Informal Learning becomes Formal

Excerpt: "It's now official. After surveying our entire research membership and having more than 30 conversations with leading HR and learning leaders (including with Xerox, Accenture, British Telecom, Edward Jones, Department of Defense, and Network Appliance), I am now 100% convinced that 'informal learning' has become 'formal.' That is, if you want to build a high-impact, cost-effective, modern training organization you must 'formally adopt' informal learning.

So what does this all mean? A few statistics:

78% of corporate managers believe that 'rapid rate of information change' is one of their top learning challenges (800+ HR and L&D managers surveyed in 2008).

80% of all corporate learning takes place through on-the-job interactions with peers, experts, and managers (estimated data collected from over 1,100 L&D managers late in 2008).

Over 30% of all corporate training programs (ie. classroom or other formal programs) are not delivering any measurable value (data provided through the same survey).

Nearly all Millenial employees (under the age of 25) expect to find an on-demand learning portal (similar to Google and YouTube) within their employer's environment."

Click the header of this post for the entire article.

Lessons Learned - Dec - ASTD

Excerpt: "With financial markets in turmoil, training professionals will likely find their budgets receiving intense scrutiny. Concurrent with pressure to reduce costs is the requirement for companies to ensure their employees have the necessary skills, not only to compete effectively, but to ensure organizational survival. A critical way to both assess and build skills is through competency models."

Click the header of this post for the entire article.

When Product Equals People, Knowledge Is Key

Excerpt: "As a professional services firm with more than 180,000 employees globally, Accenture collaborates and shares ideas with clients. As chief human resources officer, Jill Smart is responsible for talent management for the entire firm. Her close-to-the-action position offers access to the best and the worst in other organizations' HR processes, and she said the learning never stops.

TM: What is Accenture's approach to talent management?

Smart: We sell the knowledge capital that our people have, so management of that talent is really management of our product. Product development for us is about developing our people, building their skills and the unique and innovative aspects of their knowledge capital. Those components, in addition to career management, traditional training and succession planning, would be how we define talent management."

Click the header of this post for the entire article.

What Directors Should Ask about Talent Management - BusinessWeek

Content: "Here are seven questions corporate directors should be asking to determine how well career development and succession planning are being implemented"

Click the header of this post for the entire article.

Top 25 Talent Management Blogs

Fistful of Talent ranks this year’s hot talent management blogs. Congrats to the top 25 winners! Some day, I'll be on this list. Click the headline of this post for the original article.

1. Cheezhead


2. The Recruiter Guy


3. Jim Stroud’s The Recruiters Lounge


4. Compensation Force


5. Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel


6. Your HR Guy


7. Amybeth Hale - Research Goddess


8. All Things Workplace


9. Employee Evolution


10. Great Leadership


11. Learn @ Trizle


12. TalentMash by Kristin Gissarro


13. Andy Headworth’s Sirona Says


14. HRmarketer.com


15. Evil HR Lady


16. Marketing Headhunter.com


17. HR Bartender


18. Three Star Leadership Blog


19. Ask a Manager


20. Seth Godin


21. The Business of Management


22. JibberJobber Blog


23. Punk Rock HR


24. TalentedApps


25. Social Media Headhunter

Manager's Sandbox: innovative talent management

Excerpt: "The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris is a book about quitting your 9-to-5 to pursue the life you’ve always dreamed of. This isn’t about running your own business - it’s about owning a business that runs itself so you can stop living on a “deferred life plan” and start enjoying your golden years right now.

Is it unrealistic? In many regards, of course it is. But it’s not quite as far out as you might think. I recently read The 4-Hour Workweek and to my surprise, a book about quitting your job had a few things to teach people about talent management."

Click the header of this post for the entire article.

How Should My Company Evaluate and Select a Talent Management System…or any HR System for that Matter?

From hrchitect.com:

"With the multitude of platforms, vendors and system capabilities, the selection of a talent management system can be a larger and more complicated project than anticipated. There are several steps that HRchitect recommends to its clients (and that HRchitect utilizes when assisting companies in this complex and puzzling process) and we will cover these in a series of upcoming blogs.

These steps and accompanying descriptions should give you an appreciation for the potential magnitude and complexity of doing a thorough talent management system software evaluation. Certainly, in the space of a blog we won’t be able to go into complete detail for each step (nor should we give away all our best practices!)

The typical software evaluation project usually runs 3-5 months. Timeframe may be shorter for smaller employers with potentially less users, processes and complexity and possibly longer for larger employers replacing a robust legacy talent management system."

Click here for the rest of the story.

