Elearning blog: Learning re-imagined

Congratulations 2013 Global Skillsoft Perspectives Innovation Award Winners!

We are happy to announce the winners of our 2013 Global Skillsoft Perspectives Innovation Awards! The winners, which include the United Service Organizations (USO), PPD, the largest healthcare insurance company in Michigan, TELUS, ACTIVE Network, Ricoh Americas Corporation, BT, Sysmex, Carrington Mortgage Holdings, LLC, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lloyds Banking Group, demonstrate how Skillsoft’s elearning solutions are enabling organizations to improve their performance through a diverse set of innovative learning programs. In addition, Mary Beth Alexander, AVP, organizational development and corporate marketing for Economical Insurance was recognized as Learning Champion of the Year, and First Data was recognized for Program of the Year.

Skillsoft honors these winners annually for their significant achievements in corporate learning and development, recognizing innovative ideas and inspiring leaders who are helping to transform the learning landscape. We are thrilled with the positive response reflected in this year’s submissions and are proud to honor this group of exceptional organizations and individuals who truly personify what it means to make learning integral to everyday business and life. We look forward to continuing to work with these valued customers as they move forward on their path towards fully-optimized corporate learning and are excited to see where their learning programs take them in the future. 

Special thanks to the independent panel of industry experts who judged the awards this year, including Mike Prokopeak of Chief Learning Officer, Catherine Upton of Elearning! Magazine, John Hollon of TLNT.com, Debbie Bolla of HRO Today, Bill Brandon of Learning Solutions Magazine, Andrew McIlvaine of Human Resource Executive, Kris Dunn of HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent and B.J. Schone of eLearning Weekly.

The 2013 Innovation Award categories and winners are below:

Skillsoft Marks 10th Anniversary of its Groundbreaking Learning Growth Model

We are thrilled to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of our Learning Growth Model^® this month! To recognize this milestone, we are excited to introduce an updated whitepaper and infographic that illustrate the transformation of training into learning and include the most recent innovations in the learning industry.

The new infographic, which outlines the latest version of the Learning Growth Model, is available at: http://on.fb.me/14HOiic.

The Learning Growth Model is also detailed in our updated whitepaper, The Skillsoft Learning Growth Model: A Blueprint for Integrating Learning into the Life of the Enterprise in Five Manageable Stages.

Initially developed in 2003 to help organizations chart a realistic direction on their path to learning optimization, the five-stage model aligns learning with strategic business goals, leading to increased cost savings, productivity, performance, employee retention and competitive advantage.

The five stages of the Skillsoft Learning Growth Model are:

• Stage 1 – Supplement. In this stage, elearning is introduced to address scalability challenges and reduce costs. New elearning resources address a backlog of demand for skills-based training that could not be delivered via traditional methods due to high costs. Reduced travel costs, design and development costs, instructor time and learners’ time away from work all contribute to significant cost savings.

• Stage 2 – Targeted. During stage two, targeted learning begins to support specific initiatives and job roles. This stage expands earlier results and provides elearning in new workplace areas. Elearning resources replace redundant classroom training, which further reduces learning costs. Executive support typically increases during this stage of the Learning Growth Model.

• Stage 3 – Strategic. Learning is aligned to strategic business objectives and begins to connect to talent management to increase the value and impact of learning during stage three. This is the most pivotal stage in the Learning Growth Model and marks the transformation from skills-focused training to business-focused learning and is a major point of change into a new learning paradigm.

• Stage 4 – Integrated. Stage four is marked by increasing talent and accelerating organizational agility. Organizations that reach this stage have successfully woven learning into the fabric of the organization. Learning is focused on accelerating business results, deepening the talent pool and creating an agile, empowering, productive and creative organization. 

• Stage 5 – Optimized. Organizations at the optimized stage have fully matured and are focused on deepening talent and broadening learning to the extended enterprise. Elearning is branched out to the organization’s supply chain, customers, etc. Learning has become globally ubiquitous and seamlessly integrates into the workplace.

Here at Skillsoft, we take pride in consistently delivering quality content to our valued customers and partners and we look forward to continuing to support the talent development process through unique tools and content. By closely correlating a learning program with tangible business goals, organizations can improve knowledge retention and document a return on their learning investment. Our whitepaper and infographic are excellent tools for guidance through this process, which transforms basic training into integrated learning.

How has your organization optimized learning over the past ten years?

Getting the most value from learning

We’re excited to share some of our key priorities for 2013 that were announced at Skillsoft’s recent annual global kick off meeting! These initiatives will help our customers and prospects get even more value from their learning programs. 

