missed as he has been one of the most influential icons in my career. I will fondly remember a few moments together giving each other a hard time as he was a Green Bay fan and I a Detroit Lions fan. Rest in Peace, thank you for sharing, leading, and contributing so much to our profession - bless you Don. Level 4 is what you were about…"David ShulkinLearning/Performance Technology & Television Professional "He opened our eyes to the importance of looking beyond the classroom, to influence how people do their work; to shift our focus from how well we train, to how well they learn." Jackie Morton Director, Human Resources, Crowe MacKay Please share your Dr. Kirkpatrick stories with us, as we remember and honor this rockstar of learning. The post Donald Kirkpatrick - The Measure of a Legend appeared first on Axonify.

The Forgetting Curve Learning, along with learning retention, is a huge topic within today’s corporate community. However, learning retention is just as elusive as it is important. It’s clear that a cog in the metaphorical learning machine is missing. Learners simply aren’t retaining information and this has big consequences for a company’s bottom-line. Professionals today are searching for ways to repair this machine, in order to produce a resource that every corporation desires: Knowledgeable, highly-skilled workers. The Report Charles Hendersen wanted to identify the cause of the pandemic that learning professionals face today: a lack of employee retention. In the summer of 2013, he posted what looked like a very straightforward question on LinkedIn, "In 10 words or less, why do you think employees forget what they’ve learned so quickly?" The number of responses to this one question was astronomical, proving that this ‘straightforward’ question was in fact quite multi-faceted. In the report found below, Charles condensed all the responses-all 47, 379 words-into measurable data and just may have summed up the responses into a verifiable basis for this problem. Get your copy of the report now (PDF). The Webinar In addition to the report, we collaborated with Charles to create a webinar entitled "Why do Employees Forget?" which featured both Charles and our CEO Carol Leaman. Expect to discover the four main themes found in the over 900 responses that Charles received to his LinkedIn question. This webinar condenses global responses in order to answer a global problem. The best part? This webinar identifies a common solution for this worldwide issue. View the webinar recording now. What are your thoughts on the insights Charles gathered? Let us know in the comments below or tell us on Twitter. If you’re interested in hearing more from Charles, feel free to connect with him directly. The post Report: Why do Employees Forget? appeared first on Axonify.

The generation of people born between the early 1980’s and the early 2000’s are making headlines these days-and not exactly in the best way. Unceremoniously dubbed ‘Generation Me’ by skeptics, millennial workers are often criticized for needing constant affirmation and easy success. Raised in a world where the words "selfie" and "tweet" were added to the dictionary, Millennials are sometime cast as vapid, social-media-obsessed, and in need of an attitude adjustment. I suppose you could look at it that way, but don’t write off my generation just yet. I like to think that the millennial generation brings fresh perspective to the work environment. Millennials don’t want to put in the long hours that past generations did, but who says there isn’t value in this? Pursuing outside interests and balancing family life with work can make people happier-and more productive. Millennials also grew up in a more accepting time period, in terms of sexual orientation, race, gender and religion. Millennials are known for valuing flexibility, ethics and innovation. Growing up with the internet and all the media outlets that came with it, Millennials are great at networking and are tech-savvy. It’s this environment that created a need for a new corporate learning strategy for these technology natives. Week-long training sessions just won’t cut it for these active, eager Millenials. A few of Axonify’s favourite Millennials-Ryan, Jon, Dave and yours truly! So what’s the solution? Gamified, bite-sized learning programs that test employee knowledge on a daily basis. These programs provide small, daily bursts of learning that can be completed online, that don’t require the time and resources that traditional classroom learning requires. This is a far cry from the onerous training sessions that were considered the norm for past generations. Millennials need variety and interactive training-and companies like Axonify are fulfilling that need. The best part? Bite-sized learning really works, and not just for Millennials. It works across generations. After Axonify was introduced to Walmart, the Logistics department saw a 54% decrease in incidents. Not only that, voluntary participation rates were 80%. This is within a working population that encompasses four generations: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. The appeal of the product and the success was found across generations-but it was the Millennials that inspired this new approach to learning. A new approach to learning that is not only effective in increasing knowledge retention, but through the use of gamification, is actually quite a bit of fun too. So don’t give up on us Millennials yet. Like any cohort we have our flaws, but a lack of innovation certainly isn’t one of them. And considering that an estimated 75% of the workforce will be made up of Millennials by the year 2025, innovative, bite-sized learning is just a sneak peek at how the millennial generation will transform the modern workplace. Written by Emily Kroboth The post Maybe the Millennials are Doing it Right appeared first on Axonify.

