Learning vs Training

I had lunch with a good friend today who is a consultant focused on leadership and development. We had a great conversation about business, the dynamics of organizations, what they want vs what is finally delivered,  development systems, mentoring, and competencies. At one point when he was talking about training he corrected himself and said learning instead. Well, that was a great time for me to chime in and mention a person I hired in 1994 to be the Director of Training & Development. In the interview process he corrected me by saying don't call it training, call it "learning". That has stuck with me since that time. My luncheon partner also agreed that the correct term in learning not training and that there is a negative connotation to the term. 

Well, I agree 100% and I hope you do as well. 

HR Outsourcing

One of the major issues facing HR organizations today is how much should a company outsource. Many large firms have outsourced their HR departments to save money and to expedite services. Deloitte recently prepared a study on trends in the industry and what decisions drive outsourcing.

Here are some issues that are driving these changes. Things are changing on the supplier side:
•Continued provider consolidation
•New providers are entering the marketplace
•More provider-to-provider relationships are being formed
•Providers are scaling back their solutions to focus on what they do well
•Continued addition of value-added and judgment-based services (i.e., workforce analytics, global mobility, and employee relations)
•Increased use of off-shore, lift, and shift-based services
•Integration services that cross-process areas, such as reporting are becoming more prevalent
•More flexibility in number of services/processes included as part of an HRO deal
•Increased use of platform-based solutions (Software as a Service or others)
•More comprehensive, integrated product suites
•Ability for buyers to negotiate more exit rights into the contracts
•Contracts are including higher fees ―at risk‖ and higher liability limits
•Greater emphasis on continuous improvement built into the contract
•Flexibility on establishing more meaningful Service Level Agreements up front

Have you looked at your organization to determine what should or should not be outsourced from HR.?

Common Sense Management

I had a great discussion with a person that I mentored 30 years ago and who is now a SVP of HR. I guess I was a good mentor in his early HR career. Our discussion was centered around common sense and how managers at times do not exercise common sense in managing their people or projects. Why is that? Well, I guess the stress of producing and balancing work causes some of it but I think there is a deeper issue. Intelligence in knowing what is right and linking that with doing what is right. 


My friend and I cited many example of how managers we have known, who were good mind you, went off and did some of the stupidest things, made bad decisions and then we had to go in and clean up the mess and solve the issues those decisions made. 


We also agreed that if it were not for some of these managers who blew it our companies would not need our resources. Well not to that extreme but close to it. I would like to identify a couple of key factors that drive the best managers at times to make bad decisions:

• home & family issues and/or personal factors; 
• pressure from upper management to produce and not a lot of time to think out the issue;
• employees pushing the manager to extremes;
• and not having the emotional intelligence to deal with decisions.

Those are just a few of my thoughts. I would like to hear what you think are some factors that drive good managers to stray.  

Working Remotely Alleviates More Stress Than It Creates

Employees who spend most of their working week as telecommuters have greater job satisfaction than people who are primarily office workers, according to a study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).

Kathryn Fonner and Michael compared the advantages and disadvantages of the two work arrangements and found the main benefit of teleworking for at least three days a week to be decreased work-life conflict. While poor workplace communication is often cited as the biggest disadvantage of telework, respondents reported this as being of minimal importance and, although they exchanged information with others less frequently than office-based workers, they reported similar timely access to important work-related information.

According to Kathryn Fother the results of the study suggest multiple reasons why high job satisfaction and teleworking are linked. Specifically, remote working tends to shield employees from distracting and stressful aspects of the workplace, including office politics, interruptions, endless meetings and information overload.

"Our findings emphasize the advantages of restricted face-to-face interaction, and also highlight the need for organizations to identify and address the problematic and unsatisfying issues inherent in collocated work environments," said Fonner. "With lower stress and fewer distractions, employees can prevent work from seeping into their personal lives."

Kathryn Fonner added that, as well as introducing teleworking, organizations can consider a number of other strategies to increase job satisfaction including:

• Limiting meetings and mass emails
• Streamlining communication by creating an accessible repository of information
• Designating times and spaces for office-based employees to work uninterrupted
• 'Creating a supportive climate where employees can register concerns without fear of retaliation'
• Encouraging employees to disconnect themselves from work communication when their day is finished

The study is reported in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research

Previous Article - Who Telecommutes?

Rising gas prices have resulted in many professionals considering telecommuting as an economical work option, but spending too much time working from home can mean saying goodbye to the corner office.

Surveys developed in 2006 by OfficeTeam, a leading staffing service specializing in placement of administrative professionals, were conducted by an independent research firm and include responses from 100 senior executives in Canada and 150 in the USA.