• Supporting continuous learning:  We’re entering an era of continuous learning, where a combination of formal, informal and social learning are constantly available to support your learners, which will help you achieve organizational agility and business excellence. 
• Learning strategy: We will continue to focus on customer market issues and leverage our Content, Service and Experience to lead you to an optimal learning approach. Read about our framework.
• Skillport® 8:  We’re very close to releasing the next generation of Skillport – Skillport 8.  Skillport 8 is a modern LMS, which takes into account the user experience first and foremost, with native mobile device support and collaboration features.  Read more.
• Skillsoft® Sales Advantage™:  Our latest release in the Advantage series is geared toward a new audience – sales professionals.  Skillsoft Sales Advantage builds skills in key areas of sales competency including conducting effective meetings, negotiations, closing and more. 
• Industry research: New research, conducted in conjunction with KnowledgeAdvisors, found that Skillsoft elearning was as good as or better than in-house developed elearning and that Skillsoft elearning was as effective as classroom training in its ability to positively impact the job. Download the new research paper. 
• Skillsoft Perspectives event, May 13-16 in Orlando, Fla.:  We look forward to welcoming 1,000 learning industry professionals for four days filled with presentations, collaborative working sessions and networking. With keynotes from Seth Godin and Professor Peter Cappelli of The Wharton School, and panel discussions with CLOs and industry analysts, it’s sure to be a fantastic week!  Register here. 

We are committed to bringing you the best in technology enabled learning.  Check our website, and subscribe to our blog and other social channels to see on-going updates of these developments. 

It’s about the impact, not the app

By Shawn Hunter

If we are software coders, we can get hypnotized by the killer hack. If we are sales professionals, we can be entranced by the nuance of well-run client meetings. And for project managers, it’s easy to be seduced by the latest task management app. But remember, while the devil is in the details, the beauty is in the result, the impact and the difference.

Don Tapscott has a marvelous illustration of the power and importance of connecting people with ideas, without being encumbered and distracted by the mechanism itself.

A few years ago he was in his house when down the hall he heard his son calling out, “Dad! Dad! Come here – you’ve got to check this out!” So Don walked down the hall to his son’s room and found him at the computer looking at images of space and his son is saying, “Look Dad, that’s a quasar, and that could be a black hole, and over here are stars being born, and this light we’re looking at is millions of years old! Isn’t that amazing!”

Don was pleased with his son’s interest in the cosmos, and said “That’s very cool son, where did you get these images?” And his son said, “Oh, they’re not pictures I’m streaming live from Hubble.” At this point Don’s jaw drops, and he says to his son, “What?! Do you understand you are harnessing the most powerful telescopic instrument on earth? And it’s not even on earth?” To which his son replied, “Yeah whatever Dad, but look that’s the Orion Nebula!”

Ultimately our purpose here together is about connecting people with ideas. Ideas that translate to service, and valuable innovation. Ideas that can change both our beliefs and behaviors, which then can cascade out and change whole ecosystems within an organization. Providing people with the confidence of ideas and knowledge allows others to reach through our fears, find our passion and display it through purpose.

Our passion is what we love to do, but our purpose is why the world loves you.

Throw back Thursday: leadership succession planning

We receive so much valuable content from our customers, partners and internal subject-matter experts. On Thursdays, we thought it would be fun to do a “throw back” and bring back an older post that was valuable to our audience. Today’s throw back is about leadership succession planning.

How prepared are you for leadership loss?

By Shawn Hunter

AMA Corporate Learning recently surveyed over 1,100 senior managers and executives on the topic of leadership succession planning and discovered only 14% described their organization as properly prepared to confront key leadership loss, and over 80% said they were either “somewhat prepared” or “not at all prepared.” In the case of Apple and Steve Jobs, confidence appears reasonably high that Tim Cook is prepared to lead the company through Jobs’ health break. Yet, 14% nationally reflects a pretty sad confidence level in our leadership pipeline.

I’m reminded of the development culture at U.S. Cellular, which dictates the both/and equation when it comes to business results. In their culture, a defining metric of goal success is both achieving the business objective AND developing people in the process. The goal is considered incomplete if you ink a deal but the people growth component isn’t there. There is a clear expectation that business drivers include the people development part. Because people aren’t assets, they’re well…people.