Executive Coaches as Advisors

From Dr. Earl R. Smith II:

"Having an executive coach as a trusted business partner and advisor has now become a common success strategy for many executive. By helping corporate leaders and their senior teams navigate through various business challenges, the coach is able to add substantial value by collaborating directly with the senior management team.

This guidance and support helps the team focus more effectively on both their own leadership development and that of their employees - and on the strategic interests of the company. The working relationship between a coach and senior teams more effectively achieves important business objectives by greatly increasing the success of each employee and of the team."

Click here for more.

Consolidation Seen in Talent Management Software

From workforce.com: "The economic downturn could speed consolidation in HR software, industry experts say. HR technology consultant Naomi Bloom expects consolidation not just among talent management players, but also in the broader realm of HR software and services. Not all vendors present at last month’s HR Technology Conference in Chicago will make it, she predicted. A good number of them are “not well enough capitalized to last out a really down year,” Bloom said."

Click here for the rest of the story.

Is talent management important in an economic downturn?

Excerpt: "Talent management allows businesses to attract, develop and retain the right people. In an economic downturn talent management has become increasingly important; nevertheless, it can also quickly become a lower priority in the minds of some businesses that are faced with pressures to cut costs and do more with less. However, with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) predicting a further half a million UK jobs will be axed next year, the reality of today’s economic situation means that recruiting, keeping and motivating the best employees has never been more crucial."

Click the headline of this post for the rest of the story.

Recruiting Tools Still Leave Much to be Desired

From Human Resource Executive Online: "After seeming to settle down and consolidate for a while, recruiting software has once again become the most competitive, contentious and confused sector in all of HR technology. Why? Because they still haven't gotten it right!

For the last 10 years at least, I've said the recruiting software sector (be old-fashioned and call it Applicant Tracking Systems or ATS; be hip and call it Talent Acquisition) is the most competitive, contentious and confused area of HR technology and maybe of all business software!"

Click the headline of this post for the rest of the story.

Talent Management Is Like the Kidney

From Business Software Guide: "Talent management functions like the kidney that hires the good personnel and fires the bad ones.

The two kidneys are the vital organs in the body amongst other functions cleanse the blood of toxins and keep it chemically balanced. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines and process the blood to filter out the wastes and extra water. Similarly a good talent management system will hire the good personnel, retain them and remove the bad ones."

As usual, click the headline of this post for more details.

Lessons from the Holiday Season: Optimize, don't just Cut

Excerpt: "Everyone puts on a little weight during good times – vacations and holidays are notorious times for over eating, relaxed behavior and good feelings. Well for businesses, the vacation has come to an abrupt end. After years of easy credit and a booming housing market, the bottom has fallen out from under companies more quickly than anyone had expected, and the economic uncertainty looks as if it will continue for some time."

Click the headline of this post for the rest of the story...

Uncertain Economy Weighs Heavily on US Workers, Accenture Study Finds

Excerpt: "NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Nearly two-thirds of U.S. middle managers say that the economy is having a negative impact on their work environments, according to an Accenture (NYSE: ACN) survey released today.

The survey of more than 300 U.S. middle managers found that 61 percent said that employees are concerned about losing their jobs or that morale is down. Additionally, more than half (53 percent) of respondents said they are dissatisfied or only somewhat satisfied with their jobs."

Read more by clicking the headline of this post.

CRM = Human Capital Management

From FT.com: "Customer relationship management (CRM) is regarded as “understanding the customer”, but many organisations and technology developers approach it as a data-segmentation and profiling exercise. I contend that effective CRM must also involve adopting a 360-degree view of the performance of the staff who manage customer relationships.

Managing customers is only truly possible through managing customer-facing staff. It is simply not possible to achieve effective CRM by only looking at one side of a multi-faceted issue. Systems and solutions geared to analysing customer data are only analysing part of the picture.

Overlooking how the staff who deal with customers are performing is perhaps the biggest issue affecting customer satisfaction. If maximising revenue from customers is an organisation’s objective then a simultaneous objective needs to be the maximising of service delivery to customers."

Click the headline of this post for the entire article.

Are you a Maverick?

Excerpt: "Mavericks are often described by Judith Germain as being wilfully independent, a trait which companies need to utilise if they want to remain competitive and successful. This wilfulness, however, needs to be harnessed because, left unchecked; it can bring down a company with dramatic consequences. Here I advise on the delicate process of balancing the need to encourage a Maverick, whilst restricting their independence to ensure that they can be successful and their employees remain productive, effective and engaged."

Click the headline of this post for the rest of the story.

What is your most important assest?

