NEW YORK, March 21, 2013 – U.S. employers seem unfazed by workers’ intentions to seek new positions, according to a survey of nearly 1,000 companies by AMA Enterprise, a division of American Management Association. Sixty-nine percent of respondents see nothing new in employees keeping an eye out for new opportunities. But one-quarter concede that turnover is a growing workplace issue and expect many employees to move on to a new job as soon as they can.
The real challenge is not about overall turnover, but retaining those employees with critical talent and future potential, believes Edwards. “Forward thinking companies are seeking out these people and providing them with opportunities to stretch, grow and contribute their unique strengths. This form of employee development clearly demonstrates to these high value employees that they are important members of the organization and integral to future success. This is key to retention.”
The survey was conducted from Dec. 18 to Jan. 6, 2012, and respondents consisted of 977 senior-level business, human resources, management professionals and employees drawn from the AMA database of contacts.
About AMA Enterprise
With more than 85 years’ experience and headquartered in New York, American Management Association is a global leader of comprehensive talent development. AMA Enterprise, a specialized division of AMA dedicated to building corporate and government solutions, transforms enterprise-wide talent to fuel a culture of innovation, high performance and optimal business results.
Employers Unfazed by Workers’ Intent to Quit
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Survey Finds No Such Thing as Optimal Turnover
NEW YORK, April 22, 2013 – A survey of nearly 1,000 U.S. companies has found little agreement on what companies consider optimal annual turnover among their workforce. In fact, many managers may not even be sure of their turnover since only 42 percent have a formal process to determine it, according to the survey conducted by AMA Enterprise, a division of American Management Association.
Nearly half of respondents believe their ideal turnover would be 10 percent or less, and one-fifth consider it 10 to 20 percent. Almost one-third of respondents do not know what is best for their organization.
“In reality, employees always come and go, and some managers pay close attention to what happens, while others appear not to,” said Sandi Edwards, Senior Vice President of AMA Enterprise, which provides organizations with assessment, measurement and tailored training solutions. “Certainly no company wants or could achieve zero turnover, and every organization needs new people, new ideas, new energy. But runaway turnover can be a nightmare with skyrocketing recruitment and training costs, causing significant impact on the rest of the organization.”
Moreover, employee turnover varies by industry, acknowledges Edwards. “Each organization must find what works best and seek the right equilibrium. What surprises us among the findings is the vagueness on the very subject of turnover. For instance, too many managers don’t seem to have a clear fix on what’s happening, and presumably on the relating costs, fiscal and otherwise.”
“Forty-two percent of organizations appear to have a good understanding of the comings and goings of employees,” said Edwards. “Another third tell us they have ‘informal’ ways of doing so, which at the very least demonstrates a lack of clarity. On top of that, 12% told us they don’t track turnover, and 17% of these managers admit they don’t know if their organization tracks it at all.”
According to Edwards, the survey findings cast light on an all-too-common gap between a company’s declared commitment to employees and the steps actually taken to support that commitment. “Annual turnover is another way of looking at retention. An organization doesn’t want to retain everyone, but a healthy organization should want to retain the great majority of its workers. Addressing turnover needs to be a priority and driven by the most senior levels of management. It requires a partnership between management and HR. In particular, managers need to be sure they have identified the critical talent needed for future success and make every effort to retain and develop those employees.”
The survey was conducted from Dec. 18 to Jan. 6, 2012, and respondents consisted of 977 management professionals drawn from the AMA database of contacts.
About AMA Enterprise
With more than 85 years’ experience and headquartered in New York, American Management Association is a global leader of comprehensive talent development. AMA Enterprise, a specialized division of AMA dedicated to building corporate and government solutions, transforms enterprise-wide talent to fuel a culture of innovation, high performance and optimal business results.
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Key Trends Found in Global Leadership Development
NEW YORK, May 16, 2013 – Companies now think more broadly about global leadership development and have higher expectations for such programs. These trends were identified by a new survey of nearly 1,200 senior business and human resource executives from more than 40 countries by American Management Association.
“Organizations worldwide – public, private and government – are increasingly focused on bringing effective global leadership development to their workforces, and there’s now a shrinking tolerance for lack of results,” said Sandi Edwards, Senior Vice President for AMA Enterprise, a specialized division of American Management Association that offers advisory services and tailored training programs to organizations. “Companies want to ensure that employees master the global skills and competencies required to work optimally with customers, suppliers, colleagues, and distributors from a wide variety of cultures anywhere in the world.”
The 2013 survey presents a number of findings, but three stand out in defining a new outlook for global leadership development:
More organizations define leaders by their influence, not their rank or position. More than half (53 percent) now consider individuals to be leaders not according to job level but by their influence and performance. Nearly four in ten, indicated that their definition of leader is “anyone whose role allows them to influence a group, regardless of direct reporting relationships.” According to another 14 percent , a leader is “anyone, whether they manage others or not, who is a top-performer in their specific role.”
Strategic workforce planning now plays a pivotal role in shaping content for global leadership programs. Long-term strategies and values continue to drive global leadership development, but there is greater emphasis on strategic workforce planning to identify competency gaps and shape the content of development programs.
While mastery of critical competencies related to technology and innovation is more critical than ever, these are nonetheless missing from many global leadership programs. Organizations are keenly aware of their neglect in key aspects of development. The top four competences widely absent from global leadership programs yet considered important – increased comfort with virtual technology, social network technology, creativity and building a culture of innovation – are also among the top six competencies found to have the greatest need for mastery.
Twenty-six competencies were examined in the study, including people/communication skills, business skills and global skills, said Edwards. “Managing change and critical thinking/problem solving are still the top two competencies for global leadership, just as they were in 2012 and 2011. There were others, however, that joined the overall top competencies: creating a culture of engagement, business acumen, embracing diversity and political savvy. Competencies that fell from the top 10 are the ability to build/influence coalitions, leading cross-cultural teams, and creativity.”
