March 2008

Managing Change
Can you really teach change?

The news is replete with stories of companies struggling to adapt to rapidly changing markets, consumer tastes and competition. One would think that constantly dealing with a highly dynamic business reality, fueled by technological advancements, most organizations would have learned to adapt and evolve as their markets do. Yet, company after company continues to struggle with this critical issue linked to their survival. Read more…

Culture
Translate!

Transference of learning from the classroom to the workplace is a major concern for learning and development professionals. According to the Research Institute of America, learners remember 58% of what was taught 33 minutes after the completion of a course, 33% on the second day, 15% three weeks after training and 13% a month after training without coaching or intervention. However, a key finding of the research is that learners remember more than four times as much from training that is perceived as highly relevant to their jobs. Read more…

Productivity
Outsourcing to increase your productivity

Is outsourcing a consideration for your learning development department? If it isn’t now, it may become one in the near future due to the impact of retiring baby boomers and the loss of their resources increasing your dependence upon third-party vendors. Read more…

Kirkpatrick’s Column
Evaluating results

When I teach how to improve communication effectiveness, I expect participating supervisors to communicate better on the job afterward and the result to be fewer misunderstandings, fewer mistakes, improved rapport between supervisor and subordinate, and other positive results. But, how can I tell? Can I prove or even find evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the final results occur? The answer is a resounding no. There are too many other factors that affect results. Read more…