Free e-book: E-Learning Survival Guide

Whether you’re currently enrolled in an online course, or have employees signed up for e-learning opportunities, there’s a new free guide available online to check out.

Susan Smith Nash (aka. the E-Learning Queen) is offering a free pdf download of her E-Learner Survival Guide, “everything you need to know to succeed in the wild and wooly world of mobile learning, elearning, and hybrid college, K-12, and career courses.” (Thanks to those at Workplace Learning Today for sharing the good news.)

The book contains hundreds of essays on a broad list of topics from student engagement and institutional leadership, to mobile learning and corporate training.

Nash writes that the book is especially focused on creating successful outcomes for students and educational programs. Her essays also explain how to handle “often-overlooked” niches of learners, including generational differences and training.

Take a quick trip over to the E-Learning Queen to download your free copy of the E-Learner Survival Guide.

Investing in leadership development during a downturn

Despite deep budge cuts, many companies have found a way to refocus during the downturn and are reexamining their employee training programs.

Right now many employers are focusing their efforts on leadership development to grow strong managers, in order to not be caught empty handed when the economy turns around, according to a Wall Street Journal article from earlier this week.

Identifying and grooming leaders is important in good times, says Bret Furio, senior vice president of consumer lifestyle for Philips Electronics North America. "In times of crisis when the economy is struggling," he adds, "it's imperative."

Companies spent 11% less on training per employee last year and more than twice as many corporate and government training professionals expect training budget decreases rather than increases in 2009, according to recent research.

Philips Electronics NV is part of that group of businesses cutting back on training this year. Instead of eliminating anything, the company found ways to save on their annual leadership development program, called Inspire, and still deliver the same quality training.

In a nod to the tough times, Philips trimmed the budget for Inspire, eliminating one tutor and tapping more employees, rather than outsiders, as trainers. It's holding the program near Seattle and Boston, where Philips has many employees, saving the company transportation costs.

Another big name, Estee Lauder Cos., is also continuing its leadership development programs even after reporting lower sales and profits last quarter and the announcement that the company will be cutting 2,000 jobs over the next two years.

During better times, the company would send 120 executives to a two- or three-week summer college program. This year, it will be sending 60 and only for one week. All of its leadership programs are emphasizing “innovation and managing change in volatile business conditions.”


Saving on employee training

A well-trained employee is one of your most valuable assets, especially when your business is facing tough times.

With training, employees can will save their employers more money by making less mistakes, being more productive and being able to take on more work. Along with saving money, training improves engagement, loyalty and an employee’s confidence in their work.

Training doesn’t have to be expensive in order for it to be effective. Consider these cost-saving training options:

• Video training. Instead of sending a group of employees to outside courses that incur expensive travel costs and lost hours, find a comparable video training program to bring in house. For the cost of one ticket to an expensive seminar, you can train an entire room full of people.
• Online training. Similar to video programs, online employee training or e-learning allows you to train many for the cost of a few and eliminates travel costs. It also gives employees the ability to work at their own pace and complete courses as they go.
• Smart shopping. Tools like TrainingTime.com can help you find and compare employee training programs that will fit in your budget. Shop smart and know you’re getting the best deal for your business.

Friday office humor: Leadership thought of the day

I was going to put up a long and detailed post on the importance of leadership during uncertain times today, but then I remembered that it’s Friday. The weekend is a few hours away and nobody wants to think any harder than they have to today.

So, we’ll hold of on the leadership during uncertain times post and instead give you something to smile about. Without any further delay, here’s a great new Dilbert comic strip on the wrong way to deliver a “leadership thought of the day” to your department:



Have a Happy Friday!

Achieve your 2009 goals: Start with the right list

January is an optimistic month, full of goals and New Year’s resolutions set in hopes of making the next 12 months better than the last. Unfortunately, that optimism may quickly turn to frustration when it’s time to start attacking those goals.

Making a New Year’s resolution is simple. It’s following through with your resolutions that is usually the difficult part. By the time March rolls around, much of what we planned for in January has fallen by the wayside and we’re left with disappointment.

Whether it involves improving your safety training program or creating more learning and development opportunities in your organization, sticking to your New Year’s goals doesn't have to seem impossible.

Increase the probability that you’ll actually follow through with the resolutions you set in January by focusing on how you determine your goal list.

In a recent article from our Workplace Training & Development Learning Library, the author suggests using a new approach to goal setting that may work out better for you this year.