They found 32 per cent of Canadian respondents and 43 per cent of US respondents said telecommuting is best suited for staff-level employees, compared with 28 per cent and 18 per cent respectively who felt telecommuting is most beneficial for managers. In addition, more than half of Canadian respondents and more than two-thirds of US respondents said senior executives at their firms rarely or never telecommute.

When asked, 'At which level do you think telecommuting programs are most beneficial?' participants responded:

Level Staff Manager Executive Administrative support Don't know/no answer

Canada (%) 32 28 16 15  9

USA (%) 43 18 14 11 14

When asked, 'Overall, how frequently do senior executives at your firm telecommute?' participants responded:

Frequency Very frequently Somewhat frequently Rarely Never Don't know/no answer

Canada (%) 18 21 38 20  3

USA (%)  5 23 55 12  5

According to Diane Domeyer, executive director of OfficeTeam, it is often easier for staff-level employees to telecommute because their work can be performed autonomously. However, even those people who work from home need to spend time in the office.

Diane Domeyer added: "Effective management requires plenty of 'face time' with employees. Supervisors should have an open-door policy, and that means being available to staff who need guidance with projects. Employees who work from home must ensure that being out of sight doesn't also mean being out of mind for promotions, team projects and plum assignments."

HRM Guide provided this article

Cloud Video Startup Zixi Raises $4M

As more and more companies look at cloud computing as the next wave and to save on IT infrastructure costs the cloud is growing in video as well. 


Cloud video startup Zixi has raises $4 million in a round of funding for its web video broadcasting business.

The Waltham, Mass.-based company will use the money to build out a worldwide team and complete its infrastructure for delivering high-definition video via the cloud, or web-connected data centers. The company focuses on delivering cloud video with high quality, security, and the ability to make a return on investment.

Schooner Capital, a Boston-based private investment firm, led the round. Other investors include Sidney Topol, former chief executive of Scientific Atlanta, and Maurice Schonfeld, former CEO of CNN.

Zixi’s chief executive is Israel Drori. He said the company will offer high-quality video over the internet for broadcast, enterprise and video-on-demand services. Potential customers include companies that operate networks, video-on-demand services, web broadcasts, and device makers. Zixi could be used to broadcast video such as a Netflix streaming movie to a tablet computer or a smartphone without any noticeable hiccups. Customers include CNN, Reuters, CBS Sports and Netgear.

Zixi tries to set itself apart by making the best use of available network bandwidth. It minimizes startup delay, or the seconds it takes to launch a video, and eliminates buffering (or loading video into memory to ensure smooth playback) without sacrificing quality.

A company could use Zixi to securely telecast a high-definition video conference to multiple locations around the world in real time with low infrastructure costs. Zixi was founded in 2006 and it has 11 employees. Check out the Youtube demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2KGkz9qtwk&feature=player_embedded

High Velocity Culture Change

Most managers are not good at cultural change especially when they are the front line to lead changes in the organization. Changing the culture in an organization is hard, heavy duty, and battle intensive for those responsible to lead that charge. Most managers do it as well as employees by taking the lead from their managers because the have to. Not that they want to but it is part of the survival process in an organization.

I would recommend the following if you are the person(s)/group(s)/executive team leading this major effort to keep pace with the changing environment, business, and any successors and/or assignees in an acquisition:
Use methods that are not standard operating processes - this will make people operate out of their existing cultural orientation:

1. Change should be guided by where the organization needs to go rather than laborious cultural analysis and metrics. Make sure that the new highway for change is "clear to all employees" and that managers "get it and preach it"
2. Blow up current understandings, destabilizing the organization so they have to move in a different direction. This will provide new energy in the organization; 
3. Each facilitator/manager/group/executive team member has to show that they care more;
4. Change the reward system and the milestones along the way so people understand there is a payoff for the change;Communicate more than ever and often, clearly articulating the logic, acknowledging the changes, and their effects along the way;
5. Promote what you want the end result to be and how it will affect the organization, revenues, and profits;Make sure the people feel free from the old system;You need to expect that there will be people who will not buy into the new culture, loosing some valuable human capital along the way;
6. Make sure all employees are involved; set up project leads - interdisciplinary and cross cultural. Blow up the bureaucracy along the way making structural changes that fit the final cultural goal;
7. Lead by example and as in Field of Dreams, "they will come(follow)";
8. Bring in new people and do not trust loyalty too much;
9. Make sure each manager/group/executive team member surrounds himself or herself with strong supporters;
10. Encourage people to think and act differently about their job, customer, and each other that builds on the culture you are creating;
11. and finally make sure that you train people, re-orient the organization. 

I hope this helps for those of you that have to change and lead cultural change in your organization. If you follow these guidelines your success rate will increase dramatically in changing the culture.