It’s often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So let me set the scene, and then you tell me if the training shoe fits… In 2008, the global analyst firm IDC published a white paper entitled ‘Counting the Cost of Employee Misunderstanding‘ which examined the financial impact of human error on 400 UK and US businesses with over 5000 employees. The study surmised that human error (defined as actions by employees who have either misunderstood or misinterpreted company policies, business processes or job functions); cost companies an estimated $37 billion every year. The further cost of damage to intangibles such brand reputation, trust and customer loyalty only extrapolate the consequences. So by exposing human errors as one of the biggest drains on company profits and resources, you’d assume that this data must have caused quite a stir in the training and development community. Surely this preventable waste spurred a training revolution, given the bold-faced evidence that what we’re doing isn’t working. You’d think so, right? WRONG! Flash forward 6 years since the release of the IDC report, and what have most companies done about their approach to training? Zip, zilch, nada, zero! Most continue to blast their employees with one-size-fits-all content and deliver that content through large, heavy classroom style sessions, or through dry LMS scenario-based presentations. Even though we have the data that says, "what we’re doing isn’t working", corporations are still reluctant to change the way they deliver their training. Or, maybe they just don’t know that there are alternatives? In 2011, Cisco published the "Connected World Technology Report" and reported that 70% of young professionals surveyed admitted to violating company security policy, and 80% think restrictions on use of social media while at work are archaic. Others stated that they were completely unaware of any corporate policies around such matters. Yet according to the 2013 "Towards Maturity Benchmark Report", 93% of learning and development departments feel they effectively communicate corporate policies. Symantec’s 2013 "Ponemon Cost of a Data Breach Report" found that two-thirds of all data breaches are the result of human error, costing organizations an average of $332 million in brand value in the year following that breach. So, I ask you. With all of this data pointing to the huge related losses, how does human error continue to fly below the corporate radar? Why aren’t we screaming "revolution!" from the rooftops (or corner offices)? By ignoring the issue, companies are only putting themselves at risk for compliance, safety and legal issues…again…and again…and again. To try and understand why, we need to look at the of apathy bubble we’ve created around what to expect from human capital. To err is human right? We pacify ourselves with turns of phrase like "that’s just the cost of doing business" or "every mistake is a stepping stone". Companies are guilty of committing mass-complacency on a global scale—but it doesn’t have to be that way! It’s time to say goodbye to status quo forever and embrace the future of training. No more excuses! New approaches to learning which combine the latest advancements in brain science with adaptive learning technology and gamification, offer organizations a new way to think about, develop, and deliver training - and early adopters are already seeing a huge return on their training ROI. When PepBoys, a two billion dollar automotive aftermarket retailer in the US, transitioned from their manager-led training model, to a daily dose of bite-sized, highly targeted, highly personalized content, they saw their shrink rates reduced by 55%. Similarly, Walmart Logistics saw a 54% decrease in incident reports, and a Lost Times reduction of 50% during their first 6 months using the same model. By adapting the training process to how employees actually learn, managers can quickly align employee performance with operational benchmarks. Sophisticated analytics allow managers to track participation and success rates, providing clear insight into what their employees know…and what they don’t—paving the way for proactive and preventative coaching. Implementing an engaging training program that reinforces smaller, more relevant chunks of content, maximizes knowledge retention, reduces error, and continually improves employee effectiveness. In today’s competitive market, those companies that realize we don’t have to accept the status quo, and embrace technologies that actually work in a way that optimizes our infinite capacity to learn, will be positioned to outmaneuver, outperform and outsell their competition—one employee at a time. So, back to my first question… When you think about your organization’s approach to training—does the shoe fit? Written by Sabrina Prudham The post The Real ‘Cost of Doing Business’ appeared first on Axonify.

All too often, the lack of success between a new hire and their new company can be directly attributed to an ineffective (or obsolete) onboarding strategy. A comprehensive onboarding plan welcomes and orientates new employees and introduces them to corporate culture, it establishes roles and responsibilities, improves time to productivity, and positively influences retention rates. With that said, few of today’s cost-conscious companies prioritize onboarding programs - a costly mistake. The 2012 Allied Workforce Mobility Survey revealed that the ‘average’ cost to fill one professional position is about $11,000. However, the survey also reported that companies lose an average of 25% of all new hires within their first year of employment. So to spend $11K hiring someone, only to have them resign within less than a year, must be the cause of many sleepless nights for those responsible for talent development. And the top reason cited by employees on why they leave? You’ve guessed it - onboarding. Now, given this insight, it came as a surprise to me that the corporate budget dedicated to onboarding was less than you’d probably imagine. Approximately 35% of companies admitted that they spend $0 on onboarding. Yes, you read that right - zero. Companies spend an average of $11K on hiring someone and then spend $0 on making them productive. What’s wrong with this picture? The impact of ineffective onboarding to an employers bottom-line is VERY real. But it’s not just premature resignations that are costing companies millions, there are also negative costs associated with employees who stay and remain quietly under-productive. In the US alone, an estimated $300 billion is spent annually on under-productive employees who do not understand their jobs—much of which can be attributed to improper onboarding. So what can forward-looking companies do to supercharge their onboarding ROI? Here are 6 suggestions: 1. Provide continuous training38% of companies admit to a standard of 1-2 days onboarding programs, a week at most, then it’s sink or swim time for new hires. And 25% do not include any kind of job duty training. However, a continuous, drip-fed approach to training will ensure employees don’t feel like they’re treading water and reduce stress during those vulnerable first 6 months when over 90% of employees decide to stick or abandon ship.  2. Deliver information in easily-digestible amountsNew employees are eager to impress, so most won’t admit to feeling overwhelmed on their first few days. Don’t dump too much information all at once, as most will not be retained. You’re wasting both your, and your new hires time. Instead, break down your training into easily digestible chunks for new employees to absorb, and reinforce over predetermined periods to optimize time to productivity.  3. Align new hires responsibilities to key business goalsA mere 7% of employees today say they fully understand their company’s business goals and strategies and what’s expected of them in order to help achieve those goals. You can increase both employee and business performance by personalizing the onboarding experience and tying their individual roles and responsibilities to the company’s overall strategy.  4. Measure base competencies and work to close knowledge gaps30% of companies reported that it takes at least a year for a new employee to reach full productivity. By issuing an initial evaluation of what a new hire does and doesn’t know, you can zero in on what each employee needs to know to do their job well, and begin work to close those knowledge gaps.  5. Track new hire success, and provide regular feedback60% of companies admit that they don’t set any formal milestones or goals for new hires. Those companies who have the ability to provide immediate feedback on how a new hire is doing, and can communicate progress overall, help employees feel more competent, confident and better able to perform on the job—leading to higher levels of satisfaction and retention.  6. And for goodness sake have some fun!Studies show that by promoting a social learning environment which understands that work and play can, and should co-exist, you’ll help new hires integrate into the team, reduce turnover and boost overall morale—which will go a long way towards keeping employees happy, and your organization running smoothly. Written by Sabrina Prudham The post 6 Strategies to Supercharge Your Onboarding ROI appeared first on Axonify.

