Hello everyone, my name is Nicole Duran and I am a new Service Delivery Manager at The CARA Group. A few months ago, I was asked to write a blog about Change Management. I know the basics about Change Management and thought this would be a great way to learn more on the topic. I started my research by looking at the formal theories, models and methodologies that are out there and being discussed in the field. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to know what our own experts at CARA thought about it. I wanted to hear from them on their opinions about change and find out about their own experiences. Essentially I was looking for a simplified outlook and decided the best way to find that was to talk to the people that have lived change initiatives and find out what they thought.

I have captured my findings below and I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Faith Fuqua-Purvis CARA Consultant	What is your definition of Change Management?	To me change management is very simple, it took me many, many years to come up with this definition but it’s about moving people from where they are to where the business needs them to be. That’s it. That can mean many, many things but it is simple-moving people from where they are to where the business needs them to be. To hear more from Faith, click here for a 3 minute video interview.
Neil Grant CARA Consultant	What does an external consultant need to be successful when working on a change initiative?	I think the external consultant has to have an internal champion and internal resources that are committed to it, see it and perhaps can buddy up and work through partnership to taking the organization through the change process. To see more from Neil, click here for a 2 minute video interview.
Sheila Burgess CARA Consultant	What role does a learning professional play in change management?	The learning professional is a part of the change effort. Learning is all about helping people understand new concepts and adapt new behaviors and that is essentially a key component of change management. By integrating change into the materials rather than just conveying information, people will understand the change and be more likely to adapt to the change. So for instance, as opposed to just communicating how to execute steps in a system implementation training, include the WIFM (or What’s In It For Me) and you have included a critical element to change management. People are more likely to adopt change when they understand what’s in it for them. To see more from Sheila, click here for a 3 minute video interview.

Here are the top three things I learned from the team at CARA:

• Change Management is very simple when you break it down however it can make or break a project’s success.
• Learning and change really do go hand in hand for a successful project and as long as communication is open and fluid, both groups are able to make positive impacts.
• Having a leader within the company on your side is extremely important to the change being adopted.

Join the conversation! What are your thoughts on the importance of change management?

By Jane Brent

A great workforce relies on great leadership.

If you subscribe to this notion, it’s not hard to imagine why so many companies invest in identifying, developing, motivating and retaining the good leaders. As with any role, the frontline leader experiences ups and downs, which really only means that the learning never stops.

A few months ago CARA conducted a survey among OD and training professionals from Fortune 1000 companies. The goal was to learn how businesses are investing in leadership development, and where these companies are focusing resources. We also wanted to find out the gaps companies are seeing in the leadership ranks from both a skill and pipeline perspective.

We found that companies are directing their development dollars toward frontline leaders and the greatest skill gap is the ability to lead others, which includes managing change and driving the vision, decision making and innovative thinking.

The conundrum is that companies are investing their development dollars in frontline leaders and yet still have a weak pipeline of leadership talent, leading them to think that the current programs are ineffective. So what’s an organization to do?

Great leaders aren’t just born. They have a desire to lead and are motivated to learn. Then, only if they are given a chance to practice the skills learned, can frontline leaders demonstrate good leadership skills.

When developing or enhancing your leadership programs, take the following into consideration.

1. Frontline Leader Influence
Frontline leaders can have the greatest influence over their team because they interact with them every day. If the frontline leader demonstrates good leadership skills, it’s likely their team is productive, providing value to the organization.

We’ve all had leaders who were inspiring, able to move us to our best performance levels. We’ve also had leaders who left us feeling like we didn’t matter. The general consensus is that people want to produce good work and do a good job. It makes them feel like they are contributing to the success of the company. Good leaders help make this happen.

2. Responsibilities of a Frontline Leader
The frontline leader’s responsibilities shape how the team works. He or she takes on the role of:

• coach and mentor
• career developer
• decision maker
• strategy implementer

3. Your Program Design
If your development programs aren’t effective, think not only about the program content, but also consider the way the program is delivered. Are you thinking about the participants – the frontline leaders? Are you thinking about the best way for them to learn? We can no longer rely on previous traditional training methods. Technology is available to everyone and it’s cool and innovative, which means that people are learning in a new way all the time.

Which of the following programs was more successful?

Scenario #1

Company A offers a leadership development program with valuable, customized content and in-class role playing opportunities. The workshop is three days in length and offers participants the chance to learn from the facilitator and peers. They can role play with real life scenarios throughout the program. Then, each participant creates a development plan to use back on the job. Finally, participants complete a level one evaluation, which tells the designers how well the program was received.

When evaluating the effectiveness of Scenario #1 ask and answer these questions:

• How much can the participants learn that stays with them long enough to apply on the job? Based on research, it’s likely the retention rate is approximately 30%.
• Have the participants prioritized how they should apply the learning on the job or do they try to figure out how to apply everything learned? In general the training was information overload and the participants were left on their own to prioritize how they apply what was learned. If the participant has an individual development plan, he/she can apply the learning to their plan.
• What support systems are in place to encourage the leaders to practice what they learned? In this case the participant enrolled in the program independently of manager knowledge or approval. The participant runs the risk of the manager expecting “business as usual” behavior upon return from training. Behavior change cannot take place without support.

