Valuing your business by the bottom line is certainly important, but what about valuing your business by its values? Workplace values tend to go unnoticed until a major corporate scandal rocks the business world. When Enron’s accounting fraud was brought to light, commentators highlighted the major disconnect between the company’s stated values (communication, respect, integrity and excellence) and what actually happened behind closed doors. ... [more]

"It Starts With You" Sticky Note

You’re a business owner or HR professional who wants to encourage your employees to learn from one another. You have an idea of the available tools - Twitter, Wordpress, Diigo - but you’re not quite sure which you should use. You’re stuck on the big question: Which social enterprise learning technology is the best fit? ... [more]

social learning network

Providing online learning to your team feels good. You’re displaying the company’s commitment to the life-long learning. You’re building confidence among team members. The reality is that CEOs need to see tangible results. If elearning doesn’t deliver value to the bottom line, it’s the CEO’s job to demand change. ... [more]

An important part of planning for the new year is assessing what’s worked and what hasn’t in the past. The American Society for Training & Development’s 2012 State of the Industry report is a valuable resource for doing just that. Looking at trends will help you decide where to focus your efforts in 2013 in order to have the greatest impact on your business. Here are OpenSesame’s top three takeaways from ASTD’s survey overview: 1. Large companies are spending less per employee for training than medium and small companies. ... [more]

Details of iron pipes in a big stack

If the struggles describes in Part 1 of this webinar review sounded all-too-familiar, not to worry. HCM Advisory has plenty of ideas that will help you shift your department from Cost Center to Strategic Enabler. Align Learning Strategy to Business Strategy You’ll want to make sure everybody is on the same page. HCM found that 50% of respondents annually map their learning strategy to the business strategy for the upcoming year. ... [more]

Train running through a train yard at high dusk

We never could have anticipated the insightful, game-changing answers we received from our network of industry leaders when we asked what they resolved to change or improve about their work in 2013. There was an emphasis on focus and slowing things down, as well as a resolve to disrupt. We hope this amazing collection of Learning Resolutions inspired you to create a list of goals for your professional practice this year. And don’t worry! When you begin to feel your motivation wane in March, you can come back and visit. ... [more]

You don’t have to go it alone. Online tools will help you find collaborators, stay organized, build community and get creative in the new year. We’ve scoured the web for the top 100 tools available to help you do what you dream in 2013. ... [more]

Check out our course of the week by Counterfeit Forensics, LLC: Train Your Team to Recognize Counterfeit Currency! ... [more]

Too many companies treat learning and development as optional - either for each employee or for the organization as a whole. But learning is not just an optional HR expense - it’s an investment in employee satisfaction, innovation and the future of your company. In short, learning matters because in this era of exponential change and explosive information growth, if you're not learning, you’re failing. But beyond that general truth, there are numerous benefits from having a training and learning program for your business' bottom line. Here are the top level items: Increase productivity. ... [more]

Spinning energy windmill on a hill

When it comes to training, online vs. in-person is far from a settled debate. With arguments and preferences about efficacy, cost savings and speed-to-implement, it can be difficult to decide which way is best. Face-to-face classes are meant to be engaging and to give team members the chance to have their questions addressed by an expert. However, between scheduling class time and paying the speaker’s travel fees, these classes can be costly and time consuming. Plus, there is no easy way to ensure engagement. ... [more]

Black and white image of New York city

Pages