I recently attended the ‘NextGen LMS Conference’ in Austin, Texas, to better understand the current challenges companies face with todays’ LMS, and find out how the NextGen LMS is evolving to better meet the needs of our changing business environment. Here’s what I found… THE GOOD The 70,20,10 rule of learning. The NextGen LMS has started to assist in the 20% of informal learning and the 70% of on-the-job learning. Social learning is gaining acceptance. Companies have been afraid of what employees might post on a social learning site but the fear is worse than the reality. Companies are now seeing employees collaborate, share and learn online together. This is truly harnessing the power of employees. Gamification continues to gain traction as companies look for ways to engage learners. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is both an opportunity and a challenge for many companies. Laws and attitudes are evolving towards hourly associates using their own device whenever they want for learning. THE BAD Lack of linkage between training and business metrics was a common theme. Users want access to data that can measure training success against business objectives, such as reducing errors & omissions, improving productivity, meeting sales goals, etc. Mobility continues to be a challenge for may companies. Many LMS systems still have a "Mobile Last" mentality. A lack of multi-lingual support. Global multi-cultural companies need multi-lingual functionality to engage their workforce in their 1st language. THE UGLY Most people I spoke with were unhappy with their current LMS. It was unreal how universal this attitude was. Most people think their LMS is "ugly". Employees complain about it and companies pay extra to create prettier custom front-ends. Upgrades are cumbersome, with some companies reporting outages of up to 2 weeks. In short, companies are looking to bring learning to their teams with greater engagement and mobility while measuring the success of learning with business metrics. Maybe our business needs are evolving faster than the LMS? Find out more about NextGen LMS. Written by Phil Menary The post The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - What’s Next for LMS? appeared first on Axonify.

Whether in the workplace, or in life, ‘knowing’ what to do can be the difference between your best day—or your worst. We’ve all heard the phrase, "we learn from our mistakes". This may be true in some respects, but then there are the mistakes that cost us our job, our health, or in Dave’s case - his hair. Had Dave known what to do BEFORE he began his celebrations, he probably wouldn’t have purchased that ridiculous shirt….or set his head on fire. Both preventable disasters. We don’t have to wait to learn from our mistakes anymore. New approaches to safety training that combine bite-sized learning, with active recall and spaced repetition, are helping companies build a safer, smarter workforce. These new preventative programs arm your employees with the knowledge to effectively do their jobs, and make safer, smarter decisions. Unlike Dave here… Read more on The Future of Safety Training in this whitepaper. Happy 4th July Everyone!  Written by Sabrina Prudham p.s. No David Geoffreys were harmed in the writing of this blog. The post Preventable Mistakes - A July 4th Special Edition appeared first on Axonify.

Every company has a moral responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees, yet unintentional injuries continue to cost US companies more than $146.6 billion every year, in medical and insurance costs, workers’ compensation, production delays, and lost times. While most companies do have an initial safety program in place, over time, employees don’t always continue to apply that learning. It is therefore critical to make training an ongoing process, reinforcing safety procedures and reassessing compliance needs frequently. Part of the problem is that some managers feel that good safety practices should be common sense, but that type of attitude can lead to accidents or heavy fines from workplace safety groups such as OSHA. In fact, earlier this month, a large retail store in Boston fell under the watchful eye of OSHA after failing repeatedly to meet the required safety standards within their store’s stockroom. As a result, the company is now facing hefty fines. The estimated cost of the fine is $177,800. OSHA issued 1 Serious and 2 Willful citations, which included merchandise in the store’s stockroom being consistently stacked in an unstable and unsecured manner, exposing workers to crushing injuries, and emergency exit routes consistently being blocked. OSHA fines Retailer $177,800 for exposing employees to serious safety hazards Investing in training, is investing in your company. Safety reinforcement training protects employees from accidents and injuries, and safeguards companies from diminished productivity, increased insurance premiums and even criminal liability. Protect Your Employees. Protect Your Company. Written by Sabrina Prudham The post Avoid Massive OSHA Fines With Safety Reinforcement Training appeared first on Axonify.