Among other findings:
More organizations than previously are addressing global leadership development. In past survey years 31 percent of the respondents indicated their firms had some form of such programming. That proportion grew to 39 percent in this year’s findings.
More than half of organizations (52 percent) standardize their program content for consistency but adjust it at the local level to reflect cultural or geographic nuances.
Organizations have tempered their self-assessments of program effectiveness from prior years. This year the proportion rating their programs as “effective” dropped to 40 percent, down from 51 percent in 2012, 47 percent in 2011 and 42 percent in 2010.
“Without outstanding communication and collaboration skills and a keen understanding of a wide variety of cross functional areas,” Edwards cautioned, “global leaders will find it increasingly difficult to forge the global partnerships needed to execute their corporate strategies.”
About AMA Enterprise
With more than 85 years’ experience and headquartered in New York, American Management Association is a global leader of comprehensive talent development. AMA Enterprise, a specialized division of AMA dedicated to building corporate and government solutions, transforms enterprise-wide talent to fuel a culture of innovation, high performance and optimal business results.
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Many Companies Avoid High Potentials Term
NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2013 – Many companies avoid using the term “high potentials” for individuals selected for career development and advancement opportunities, according to a survey of more than 450 organizations by AMA Enterprise, a division of American Management Association.
“Just one-quarter of companies now employ the term, but as many as 42 percent won’t use high potentials, and certainly not in communications with employees,” said Sandi Edwards, Senior Vice President of AMA Enterprise, which provides organizations with assessment, measurement and tailored learning solutions. “What's more, another 18 percent say they’re sensitive to the overtones, but haven’t found a better term.”
“If only certain individuals are identified as high potentials, where does that leave the rest of the employees?” Edwards asked. “Unfortunately, the term itself suggests most employees may not have much potential, and this isn’t a healthy message for either them or the organization in general.”
Another dimension to the issue is the appearance of exclusivity, Edwards added.
“Of course, people who aren’t selected may feel excluded or passed over” she said. “There’s understandable resentment and the perception that the program itself is not fair.”
The survey asked respondents about employees’ attitude toward selection for their high potential program. Only 14 percent regard their program as fair and even-handed.
According to Edwards, the wide perception of unfairness has no easy or quick solution.
“No matter how open or equitable a career development program may be, there will always be those who think it’s elitist,” she said. “That goes with the territory. Nevertheless, it’s the job of those who administer these initiatives to do all they can to communicate widely and clearly about opportunities, for selection criteria to be clear and applied uniformly, and for there to be ample development alternatives. This balancing act may be one of the most daunting challenges faced by HR and development professionals today.”
The survey was conducted July 15 to Aug. 3, and respondents consisted of 453 senior-level business, human resources, management professionals and employee contacts drawn from the AMA database of contacts.
About AMA Enterprise
With more than 90 years’ experience and headquartered in New York, American Management Association is a global leader of comprehensive talent development. AMA Enterprise, a specialized division of AMA dedicated to building corporate and government learning and training solutions, transforms enterprise-wide talent to fuel innovation, high performance and optimal business results.
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Dodging Duties Hurts Bottom Line, Not Just Morale
NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2013 – Avoiding responsibilities hurts overall organization performance, not just the goodwill of co-workers, according to a survey by AMA Enterprise, a division of American Management Association. The survey probed the organizational impact of a widespread ‘pass-the-buck’ culture.
Executives, managers and employees from more than 500 U.S. companies participated in the survey and were asked:
“Employees understandably become resentful when they see co-workers shirking responsibility without accountability—in such a situation, organizational morale and, ultimately, performance cannot help but suffer,” said Sandi Edwards, Senior Vice President for AMA Enterprise which provides organizations with assessment, measurement and tailored training solutions.
According to Edwards, avoiding one’s responsibilities may be infectious.
“A culture that tolerates ’passing the buck’ alienates those employees who give everything to their job on a daily basis—these employees may rightfully feel they are being taken advantage of as they take on more and more responsibility to compensate for those who are not fully-engaged.”
Edwards also warned that such a situation risks the creation of a vicious cycle in which the fully-engaged disengage, having lost the sense of shared responsibility critical to organizational success.
“A few shirkers can snowball until the dominant culture becomes one of risk- and responsibility-aversion,” she said.
While avoiding responsibility is nothing new, the findings hint that the challenge may be getting worse, observed Edwards.
Although she believes accountability must be a guiding value for any enterprise when dealing with this issue, she also encourages organizations to use a positive approach when re-engaging specific employees. “Of course people need to be held to account, but at the same time they should be encouraged and supported as they face the risks inherent in taking on greater responsibility.”
At the same, added Edwards,
“Management must examine and take responsibility for the messages it sends out. If the culture is all about avoiding risk, the employees cannot be blamed for being likewise,” she said.
In this kind of situation, according to Edwards, before employees can be held accountable and re-engaged, the culture has to change, and that initiative must start at the top. Top management must develop and model a culture that supports and rewards those who take responsibility. The ideal is genuine collaboration, innovation and accountability. And great organizations demonstrate all three.
The survey was conducted in the spring of 2013 and consisted of 562 senior-level business, human resources, management professionals and employee contacts drawn from the AMA database of contacts.
About AMA Enterprise
With more than 90 years’ experience and headquartered in New York, American Management Association is a global leader of comprehensive talent development. AMA Enterprise, a specialized division of AMA dedicated to building corporate and government learning and training solutions, transforms enterprise-wide talent to fuel innovation, high performance and optimal business results.
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Global Training Solutions Inc. Announces NERC CEH Accreditation
Mississauga, Ontario, Dec. 4, 2013 – Global Training Solutions Inc. announced the availability of training programs and services that adhere to the NERC continuing education program criteria for Electric System Operators.
Comprehensive training options for System Operators to gain CE Hours accreditation as mandated by NERC include the highly interactive and engaging online simulator and classroom instruction programs, which focus on the latest adult learning concepts. All programs adhere to the NERC continuing education program criteria.