The answers to these questions provide guidance on how to consider designing and developing a training program where behavior changes and the business are positively impacted.

Scenario #2

Company B also offers a leadership development program. Here’s how they went about creating the program. The learning and development team:

• Compared the company strategy against leadership skills needed to implement the strategy.
• Analyzed the frontline leader skill level to understand the skills gaps.
• Designed a program to include:

- pre-preparation work relative to training content (written, reading, job shadowing)
- manager discussion to prepare for key take-away learning
- staggered in-class learning opportunities filled in with on-the-job learning (learn/do/learn/do)/approximately 20% in-class learning and 80% on-the-job learning
- post training activity to reflect upon learning and incorporate in the daily job
- strategically scattered assessments to test retention
- overall program evaluation to capture levels 1-4 data

• Leader trainee received a mentor/coach.
• Manager participated in preparation work and post-training activities.
• Continuous learning through on-going development was required for one year after the formal training program concluded with post-work activities.
• Each participant created an individual development plan that was reviewed by the manager at specific periodic times.

As you may surmise, the second scenario was the most successful. Frontline leaders could weave learning into their daily activities on the job, which meant training wasn’t considered “another thing to do” in addition to their job.

The second scenario definitely takes time to develop and implement. The results are proof positive that taking time works. Because the training content is connected to company strategy, and so much learning time is experiential, the frontline leader training becomes a bottom line necessity.
If your objective is to create a developmental opportunity for your leaders, consider Scenario #2 as a best practice to link training to positive business results.

What best practices would you recommend in developing leadership training? Let’s continue the discussion. We invite your comments and feedback.

By: Jackie Zahn

Hi, I’m Jackie Zahn, a CARA instructional designer/developer and yes, a mountain climber. I wanted to share a story of how I recently helped my subject matter experts (SMEs) stay on course and I can tell you it’s been an uphill battle. There are two SMEs, one in California and one in Ohio, and here’s me, in the suburbs of Chicago.

Problem

The two SMEs hold the secret to all the content I need for this course. They work consistently over 50 hours a week, we’re in 3 different time zones and their schedules allow for only small pockets of availability at very random hours. Because of this, getting conference calls scheduled has been a nightmare. Recently our course went through a major redesign based on a soft launch and I was having difficulty getting their feedback. We were getting down to the wire and, long story short, I was at a point where I really needed them to approve how I overhauled the course. I tried scheduling conference calls and we couldn’t coordinate our schedules. Phone calls resulted in playing phone tag, and bullet-pointed emails were resulting in simple “looks good” responses.

Solution

One night I figured I needed to get creative. I put myself in their shoes – here are two guys accustomed to working a ton of hours, out in the field, responding to dozens of phone calls a day, and I was never going to get the “chunk” of time that I needed. Then I started thinking about the people who would be taking this course. I wouldn’t be asking a learner to read paragraphs of text and yet I was sending long emails to the SMEs. Our courses allow the learners to bounce around, pause, leave and come back but I was asking the SMEs to sit down and commit to a 60 minute conference call. So I needed to find a way to let them work on their own schedule, take every obstacle out of the way and I needed to engage them in an interesting, even quirky kind of way to keep their attention. Sound familiar? It’s what we do for the people taking our courses! That’s when I decided to create a YouTube video.

That night I pretended I was having an online meeting but instead of “sharing my screen” I opened up Camtasia and clicked “record screen”. I started by setting the urgency of where we were at and how we needed to get the course finished by the end of the year and the holidays are approaching (note the turkey and Santa graphics).

Then I moved on to my PowerPoint deck, in notes view, and said “there are 138 slides but I’m going to highlight just what I need from you”.

Don’t Forget the Call to Action

I ended the video with the call to action and told them what I needed them to do. They’re accustomed to seeing PowerPoint decks and Word docs and making edits. So, on the final slide, I told them where everything was located (and also in the email I sent that night) and I made sure it was on an external site since one of them had issues with the VPN from time to time.

To wrap it up, I used the Camtasia “upload to YouTube” feature, published my screen capture, set the YouTube video to “unlisted”, and sent my SMEs an email with the link.

Results

My email went out at 8:50 p.m. CST that Tuesday night. My master plan was that they’d see it first thing in the morning and review it over a cup of coffee. It worked!

The East Coast SME responded at 4:30 a.m. the next morning. The West Coast SME responded at 10:12 a.m. the next morning. I think it even helped to reinvigorate the process! Here’s the feedback I got from the West Coast SME:

Why Did it Work?

So why did it work? In my email I set the urgency that I needed something from them right away. I said “Since time is limited and coordinating schedules is difficult, I created a 12-minute video update to explain where the course is at.” In 12 minutes you can be fully caught up!