On Thursday July 17th, we had the pleasure of being joined on a webinar by renowned learning expert Dr. Marc Rosenberg. Most of the audience (42%) on the webinar had more than 10 years of experience in the learning/training and considered themselves to be either competent (27%) or experienced (37%) in the field. Both a recording and a handout for the webinar are now available on-demand. Here are our three key takeaways from the webinar: 1. The Shifting Learning Paradigm Training alone does not allow employees to reach competence. This realization is starting to occur in many organizations and Marc describes the effect of this realization as a shift in the learning paradigm.  The slide below showcases how competence is affected by training over time: Here is a depiction of the paradigm shift: As evidenced in the first slide, without support competence and even stages beyond competence simply cannot be achieved. Again, this realization has given rise to the paradigm shift (2nd slide) that many organizations are starting to embrace. On the webinar: 21% of the audience said they are ‘just starting to embrace this shift,’ 27% said they are ‘making some progress,’ and 12% said they are ‘making significant progress.’  2. Not All Employees Need Training This point was the crux of the entire webinar. As Marc put it, "As people become more proficient, they need less training." The truth is that employees needs change throughout their learning journeys and organizations have to offer different tools at different times. The majority (52%) of the audience agreed on these differences between the way novices and experts learn: They learn differently They need to learn different things Their learning preferences and expectations are different and change as they learn more Here is a slide that depicts the different tools/learning strategies that should be implemented as an employee moves from novice to mastery: 3. Performance Must Be The End Goal Toward the end of the webinar, Marc had a total of eight recommendations as to how you can help move employees from novice to mastery. The one that we thought works best as a summary of all the recommendations is this: Start with performance as the key goal in successful learning design. Marc said, "The answer isn’t the course, the answer is performance." Many times he encouraged the audience to answer the question, "What is it that you ultimately want employees to do?" As mentioned in point 2, training may not always be the answer.  Please feel free to watch the full recording of the webinar, get the handout and share your thoughts with us. We look forward to hearing about your journey. Written by Shum Attygalle The post The Journey to Mastery With Marc Rosenberg appeared first on Axonify.

Last week I talked about the 5 Phases of Grieving Your LMS and Building a Case for Change. In that post, I noted how many of the issues people face with their LMS stem from an early miscommunication or misunderstanding of what is really needed from their learning solution. Since then, many of you have emailed me and shared stories of your own needs analysis and implementation missteps. One reader admitted, "Ease of implementation was top of mind, so we picked a system that mirrored the way we were already working. But in reality, what we got was an LMS that was hard to navigate, and stuffed full of old content that just couldn’t adapt to modern learning demands". Another user compared her LMS to a digital version of a typical brick and mortar library. "It’s like being shown through an open door - beholding books on every topic you can imagine - then told "All your answers are in there, go find what you need." Really?" "We knew we needed a system that could track who was taking what course, and what certificates were completed. Great! But how do I measure that against tangible business results?" Similar stories echoed. These submissions really hit home when I read the results of the Brandon Hall Group’s annual LMS trends survey that showed 47.7% of respondents were currently replacing their LMS in 2012, up from 33 percent of respondents in 2011. That’s a lot of people who aren’t too pleased with their current learning management technologies. We’ve already talked about building your case for change, but what other steps can you take to ensure you get off the LMS replacement treadmill for good? Check out the eLearning Industry’s Top 10 Reasons "Why LMS Implementations Fail" If you are planning to implement a new learning solution in the near future, this article it is a must read for you… but if you have experienced any other challenges not listed in this article, or have an LMS implementation story to share, we’d love to hear from you. Written by Sabrina Prudham The post In Response to Your LMS War Stories appeared first on Axonify.