Simulator Program provides:
56 CEHs,
56 Emergency Operations hours
51 NERC Standard Hours
44 Simulation Hours towards NERC System Operation Certification Requirements
Classroom Instruction provides:
3 day course: 24 CE Hours
4 day course: 32 CE Hours
OPS-X is a highly interactive, hands-on power system simulator, designed to meet NERC Standards EOP-005 and PER-005 simulation and training requirements.
The simulator educates and provides system operators with experience with a wide range of scenarios from power system fundamentals to system emergencies.
The seven-module simulation program comprises the following:
AC Systems
EHV Operations
Congestion Management
Power System Restoration
Transmission System Operations
Balancing Authority Operations
Emergency Operations
The OPX-X Simulator is available on CD-ROM format and runs on a stand-alone PC. The simulation training can be taken as a self-paced, independent study or, it can be used in a team/role playing environment.
Also available is a three or four day classroom workshop which includes comprehensive content and exercises and enhanced with simulator training at a client’s site. Courses are designed for Electric System Operator Training and preparation for the NERC System Operator Certification Exams. Courses can be customized to meet client specific requirements. Each course offers either 24 or 32 CEHs. Small course groups of at least 10 participants, ensures a fast learning pace amongst all attendees.
All training is NERC approved and can be applied to the new NERC Expanded Operator Certification Program and meets the NERC Emergency Operations training requirements, Also the courses provides an excellent foundation in Power System Fundamentals for the new NERC System Operator Certification Exam.
Other programs and resources available for System Operators include: Electric Power System Reliability Text; NERC System Operator Certification Exam DVD Series; Train-The-Trainer Instructor-Led Programs; Compliance Services and Software for NERC Reliability Standards for Gap Analysis; Audit Preparation and Mock Audits.
For more information, please visit www.globaltrainingsolutions.ca.
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Training Industry, Inc. Employees Bake Cookies for the Ronald McDonald House
CARY, NC, Dec. 11, 2013 —Training Industry employees recently baked cookies at the Ronald McDonald House in Durham, NC, as part of giving back to the community this holiday season.
Chief Executive Officer Doug Harward, whose team averages four trips a year to the venue, said that volunteering at the house is a great way to help bring smiles on the faces of seriously ill children and their families.
“Our team thoroughly enjoys cooking for these kids, and it is a great way to serve the community,” he said. “It also brings us closer together as a team.”
Photo by Lea Johnson
Harward’s team has cooked entire meals for the children and their families in the past. This holiday season, Amanda Longo, Training Industry’s creative marketing director, brought her favorite cookie recipes for the team to bake.
“It’s been my family’s tradition to spend an entire day making dozens of batches of different cookies to share with family and friends during the holidays,” she said. “Being able to do that as a company for such a great cause is truly a blessing and we plan to continue by making it a Training Industry tradition.”
The batch of cookies included banana oatmeal chocolate chip, mint chocolate and peanut butter.
The Ronald McDonald House continues providing families with seriously ill children with the comforts of home, including private bedrooms, inviting community spaces, home-cooked meals, a playroom, computer room and laundry facilities. For more information on volunteering or donating, visit www.ronaldhousedurham.org.
About Training Industry, Inc.
TrainingIndustry.com spotlights the latest news, articles, case studies and best practices within the training industry. Our focus is on helping dedicated business and training professionals get the information, insight and tools needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.
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New Web-based Solution Enables Medical Specialists to Manage Certification
Harrisburg, PA, Jan. 6, 2014 — Healthcare organizations and certified medical specialists now have a streamlined process for managing training applications for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credit with a new web-based solution created by d’Vinci Interactive.
MOCAM (Maintenance of Certification Activity Manager) was developed to upgrade a system of paper forms and to simplify the process of approving activities for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credit. The system facilitates an application, review and approval process to qualify activities for credit. d’Vinci architected the solution for the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and then adapted it for the American Boards of Family Medicine (ABFM), Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the Multi-Specialty MOC Portfolio Approval Program.
“The d'Vinci team made MOCAM a success through creative solutions to complex problems and a willingness to be flexible. Now that phase two has been successfully launched, I look forward to integrating other organizations and further expanding the platform,” said Kevin Graves, program manager for the Multi-Specialty MOC Portfolio Approval Program.
MOCAM allows program administrators to easily build customized, scalable processes within the application. On the back-end, MOCAM administrators draft, design and ultimately publish content, business workflows, web forms and invoices that MOC applicants such as the Mayo Clinic and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia use during the application approval process.
MOCAM includes powerful real-time business authoring tools that use cutting-edge browser technology. Among the many features, MOCAM-created forms enable sharing among boards, conditional logic, rich text collection and data table inputs. MOCAM is an important development in using technology to support ongoing quality improvement in healthcare.
About d’Vinci Interactive
d’Vinci is a wholly owned subsidiary of JPL, a Pennsylvania based agency that provides creative marketing, internal communications and learning solutions to regional, national and global brands.
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DuPont Launches New Soft Skills Training Series for Supervisors
Virginia Beach, VA, Jan. 8, 2014 - DuPont Sustainable Solutions has released a new leadership development offering titled, "Supervisor on the Scene", to help supervisors develop six critical soft skills: communication, conflict resolution, coaching, decision making, meeting effectiveness and job training.
Available as a day-and-a-half instructor -led training course and as a six-part DVD and streaming video series, this offering showcases typical workplace scenarios to demonstrate how leaders can apply these skills effectively and with heart. Each video program features two supervisors who encounter various issues at work and take the necessary steps to address them.
“Research attests that soft skills are as vital as talent and technical know-how in driving productivity,” said Lori Stanley, global marketing leader, Learning & Development, DuPont Sustainable Solutions. “Despite the importance of soft skills to the bottom line, not all supervisors are trained adequately on the topic, much to the detriment of morale, teamwork and performance. The series helps reverse this trend, providing hands-on, how-to training.”