I liked YouTube because I knew it would be recognizable to them, it’s browser agnostic, and doesn’t require any special plug-ins for downloads. I set the YouTube video to “unlisted” so there would be some level of security, and showed them how the course content flowed, illustrated how much work was already done, and it even helped me later in the day to show my client boss what was going on.

It worked like a charm so I found myself making a video the very next day.

Other Uses: Clarification

This “video communication” style came in handy when we were discussing the upcoming video shoot. In an email I told them about the “Director’s Cut” style idea I had for the video shoot. I needed to be 100% certain they knew what I was talking about so I made a quick 2-minute video. It wasn’t production quality, by any means, but it got the point across – to the SMEs and the project manager. This was critical because my idea just saved us the cost of having to get a full blown camera crew with boom mics, etc. Over the phone, the Project Manager confirmed her understanding of what I was talking about, but the video helped bring clarity to the issue.

Closing Remarks

In closing, if you’re up against a deadline and not getting the cooperation you need, here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Look at things from the SMEs perspective and believe that they really want to help – they just have other things pulling at their time.
2. Try using video to put things into context, use humor if you have to, and don’t get hung up on production quality. No one is going to see it except for the SMEs and once it gets the point across, you can immediately delete it from YouTube anyway.
3. Keep the videos short and focused. Remove every barrier. Before deciding to use YouTube, I considered sending them an MP4 or windows media player file but even downloading a file was a barrier because I didn’t know if they could read those formats, downloading files takes time, and if they’re using a smart phone they might not want to bother with a file download. YouTube is free with direct streaming.
4. Tag the YouTube video as “unlisted” to maintain a level of security.

Let’s continue the discussion. Have you used a similar solution to help update your SMEs and keep them engaged? We look forward to your comments and feedback.

By Sue Deisinger

A “CARAvan” arrived at the Harley-Davidson Museum^® in Milwaukee on May 24, 2012, for the 2^nd Annual Learning and Talent Development Leaders Conference hosted by the Executive Learning Exchange, a consortium of Learning Leaders around the Midwest committed to promoting greater visibility, influence and professional opportunities among its members. This year’s theme was “Set Your Roadmap for Continuous Learning – Delivering CONSISTENT Business Results.” About 175 learning leaders participated in the day, collaborating with peers on a variety of topics on leadership and talent development, and applying the lessons learned by the respective presenters and speakers. Here are some highlights.

Morning Keynote: High Impact Continuous Learning at GE Healthcare

The morning’s keynote address was presented by Bob Cancalosi, Chief Learning Office at GE Healthcare. Bob shared his insights on his organization’s model to deliver consistent business results, called “Halt It & Unlock It”.

The “Halt-It” paradigm is about 6 ways to reduce learning “scrap.” The most critical success factors for any manager are his or her ability to set expectations up front, and then engage the employee to teach-back. Knowing what is expected and understanding that each manager is responsible to teach back what is learned reinforces success:

1. H is for Hold accountable before, during and after the teachable moment is key.
2. A is for Action learning. Link to actual business issues, and make a formal recommendation to the CEO.
3. L represents Leaders teaching leaders.
4. T means that you must Tie everything to the business financials. Every course they have includes a portion related to finance, tied to income statement, balance sheet and cash flow.
5. I is for Integrating an individual’s development plan. Prepared in advance, take strengths and make them stronger. GE does this during the first quarter with employees.
6. T is for Time to think. Take reflection time to process the expectations and steps involved.

“Unlock-It” it is a metaphor that uses 4 numbers—or a combination—to unlock the potential in individuals to become the best leaders. What is it that the best leaders naturally do to drive the greatest impact on learning? Here’s the combination: 5 – 8 – 10 – 13. Each number represents the number of letters in a key leadership trait:

• Trust – 5 letters. Trust signifies the say/do ratio in a leader. When you say you’re going to do something, do you schedule the time on your calendar to fulfill those commitments?
• Coaching – 8 letters. Coaching is critical for continuous improvement. Is your culture more ask than tell? Do you listen or talk more? To unlock the potential in your people, focus less on the coach and more on the coached.
• Innovation – 10 letters. Unlocking creativity within your people enables them to think about the big ideas that differentiate you from your competitors. It requires persistence and training.
• Collaboration – 13 letters. Collaboration may be the most significant trait. It enables the horizontal linkages within and organization – looking at the “we” of the organization; not the “me.” Metrics need to align to team based activities to foster inclusiveness, imaginative thinking and continuous improvement.

Afternoon Keynote: The Business of Learning. What It Takes to Deliver Results and How TDRp Can Help

Dave Vance, Author, Professor and former CLO at Caterpillar, delivered the afternoon’s keynote. In his address, Dave discussed the strategic challenge and four key steps to running learning like a business to ensure its greatest impact on business results.

