(PRWeb UK/PRWEB) -- The Core Metric: The Executive Committee

Recent studies have drawn attention to the lack of gender balance on boards. Now, the consultancy 20-first has launched the WOMENOMICS 101 Survey to shine a light on the most senior executive teams in the top 101 companies in three key regions of the globe. "This survey invites you to look deeper into companies, and to use metrics that distinguish those serious about gender balance from the rest. That's what WOMENOMICS 101 proposes to do," says Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of 20-first, author, and publisher of the new annual survey.

Key Findings:
US Leads: The US is ahead in this survey, with 89% of companies having at least one woman on their Executive Committee. The American companies with the highest number of women on their executive boards are: Kraft Foods, WellPoint, Macy's, Allstate, Pfizer, and Wells Fargo.

Read the full article.

Tags: gender issues, executives, trends

Categories: International | News | Research

LAST month, Kevin Rudd made a speech, which although not heavily reported, set the government a significant objective and will form an important marker for its success.

In an address to the Australia New Zealand School of Government, he set out his ambition to reinvigorate the public service to be more effective and efficient. This does not sound too sexy, but given the public sector accounts for more than 40per cent of the domestic economy, reform is vital. What is more, in many areas the public sector is in serious need of improvement.

The Prime Minister said: "We need a more sweeping reform driven by a long-range blueprint for a world class, 21st century public service." He also established an advisory panel to develop such a plan.

Whatever the plan, it is vital that public sector reform is not left entirely to the public sector. Business should take it seriously and attempt to shape this reform. Like any large organisation, the public sector is difficult to change and therefore needs all the insights and pressure that can be marshalled.

Read the full article.

Tags: innovation, talent management, strategy, public sector, private sector

Categories: International | News

I recently returned from a trip to Europe, so I’d like to share with you a brief update. In September I participated in the launch event for our new international partner in the UK, The Learning Sanctuary. I also visited our international partners and members in Ireland and the Netherlands.  I appreciated the exchange of ideas with local practitioners and gained valuable insight into local learning communities and current challenges.

The next trip is scheduled for Denmark, so I hope to share more information with you upon my return.

For upcoming events, please visit the international events calendar.

http://www.astd.org/membership/international/internationalEvents.htm

Tags: international, europe, training, uk, members

Categories: International

(ABC News) -- The Federal Government's bid to set up national laws for workplace safety is in doubt, with Western Australia saying it is unlikely to agree.

A draft version of the new national occupational health and safety laws is expected to be released today.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard is meeting state and territory ministers, including a concerned Troy Buswell from Western Australia.

He is refusing to sign up to the laws because he thinks they give unions too much power.

Read the full article.

Tags: australia, workplace, public sector, safety

Categories: International | News

phrases, today's managers have to keep learning continuously, not only from their jobs but also through formal pedagogy. This is where the role of executive management programmes steps in.

Several new institutes and organisations cater to the rising demand of training of executives, as opposed to predominantly fresh graduates that enroll into B-schools. And, the enrolment numbers at executive education programmes is only going higher by the day. Take for example NIIT Imperia, which was set up in the year 2006 to address the demand for executive training.

Now, has a presence in 8 cities; and it has aggressive plans to be present in 75 cities by 2010! Other than the big players like IIMs and ISB, many other organisations and institutes like HughesNet Global Education, Apeejay School of Management, IGNOU, Reliance Webworld, NIS Sparta, 24 x 7 Learning and U21 Global are growing rapidly too, and are offering various executive education programmes.

Read the full article.

Tags: india, executives, education, management, globalization

Categories: International | News

Eight days ago, a 32-year-old France Télécom worker died after throwing herself from the fifth-floor window of company premises in Paris following news of further corporate reorganisation.

The suicide, the 23rd among staff at the former phone monopoly in 18 months, triggered anguish about stress at work. Didier Lombard, the company's chairman, was summoned to a meeting with Employment Minister Xavier Darcos and efforts to provide psychological support to employees during restructuring were stepped up at companies across the land.

The sense of workplace stress when you cross the threshold of a French office or factory doesn't seem notably greater than anywhere else in Europe in these difficult times. But in asides and emails, employees frequently complain about how over-loaded they are.

Read the full article.

Tags: france, economic downturn, recession, stress, workplace

Categories: International | The Economy

Below is a video blog while I'm traveling in Ireland. I will also be traveling to England and the Netherlands, so please feel free to contact me if you wish to schedule a meeting. The video blog discusses an interesting article about Facebook usage. We welcome you to visit ASTD's group and International page on Facebook and I look forward to hearing your insight and comments about social networking use in your country.

Tags: ireland, facebook, training, social networking

Categories: International

It aimed to provide training places for more than 700,000 people over five years to address Australia's skills shortage.

Martin Riordan, the chief executive of TAFE Directors Australia, says the program has been in strife from day one.

He says it has failed to look at longer-term skills needs.

"The problem has been that the program was rushed and was underfunded in many cases by more than 50 per cent," he said.

Read the entire article.

Tags: australia, skills shortage

Categories: International | News

Click on the video below for an overview of the newly-developed ASTD Knowledge Center, which you can access at this direct link: http://www.astd.org/content/research/doYourOwn/

Tags: membership, association, training, hrd, resources, knowledge, international

Categories: International

Have you seen the special event posted on the ASTD website? Marcus Buckingham will be delivering a webcast on “The Performance Multiplier: How to Use the Four Principles of Social Networking to Reinvent Performance Management”. During this webcast, you'll learn how to harness the power of an organization's strengths by creating an intense focus on performance and matching people with the right opportunities to play to their strengths. Whether you are responsible for performance management in your organization, management of a team, or contributing on a team, this webcast is for you.

The Performance Multiplier: How to Use the Four Principles of Social Networking to Reinvent Performance Management
Wednesday, September 9 at 2 p.m. ET

Capacity is limited, so be sure to act quickly. For a full description of the webcast and for instructions on how to sign up, please follow this link:
http://www.astd.org/content/education/Webcasts/buckingham.htm

Tags: membership, training, webcast, international, marcus buckingham, social networking, performance

Categories: International