Supervisor on the Scene: Communication cites four simple steps to help improve communication, from choosing the appropriate means of communication to actual delivery of the message.
Supervisor on the Scene: Conflict Resolution outlines the key steps to manage conflicts through compromise or collaboration.
Supervisor on the Scene: Coaching for Performance shows supervisors how constructive feedback can help create a positive and productive working environment.
Supervisor on the Scene: Decision Making illustrates four principles that can help supervisors make sound, solid decisions on a daily basis.
Supervisor on the Scene: Meeting Effectiveness shows supervisors how to make meetings timely, relevant, and productive.
Supervisor on the Scene: Training Job Skills explores four basic standards that help ensure effective knowledge transfer, from preparation to follow through.
“Supervisor on the Scene provides supervisors with skills that can guide them in steering your company through a competitive business landscape,” said Nancy Kondas, global product development leader, Learning & Development, DuPont Sustainable Solutions. “We designed the series to help businesses maximize resources, improve employee efficiency, and drive the bottom line.”
About DuPont
DuPont Sustainable Solutions is a learning provider that empowers organizations to transform business results through the development of a safe, efficient, and capable workforce. Our experts will collaborate with you to understand your unique development needs and define key learning objectives. Then we’ll put our world-class production capabilities to work to create a tailored training solution designed to develop employee skills and align with your business goals. Let DuPont help you accelerate employee skills development and transform business performance through our real-world experience.
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TrainingIndustry.com Announces Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies
Cary, NC – Jan. 10, 2014 – As part of its mission to continually monitor the training marketplace for the best providers of training services and technologies, TrainingIndustry.com has announced the third annual Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies List.
View the 2014 Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies
Selection to this year's Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies was based on the following criteria:
Leadership and innovation
Features and capabilities of the Authoring Tools
Company size and growth potential
Company focus on the authoring platforms
Strength and number of clients/users
Geographic reach
“The Authoring Tools segment of the learning technologies market has seen continued growth over the past year while continuing to provide the industry with innovations to the essential tool kit for developing excellent programs,” said Doug Harward, Chief Executive Officer, Training Industry, Inc.
“Submissions for the third annual Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies were the most robust we have seen for this segment of the market,” said Ken Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Training Industry, Inc.. “We are seeing the emergence of a number of top tier players with substantial global footprint and extensive capability set”
View the 2014 Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies
The 2014 Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies List is intended to help buyers of training services evaluate Authoring Tool providers. Please provide any thoughts or feedback on this list to us by emailing info@trainingindustry.com.
About Training Industry, Inc.
TrainingIndustry.com spotlights the latest news, articles, case studies and best practices within the training industry. Our focus is on helping dedicated business and training professionals get the information, insight and tools needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.
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Arrow Electronics Reveals Global Training Alliance for IBM
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 13, 2014 — Following Arrow Electronics Inc.’s selection as one of the four IBM Global Training providers for IBM’s Software Group and Systems and Technology Group, the company today launched the “Arrow Global Training Alliance.”
Fast Lane, a leading provider of advanced IT Training courses, is the first to join this worldwide cooperation program to further enhance Arrow’s existing enterprise computing solutions education coverage and infrastructure with select partners. Effective immediately, Fast Lane will offer authorized IBM Training through its global learning network to complement Arrow’s capabilities and offerings.
With this launch, Arrow is establishing a unique global learning ecosystem that will make IBM Training available around the world, delivered in a consistent manner, and based on local requirements. Effective today, Arrow and members of the Arrow Global Training Alliance provide IBM Training in 60 countries and are on track to cover 130 countries in the next six months.
The scope of available training includes:
IBM Systems training (i.e., IBM Power Systems, IBM PureSystems, IBM System Storage and Storage Networking);
IBM System x and BladeCenter;
IBM System z;
Cloud Computing; and
IBM Software Trainings (i.e., Business Analytics, Information Management, Collaboration, Product Lifecycle Management, Rational, Tivoli and WebSphere).
“Education is a key element of our value-added services, enabling the market and the channel to support technology suppliers with product and solution readiness,” said Laurent Sadoun, president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and global services for Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions segment. “We look forward to our strategic cooperation across North America and Europe with Fast Lane, a well-established training provider serving ideal conditions to rollout our IBM Global Training program. Arrow will soon complement the portfolio with a solution approach addressing critical business areas such as Big Data, mobility, security and cloud computing leveraging its IBM strategic relationship in product businesses, combined with Arrow’s unique network of complementary vendors in security, virtualization and mobility.”
As a value-added distributor with a focus on channel services, Arrow’s global ECS business combines the two worlds of high-end technology distribution and education. Arrow develops new training delivery methods on a constant basis, including innovative online training such as video and mobile learning, and leverages its channel and Partner+ program allowing its solution provider community to provide their customers with a compelling and complementary education offerings.
About Arrow Electronics
Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 100,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 470 locations in 55 countries.
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DuPont Sustainable Solutions Addresses Off-the-Job Safety in New Training Program
Virginia Beach, VA, Jan. 14, 2014 — DuPont Sustainable Solutions has released a new training program emphasizing the importance for employees to protect themselves and their loved ones at home.
Take Safety Home shows that employees are three times more likely to get hurt off the job than on it and 11 times more likely to die from a non-work related injury than a job-related one.
The program adapts standard workplace safety practices to a home setting, covering the use of personal protective equipment; chemical handling and storage; the safe operation of power tools; fire prevention and management; back safety; and slips, trips and falls.
Take Safety Home stresses that safety doesn’t end with the work day. Encouraging employees to be equally vigilant at home, the program identifies household activities that require safety precautions, such as mowing the lawn, doing repair work, mixing chemicals, gardening and housekeeping.