1. Learning must be focused on the highest-priority goals of the organization.
2. Learning must be carefully planned to deliver results agreed upon in advance with the stakeholder, including the expected impact of the learning initiative on business goals. Ideally, this step includes the creation of a business plan for learning and development of a business case for the key programs.
3. Learning must be executed and reported with discipline to ensure the promised results are achieved.
4. Results must be measured and compared to expectations in order to continuously learn and improve.

Today, Talent Development Reporting Principles (TDRp) are available to make the process of running learning like a business much easier. In driving consistency in the organization, Dave explained how TDRp provides standards and guidance for the L&D profession to plan learning initiatives, reports progress using standard definitions, and demonstrates the value of learning. These are the metrics that answers the questions of what data to collect, how to define the measures, and what to do with the measures.

Initiated by Kent Barnett (CEO, Knowledge Advisors) and Tamar Elkeles (VP of Learning and Organization Development, Qualcomm) in the fall of 2010, TDRp has benefited from the guidance of industry thought leaders and leading practitioners. Key terms and measures are clearly defined, and three categories of statements and reports are recommended:

• The outcome statement collects the most important business goals and learning’s expected impact on them, clearly showing the value of learning to the organization’s success.
• The effectiveness and efficiency statements collect all the quality and cost/activity measures.
• Customized management reports pull the most important measures from the statements to use in actively managing the function to deliver the promised results.

For more information about TDRp go to www.TDRprinciples.org.

There were many more sessions with panel discussion and talks on Sales Enablement, Creating a Culture of Service, and Best Practices shared across the collaborative participants. For a comprehensive overview and abstracts of the sessions, please go to the Executive Learning Leaders Exchange at www.learningexecutive.com.

We’d love to hear insights from others who attended the conference. What got your motor running?

By Susan Schneider and Lisa Vitale

Whether you’re looking for your first job, or you’re a “seasoned” worker, the process for getting a job (writing your resume, packaging your work samples, and then actually interviewing) can be a daunting experience. Times have changed. Resumes are often scanned electronically rather than reviewed by a pair of eyes, and interviews can be done over the phone, in-person, or via WebEx or Skype. To help job seekers become successful job hunters in this new electronic age, The CARA Group and the Society for Technical Communications (STC) recently hosted a workshop designed to provide the tools for success. CARA Recruiters, Jeff Warner and Lisa Vitale, along with STC President Elizabeth Burke, recently spent a Saturday morning with 11 technical writers discussing best practices for writing resumes, organizing a portfolio of work samples, and surviving interviews.

The Resume
Jeff Warner kicked off the workshop using the tag line “Trust Me Im a Technical Writer” (yes, error included!) and talked about the importance of writing and presenting a strong resume. As the first “deliverable” a potential employer will see, your resume must create a good first impression, one that piques the Recruiter’s interest enough to provide you with the coveted opportunity to interview. If we think of how branding is used in a marketing sense to “package” a product, the same concepts can be applied to the job seeker. Putting careful thought into how you want your resume to represent you and your capabilities allow you to brand yourself and showcase the value you can provide to prospective employers.

Jeff addressed several topics:
Keywords – Resumes that are submitted online are usually filtered electronically for key words, so make sure your resume passes this first level of scrutiny by using words that are key and specific to the job.
Resume Styles – Choosing the right style of resume is important to best showcase your abilities and work history. Recruiters typically don’t like functional resumes, preferring to see work history presented in reverse chronological order. Functional resumes can work, however, for fresh grads or people who are changing careers or fields. A combination of chronological and functional styles is good for people who have experience across diverse areas and want to highlight their skills that can be used in a broader capacity.
Best Practices – Since a technical writer’s primary talent is writing and developing useful documentation, a resume with typos, grammar errors, and unsightly formatting tells the Recruiter you don’t have the expertise, or talent, for the job. Some Best Practices that Jeff highlighted are:

• For each work experience, include project results that are quantifiable, such as size of document, completion within a tight timeframe, advanced tools, etc.
• Include only your recent work experience. Remove or summarize older work, especially if it isn’t relevant to the job.
• Omit irrelevant information, such as “I’m available to interview at your convenience” or “references available upon request.” The employer already assumes these are true.
• Make sure your LinkedIn profile is consistent with your resume, and make sure your Facebook page is “fit for viewing.”
• Highlight any non-working accomplishments or activities that are relevant, such as President of the local PTA (which shows leadership and management experience), or grant-writing volunteer.

Cover Letters – cover letters should be specific, direct and to the point. The objective is to identify the position for which you’re applying . A cover letter should include only an explanation why you’re applying for the job, your unique qualifications and accomplishments, and a short paragraph asking for an interview and providing your contact information where you can be most easily reached.
Reviewing a Resume – Before submitting your resume, have several pairs of eyes review it for clarity, content, format, and validation that it’s presenting you in the best possible light.