Video Summary: Earlier this week we had the pleasure of being joined by John Knoble - Director of Sales Learning at Ethicon - on our webinar: Driving Sales Effectiveness Through Sustainable Learning (recording now available on-demand). During the course of the webinar, John outlined the struggles he faced with the following characteristics of traditional learning: The one-size fits all approach Push vs. pull-through learning  Taking time away from the job (In the case of John’s sales team, they were away on training for six to eight weeks at a time) Secondary training events was also one-time (e.g. When a new product was introduced) John went on to explain how his learning ecosystem had evolved to overcome many of these challenges and he even discussed some of the results he has been seeing.  Here are our top three takeaways from the webinar: 1. Engagement has to be sustainable Ask yourself this: Would you rather create a highly engaging week-long event and have the event repeat twice a year OR would you rather create an engaging experience that lasts three minutes and repeat that a few times a week? By extending the period of time between engaging learning experiences, the learning itself begins to lose value. John mentioned that this is a big challenge of the ‘one and done’ route that a lot of traditional learning methodologies take. In order to allow an engaging learning event to retain its value, you have to find a way to sustain that engagement.  2. Repetition of knowledge = growth in confidence One of the big challenges John focused on - which a lot of learning professionals can relate to - is the fact that his team is constantly having to learn new things. In John’s case, this new learning included: new product knowledge, compliance regulations, competitor information and various policy changes. With regards to new product knowledge, John mentioned that in his new learning ecosystem, this knowledge is reinforced on a daily basis. As a result of this, his sales force has grown more confident in this knowledge and as you can imagine, confidence is a very big factor in sales success. How often is critical knowledge being reinforced in your organization? The bigger question might be … what is happening due to a lack of reinforcement? 3. Leverage learning analytics cross-functionally With the evolution of his learning ecosystem, John talked about the new insights he is able to get on his team. One of the most interesting points he brought up was the fact that learning analytics he gathers about his sales team, is actually highly valuable to his marketing team. His marketing team is able to get data on where knowledge gaps exist within the sales organization and help build resources to close those gaps. How is your learning data being leveraged outside of your function?  Have you had a chance to watch the webinar yet? Once you do or even after you’ve read this post, please share your thoughts on our key takeaways. We’d love to hear from you. Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: Driving Sales Effectiveness Through Sustainable Learning appeared first on Axonify.

Last week’s blog post was the first segment of a 2-part series detailing my discussion with Dr. Alice Kim of the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, a premier international center for the study of the human brain, along with Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify.  This week’s post gets into more detail around the application of the latest in brain science research on corporate learning: Q: Does accommodating different learning styles or preferences lead to better learning? Dr. Kim: ‘Learning styles’ refers to the idea that people learn information most effectively in different ways. For example, visual learners are expected to benefit most from lessons that use images and slideshows, whereas auditory learners are expected to benefit more by listening to lectures. This may seem intuitive, because people typically have specific preferences about how they like information to be presented to them. Along these lines, a popular idea is that the best way to teach is by catering to the preferences of the learner. However, it’s a misconception that trying to match knowledge delivery to someone’s personal learning style or perceptual preference, translates to better learning. It’s a very popular theory in education and a lot of people believe it, but there is no scientific evidence to support it. On the other hand, there’s a lot of evidence to support other proven strategies that training providers should be paying closer attention to, such as spacing out content and practicing retrieval. These are methods that are supported by scientific research and have actually shown results.  Q: What are some of the issues with corporate learning today that this latest research can impact? Carol: Over the past few years, many corporate trainers have started to realize that ‘big event", or "one and done" training sessions don’t work in the way they need them to - they don’t result in learning transfer of critical information employees need to know to effectively do their jobs. Until recently however, there weren’t viable alternatives to classroom based or online video instruction. Fortunately we now have at our fingertips the information and technology to completely disrupt the learning environment so we can map everything to the way our brains are wired. Q: What are your top tips for trainers seeking to make use of how the brain works to create more effective training programs?  Carol: Trainers need to take all of the content they need their people to know, and chunk it down into bite-sized, easily digestible pieces. The brain is great at acquiring 4 to 5 bits of information at a time. And then, person-by-person, deliver those pieces in a method that drips it over time, is highly personalized, and also fun and engaging. There’s no reason why it can’t be fun. Effective learning no longer involves putting bums in seats for half a day or more, expecting people to leave the room and retain 100% of what they just went through - our brains don’t work that way; it’s just not possible. Q: Can we expand on that point a little bit more? How does engagement and the fun factor lend to retention? Dr. Kim: It’s the idea of ‘wanting’ to learn. If someone doesn’t ‘want’ to learn, it doesn’t matter how many times you put the information in front of them, they won’t take it in. They may not even be paying attention. So providing the initial learning motivation inspires most people to want to continue to learn, which is inherently satisfying. And it makes people feel good. Tying the learning event to something that feels good is another way to enhance retention, because it provides the initial engagement mechanism to get them into the program. This pays dividends, as the motivation self-perpetuates and eventually become internally driven. Carol: I totally agree. Once they start to engage in the learning experience and see tangible knowledge acquisition, learning becomes its own motivator. Dr. Kim: They can do their jobs better. And that makes them feel better, which is a natural motivator to continue learning. What I really like about the Axonify platform is that it really is on an individual basis. New questions are asked based on how previous questions were answered. Often times in traditional training scenarios, people are left behind if their personal learning path is not the average. Or, if they’re too far advanced they get bored and they stop listening and disengage. You now have these two opposite ends of the spectrum who are not actively engaged, and one by one they disconnect from the training. A significant percentage of the learning group can essentially miss out. But if you deliver content through a platform that works on an individual basis, everyone stays engaged, everyone stays challenged and motivated to continue.  Q: How are advancements in technology and brain-based learning principles helping organizations to change the way they deliver their training? Carol: By leveraging the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience, we’ve been able to successfully develop new adaptive learning technologies that work in a way that actually matches how the brain processes and retains information. By employing principles of reinforcement and retrieval-based practice, we can now establish unique learner profiles, identifying and working to close knowledge gaps specific to that person. This highly targeted approach ensures sustainable knowledge retention through the creation of a personalized learning model. Q: So are we reaching a point where we can marry an understanding of the brain with the evolution of technology so that each employee will have a training solution that nearly perfectly matches the way his/her brain works? What do you think the hopes are of having something like this in the near future?  Dr. Kim: I don’t think a 100% match is ever going to be an option. You’d have to know absolutely everything about a person’s life - all of their external and internal influences­— but we are getting close. The advances in our scientific understanding of how the brain operates, and advances in neuroscience in regards to how the brain encodes, retains and retrieves information, has given us enormous insight into designing better learning experiences. Written by Laura Martin The post Q&A With a Brain Scientist Part 2: The Impact on Corporate Learning appeared first on Axonify.