The program covers the importance of eye, hearing, and hand protection, along with the identification of common household chemicals that can be corrosive or flammable. Take Safety Home offers various safety do’s and don’ts for working with power tools, preventing fires and lifting objects. This course is available as a DVD, streaming video and coming soon as an interactive, customizable online training course.
About DuPont
DuPont Sustainable Solutions is a learning provider that empowers organizations to transform business results through the development of a safe, efficient, and capable workforce. Our experts will collaborate with you to understand your unique development needs and define key learning objectives. Then we’ll put our world-class production capabilities to work to create a tailored training solution designed to develop employee skills and align with your business goals. Let DuPont help you accelerate employee skills development and transform business performance through our real-world experience.
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Skillsoft Blends Expert Content with Social Learning Software in New Integrated Solution
Denver, CO., Jan. 14, 2014 — Skillsoft, a pioneer in the field of technology-delivered learning, and Triple Creek, a leading provider of enterprise social learning and knowledge sharing software, are collaborating on an integrated solution that will provide mutual customers access to Skillsoft's library of expert content directly from Triple Creek's social learning platform. Recommended Skillsoft resources will be highlighted to River social learning participants based on such factors as the competencies they identify and the social learning engagements they are involved in.
"Incorporating key resources such as Skillsoft's library is the next evolution of social learning, allowing us to bring people together for a common learning purpose, help them establish goals and provide them with relevant content to discuss as they collaborate and share insights," said Randy Emelo, president and CEO of Triple Creek. The matching algorithm in River serves up the learning resources from Skillport that are relevant to people's learning needs within River, creating a seamless learning experience.
One of the toughest challenges for learning and development leaders is meeting the needs of today's learners. From multiple generations within the employee base to a dispersed workforce, companies must be adept at providing solutions that appeal to people in a variety of ways. In a 2013 benchmarking study by Towards Maturity called "New Learning Agenda," researchers found that:
- 88 percent of learners want to be able to learn at their own pace
- 77 percent of learners want to engage with online learning
- Four out of five people are willing to share what they know with others online
- Seven out of 10 people are motivated by using tools that will help them network and learn from others
- 86 percent said they learn what they need to know for work by collaborating with others
"The most effective learning programs blend together hands-on experience, support from knowledgeable colleagues, and a range of learning resources," said John Ambrose, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development and Emerging Business at Skillsoft. "Having the expert content from Skillport available within the framework of River's learning engagements, for those Skillsoft customers leveraging the River platform, is an exciting step forward for corporate learning and development programs."
About Skillsoft
Skillsoft is a pioneer in the field of learning with a long history of innovation. The company provides cloud-based learning solutions for its customers worldwide, ranging from global enterprises, government, and education to mid-sized and small businesses. Skillsoft's courses, books and videos have been developed by industry-leading learning experts to ensure that they maximize business skills, performance, and talent development.
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Docebo Helps Mix Traditional Classroom Training with Online Learning Programs
Athens, GA, Jan. 16, 2014 — Docebo and SAME DEUTZ-FAHR present a success story about how they applied the latest in Learning Management Systems to reinforce quality and create customized training effectively for a large and dispersed community.
The strategy of SAME DEUTZ-FAHR, which has long been oriented towards internationalization, is strongly focused on continuously training and preparing their dealers for new challenges, enabling them to optimize customer service and improve sales negotiations, by bringing their product expertise more effectively to the market.
Thanks to the adoption of the Docebo Premium e-Learning Platform, the SDF Academy was able to kick off an innovative process for the Global Corporate Training Strategy and its related methodologies, through mixing Instructor-led and Online Training approaches.
“With the high volume of reporting data that we have, it is critical for us to be able to focus our work on a single market development according to the history of any dealer, and hence segment the relevant KPIs,” said SDF Training Manager Robert Corci.
The SDF Academy significantly improved its management process of classroom and online training, by utilizing the endless potential of the Docebo e-Learning platform. In general, the data regarding usage and completion of educational programs was extremely useful for fine-tuning and improving on the whole training process.
About Docebo
Docebo is a disruptive cloud e-Learning solutions provider that is revolutionizing the Online training market with its cloud "As a Service" Learning Management System, doubling its active worldwide customers quarterly and building an international partner network in more than 26 countries. The main products (Docebo SaaS and Docebo Premium) are designed for both SMBs (Small and Medium businesses) and Enterprises. Customers benefit from Docebo solutions thanks to a scalable pricing model, a third party integration (via API), and a reliable service available 24/7 that empowers the user experience.
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Growth Engineering’s Learning Management System Tops in the U.K.
Berkshire, England, Jan. 17, 2014 — Growth Engineering’s Academy Platform LMS placed second in Craig Weiss’s 2014 worldwide list of top Learning Management Systems, after an extensive reviewing process that saw 580 different platforms undergo scrutiny.
GE’s platform is number one in the United Kingdom. The report highlights the “modern, crisp user interface” of the platform, the fact that it’s “fun to use”, and that it ties “gamification into succession planning”.
Growth Engineering’s LMS is also the only platform in the list with full gamification features – such as badges, awards and leaderboards – making it the world’s best gamified learning platform.
U.S.-based Craig Weiss, who releases his ‘Top LMS’ lists every year, is a recognized eLearning expert and thought leader on all things online learning. He has been named the second most influential person in the world for eLearning, and his blog is read in 133 countries.
Juliette Denny, Growth Engineering’s Managing Director, said it was fantastic to be voted the best LMS in the U.K.
“Our goal is to shake up the e-Learning landscape and revolutionize learning, making it fun again,” she said.
This ranking follows on from a very successful 2013 for Growth Engineering, where the company was awarded Silver in the ‘e-Learning Development Company of the Year’ category at the prestigious E-Learning Awards. The company also received two international Brandon Hall Gold awards for ‘Best Use of Learning and Talent Technologies’ and ‘Best Program for Sales Training and Performance’.