Work Samples and Portfolios
STC‘s own Elizabeth Burke introduced the concept of developing a portfolio that showcases your work samples so employers can view the breadth and quality of your work. With more than 20 years of experience as a Technical Writer, and as someone who frequently is in the position herself to interview and hire technical writers, Elizabeth was able to bring both practical and anecdotal experience to her discussion.

What’s the difference between work samples and portfolios? A portfolio is a complete package of your experience. It demonstrates the depth of your experience and includes: your resume, a list of collateral, one or more partial work samples that can be paper-based, online, or multi-media, awards, and references. Work samples, on the other hand, are individual examples of your deliverables that showcase your skills and tool expertise. Each work sample should be accompanied by a short description about the document, i.e., the business reason for the documentation, audience level, tool used, length of complete document, production timeline, and any other relevant or unique information.

Confidentiality Issues
Frequently technical writers say the company for which they created the documentation won’t allow them to keep work samples because of confidentially issues. Elizabeth offered the following workarounds to this dilemma:

• Obtain approval from the employer early in the project to retain a copy of the document. If the employer does not provide approval, don’t include the document in your portfolio!
• While highly sensitive material will most likely be denied permission, non-critical documents can be scrubbed of references to the company name, products, and confidential and proprietary content.
• Create your own documentation. Write a procedure that involves a hobby or software tool you frequently use.

Presenting Work Samples
An employer may ask to see work samples prior to the interview. Often times candidates don’t want to relinquish physical control over samples and, when they turn down the request, they lose the opportunity to interview. A better approach would be to ask the employer to participate in a WebEx session. Make sure, however, that you’ve rehearsed your presentation and are fully comfortable with the WebEx controls.

If you’re presenting work samples during the in-person interview, package your work samples so they’re neatly and attractively arranged, and easy to reference. If you intend to show documentation on your laptop or tablet, always have a backup plan in case the hardware doesn’t work or you don’t have internet access.

The Interview
Lisa Vitale continued the branding concept by noting that once you’ve created a great resume and portfolio, it’s time to market your brand with solid interviewing skills. CARA Recruiter Gina Arinyanontakoon and Service Delivery Manager Susan Schneider provided an Oscar winning performance during a roleplay that revealed an “interview-gone-wrong”. The “candidate”wore inappropriate clothing, arrived late for the interview, and had no clue about the business of the company for which she was interviewing. Workshop participants were able to see how the candidate lost the job the minute she walked through the door.

Lisa provided insight on the following interview topics:

• Preparing for the interview – The biggest mistake a candidate can make is not being fully prepared: it can mean the difference between getting an offer and getting rejected. Some preparation suggestions include:
  • Research the company and its core values
  • Check LinkedIn for background information on the interviewer
  • Know the job description and prepare questions about it
  • Organize your work samples and select ones that are appropriate for the position
  • Practice interviewing!
• Phone/Skype interviewing – Good communication skills via the phone and Skype can be challenging, but are equally important. To have a successful phone or Skype interview:
  • Block out potential distractions such as children and pets
  • Ensure the background is uncluttered and shows no personal items
  • Make eye contact
  • Dress as if you were interviewing in person … you’ll feel more professional
  • If you’re using your cell phone, make sure it’s fully charged
  • Smile! Even if the interviewer can’t see you, your voice will convey enthusiasm and set a positive tone.
• During the Interview – This is your opportunity to talk about your brand, establish credibility, and sell your abilities and skills. It’s also your opportunity to get answers to your questions.
• Remember the STAR Interviewing Technique – When you’re describing the tasks you accomplished, use the STAR method:
  • Situation or Task – Describe a task you needed to accomplish and give enough detail so your interviewer understands
  • Action you took – Describe the action you took, explaining the work that you, specifically, performed
  • Results – Describe what was accomplished, what goals were met, what you learned
• Close the interview – Let the interviewer know that you’re interested in the position. Ask about the next step in the hiring process, and always send a Thank-You note via email.

Remembering these simple tips will provide a framework for putting your best face forward during the job hunt. Now, did we cover everything? Are there any other examples you can think of that have worked for you? We’re always interested in individual success stories. Let us know what you think.

By Barry Larson

Earlier this month, the Chicago Chapter of ASTD’s (CCASTD) Corporate University Professional Development Network (PDN) hosted a discussion on the topic of Learning Management Systems (LMS). The event was held at DeVry University. CARA’s Strategic Account Executive, Sue Deisinger, moderated the discussion.

The evening took a deep dive into the history and evolution of LMSs and addressed a multitude of questions on the future of the LMS – Is the LMS a thing of the past, or are Learning Management Systems about to mutate into a whole new creature? What’s going on in our organizations today and how are these systems being used? What about Talent Management Systems? Learning Content Management Systems? What’s with the Cloud?

Two local LMS experts, Danny Ortegon and Doty Sinclair, tackled these questions and more as they shared their observations on trends emerging in the LMS field.

Addressing small, mid-range and enterprise market levels, Danny and Doty traded insights from their own experience, as well as research from recognized industry experts like Elliott Masie and Bersin and Associates.

