Depending on where you live, this July could prove to be unbearably hot. So hot in fact, you may find yourself indoors and wishing you had a reprieve from your day. ASTD’s webcasts are a great opportunity to enjoy your air conditioning and pick up some great information!

There are three webcasts scheduled for this month, one of which is part of a new Disney series. ASTD has partnered with the Disney Institute to bring Fortune 500 practices to you. On Monday, July 13, Disney’s Approach to People Management will allow participants to benchmark a few key aspects of the Disney corporate culture by inspiring employee pride and ownership. ASTD members receive a discounted webcast rate and all registrants will be entered to win a trip to the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida. Click here to register.

ASTD is also offering two free webcasts during July. The first of which, Bridging the Skills Gap, will broadcast on July 21. Chapter members and leaders are invited to join ASTD Vice President, Communications and Member Relations, Jennifer Homer, as she discusses how the skills shortage threatens growth and competitiveness…and what to do about it. Click here to register. On July 28, Kella Price, CPLP, National Advisor for Chapters, will provide a chance for chapter leaders to share ideas and learn from others during Getting It All Done: Re-Energize Your Board, Prevent Burn Out, and Still Meet Your Goals. Click here to register.

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Categories: Chapters

I just picked the July issue of Infoline out of my inbox to skim through and found myself reading the entire issue cover to cover. "Lead the Green Evolution" by Katherine Holt, Tom Bepler, Kate Grace MacElveen, and Carol Stoner is a good issue for people interested getting started on a greener path, both as individuals and as a leaders within their organizations (both with and without formal authority). This Infoline suggests a lot of small and big initiatives that can have an impact on slowing and perhaps eventually reversing climate change.

As the authors point out, going green is currently trendy, but it's really a much more important and fundamental change in our way of life--one that needs to take place if we want a livable planet. I frequently read or hear in the news that the huge changes needed to slow climate and reverse climate change are impossible over such short periods of time, but I don't buy it. Think about the radical and extremely fast retooling of the American industrial system needed to respond to World War II. Or what the changes that have taken place in the way that people do business because of technologies ranging from personal computers to the Internet to Twitter and iPhones? We can change fast if we want to change.

Anyway, this is an issue I care about, even though I haven't made as much personal progress on going green as I would like (although I try to make inroads all the time), so I am liable to get soap-boxy about it, but the Infoline is not soap-boxy at all; in fact, it provides some very good incentives for going green, including saving money, attracting and retaining talent, and attracting customers, as well as a lot of ideas for ways to implement greener business practices. So why not check it out? And in keeping with the green theme: Why not get it as a PDF?

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Categories: Books

(From Forbes.com) SEBASTOPOL, Calif. -- A PC in every home and workplace, a smart phone in every hand, all connected 24/7 to the hundreds of millions (and growing rapidly) of other people actively participating online via blogs, social networks, Twitter and multiplayer games.

Whether you call it Web 2.0, the social Web or any other neologism, the new network economy is about communities, collaboration, peer production and user-generated content. It is a place where business reputations are defined by customer opinions and ratings, where press is delivered by independent bloggers, and product development and insight is driven by customers. As digital natives--those who have grown up with the Internet--flood the workplace, your employees will expect to be part of the social Web and they'll have a lot to contribute.

 

(Read the entire article.)

 

Tags: social media, workplace, technology, web 2.0

Categories: News

Tags: colleges and universities, economy, training

Categories: The Economy

Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) June 29, 2009 -- Ceridian, a leader in managed human resource outsourcing solutions, announced today the release of the results of a survey on outsourcing conducted by the American Payroll Association (APA). The Ceridian-sponsored Trendline Survey was conducted in April 2009 and quantified the opinions of more that 1500 HR and payroll professionals. Some of the more interesting results involved the propensity to outsource, which continues to run very high, and respondents’ recognition of numerous outsourcing benefits.

The survey found that almost one quarter (24 percent) of those taking it were employees of companies who outsourced more today than in the past. The growing number of companies using outsourcing as a way to gain a strategic advantage in the marketplace is another indicator of the widespread recognition of its value.

(Read more.)