IEDP survey reveals senior executives are receptive to online learning but lack understanding of options

Skillsoft today announced the results of a survey that reveals the vast majority of senior executives are open to using technology in a development context, but they lack an understanding of the current online learning options that are available to them. The survey was conducted by IEDP, an organization that publishes information for leaders and leadership development professionals, focusing on the latest developments, ideas and best practices being delivered by the world's premier business schools and consultancies, with assistance from Skillsoft, Deloitte, Cranfield University and Wharton Executive Education. The survey, which assesses the value of online learning for executive leadership development, also pointed to a need for relevant content from online learning providers.

According to the survey, more than 60 percent of executives spent more than 50 percent of their day using a computer or mobile device and the vast majority found engaging and familiarizing with new technologies to be “interesting and worthwhile.” However, only 14 percent of respondents felt they had a good understanding of what online learning products were currently available to executives, with 76 percent indicating they had moderate or limited knowledge and 10 percent having no current knowledge.

The 7 deadly skills of the perfect leader

By Kevin Young

Kevin Young, Managing Director of Skillsoft EMEA, outlines the seven deadly skills that every manager should strive to have and what organisations should be looking for in their future leaders.

Employing and retaining strong and capable managers is becoming increasingly difficult as there just aren’t enough candidates with the right skills or levels of experience. Figures released by the 2012 National Management Survey, carried out by the Chartered Management Institute, showed that 59 per cent of employers were struggling to recruit the right calibre of manager in 2011.

1.   Be an effective communicator – lead by example

The success of a manager largely depends on their ability to communicate effectively with all those around them; organisations want managers that are able to both understand and be understood. Written communication needs to have clear direction, accurate facts and the appropriate language - nothing should be left to the guess work of the recipient. On top of this, oral communication is a must-have skill for any manager. The ability to speak with confidence, credibility and poise, and also with enthusiasm, will motivate others and boost productivity.

2.   Motivator, innovator

Organisations and managers alike shouldn’t forget that leaders are the catalyst for achieving success. Leaders are not often born, they are made. Through training, experience and personal development good managers can be created and nurtured so they become invaluable business assets. They will seek out more challenging assignments, always meet deadlines and line staff will respect their direction. A team that is lead by a good motivator and an inspiring innovator will ultimately achieve.

3.   Be a strategic thinker

Strategic thinking is a term that affects managers at all levels and can impact on an entire organisation. For middle-managers this is difficult as they feel they are shouldering a lot of responsibility without really having any power. Although being caught between senior managers and line staff can be challenging, there is an opportunity to play an important role. The reality is that senior managers rely on the middle-manager to translate their priorities and directives so that goals can be achieved. Senior managers need to use strategic thinking to identify goals to drive a business forward and lead to future growth.

Needless to say, no matter at what level they sit, all managers rely on each other to convey important messages.

4.   Spotting and harnessing exceptional talent 

A good leader will cultivate the right team that will meet objectives and give your company that competitive edge. It is vital that talent spotting and development are treated as a top priority, especially in this economic climate. Managers also need to remember that talent may come from within your organisation, so shouldn’t rush to look for external options as their next leaders could be right next to them.

5.   Discovering and nurturing your business acumen

Bridging the gap between management skills and business expertise can be a challenge for the most successful leader. By developing the business acumen of company managers, organisations will see new and compelling business strategies becoming defined, but the right skills must be in place. To possess business acumen, managers must understand their company’s market place, its position within it and where improvements can be made. A thorough understanding of the business landscape will also help managers recognise and learn how external change can affect a company’s success. 

6.   A beautiful mind – solving problems and decision making

Decision making and problem solving are important skills in both life and business. One tends to incorporate the other, but techniques can be learnt to make the process quicker and ensure better results. Analysing a situation and identifying problems is a key business process, but as with being a leader, it does not come naturally to most of us. Decision making training can help leaders focus on each problem and deal with it in the appropriate manner. It will improve managers’ skills and help them make more of an impact in their organisation.

7.   Adapting to an ever-changing business landscape

Business is an area where change is one of the only constants. Managers must learn to embrace these changes and seek out creative ways of dealing with the accelerating speed of modern business life. Whatever the change, good communication is crucial; listening to fears, questions or concerns from your line staff is key to helping them cope with any changes. Responding well to change will inspire your team and will show that you can adapt to any situation.

The importance of management training: helping your leaders grow

Good management skills do not always come easily but even if they do, training is vital. Skilled leaders can provide both immediate and long term benefit. By helping your managers to develop, your business will prosper, maximise its potential and enjoy a competitive environment. The right training will expose talents that may have previously been hidden and will offer managers the opportunity to be at the cutting edge of new business innovations.

To learn more, download the full 7 Deadly Skills of The Perfect Leader White Paper.