What I learned from their exchange, and a lively discussion across the participants, included who the major players are, trends, and resources. Let’s break it down.

Key Vendors Today

Trends

Industry Consolidation
There is a lot of merging in the industry. Here is a snapshot of the progression. A proliferation of LMS’s hit the market initially, followed by several niche companies focused on specific industries. Then, smaller LMS companies were acquired by larger LMS companies. Under pressure to maximize their market share resulted in large vendors trying to offer “small company solutions” and some may pursue overseas markets to expand potential client base.

Larger, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system integrators, like SAP and Oracle, are buying companies to integrate entire suites into their offerings. They are pursuing more tightly integrated offerings into the HR solutions of Talent Management, Performance Management, etc. This may cause challenges in determining overall learning goals, ownership, configuration, technical support, etc.

There is a migration going on from separate elements of Talent Management to integrated offerings, including social media, SaaS/Cloud-based offerings and the move to .net technology which offers a cleaner, simpler user experience such as the use of hover overs vs. clicking a series of links. Workday is a new cloud-based ERP from the founder of PeopleSoft.

Clients will be affected by the ongoing changes in LMS ownership which may impact the quality of customer service, as well as requirements for future tools and features.

Mobile Learning and Social Media
Mobile Learning impacts the need for more flexible LMS features like configurability and implementation. How the LMS might integrate or collaborate with mobile is still too early to tell for a clear cut solution.

Social Media, Mobile and informal online learning is likely to affect how LMS solutions are configured, marketed, and sold. These informal solutions are likely to change the amount of learning that will be LMS based versus what will be more socially or informally driven, i.e. provided as “performance support” or a “Personal Learning Environment” in the future.

The pace at which these options are growing provides a challenge for efficient configuration options and ongoing implementation.

Education Market Influence
Some top flight universities (Stanford, MIT, and Yale) are pushing curricula and content delivery services online. This raises overall awareness of online learning and impacts organizational leaders’ expectations that online learning solutions need to be easier to use.

Some startups are providing unique services such as an “App Store” for customers to upload, browse, buy and sell their e-learning content. Examples include Open Sesame, iTunes University, or the recent iBooks textbook authoring. While this provides additional paths for clients to acquire content online, it can also provide more challenges in evaluating the success of learning using new technologies.

With the quality of these predictions, we didn’t really need a crystal ball or fortune teller. However, a good list of resources is provided below for any future reference.

Resources

We’re always interested in other opinions and perceptions. Are there any trends we missed? We welcome your comments and questions.

By Jeff Warner, Recruiting Manager

Everyone can use a little inspiration. On February 23rd, my colleague, CARA Account Executive, Tim Devine, and I participated in the 2012 Learning Summit hosted by ASTD’s South Central Wisconsin Chapter (ASTD-SCWC). It was held at the Alliant Center in Madison, WI and CARA was a proud sponsor of this event. The theme of the Summit was “Learn Inspired, Live Inspired” featuring keynote speaker Lance Secretan, Ph.D., author of The Spark, the Flame and the Torch: Inspire Self. Inspire Others.

As the former CEO of a Fortune 100 company, university professor, award-winning columnist and author, Dr. Secretan is one of North America’s most sought-after speakers on leadership. In his book and in his speech, he addressed many provocative topics, from mission, vision and value statements, to leadership and brand management theory, motivation techniques, psychometric profiling, performance management systems and coaching. Lance Secretan’s goal in life is to inspire new ways of thinking on these topics in order to transform organization to a higher level of performance. He cited examples of how alternative ideas have been implemented successfully in some great organizations, and then went on to realistically explain how everyone can be an inspiring leader, create inspiring organizations and ultimately change the world for the better.

Six excellent breakout sessions dovetailed off the keynote address. Three tracks consisted of content designed around inspiring one’s self, others, or organizations through Learning. Each of the presenters did a great job of identifying common sense, down to earth strategies for inspiring yourself, as well as your co-workers. It was apparent that each speaker put a lot of time and preparation into their respective break-out sessions, incorporating the overall theme of the Learning Summit:

Inspire Self

• Deb Denure, Quickly Engaging Learners’ Brains for Lasting Results
• Lori Gibson, Resilience and Renewal: Being Your Best So You Can Give Your Best

Inspire Others

• Sarah Gibson, Live, Love, Give
• Amy Climer, Make it Experiential: Workshop Design and Facilitation Tools for Amazing Trainings

Inspire Organizations

• Rebecca Doepke, From Hired to Inspired…Is Everyone Onboard?
• Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D., Becoming a High Performance Organization

The ASTD-SCWC staff effectively facilitated the break-outs as well as in-between sessions, demonstrating some of the inspired leadership characteristic suggested throughout the day. And with 250 participants in attendance, Tim and I found a lot of inspiration in networking with some of the top Training and Performance Leaders and Professionals in Madison.