About Growth Engineering
Growth Engineering is the arch-enemy of dull online learning. We work towards challenging every preconceived notion of eLearning to establish a new and refreshing experience for learners. We aid and inspire learning by creating innovative learning designs and using modern technologies. Our gamified Academy Platform and game-based learning create all-new levels of engagement.
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Resolution Systems is Now xPotential Selling
GREENSBORO, N.C., Jan. 16, 2014 - xPotential Selling™ is the new name for Resolution Systems, a leader in sales training, assessments, coaching, and consulting since 2002.
For the past decade, the company has fueled growth for Fortune 1000 and smaller clients by using unique, proprietary methods to improve how sales professionals are hired and trained.
The new name refers to how the firm helps businesses reach their full potential with exponential sales growth.
xPotential Selling helps companies achieve their unique sales goals through a holistic approach that ensures a stronger connection between the sales force and the value they offer their customers through the organization's products, services, personnel, and vision. xPotential Selling services include:
assessing candidates and existing employees for the skills that are needed to effectively sell goods or services
training sales teams to use a consultative selling approach by discerning the mutual value in each sales opportunity
coaching to ensure behavioral change and sustained growth
imparting a deeper sense of being a stakeholder in the company
xPotential Selling determines what challenges a business is facing, so that a strategy to optimize sales can be implemented. Its assessments are scientifically validated instruments that identify motivators, behaviors, strengths, and skills.
That information helps companies make hiring decisions, build winning teams and improve performance. One-on-one coaching and e-Learning reinforce the training to achieve quantifiable sales increases.
xPotential Selling services have been used successfully by hundreds of clients including Cornell University's e-Cornell online campus, Coldwell Banker, Time Warner Cable Business Class, and The Babcock & Wilcox Company. The company has worked in multiple industries including insurance, construction, finance, manufacturing, and telecommunications. xPotential Selling has trained more than 4,000 telecommunications sales representatives and sales leaders since 2010.
The launch of xPotential Selling comes at a time when its services are increasingly needed.
"The current and projected business climate reveals pent-up demand in a number of business categories, creating a need for premium sales talent rather than transactional order-takers," President Heather Kivett said. "xPotential Selling focuses on how to help businesses 'hire right' and 'sell smart.' We match sales professionals to the ideal role and then train and coach them to exceed sales goals, propelling their company's success. With our approach, an organization's potential is unlimited."
About xPotential Selling, Inc. The company formed in 2002 as Resolution Systems Inc. Since then, the firm has guided businesses through the challenges of identifying and hiring the right sales team, training leaders and associates, and developing a high-performance sales culture. Today, through a proven suite of tools and processes that include personalized assessments, comprehensive training and coaching programs, and strategic leadership advising, xPotential Selling fuels measurable, sustainable sales growth. For more information, visit www.xpotentialselling.com.
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GP Strategies to Acquire the Effective-People and Effective-Learning Companies
COLUMBIA, Md., Jan. 17, 2014 - Global performance improvement solutions provider GP Strategies Corporation and Effective Companies A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark have entered into a letter of intent under which GP Strategies will acquire from Effective Companies the Effective-People and Effective-Learning companies, providers of human capital management (HCM) solutions, including sales and support of the full SuccessFactors Business Execution (BizX) Platform, e-Learning and blended learning solutions, as well as recruitment and employee development services.
Effective-People and Effective-Learning highlights:
Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark
2013 revenue estimated over $5.5 million
Clients include Fortune and Global 500 companies
Have performed over 160 cross-platform HCM implementations in over 70 countries
Earned Brandon Hall and Bersin awards for leadership in learning excellence
Established Danish market leader on digital learning experiences
Is a SAP Gold value-added reseller
Has been a SuccessFactors cloud partner since 2005
Has been a SumTotal partner since 2002
This acquisition strengthens GP Strategies' ability to deliver comprehensive HCM services across its diverse global customer base. The proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including execution and delivery of an acquisition agreement, completion of confirmatory due diligence and receipt of any required regulatory and third party approvals. The parties anticipate that the transaction will close within the next 60 days.
Kevin Terkelsen, Effective-Companies' Founder and Chief Financial Officer, stated, "The proposed transaction will strengthen our ability to deliver a full HCM service suite to global customers. Specifically, from an Effective-Companies perspective, we are excited about the opportunity to offer the vast GP Strategies portfolio to our existing clients and better serve the growing HCM market needs."
Scott Greenberg, GP Strategies' Chief Executive Officer, stated, "GP Strategies' strength is in the HCM talent solutions areas of learning and performance. The addition of the Effective-Companies and their experienced staff will provide our customers with additional strategic and technical solutions around core human resource (HR) products and services, including the HCM areas of recruiting, onboarding, compensation, succession planning and HR analytics."
Additional information may be found at www.effective-learning.com and www.effective-people.com.
About GP Strategies GP Strategies Corporation (NYSE: GPX) is a global performance improvement solutions provider of training, eLearning solutions, management consulting and engineering services. GP Strategies' solutions improve the effectiveness of organizations by delivering innovative and superior training, consulting and business improvement services customized to meet the specific needs of its clients. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, manufacturing, process and energy industries, and other commercial and government customers. Additional information may be found at www.gpstrategies.com.
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Accenture Extends Global Contract with Hemsley Fraser
Accenture, the consulting firm, has extended a seven-year contract with learning provider Hemsley Fraser, to deliver leadership and management training for a global consumer goods client.
Hemsley Fraser was initially appointed in 2007 to provide more consistent management development for the client, which makes and sells products under 400 brand names worldwide. Since then, the company has run more than 2,540 courses, in 24 languages, for 45,000 managers in 76 countries. The contract to provide this training has now been extended for a further four years.
"Following a complex selection process, we initially chose Hemsley Fraser as a key partner to develop the management and general capability for our client globally," said Zsofia Kolontai, Category Manager for BPO Procurement Services at Accenture. "Their proven track record with global blue-chip companies, robust infrastructure and delivery capability in many countries and languages were vital to managing this solution. They were able to offer the consistency and breadth and depth of training portfolio needed."