Video Summary: A learning ecosystem is everything that touches the performance of the people you work with every day. This was one of the key learning points that our featured guest, JD Dillon drove home on our webinar: When the LMS Just Isn’t Enough - Building an Ecosystem for Today’s Knowledge Worker. The webinar slides and recording are now available on-demand, so I encourage you to take a look at them and share your thoughts with us.  Here are five of JD’s biggest take-home messages from the webinar: 1. Take a Look at Your Ecosystem If an ecosystem is defined as everything that touches your employees’ performance, then beyond your learning strategies and tools, what else is impacting your employees every day? Take a look at the way employees communicate with each other, what their work environments look like (Are they working from home or in an office?) and even how exactly they do their jobs (Are they working at a computer or on a tablet?). Understand where exactly you fit into the fold and question whether you like where you fit in.  2. Start Having the Conversation About Ecosystems Bring it up in your next meeting and see what other people think of the topic. In some cases you might find that your colleagues have an entirely different definition of what an ecosystem is. Involve as many people outside of the traditional ‘learning’ space as you can so that you can get an idea of how your efforts fit into their definition of an ecosystem. 3. Stop Calling People Learners We cannot control when people learn, the truth is that your employees are constantly learning. Start thinking about your employees through the lens of performance and try to understand how learning feeds into their performance. Ultimately, learning must be seen as something that fuels an employee’s ability to do his or her job better. Is this what learning is doing in your organization right now?   4. Take a Look at Your Technology What does the current learning experience for an employee at your organization look like? How can you improve that? There’s rarely just one platform that works for all your needs, so if you have to utilize multiple platforms, how do they all work together to provide a seamless learning experience? One of the most important questions you have to ask is whether your learning technology is flexible and adaptable to each employee’s needs. Too often, we expect an employee to be adaptable to the technology, but perhaps it’s time to flip the equation around. 5. Stop Tracking and Start Measuring Completion, scores and surveys are metrics that we track. What metrics are you measuring? How are you correlating the data you find and tying it to performance? It’s time to start utilizing the learning data to figure out how exactly you fit into the bigger picture within your organization. Where do you stand on learning ecosystems? If you’ve got some thoughts, please feel free to share them with us in the comments below or tweet them to us. Written by Shum Attygalle The post Webinar Summary: When the LMS Just Isn’t Enough appeared first on Axonify.

Understanding the importance social interactions play in our lives is an important step to modernizing your training paradigm. While many businesses tend to lean toward more conventional forms of training, the fact is that there is a gold mine of training benefits that can be harnessed if companies are willing to embrace a more social approach.  A group of Axonify teammates. The benefits of going social You’ve heard a lot about social learning lately, but why should you care? What can it actually offer your organization in a substantive, measurable sense? The main advantage boasted by this type of approach to training is that it leverages the natural way that our brains best acquire knowledge. As an inherently social species, social learning simply makes more sense for us. Learning Solutions magazine cited well-known examples of students who were able to improve two whole grade levels - from a C to an A - when learning from a one-on-one tutor situation. As classical psychological researcher Lev Vygotsky noted, exposing a learner to one-on-one interaction with a more experienced teacher - exposing them to what he coined the zone of proximal development - can have exponential results on learning. Social learning improves more than just retention, too. As the Association for Talent Development noted, these types of interactions also build confidence and trust between participants. The act of working together toward a goal and acquiring information from one another is inherently trust building. Similarly, learners who are required to put their knowledge to the test and are then rewarded for correct answers from a peer can build a sense of self-confidence in their knowledge. What you can do Given the evidence, it makes sense that as you’re evolving your learning ecosystem, be sure to consider "social" as part of your strategy. Many organizations have had success making use of social networking platforms in addition with their learning systems, while others have migrated to systems with social integrated into the fabric of the learning process. For example, Axonify employs a "social feed" directly linked to the learning event. Learners can congratulate each other on successes, provide encouragement, and more often than not engage in some friendly trash-talk, bolstering a sense of competitive spirit. Axonify also recently launched a new fun, social feature called "Tell-A-Friend". The idea of Tell-A-Friend is that users are rewarded for encouraging their lapsed peers to re-engage with their learning. When that user re-engages with their learning, the champion receives extra ‘reward points’ within the system. It’s a win-win. The user not only benefits from re-engagement with their learning, but the establishment of a broader learning community pays dividends across the entire organization, in terms of improved job, team and business performance Would you like to see more social in your learning programs? Leave your thoughts in the comments. Written by Laura Martin The post Harnessing Social Power to Boost Your Training appeared first on Axonify.