By Sue Deisinger

On January 19^th, a “CARAvan” descended upon the first 2012 dinner meeting hosted by the Chicago Chapter of ASTD (CCASTD).  My colleagues—Susan Beyers, Barbara Coughlin, Tina Jandris—and I were curious to hear CCASTD President, Sue Weller, address how learning professionals can better prepare for 2012 and beyond.  Sue spoke on the topic, “State of the Industry…State of YOU!”

Sue’s sources for her address included the ASTD State of the Industry Report, reports from Bersin Associates and Training Magazine.

The good news?  Employers are spending more on learning programs, and the top 3 content areas appear to focus on more advanced, strategic competencies:

1. Management and Supervisory Skills
2. Professional or Industry-specific Learning
3. Mandatory Process or Compliance-related Expertise

These skill-sets are driven by the business need to invest in employee performance.

Sue’s presentation style engaged the audience. She held our interest as she summarized five trends in learning for 2012 and beyond.

1. Increase in the use of social learning and the emergence of the “Social Cyborg” and the implications of talent management.  These are the people who have integrated social networks and information technology into their lives, (think constant Facebook posts) and how they think, learn and solve problems.
2. Increase in mobile engagement; a broader adoption than just mobile learning.  Smartphone applications are creating a more robust environment to access information in general.
3. Increased “gamification.”  Ideas include reward tools to engage the learner like giving out points or virtual badges of completion.  Completion status, or progress, is compared to others, and rewarded. For example, if you complete a certain activity—contribute to a knowledge exchange—you receive a badge, or lead a discussion and receive a more impressive badge.
4. Stronger consideration of change management within learning. Learning leads to understanding, and understanding leads to a commitment to change. Leaders are recognizing that in order to transform an organization they need to consistently communicate their vision and enable the behavior change to occur.
5. Rise in virtual training.  With the economy slow to recover, there is a need to continue to save costs and improve learning effectiveness.  Virtual training is an economic method to bring together people in geographically dispersed.

There is a movement toward individualization, where the learner takes more responsibility on what she/he needs to learn and when vs. participating in an event-based structured program designed for a much broader audience.

What does this all mean to Learning Professionals?  The days of being a purist are gone. We need to be even more multi-disciplinary, beyond solid instructional design skills.  We may also need to develop change management and talent management expertise, for example.

Sue suggests a three-point action plan to brush up on your personal skills and remain competitive for the future:

1. Don’t underestimate the challenges in achieving a goal.  Instead of just stating the goal, be sure to anticipate the challenges in achieving the goal.  Mentally prepare and plan to overcome obstacles to success.
2. Don’t overestimate the rewards. Recognize upfront that your progress maybe incremental, and while meeting your goal may be slower than you hope, the important thing is that you don’t give up.  Keep trying and celebrate the milestones along the way.
3. Don’t try to do it alone. Join your colleagues at future CCASTD dinners where you’ll continue to develop your skills and knowledge. Maybe you can find a colleague to help hold you personally accountable to achieve your goal.

The evening was a practical investment in my own professional development, learning more about emerging Industry trends and enjoying the venue with a supportive group of learning professionals.

We’d like to know what you seeing emerging in your workforce environment.  Please feel free to comment on this article and share your own insights.

By Lisa Vitale

On October 13^th, my colleague, Tim Devine and I, joined our President, Dan King, representing CARA at an impressive fall event hosted by the Southeast Wisconsin’s chapter of ASTD (SEWI-ASTD).  The event was a workshop facilitated by William Horton, Author of E-Learning by Design. To say that this event was well-attended would be an understatement – there was absolutely NO attrition—none!  We  were honored to sponsor this successful workshop and it’s a good thing Tim packed enough clear plastic CARA water tumblers.  All 150 participants enthusiastically received a little take away from CARA. 

And speaking of take aways, each participant had various reasons for attending.  Some were focused on bringing creative eLearning ideas back to their workplace.  Others were interested in how to motivate their organizations to use eLearning when it’s the right solution.  Some were there because they felt it was integral to become familiar with the various eLearning techniques that could be applied, and others wanted to learn how to make their own eLearning more engaging.  And, there were others without any eLearning experience with a strong desire to be “in-the-know”.  What was evident to me was that each individual respected Mr. Horton’s expertise in this field as they appeared to hang onto every word he uttered.

William Horton states that successful eLearning requires more than showering learners in information and force-marching them through tedious activities. He artfully explains that Designers must motivate learners to engage with the content and process of eLearning. The Designer needs to connect to the learner’s goals and past knowledge; and try to apply the learning experience to their work or life skills.

His objectives were clear:

• Motivate learners to want to learn the content.
• Engage learners in challenging activities that result in deeper comprehension.
• Connect chunks of learning to prior learning experiences and to learners’ personal goals.
• Ensure that learning gets applied in work assignments, and reinforced in future learning and throughout life.

Horton showcased a variety of effective eLearning activities which would help the learner Absorb, Do, and Connect.