From mySA.com: "If you demoralize people by having them punch time clocks, sit in cubicles and micromanage them, then you'll have unhappy employees and it will show in the company's profits margins.

95 percent of your assets walk out the door every day. Make your employees happy so they'll return and create great products customers want to buy.To ensure their happiness, SAS offers their employees some of the best benefits in the business. To start, employees get free M&Ms every Wednesday. The tradition started when the company only had five employees. A secretary went to the store with a $20 check to buy coffee. The clerk wouldn't give her change so she bought a couple of bags of M&Ms. Now the company buys two tons of M&Ms every year."

Click the headline of this post for the rest of the story.

Automate and Analyze Your Metrics

From IndustryWeek: "It is the combination of technology, tech savviness, and concrete planning that ultimately guarantees best-in-class talent management.

The manufacturing sector requires special attention to its HR processes, simply due to the very nature of its recruitment practices. Corporations such as Consolidated Container Co. and Brother International have to not only keep track of regular hires, but also hourly-employees, part-time workers, and walk-in applicants on a daily basis. In this context, figuring out which application is the best fit for your company's profile and future production trajectory is a essential to managing talent."

Click the headline of this post to read the entire article.

Employees Leaving? Here's Why and What You Can Do About It

From CIO.com: "When an employee quits, it costs your company: downtime, customer satisfaction, hiring and training someone new. Know how much? Experts say it's up to a whopping 250% of annual compensation."

Click the headline of this post to read the entire article.

Warren Buffet on Talent Management

Click here to download the pdf file.

Talent in My Hometown

This study, "The Role of Talent in the Achievement of Economic Goals within the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area," is based on input from more than 950 employees and 212 business owners and executives. The comprehensive report was undertaken to address factors that cause Columbus to attract -- as well as lose -- talent. Among the findings:

-- Columbus employers have relative difficulty recruiting, hiring and
retaining required talent. Top challenges to ensuring a pipeline of talent
are developing existing talent, leadership development and retaining
talent.
-- The three most difficult areas of expertise for Columbus employers to
obtain are sales, computer programming and engineering.
-- Only 30 percent of Columbus employers believe the region's colleges
and universities are assisting in meeting the changing skill needs of the
area's workforce.
-- According to Columbus employees, the most important factors in a
metropolitan area are safety, career and professional opportunities, and
cleanliness and attractiveness.
-- According to employees in Columbus, the city's greatest weaknesses are
its difficulty of travel, lack of professional and personal opportunity,
and the region's appearance and reputation.'

Read all about it here.

Method and system for analysis of financial investment in human capital resources invention

Here is a new patent application about how to calculate ROI for Talent Management.

Abstract: A method and system for analyzing an organization's investment in human capital resources is provided to assist in improving the organization's overall financial performance. The method includes receiving inputted data retrieved from common accounting records regularly maintained in connection with operation of the organization. Further, the present invention provides a novel approach particularly relevant for precise analysis of people-intensive organizations, such as service-providing organizations. The approach involves calculation of values for newly defined HCP, ROHS and PS metrics. Aggregation of the metric values into a single index value metric facilitates benchmarking of an organization against itself and others. A report is provided that identifies factors most responsible for influencing the overall index, which assists the organization's management in determining how to implement change in the organization that will improve the metrics and thus the overall profitability of the organization.

Measuring the Cost of Employee Misunderstanding

Excerpt: "Most businesses interviewed admitted within the last twelve months alone they had been exposed to either employee or public injuries and loss in sales due to employee misunderstanding. The data also revealed U.S. and UK businesses are losing an estimated $624 per employee every year due to the same issues. That number equates to a staggering $37 billion in annual losses incurred because workers misunderstand one or more crucial aspects of their jobs."

Click here for the rest of the story.

Talent Managment Made "Virtually" Simple

Announcing a new Group in Second Life tied to this blog. To keep things simple, of course, the name is "Talent Management Made Simple."
If you'd like to join, email me by clicking here.

Learning & Performance Management Systems (LPMS)

This fellow has developed a clear and concise definition of what Learning Management Systems are all about today. However, instead of LPMS, I'd just prefer to say that LMSs have evolved into TMSs, or Talent Management Systems.

Business Week: How to Invest in Your Workforce

An exclusive study from IBM and Human Capital Institute finds nonprofits and midsized companies coming up short in employee management. Duh! Excerpt:

"The war for talent. The coming brain drain. Mismanaged succession. In recent years, judging by steady increases in spending on talent management, workforce challenges like these have become top of mind for most companies, large and small. But what is the most productive way to invest in your workforce, and what are the chances you will see a tangible return?"