Follow these five steps to goal-reaching success:

1. Outline your priorities. What is most important in your life right now? List your top five priorities. You’re not thinking about goals yet, just the things that matter most to you.


2. Identify one goal. Determine one major goal for each priority you outlined in the first step. Make sure your goal is achievable, measurable, directly related to your priority and within your control.


3. List the steps. Look at each goal and list the steps you need to take in order to achieve it.


4. Set deadlines. Once you’ve identified the steps, create deadlines for each step. Be realistic with your timelines and consider other responsibilities as you assign each date.


5. Keep goals close by. Put all of your goals, steps and due dates into your daily planner and carry it with you every day. Check it frequently to make sure you’re staying on task.

Top rewards of hiring veterans

The training and long hours spent preparing for the battlefield has proven to pay off for veterans when leaving the military and entering the civilian workforce. In hiring veterans, employers report added rewards after onboarding these employees including responsibility, teamwork and the ability to work under pressure.

Almost four in 10 (38%) of human resource professionals nationwide have hired a war veteran in the past three years, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

The study also found that hiring veterans is even more popular in government entities, with 67% hiring a veteran. Half of publicly owned, for-profit companies report hiring a returning combat veteran.

Among employers who reported hiring veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars:

• 95% said the benefit of hiring vets is they have a “strong sense of responsibility.”
• 94% said they have the ability to “work as part of a team.”
• 93% said they “see a task through to completion.”
• 92% said veterans have the ability to “work under pressure.”

The situations soldiers are put in during training and deployment required them to “grow up fast,” according to Bryan Zawikowski, vice president of the military transition division at the Lucas Group, in a recent Human Resource Executive Online article.

As they complete their enlistment time, "a young officer at the age of 30 can have responsibilities greater than most [workers] in the private sector," said Zawikowski.

While veterans entering the workforce may need help transitioning and will have to adapt their skills to new tasks, their active-duty experiences have equipped them to meet those challenges, he added.

"By the time they come out of the military, they are used to learning new things, used to training and used to being held accountable for their performance and the performance of their team," said Zawikowski.

For employers looking to hire veterans and advice for transitioning soldiers, check out the following online resources:

• RecruitMilitary.com
• HireVetsFirst.gov
• VetJobs.com
• MilitaryHire.com
• Military.com
• TAOnline.com

Employee engagement down, how training can help

With businesses across the country suffering under the flailing economy, now is not the time for employee engagement to start deteriorating. Unfortunately, experts say that’s exactly what’s happening.

Employee engagement levels are dropping across the board, revealing that 21% of U.S. workers actively disengaged, according to a recent national study by Modern Survey.

Notably fewer workers feel a strong sense of pride in their companies. Now only about half say they are willing to put in extra effort to help their company succeed and only about half say they intend to stay with their company for a long time.

“You can’t open a newspaper or surf the internet without being bombarded by headlines and stories about the country’s ever-deepening economic troubles. Month after month, we’ve all been learning about the subprime mortgage mess, plummeting property values, foreclosures, layoffs, and the collapse of some of our largest financial institutions. People are spending a lot more time worrying about how to make ends meet than they did just a year or two ago,” said Bruce Campbell, a Senior Consultant at Modern Survey.

Among a long list of unexpected costs, poor employee engagement can lead to unplanned absenteeism, a lack of teamwork, low productivity and damaged morale. Though we can’t do much about the nation’s economy, we can do something to improve employee engagement within our own organizations.


How training can help

Engage employees by providing opportunities where they can improve personal leadership skills. Leadership training gives employees who may be feeling stuck in their current position an outlet to explore the next step and the ambition needed to move up in the company.

Outside training courses and seminars can be expensive and require companies to dole out hundreds of dollars in travel expenses. The best way to keep costs low is to provide in-house employee training and put existing resources to good use.

An employee mentoring program is one low-cost and effective leadership training idea that can help boost employee engagement. Partner employees with managers and executives and have them shadow each other or work on a project together. Both partners will appreciate the change of pace and the employee will pick up valuable, hands-on leadership training that can’t be found at any off-site workshop.

Times are tough right now for everyone. Providing employees with leadership training opportunities will improve engagement and help your business come out on top when the storm clouds pass.


For more employee engagement ideas, check out these related posts:

Incentives and rewards: Now is the time to act

5 tips to build employee morale in a down economy

Corporate volunteering builds teamwork, improves employee retention

Employee incentive ideas on a budget

5 tips of employee training on a tight budget