When business leaders use the phrase “succession planning,” their thoughts probably don’t fly immediately to their organizations’ learning functions. But they likely should, because effective succession planning really isn’t just about planning. It’s about the successful...

Learning and development professionals have never been at the top of the corporate salary scale. Whether placed in the human resources function or elsewhere, training professionals are rarely seen as the most essential, powerful or highly regarded employees, not even when viewed from within their own...

Many organizations have implemented formal learning programs, processes and technologies, but few have fully leveraged the benefits of social learning that provide employees with just-in-time access to tidbits of learning that enable more engaging and immersive learning, chance interactions and collaborative...

Questions are at the heart of what drives people to learn. But in utilizing questions as part of any team-oriented dialogue, learning and development professionals should take care to make sure the right type of questions – open-ended versus closed-ended – are being used. To understand the...

Historically, successful organizations were built to support monolithic structures and bureaucratic strategies – not to change them. As noted by learning theorist Willie Pietersen, in today’s global, technologically savvy, knowledge-based economy, the leadership challenge is to recognize...

Culturally naive business managers are allowing their organizations to lose millions of dollars in lost opportunities due to cultural misunderstandings, which are leading to the mismanagement of employees. Miscommunication and a lack of cross-cultural understanding are two main barriers organizations...

Acknowledging each other’s accomplishments, talent and wisdom on a continuous basis is the grown-up equivalent of the grade school gold star and can revolutionize the workplace. Remember the gold star? It’s been decades since I last thought about that classic grade school icon of achievement. Back...

The official state motto of the state of Nebraska is “Equality before the law,” but according to Mike McCrory, Nebraska’s state personnel director of administrative services, talent management for the state’s 18,000 employees varies greatly from department to department by statute. “We’ve...

Learning and development can help foster higher levels of employee engagement and improved business performance, but it’s essential that the executive suite knows this. Most learning and development professionals are likely already aware that a significant number of their employees are underperforming...

The ROI Institute recently conducted a survey to obtain direct feedback from CEOs in large organizations. There are few if any significant data sets collected from this elusive group, though many one-on-one interviews have appeared as profiles in various media. These interviews rarely discuss specific...