Click here to get an answer to that question.

Aberdeen Group: Workforce collaboration and web 2.0 ~ The New Social Business

Click here for a peek at what "Web 2.0" means to the eLearning and Talent Management industries. Excerpt:

"The Aberdeen Group...defines workforce collaboration as "connecting employees and sharing knowledge to achieve identified goals". It is therefore one outcome of both connection (through social networking) and knowledge sharing (through web 2.0).

Education decline is the biggest issue facing this country - Salt Lake Tribune

Click here to read David Brooks' take on the sad state of education in America.

The Transparent Talent Pool

Here's another article on the use of talent pools, and how they should be a critical component of your talent management strategy. Excerpt:

"Whilst succession planning can prove to be one of the toughest parts of your people management strategy, Erik Berggren argues that by creating a transparent talent pool, organisations will find themselves in a win-win situation."

Click here to read the entire article.

Here's an example of bad employer branding...

"One high profile example of a corporation tackling their employer brand head-on is McDonald’s, who rely on a steady supply of Human Capital to give their business and their brand life. After the term McJob appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary, being described as having low pay and poor prospects, McDonald’s responded in 2006 with the challenging Not bad for a McJob campaign."

Click here for more...

Finding and Attracting Employees, NOW!!

"If you want to attract skilled employees to your business next year and in the next few years, start thinking in terms of “Human Capital Financial Management” and invest in a staffing strategy that will pay off in the short and long term. Here are some things you can do using new technology to increase the flow of talented employees to your company in a tight labor market."

1. Your Company as a Brand:
2. Getting the Brand Recognized:
3. Blogging the Brand
4. Leveraging Social Networks
5. Anoint the Greatest
6. Grow Your Own
7. Employees as the Brand
8. Managers as a Brand
9. Fruit’s at the End of the Limb
10. Text The Best

Click here to read the entire article.

Corporate Universities...They're Baaaaaack!

Businesses are finally taking themseleves beyond the "Training Department." As Josh Bersin sees it..."'Corporate University' connotes the concept of education, not training. The idea is that the University will focus on the long term development needs of the organization and will build multi-tiered curricula and career development programs which help employees within these disciplines build skills and careers in the company."


Click here for the whole story.

ITM: Integrated Talent Management

So, there's a new acronym floating around...ITM. What is it? Click here for a white paper on the subject. Excerpt:

"Many companies struggle to adapt to their ever-changing workforce as employees start the job and then leave for better offers. Competition is fierce—and retaining highly skilled job candidates has never been more difficult. In order to achieve their business goals and stay competitive, many companies are turning to integrated talent management (ITM). Find out how you can get started on your ITM development plan today."

Want To Retain Your Top Talent? Try Using Retention Interviews

Exit interviews are so passe, and so after the fact. This article explains how Retention Interviews are the new proactive version of assessing employee happiness. Here's an excerpt:

"These days companies are looking for creative ways to keep their best and brightest talent, despite dwindling budgets. While benefits, perks, and other programs help attract, retain, and engage employees, some human resources professionals are turning to the retention interview – a more intangible, but arguably more effective, long-term strategy."

Talent Management During Business Downturns

This article from TMCnet estimates the Talent Management market to grow to US$2.5 billion by 2012. Additionally, it states that "'Despite a potential business downturn, employee retention will continue to be a key concern for HR executives in 2008, given the very real demographic shifts occurring in the workforce,' said Lisa Rowan, program director, HR and Talent Management Services."

Click here for more...

Can Money Buy Talent?

Here's a conversation with Wharton School Professor Peter Cappelli, author if the new book Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty Here's an overview "Whether money can buy happiness may never acquire unanimous consensus -- but money can buy talented employees, which can make employers very happy. Employees -- especially the good ones -- don't come cheap, though. How much are you willing to spend in a world where toner has more longevity than the common employee? In his new book, Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty, addresses one of the most significant challenges a business must face: How to ensure that it will be you who reaps the benefits of your investment."

Click here for the entire interview.

Best-in-Class Use of Metrics in Talent Management

Aberdeen Group recently released an excellent research paper on this subject. Click here to go to the download page. Here's an excerpt:

"Identifying, recruiting, developing, and retaining top talent are at the top of the list of organizational priorities. But human resources executives often struggle in determining the metrics that should be used to assess the performance of these initiatives. These metrics are vital for two reasons: they are necessary for the program champion to gain senior management buy-in and support, and they are used to monitor the success of the program and allow visibility into whether it is working as intended."