In January 2014, I authored an article in Learning Solutions Magazine online about measuring learning outcomes in a cost effective and meaningful way that can enable strategic decisions in the enterprise.  The article also discussed creating the kind of learning that should be analyzed against business performance: because it’s effective for helping employees improve their knowledge and job performance for the long term. Not surprisingly, readers were interested in the learning techniques I discussed that lead to more impactful corporate learning.  Improving job performance starts with improving employee knowledge.  What’s critical is that knowledge can be fleeting - research has proven that as much as 90% of information learned in a training session can be forgotten in a month. Human beings do what they remember, so the challenge is to help our employees keep that 90% of their knowledge, so they can effectively apply it to the job. Luckily, modern brain science research has helped us establish highly effective techniques for improving knowledge retention, such as retrieval practice and the spacing effect. Also known as the "testing effect", retrieval practice is the systematic retrieving of information from memory, such as when we have to recall the answer to a series of questions.  Research on the spacing effect shows that information is better retained for the long term when it is presented repeatedly with specific time gaps between each repetition.  This is in direct contrast to cramming, which involves studying large amounts of data continuously over a short time period - which is also a lot like our current corporate training methods.  So how do we implement this? Axonify is a solution that delivers short training bursts each day to employees: typically 3 - 4 questions with answers, which takes less than 5 minutes per day.  Our proprietary algorithm uses repeated retrieval and the spacing effect, in conjunction with some sophisticated customization and personalization, to deliver the right level of knowledge on the most critical topic, just when the employee needs it most.  When an employee is first configured in Axonify, a learning plan is customized based on job function, department, critical topics, and other flexible criteria.  During the first few learning sessions, our system is evaluating the employee’s answers, and identifying knowledge gaps in the specified topics, creating a Personalized Knowledge Map. As the employee continues to participate in daily learning sessions, the Personalized Knowledge Map adapts, moving the learner through progressively more difficult questions towards subject mastery.  Once the required topic knowledge level has been met (say correct answers 80% or 90% of the time), the learner will be "graduated" and continue to receive questions on the topic, but less and less frequently, keeping the information top of mind for the long term. Our system tracks all employee activity, which allows us to identify individual knowledge levels on each topic at any point in time, as well as how many times an employee receives a topic question before being graduated out of that topic.  It also allows us to identify how confident employees are in their knowledge, which can also point to areas where more attention needs to be paid. We can view metrics on an individual basis, or can see how individual departments are doing, and which topics they are strongest in.  With a wealth of information coming out of our system, it’s easy to correlate improvements in knowledge with improvements in key performance indicators, such as meeting sales quota’s, reduced injuries, higher customer satisfaction ratings and more.  To successfully implement these techniques for truly successful learning, there are a few things that need to be in place: Short, daily sessions of 4 to 5 questions with answers. Progressive movement along a personalized learning path that acknowledges success, and delivers increasingly more difficult questions until subject mastery is achieved. Continuous reinforcement of a subject at increasingly wider time intervals. Comprehensive metrics that can correlate learning success to job performance. Written by Carol Leaman The post Using Brain Science to Create Memory that Lasts appeared first on Axonify.