The development areas have covered management skills, coaching, communication, business planning and strategy formation. Hemsley Fraser’s subject matter experts liaised with a range of client stakeholders to create bespoke training programmes tailored to the specific business objectives and cultural and operational differences in each country. 23 blended learning programmes on management skills, including virtual instructor-led courses, have also been designed and delivered. The global average satisfaction rating for all programmes, from participants and stakeholders, is 94 percent.
"Now that the client has achieved a platform of consistent management skills and a common way of working, Hemsley Fraser's objective will be to create integrated learning paths, to ensure that individual managers and the business can achieve maximum returns," said Zsofia Kolontai.
Accenture was appointed in 2006 to centralise the client’s HR sourcing and to create consistent methodologies and core processes in its worldwide HR development practices. Prior to this, around 650 different suppliers were providing management training to the client.
For further information, please call Hemsley Fraser on +44 (0) 845 071 2801. www.hemsleyfraser.co.uk
Background Notes Founded in 1991, Hemsley Fraser is independently ranked as one of the world’s top providers of leadership and management training. It delivers learning in 50 countries. Since 2008, it has been part of the Demos Group, a global provider of learning and development. For further information about Hemsley Fraser, please call Amanda Dawson (PR contact) on 020-8953 8863 or e-mail her at amanda@daws.com
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 275,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. The firm collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. www.accenture.com
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New Belgium Brewing Preserves Unique Employer Brand Using Cornerstone OnDemand’s Software
New Belgium Brewing Preserves Unique Employer BrandUsing Cornerstone OnDemand’s Software
National expansion sparks greater emphasis on employee engagement and development for third largest craft brewer in the United States
SANTA MONICA, Calif., January 21, 2014 – Cornerstone OnDemand (NASDAQ: CSOD) announced today that New Belgium Brewing, the third largest brewer of craft beer in the nation and eighth largest brewery in the United States, is using Cornerstone’s unified, cloud-based talent management software, including solutions for recruiting, learning management, performance management and succession planning, to connect and engage its 500 employees and sustain the company’s unique culture during a time of national expansion.
Based in Fort Collins, Colo., New Belgium has a reputation for being an innovator in the brewing world and is best known for its flagship beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale. It also has earned recognition as being a great place to work, 1 thanks in large part to its attitude that “culture isn’t about what you say; it’s what you do.” For New Belgium, this means maintaining a work environment centered on trust, the love and craft of beer making, taking care of each other and the environment, and having fun. In preparation for the addition of a second brewery location in Asheville, N.C., the New Belgium team wanted to evolve its talent management initiatives in ways that would allow them to best scale the company’s business and culture and continue to keep employees engaged.
Using Cornerstone’s system as the framework, the talent team is better able to efficiently reinforce New Belgium’s culture companywide and more effectively attract, coach and develop its people. This includes identifying and hiring the right people, facilitating online learning for its growing employee base, and helping employees across the organization connect and collaborate with one another, all from one central, online resource.
Scaling a High-Involvement Culture
New Belgium’s unique culture requires the talent acquisition team to take greater efforts to source and select the right candidates. Given that the company attracts 200 to 300 applicants for any given job opening, the sourcing process must also be efficient in order to be sustainable. With the Cornerstone Recruiting Cloud, hiring managers and recruiters work together — and from the same set of data — to identify, assess and select employees. The talent acquisition team then brings new hires up to speed faster as part of the onboarding process by assigning training before their first day on the job using the Cornerstone Learning Cloud.
The company is also using the Cornerstone Performance Cloud to better understand its people story and make data-driven decisions to support business goals. Having learning and performance data in one place allows New Belgium to discover how employees are contributing and creating value for the company, identify competency and talent gaps, map growth opportunities, and provide ongoing feedback to team members — ultimately resulting in a clearer talent picture and higher engagement among employees.
Comments on the News
“Growth is challenging. That’s why a lot of companies fail. Growth is even harder in a company that has a soul and a culture,” said Christine Perich, chief financial officer and chief operating officer for New Belgium Brewing. “During our expansion, we need to be able to keep employees connected and engaged, deliver training across the country, and make more data-driven decisions. Cornerstone’s technology allows us to do this successfully.”
“When employees love their employer, it translates to a better product and a better customer experience, and New Belgium is a star in all three of these categories,” said Kirsten Maas Helvey, senior vice president, client success for Cornerstone OnDemand. “New Belgium’s holistic approach to understanding and investing in its people will help them to foster a highly engaged workforce, build loyalty among consumers and further establish New Belgium’s position as a great place to work.”
Additional Resources
To learn more about how New Belgium Brewing is using Cornerstone OnDemand’s software to attract, develop and engage employees, visit www.csod.com/clients/NewBelgium.
About Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone OnDemand is a leader in cloud-based applications for talent management. The company’s solutions help organizations recruit, train, manage and connect their employees, empowering their people and increasing workforce productivity. Based in Santa Monica, California, the company’s solutions are used by over 1,500 clients worldwide, spanning nearly 13 million users across 190 countries and 41 languages. For more information about Cornerstone, visit csod.com. Read Cornerstone’s blog at csod.com/blog. Follow Cornerstone on Twitter at twitter.com/CornerstoneInc. Like Cornerstone on Facebook at facebook.com/CSODcommunity.
About New Belgium Brewing
New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, and one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews eight year-round beers; Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsener, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel. Learn more at www.newbelgium.com.
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Cornerstone® and Cornerstone OnDemand® are registered trademarks of Cornerstone OnDemand Inc.
Outside Magazine, “The Best Places to Work 2013,” August 2013
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Brainshark Launches Sales Marketing and Learning Clouds
WALTHAM, Mass. — January 21, 2014 — Brainshark, Inc., the leader in cloud-based business presentations, today announced the availability of new solution packages – including the Brainshark Sales Cloud, Brainshark Marketing Cloud and Brainshark Learning Cloud – to help businesses improve the effectiveness of their external and internal communications. Brainshark is also unveiling today its new Analytics Dashboard, an integral component of these packages. The dashboard provides a visual, single-screen representation of real-time presentation viewing data – with drill-down capabilities for detailed insights on audience activity and engagement – so individual users and managers can see how their content is performing and take action.