CEOs Finally Get It - Inside Recruiting

Click here to see how recruiting is finally making it into the boardroom as a critical business process. Excerpt:

Recruiters everywhere should be rejoicing over the latest news from Vurv (profile; site) and the Human Capital Institute, hinting that recruiting is finally getting the respect it deserves in the corporate boardroom.

According to "The Role of HR in the Age of Talent," which surveyed almost 800 HR professionals and non-HR professionals, more and more CEOs and corporate board members are viewing acquiring, retaining, and engaging talent as the most challenging business problem they face.

Are you ready for the talent shortage?

Are you ready for the talent shortage?: "SumTotal's Career & Succession Planning Toolkit will help you take a proactive approach to the talent shortage. The kit includes:

1. SumTotal Systems’ latest white paper 7 Key Steps to Starting Effective Career &
2. Succession Planning – A Vaccination Plan for the Talent Shortage Crisis

Career & Succession Planning Webcast archived recording, which will show you how you can develop ROI metrics to help build your business case for career and succession planning in your organization

Access to Chief Learning Officer Magazine’s article Destination Hotels: Leveraging Technology for Effective Succession Planning"

Talent Management during a Recession

So you think your Succession Planning tool is only helpful to fill the upcoming gaps created by the departure of the Baby Boomers from your company? Think again.

For the sake of this discussion, let's assume that the US has already entered a recessionary period. If you're in an industry tied closely to consumer demand or the housing market, you're probably already feeling the pain. For some of you, it's time to start considering temporary reductions in your workforce. Here are some of the ways you can leverage the information in your Talent Management System (TMS) to assist you in the process.

1. The most obvious way your Talent Management system can help you during times of layoffs, is to identify your marginal performers. Although Executives will rarely admit it, layoffs are a great time to "clean house" and get rid of your employees that may be "on the left side of the bell curve..."

2. On the flip side, your TMS can help you identify the employees that are critical for you to keep during a reduction in force (RIF.) Once you've established the list of critical positions that need filled, the TMS can identify the best candidate for each position.

3. During a RIF, it's critical to have to flexible and multi-skilled workforce. This allows you to shift resources around the company, based on the changing needs during a recession.

Recessions are a fact of life. Those that ignore them, are destined to fail. Those that recognize them, and react accordingly, weather them just fine.

Including Talent Pools in your Succession Plans

Most succession plans are based one-to-one or one-to-many relationships between an at-risk position, and its potential successors. However, this structure breaks down when there are multiple openings for a particular position. For example, a large manufacturing company may have an identical position at every one of their manufacturing facilities, for example, the Safety Officer. Traditionally, succession plans are created for each of these individual positions, usually only drawing from the local talent poll (internal, or external) for that facility.

With the new-found mobility of the work force, this may not be an effective strategy. By using a Talent Pool, you can look across your entire organization for successors. Then , poll potential successors regarding their amenability to relocation. Good performance management systems can even track an employee's geographical preferences. This approach can bring candidates into the pool that may have otherwise been overlooked using traditional succession planning methods.

TMS = ERP for People!

Everyone remembers the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system wave of the 80's...right? ERP's developed out of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems, primarily driven by manufacturing industries, and the logistics profession (APICS.) ERP's were all about getting the right things, to the right place, in the right quantity, at the right time.

With Talent Management systems, the objective is the same, but the "things" are now people, instead of materials or machines. How do I get the right people in the right positions? How do I increase the throughput of each "process" by minimizing waste (training) and increasing effeciency (competency management.)

LMS and PMS: Why you need both

So you already have either a Learning Management System (LMS), or a Performance Management System (PMS)? Even if you have both, are they talking with each other? Why is it not only important to have both, but why must they be tightly integrated. See Josh Bersin's article entitled The Convergence of Learning and Performance Management to read more.

Performance Management is Like the Pinewood Derby

So, how many of you out there are a Performance Management professional, and also a Cub Scout dad? Well, that's me. And I've come to realize that Talent and Performance Management is much like a Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race.

It's all about alignment.

I've seen all kinds of Pinewood Derby cars: funny ones, high tech ones, simple ones, complex ones. Most Cub Scouts spend most of their time on how their car looks. From a physics standpoint, what really matters is that all four wheels of your car are perfectly aligned. Secondarily, each wheel must be running friction-free on it's respective axle.

How is this like Performance Management?

It doesn't matter what kind of company or organization that you are, or what industry you're in; the key factor driving success is the ability to clearly align all of your resources towards a common goal. Additionally, each resource must be able to perform "friction-free." Not only must the activities of the entire team be synchronized, but the individual activities cannot be constrained by obstacles.