December 12th, 2011 - by Angela
As you look back over the past year, what has been the best training and learning environment for your organization? If you are a trainer or training director, which and what type of sessions have created the most enthusiasm in your employees? Here are some items to think about as you reflect on 2011:
Have you asked or surveyed training participants about the sessions that were conducted? Before continuing your current training program, ask yourself and others what has worked and what has not work. Try to bring in trainers or develop in-house sessions that match what participants’ need and want. You will get the best results by having user’s help to structure your program. Make sure you build in to the program a learning environment that helps employees feel important and valued, connecting their learning directly to the objectives/goals of your organization.
Are you involving top-level employees to encourage training participation? Have you included testimonies from participants from previous training session? Communicating between all levels of employees can really build positive morale and trust. Not only can the training help improve performance but those open lines of communication can help the bottom line, too. Including all-levels of employees can make all participants feel more valued because they will see the importance of the training from all perspectives. It may also help employees think outside of their own team or department to see implications organization-wide.
Specifically look at the method, venue, and format of the sessions. Are you sessions interactive, including time for discussion and questions? If you are like most organizations, you may have a hard time reaching your entire diverse workforce with just one style of training session. Is the training fun and relevant to all participants? If not, you might be wasting participants’ and your organization’s time, effort, and money. If you feel that your training could be better provided by an outside team, make sure and contact me. We can help you design a relevant and useful program with fun, outgoing trainers!
Tags: Training in 2012
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December 5th, 2011 - by Angela
As we near the end of the year, many of us start to reflect back on where we have been and where we would like to go. When you look at your career, where do you see yourself in one year? in five years? Have you made progress over the last year in your career development? What plans do you have to grow professionally over the next year?
There are several ways to accomplish professional growth in your career. One way is to join an organization within your field or industry. A professional organization can help you meet people with similar interests and backgrounds. Networking within these organizations can help you find out about trends in your profession.
A great online resource for these networking groups is LinkedIn. You can find out about employment opportunities for advancement within your field through social career networking sites like LinkedIn. You can also help provide others with job opportunities or chances to advance in their careers.
Through these professional organizations, you can learn about professional conferences and seminars that are available in person and via online webinars. Additionally, you can learn how to obtain a professional certification, which can increase your value as a professional in your field. If you are looking to add to your technology toolbox or earn an additional certificate, training can definitely help you achieve your goals. Take a look at the courses offered to see if any of them could improve your technology skills or help you work toward earning an additional certificate in your field: http://www.versitas.com/courses.php.
As you reflect over 2011 and plan for 2012, be sure to include some time and resource investment in a professional organization and training to add to your certifications and/or technology skills. The long-term rewards will be well worth the investment!
Tags: career ladder, training classes
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November 28th, 2011 - by Angela
Every year at this time, I start getting a little frenzied about all my holiday gift shopping. Every year, I have vowed that I will start early and every year that does not happen. And, I seem to have so many people in my life that tell me they do not need anything. But, secretly, I know that they are just being nice and do not want to actually “ask” for something.
My husband is of the opinion that you should never ask someone for a list of ideas of what to purchase for them for a birthday or holiday. I am the complete opposite. If I know of something that they could use and would not return, it would be the first thing I buy for them. I really dislike getting something that ends up on a shelf in my closet because I cannot use it but someone special gave it to me so I do not want to give it away.
My family also dislikes giving gift cards or money. My sister says that if we give gift cards or money that we might as well just not give anything since we end up giving about the same amount to each other. Many of you can probably relate to some aspect of my family’s gift giving quandary. It is making me bald from pulling out my hair for new ideas.
I have asked numerous friends for ideas and they tell me to make something. I have done that in the past. However, this year is crazier than usual, so I do not really have the time to create anything, unless I decide I do not want to sleep anymore.
If you are in this same boat, you might want to give your family and friends a gift of training. Especially if you have a new graduate in your family, software training can be incredibly helpful and useful. You can customize the training to suit the needs of anyone, from young to old, novice to advanced user.
Just contact me and we will set something up for you. And, you will have given something that will not end up on a closet shelf somewhere!
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November 21st, 2011 - by Angela
I ran across some statistics today that I did not want to see. It was a survey about corporate training. Almost half of the respondents thought that the corporate training they received was “too boring” and a quarter of them thought it was “irrelevant”. Less than five percent thought that their corporate training was “just right”.
Ouch! How do we move more of those folks from the irrelevant/too boring camp into the “just right” camp? How do we get training and development aligned with the needs of our organization so that more people find the training useful? Every corporation wants their employee training to be successful and for the skills learned to transfer to their jobs. So, what do we do?
Here are some ideas that can help make your training program less boring and more relevant:
* Assess the training to see if you even need it. Some problems may be attributed to a person that is not in the right position or who does not have the right personality for that position.
* Make sure that you show a direct link between the training and the participant’s job before, during and after the training session. The participant needs to understand the importance of the learning from the session in direct relationship to the ability for that person and the organization to be successful.
* Use a reward, where appropriate. Some employees would be more motivated by having an incentive or reward when they reach certain levels of performance in training. These rewards do not need to always be monetary, so get creative!
* When creating a training session, look for training methods and classes that have measurable outcomes. When participants know what to expect, then they will be able to see the link between the training and their job more clearly. Make sure and provide a way for the participant to evaluate and give feedback about the training, too.
* It is incredibly helpful when the supervisor for each participant knows what the training will encompass and what will be expected post-training. When the supervisor realizes the importance of the training, they can reinforce that with the participant prior to and after the training.
I hope these tips are helpful to your organization’s training!
Tags: training statistics
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November 14th, 2011 - by Angela
Recently, I was talking with a friend who happens to be a university college professor. He remarked on how his junior and seniors knew everything about Facebook but knew little about true computer literacy. He was disappointed because he knew that these students grew up using computers, but they only knew how to surf the web, participate in social media, and play games.
In order to get all of the students up to speed in class, he spent a whole class period demonstrating tasks like saving to a USB drive, creating a research paper in Word, and using data in Excel to create a chart. Additionally, he took his students to a keyboarding website, where they could increase their speed and accuracy. He knew that his students needed this information to not only succeed in his class but in the competitive job market, as well.
His statements really made me think about the skills that are needed to not only get a job but to keep a job. I did a little online searching to see what research was available for computer literacy rates for high school graduates. I was not surprised to find that what my friend was stating seemed to be the general thought across many university, community college, and workplace findings.
If our high school graduates do not have those skills, when are they going to get them? How do we expect them to succeed if they go to college or if they go straight into the workforce? Of course, my trainer side immediately begins screaming, “Training! Get them a one-on-one training session right now!”
If you are not proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Windows, you do not have the skills that most jobs require right now. Can you type at least 40 words per minute (while not looking at the keyboard)? Can you quickly locate a file stored on your computer and create folders to organize your files on your hard drive or USB drive? If not, you need to give me a call! Set up a deskside training session or a whole class (if you have multiple people who need the same training). This little investment can pay off with big dividends.
You do not want to be at a disadvantage in our highly competitive job market. Computer literacy is a key factor in your ability to succeed in finding and keeping a job!
Tags: computer literacy
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