Brainshark’s cloud-based technology makes it easy for anyone – from a sales rep to a CEO – to turn static documents such as PowerPoints into interactive and trackable online videos and mobile-ready presentations. Millions of users rely on Brainshark to improve the reach and results of their communications – with customers cutting employee onboarding time in half, increasing audience engagement by at least five times, and slashing live training costs by up to 95 percent. A Brainshark presentation is viewed every 1.1 seconds in locations all over the world.
New Cloud Packages
Brainshark’s new packages make it simple for customers to purchase and use Brainshark’s video presentation technology according to their functional needs – helping to maximize the reach and results of business communications. The offerings include:
Brainshark Learning Cloud – Organizations can quickly create, deploy and manage mobile-ready presentations, courses and curriculums for eLearning and mLearning needs. Employees, partners and other audiences click to access the content for formal training and certification, as well as informal “just-in-time” learning. Through detailed reporting, management can track enrollment, viewing behavior, course completion, exam scores and more.
Brainshark Marketing Cloud – Used for capturing the attention of Web visitors, prospects, customers and partners, the Brainshark Marketing Cloud improves demand generation and external communication activities. Marketers can drive measurable results from inbound marketing, email campaigns, social media and event promotion. Using Brainshark’s analytics, they can measure the effectiveness of each piece of content, while integration with marketing automation systems makes it easy to identify, score and nurture the best leads.
Brainshark Sales Cloud – Incorporating the capabilities of the Learning Cloud, Marketing Cloud and more, the Brainshark Sales Cloud is a comprehensive sales enablement solution for sales training and onboarding, prospecting and social selling, and both on-demand and live presentation needs. Geared toward improving sales and marketing productivity, the Brainshark Sales Cloud helps sales teams ramp up faster, maximize selling time and forecast more accurately. Analytics help reps identify hot prospects and ways to increase prospecting results, while giving managers insight into rep activity and best practices.
Additional packages include the Brainshark HR Cloud for increasing the reach of corporate communications in areas such as open enrollment, benefit plans and executive updates, and the Brainshark Learning Cloud – Authoring for LMS, which lets users author eLearning courseware to be distributed through a third-party learning management system (LMS).
Please see www.brainshark.com/solutions for more information on the Brainshark Clouds and these additional packages.
Analytics Dashboard
Brainshark is also launching its Analytics Dashboard, giving users deep insight into content effectiveness, viewing data and patterns, and social activity. The dashboard combines different data on presentation views and usage into intuitive, visual representations – all on a single screen. Key viewing metrics are reflected in easy-to-access graphs and charts – with users able to drill down to see granular details, such as individual slide views for a given presentation. An important component of the Sales, Marketing, Learning and HR Cloud packages, the Analytics Dashboard will also be included in all current Brainshark subscriptions.
With the Analytics Dashboard, users can instantly assess the effectiveness of their sales, marketing, training and other content. The dashboard brings to life all the important data Brainshark collects, making content even more useful and actionable.
It’s easy for sales reps to see, for example, how their content is performing and when interest is hot, while managers can tell which reps are the most active and getting the best results. Marketing professionals can monitor video content performance by number of views and/or audience retention – quickly identifying successful presentations and under-performers, and taking appropriate action. In addition, organizations can see how and whether eLearning presentations are being consumed, reinforcing proper training. Users can also observe trends over time, so they can alter presentation content or target audiences to ensure maximum impact.
Additional dashboard features include:
Role-based viewing – Content authors, managers and administrators can each access key metrics – helping improve the impact of presentations for themselves, their team or the entire organization:
Authors – Have the ability to view usage data and charts related to their own presentations to help identify successful content and hot prospects, and assess overall presentation effectiveness.
Managers – Can view both team and individual activity, letting them identify and promote best practices.
Administrators – Can view activity across the organization to gauge overall content effectiveness.
Activity feed – Updated in real-time, this stream provides information on content that has been recently watched, created, shared and more, offering a play-by-play of activity and helping users stay abreast of trends.
Insights on audience engagement – Users can identify the average percent of slides viewed by their audience to determine and improve presentation impact, and click the report graphics to see more details, including which presentations are generating the most engagement.
Geolocation – Colored maps show globally where content is being viewed, helping users determine reach and most receptive audiences.
Viewing charts – At a glance, users can see which presentations are the most popular, as well as the most recently viewed, and then drill down to see the specifics on who viewed the content, when and for how long.
In-depth report access – With a single click, users enter an environment where they can create detailed reports and choose the fields for inclusion, apply advanced filters and even schedule reports for regular delivery.
“As organizations today reach more global and on-the-go audiences, face greater competition and navigate a more complex sales landscape, it’s critical they improve the speed, ease and overall impact of their communications,” said Brainshark President Greg Flynn. “Our new cloud packages make it even easier to apply Brainshark’s award-winning technology to solve sales, marketing and training challenges. Together with our innovative Analytics Dashboard, Brainshark offers a comprehensive platform for improving business productivity and communications effectiveness.”
About Brainshark, Inc.
Brainshark enables companies to improve productivity with cloud-based business presentation solutions for sales, marketing and training. With Brainshark’s easy-to-use solutions, customers transform static documents such as PowerPoints into dynamic, mobile-ready content that can be accessed quickly and viewed as on-demand video presentations or presented live – anytime, anywhere. They can also measure the effectiveness of their communications in ways never thought possible and use these insights to take action. Thousands of companies – including half of the Fortune 100 – and millions of individuals rely on Brainshark to increase the impact and reduce the cost of their business communications. Learn more at www.brainshark.com.
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