Tags: economy, recession, workplace, outsourcing, global business

Categories: The Economy

Maybe I should go on vacation more often! While I was away BusinessWeek and Kiplinger's called with requests for ASTD research and interviews with ASTD experts. And I just got off the phone with a reporter from Workforce Management who will be talking with Pat Galagan on the topic of training and investment.  Keep those calls coming!

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(From Dallas News) I think I speak for all baby boomers when I say this: Everyone should just stop lecturing the over-50 crowd.

My generation's profligacy has been well chronicled. We didn't invest enough; we didn't save enough; and we wanted to retire too early, preferably on someone else's dime.

But let me just add, we get it now, OK? We should have done better, but we didn't. We put too much faith in stocks and bonds and got our collective heads handed to us. We are sorry about all this, for heaven's sakes, so can you just give us a hug and then shut up?

But nooooo. A recent article in Barron's penned by a surly chap named Bob Adams of New Global Initiatives posits that we were – I paraphrase here – idiots for believing we could retire and live another 30 years off of others.

(Read the entire article.)

Tags: generational issues, workplace, economy

Categories: The Economy

Thanks to everyone who submitted ideas for this blog. I will cover them over the next couple of months. I hope each of your received your bundle of books.

As trainers we all know how important it is to keep participants involved and engaged. Most of you can list dozens of ways to increase participation in the classroom. All of us should increase participation—or why are they called participants?  

Yet this past week as I prepared to facilitate an ASTD Online Learning event for which 250 participants had registered, I couldn’t imagine how to obtain ample participation. I created a practical handout and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation. ASTD was helpful, as were the In Sync Training producers: “Use the ‘Raise-your-hand’ feature.” “Take a poll.” “Vote using a green check for “yes” and a red “x” for no.” “Have participants use their individual pointer to select an answer.” “Use the whiteboard.” “Try the ‘chat’ feature.” 

I used all the features, but still felt inadequate in obtaining the participation I desired. I wanted to get everyone in the game. I wanted participation. 

This past year we saw a new level of participation coming from Apple. Getting everyone in the game is what Apple did when it opened its phenomenally popular App Store. The App Store opened early in the morning on July 10, 2008 and in less than a year has had in excess of one billion downloads of over 56,000 applications according to 148Apps, which keeps an independent running count. Developers (read participants) like this platform: it’s easy to work with, provides a comfortable development environment, and offers a friction-free payment system where Apple handles all the accounting drudgery for a 30/70 revenue split. Apple has raised the participation bar. 

What can we as trainers learn from Apple about participation? Make it easy to participate. Make it comfortable to participate. Make it pay off to participate. 

No one likes to sit on the sidelines and that appears to be doubly so for Gen Ys. So how do you as a Workplace Learning and Performance Professional get everyone in the game? What can you do to make it easy, make it comfortable, and make it pay off—especially during online training sessions? 

Get in the Game Yourself! How do you encourage participation and involvement in an online learning situation? Share your ideas with everyone here. 

P.S. I’ll be facilitating the same online session again in August. I would love to have your ideas to enhance participation for that event!

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Categories: e-Laine

ASTD Research has just released the report Transforming Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton, and conducted by ASTD in conjunction with the institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). This 2008 study, based on survey data from over 700 learning professionals, discovered that the immense potential of Web 2.0 technologies has not yet been realized by the learning function in most organizations. Just 9 percent said Web 2.0 technologies play a major role in the learning function in their company while another 32 percent said they play a minor role. Given the fact that 87 percent of these respondents predicted their organizations were more likely to use Web 2.0 technologies over the next three years, growth in the employment of these powerful collaboration and communication tools seems inevitable.

More...

Tags: web 2.0, transforming learning with web 2.0 technologies

Categories: Research

(From Dynamic Business) A report conducted by a Queensland University psychologist has found that clear, concise emails can lead to higher morale at work and employers should create a list of guidelines on how staff should compose, send and check emails.

The report on email anxiety by University of Queensland psychologist Rowena Brown examined the email habits of 218 university staff, and found that poorly written emails can be just as stressful as receiving a large amount of emails all at once.

(Read more here.)

Tags: workplace, technology

Categories: News