Absorb:   Activities that involve reading, listening and watching.  Incorporate:

• Online libraries
• Online museums
• Slide Shows
• Information Films
• Field trips using guided tours and travel  journals
• Discussion Presentations
• Dramas using tools such as Podcasts and Videocasts

Do:  Practicing and Discovering.  Integrate:

• Drill and practice activities
• Hands-on activities
• Guided analysis
• Teamwork activities
• Immersive role playing
• Games
• Software simulations
• Interactive case studies using virtual libraries, case studies, and role playing scenarios

Connect:  Link learning to life, work and past knowledge.  Include:

• Rhetorical questions
• Mediations
• Cite-example activities
• Evaluation activities
• Summary activities
• Brainstorming activities
• Scavenger hunts
• Work document activities
• Decision activities

William Horton extracted principles that apply throughout many areas of study.  He shared his techniques for designing effective learning activities that can be implemented on various budgets by using tools that are already in use by organizations.

Considered by another industry guru, Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick, as the #1 authority on eLearning, William Horton demonstrated how he earned this tribute and graciously conveyed his perspective on an eager group of participants.

By the way, CARA came away with a genuine respect for the many talented Designers in Southeastern Wisconsin and a commitment to partner with the representative companies as they expand their eLearning capacity and require additional resources to meet future deadlines.

By Barbara Coughlin

CARA had the privilege of sponsoring the 10^th Annual Chicagoland Learning Leaders Conference again this year.  It was held at McDonald’s Hamburger University on September 28, 2011 and engaged Learning Leaders from corporations around Chicago and across southern Wisconsin.

As an Account Manager, this is a main event for me – an opportunity to network with my clients and other strategic members of the learning community, in a non-sales environment. I always come away with valuable lessons learned and this year did not disappoint.

The theme of this year’s conference focused on accelerating leadership development.  Here are some highlights:

ACCELERATING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

The morning’s keynote speaker was Harry Kraemer, former CEO of Baxter, Professor of Management and Strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and author of the book, From Values to Action.

Mr. Kraemer shared his insights on leadership, including characteristics of an emerging leader.  Emerging leaders:

• Lead immediately even though they’re not in a leadership position.  This is the type of person that doesn’t wait for permission, he or she takes the lead and makes things happen.
• Are disciplined and choose good habits.
• ‘Lead up’, meaning they know how to influence the C-level (this is key and the hardest to accomplish).
• Undergo self-reflection. Kramer advised a leader needs to know and lead herself before she can lead others.
• Demonstrate true self-confidence, he knows what he’s not good at, and admits it so he can surround himself with people who are good at “it”.

In summary, Harry Kraemer high-lighted his own lessons learned in identifying four key elements of a successful leader:

1. Self-reflection
2. Life/work balance
3. True self-confidence
4. Humility – never forget “the cube” you came from

Well, the morning’s keynote presentation set the tone for a day of collaboration with 70-80 corporate thought leaders and a difficult choice to select among 25 interactive sessions, including a case study presented by CARA’s own client, Kathleen Long, Director of Organizational Development at Career Education Corporation.  Kathleen presented Building Foundational Management Skills to Accelerate Organizational Change.  Kathleen shared how her organization rebuilt the necessary skills across middle management that had been depleted by the economic impact of corporate downsizing.  She provided an inspiring model for other organizations to go back to basics.

The afternoon keynote presentation was equally noteworthy.

THE FUTURE OF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Cigna’s Chief Learning Officer, Karen Kocher, was the afternoon’s keynote speaker. In her session, The Future of Training & Development: Identifying Behaviors, Competencies & Skills to Sustain High Performance, Karen shared trends emerging in the workforce over the next 10 years. 

Karen’s insights were drawn, in part, from a recent study of more than 3,000 global CEOs.  The study indicated that talent development is one of the top five differentiators a company must leverage for future success.  Here are some other highlights that will impact the future of corporate learning and development:

• ”Smart mobbing” or “Swarming” – a process where sources from across the organization come together just to solve one problem and then dissolve.
• Millennials, born between 1980 and 1995, will be a force, and with only about 80 million of them, there will not be enough to fill the jobs required.
• Telecommuting will continue to be on the rise.
• Employees will prefer more job flexibility for less pay.
• Company Alumni networks will continue to grow, leveraging social media practices to stay in touch.
• Employees will want to be treated as individuals by HR, personally tailored programs and initiatives will be important to retaining key employees.

These trends appeared to resonate among the learning and talent executives in the room. The challenges facing corporate leaders to attract and retain the future brightest and best in the workforce are both exciting and daunting. 

On a personal note, I have to continue a conversation with my clients to ensure CARA stays ahead of the curve and provides value to their future learning, performance and change management needs.

The 10^th Annual Chicagoland Learning Leaders Conference was successful again this year.  Learning thought leaders and vendor partners seemed to come away with solid lessons learned and an optimistic view of the future of workforce learning and development.