No matter who we are, or what line of work we have chosen, we have all - at one time or another - screwed up on the job. Some mistakes are embarrassingly harmless (like my colleague who hiccupped during a client conference call and ended it with, "OK, love you."), but other mistakes can be costly - to our companies, our careers, and our reputation. For every mortified person who has stumbled on a conference call, there’s another person whose slip up has actually lost a customer, caused injury, or impacted profitability. Do we attribute these errors to ‘poor employee’ performance? Or can we draw a correlation between error rates and ineffective/lack of employee training. To help answer my question, I interviewed a few individuals, and asked them to share some of their most memorable on-the-job mistakes, and their lessons learned. Do you remember a time you made an error on-the-job? To start the thread, I’ll share my story: My first full-time job was waitressing at a national restaurant chain, and my first shift fell on a beautiful, sunny Saturday—the restaurant was packed. I remember taking the order of one customer who, when I delivered his food, was unhappy his entree and requested a new order. I brought the request to the kitchen who fashioned a new plate, which I then redelivered. Still unsatisfied, the customer lost his temper and started yelling at me. My supervisor interjected, and in an attempt to sooth the situation, assured the customer that his meal would be comp’d, which appeased him. At the end of my shift, the owner disagreed with my Supervisors decision to let the customer leave without paying (it equated to stealing). My Supervisor was put on performance probation and the cost of the meal was subtracted from my pay. Lesson Learned: Despite my Supervisors best intentions, her on-the-job instincts did not align with official corporate policy. As a new employee, the experience was very stressful, confusing and ultimately tainted my perception of the company. Had my supervisor understood the correct policy and subsequent procedure, this lesson would have been learned by observing how an informed role model would act, rather than with the negative connotation that I still associate with that company to this day. Consistent training for both management and employees, and regular evaluation of each employee’s knowledge level is essential in ensuring that these kinds of unfortunate situations are avoided. Lauren’s story: Lauren worked for a large insurance company in the customer service dept. She often fielded inquiries about approved levels of personal coverage for various life scenarios. She was also measured on number of successful one-call resolutions (the goal being higher customer satisfaction, and improved call efficiency). One day a client called in asking about international health & accidental injury coverage for an upcoming adventure in Morocco. "The international polices were located in a different system, which didn’t cross-reference with the standard coverage policies I was familiar with. Still, I felt immense pressure to complete the inquiry in one-call, as there was a hard push from management to reduce call time." Unsure of all the details, but motivated to resolve the inquiry under the one-call resolution mandate, Lauren made what she thought was an informed decision and assured the customer that they were covered to the tune of $90,000. Well, that client, who wasn’t covered for accidental injury in Morocco, fell off a camel during a guided dessert trek and broke her leg. Lauren lost her job, and the insurance company had to absorb the exorbitant cost of the error. Lesson Learned: You can’t develop training for every single scenario that might present itself —sometimes people just fall off camels in the desert. However, you can train your employees to confidently know when it’s ok to deviate from their official mandate, who to contact, or how to react whenever there’s any uncertainty in knowing the "right thing" to do. Geoff’s story: Geoff handled email and promotional communications for a major pharmaceutical company. He recalled the how their email system was far from intuitive. "You selected the ID number of a campaign out of the database, and the entire thing keyed off of that tiny number. But, you had to retype that number into about a dozen fields to get everything right. The system didn’t cross-reference input fields to make sure that all the numbers matched." On one occasion, Geoff had to send out emails for item ‘48’, and typed the code in correctly everywhere, except for the statement that would pull the recipient list together. There, he typed in ‘49’. The end result? A correctly formatted, timely, relevant email communication about a new drug was emailed out…to their direct competitor list. About 400 sales reps at the wrong company got information they shouldn’t have had. It was a MAJOR breach of security. "Needless to say, shortly after, I was permanently reassigned." Lesson Learned: Initial training at the Pharma Company required that a second pair of eyes review all communications before being externally delivered. While this procedure was initially followed, over time, this step was frequently skipped due to timeline pressures, as well as Geoff’s increased confidence and consistent high-performance ratings. The lesson here is that even the best employees can, and will, make mistakes if training is not consistently and effectively reinforced. Do you remember a time you made an error on-the-job? A time when you were confronted with a situation that you were unprepared for or weren’t trained to handle? How could your organization have better prepared you for success? Share your on-the-job lessons in the comments below! Written by Sabrina Prudham The post 3 On-the-Job Lessons…Learned the Hard Way appeared first on Axonify.

Pop quiz: when is the best time to test a learner’s knowledge of training material? If you’re like the majority of HR professionals responsible for designing corporate training programs, you’ll likely say, "after all the material has been learned." After all, that’s the model we came up with while in school - study a unit, and then take a test to assess knowledge and understanding, repeating as needed. However, despite many of our experiences taking tests throughout school, if your goal is to ensure your new hires retain as much essential job knowledge as possible, it may be time to give the culminating test a failing grade. Recent research done into the topic has revealed that for maximum benefit, continuous assessment is the way to go.  How continuous assessment is better at improving performance Whereas conventional learning models favor testing at the end of a unit, continuous assessment is exactly what it sounds like - knowledge checks are administered on an ongoing, continual basis. One-shot, terminal tests may be good at uncovering what knowledge wasn’t conveyed, but such a model fails to then offer opportunity for learners to make up those knowledge gaps.  Standard testing is used to ensure a learner meets a minimum baseline of knowledge to advance, but employers don’t want employees who scrape by on minimums. To get the best results, trainees need the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and knowledge gaps. Continuous testing offers a way to turn "wrong answers" into learning opportunities. For management, that means better performance from staff. Testing can make your training more effective Not only can continuous assessment allow for opportunities to improve performance, but it can actually make training more effective. Science tells us that retrieval practice - the act of remembering previously stored information - can further cement that knowledge into our brains.  Known as the testing effect, continually having learners go back and recall information multiple times can have a cumulative effect on learning and strength of memory. Just like reinforcing a bridge with more support makes it more resistant to collapsing, reinforcing a piece of information by constantly calling it into the brain helps cement the very neural pathways that our brains use to store information. For employers, this is key to improving training performance. Testing early and often will highlight which areas need improvement. And by repeatedly testing trainees on this information, you’re ensuring that they’re making stronger connections. Continuous assessment drives performance in employees and gives employers the confidence that their training methods are achieving the best results. Written by Laura Martin The post How Continuous Assessment Offers Continuous Benefits to Your Training appeared first on Axonify.