 

 

Skillsoft and CLO publish new infographic to celebrate 100 years of learning and development

 

 

The infographic, created in conjunction with Skillsoft’s sponsorship of the Fall 2012 CLO Symposium is available at: http://www.skillsoft.com/online/learning-timeline.asp

 

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Throw Back Thursday: finding innovation

We receive so much valuable content from our customers, partners and internal subject-matter experts. On Thursdays, we thought it would be fun to do a “throw back” and bring back an older post that was valuable to our audience. Today’s throw back discusses how to find innovation.

To find innovation, start with your own skill, love and purpose

By Shawn Hunter

In late 1953 the Swanson brothers had a glut of turkey.  They were turkey wholesalers and had overestimated the market.  So now they had 235 metric tons of turkey riding around the U.S. in refrigerated rail cars and the executive team was wondering what to do.  Can't you just imagine the CFO showing charts of what it cost to have all those turkeys rolling around on refrigerated rail cars per day?

Gerry Thomas, a sales executive at Swanson, had just seen what Pan American Airlines was doing with compartmentalized in-flight food offerings.  He and the executive team at Swanson coupled this notion with Clarence Birdseye's new flash freezing technique, and then added the catchy product label "TV Dinner" that fit beautifully with the cultural explosion of television.  Their great market opportunity was the eight million moms who were joining the workforce after WWII, who were also enjoying an abundance of electrical home appliances like ovens, refrigerators, freezers, and of course televisions.

Swanson prepared to sell five thousand units the first year.  They sold ten million at .98 cents each.  Big hit, and now you understand how the intersection of technology, inspiration, marketing and resources made it happen.  But does that formula work again today in 2010?  Here's the difference now:

Resources are scarce, not abundant: From water to textiles to lumber, the availability and premium placed on the natural resources we use to create the consumer products and comestibles are in high demand and, in the case of fossil fuels and water particularly, are increasingly precious.

Talent is global, not local: Historically if you had a local workforce that was obedient, diligent, and brought expertise and skill to bear executing on top-driven strategies, you had competitive advantage.  The future is most certainly now in terms of the ability to connect need with a globally-dispersed labor force - highly talented, motivated, and comparatively cheap by U.S. standards.  And all connected by the cost of the internet (free).  The skilled talent, regardless of source, is indeed not free, but increasingly any function that can be made routine, and reduced to if=then equations which bracket to a correct answer, can also be automated.  Consider telemedicine, the in absentia health care solution to everything from fast, cheap review of MRIs, mammograms, and all manners of diagnostics.  You get an X-Ray in the afternoon in Illinois and the scan is reviewed by a U.S board-certified physician in India, and returned overnight - or even immediately - over the web.

Innovation is democratized, not top-driven: No longer can firms rely on the wisdom of a handful of insightful strategists at the top of a pyramid, when meanwhile companies like Rabobank or Best Buy are doing a better job of catering to customer need by creating mechanisms to actively listen to, and incorporate the interests of customers, and know-how of line personnel.

IBM to acquire Kenexa

By John Ambrose

This week’s announcement that IBM is acquiring Kenexa for $1.3 billion has generated a lot of buzz. As I wrote on the Skillsoft blog back in December when SAP announced it was acquiring SuccessFactors, this sends a clear message to other large traditional software/services vendors - it’s all about the cloud. And as Josh Bersin wrote in his blog post on the acquisition, after SAP‘s acquisition of SuccessFactors and Oracle‘s acquisition of Taleo, it’s IBM’s turn to jump into the HR and talent management market.

Organizations are recognizing the significant hard- and soft-cost advantages of procuring software and content in the cloud. For the past decade, SaaS vendors including Skillsoft have been extolling the financial and deployment advantages of cloud-delivery models.

Skillsoft has always been a cloud-based provider and maintains relationships with many talent management vendors, including Kenexa. This relationship and our commitment to our common customers will continue.

IBM acquiring Kenexa, just like SAP’s move did back in December, underscores the importance of integrating talent management with existing mainstream corporate infrastructure. This is good for corporate users as they do not check their consumer tendencies at the front door of the company and expect and deserve a better, more seamless talent management experience.  

Learning content is key to any successful talent management program from recruitment to retirement. Skillsoft will continue to provide this essential ingredient to the talent process for our clients regardless of whether they are an SAP, Oracle or IBM shop. 

This deal, along with SAP’s acquisition in December and Oracle’s acquisition of Taleo earlier this year, confirms that organizations value employee development as a competitive differentiator more than ever before. The industry has moved from tactical (but necessary) human resource administration toward higher-value human capital management (HCM), where developing people, not the process, is the focus.