T+D Blog

Are You Really Listening?

How good are your listening skills?

When you listen to someone speak, do you make eye contact with them? Are you really hearing what your employees are saying?

Effective listening encompasses self awareness, attentiveness, paraphrasing, and empathizing. Learning how to listen well is key to success in business and life.

Listening is a basic soft skill--so why is it lacking in today's world? Has technology deprived us of the basic skills needed in face-to-face communication?

Do you tend to get distracted easily? Do you listen for facts, not ideas?

If you answered yes to these questions, you need to bone up on your listening skills.

Are You a Green Collar Employer?

The green collar or green jobs movement has garnered some media attention in the past few months, as indicated by a recent wave of articles in the New York Times, Fast Company, and other publications. We ran a post about green jobs on the ASTD Policy Blog in early April. While it’s clear that there’s some momentum around this issue, the articles all note that there’s some confusion about what qualifies as a green job.

One source of guidance is the federal Green Jobs Act, which passed as part of the omnibus Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 last December (the green jobs provision begins on p. 258). Originally introduced by Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), the law amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 by establishing three different training grant programs to prepare workers for jobs in “energy efficiency and renewable energy” industries.” Not sure what that means? Here’s a list of included industries:

• the energy-efficient building, construction, and retrofits industries;
• the renewable electric power industry;
• the energy efficient and advanced drive train vehicle industry;
• the biofuels industry;
• the deconstruction and materials use industries;
• the energy efficiency assessment industry serving the residential, commercial, or industrial sectors; and
• manufacturers that produce sustainable products using environmentally sustainable processes and materials.

Grants will be made available to not-for-profit partnerships comprised of employers, educational institutions, labor and community organizations, and other stakeholders. Congress authorized $125 million per year for activities under the law, with at least 80 percent of total funding reserved for the training grant programs.

The U.S. Department of Labor will be responsible for administering the grant programs as part of their overall authority over WIA activities. If you think your organization might qualify as an eligible partner, keep an eye out for grant announcements on their website at www.dol.gov.

May Is Older Americans Month....Be Prepared to Manage Talent

Thursday starts Older Americans Month. And this year, this celebration should spark discussions in workplaces about celebrating diversity in the workplace, preparing to capture the knowledge of older works set to retire, and using the wealth of talent of the older workers who remain employed.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37.3 million Americans are over the age of 65, and in 2006. 5.5 million of those Americans are still employed. According to AARP, 23 percent of Americans say they plan to retire at age 65 and another 16 percent expect to walk away from the workplace at age 70. But 7 percent never plan to stop working.

Is your organization ready to replace the 23 percent of Americans who will retire in the coming years? Do you have a plan in place to retain their knowledge and expertise? Will there be enough workers to replace this boomer workforce?

Companies that can answer these questions will have a competitive advantage over those who can't. Plan ahead; don't be surprised when boomers decide to leave or stay!

Celebrate Diversity!

Does your company celebrate diversity? How do you define diversity?

There are so many celebrations for Black History, Women's History, Gay and Lesbian Pride, and more. So why can't there be a Diversity Month. Novations Group, Inc., a provider of international consulting and training services, is encouraging companies to celebrate diversity in April.

The United States is a culturally and religiously diverse nation--that's part of what gives it its character. It's usually during presidential election years when we see the differences magnified through candidates and political parties. Take some time this week to meet someone new and when you do, find out something new about their culture or heritage.

I was young once, but ....

Millennials--those under 30--are getting a bad rap, or are they? I was young once, but I don't remember the incredible backlash that has hit this generation. A new study by Novations Group reports that senior management encounter the most communication issues with Generation Y employees.

Why is that? Is this generation hard to please or has technology hampered communication skills among this group?

I think it may be just as much a communication issue on the senior executive side as it is on the millennial side. The world is different that it was 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago. You have to be willing to change--to use more forms of technology and communication to speak with the younger generations.

Millennials may find it difficult to sit in a classroom for a day of training, but that doesn't mean they don't want to learn or experience new ways of doing things.

Executives and managers, take the time to get to know all your employees. Their passion for their work may surprise you.

Ohio's got skills...

Good news in worker-training for the people of the state of Ohio. $31 million and dozens of staff were ordered by Governor Ted Strickland to make a shift in departmental oversight.  Essentially,  the department shift equals a focus shift: from human services, to human development.

Ohio has enjoyed quite a bit of media attention during this presidential election cycle---it is well known as a battleground state that some believe was heavily impacted by a certain contentious trade agreement. I tend to agree with this sentiment. But regardless of how you feel about free trade's effects on the US workforce, with this news, it's clear that there is a perception shift at play. I think most people do shy from that which looks like a "hand-out" in favor of the prospect of "a hand up," as the idiom goes. In this case, it is the employers' perceptions taken into account, and acted upon by the state.

So I wonder: as the presidential candidates continue to make the economy key to their stump speeches, will workforce training and development's role take on increasing importance? Will they go farther than that and discuss explicit plans for bringing government, educators, and trainers together to make strides? We're already seeing something along these lines with the push for expanding "green collar jobs" so I don't think it's far fetched. Time of course will reveal.

Are You Job Hunting? Use My Space

Apparently, social networking sites are gaining popularity among employers interested in recruiting college graduates. A report published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported that more than 16 percent of employers have plans to use social networking sites as part of their recruitment efforts.

Employers were previously using those sites to check profiles, but they are now advertising on those sites and using those sites to network with potential job candidates.

What's on your MySpace or Facebook page? Is it something you would want a future employer to see? How do you want to be portrayed in the eyes of possible future employers? These are questions you need to think about because they are not going away anytime soon.

How Diverse Are Your Training Deliveries?

According to a recent Novation's Group Study, diversity training is taking place in organizatons, but that training is lacking in its delivery. The three major flaws cited in diversity training are no tools to reinforce the training (29 percent), no metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the training were offered (24 percent), and none of the organization's development or advancement practices were addressed (22 percent).

Is diversity training being held to the same rigorous standards as leadership development programs and succession planning? How can we expect others to change their attitudes if we are not willing to make changes to these crucial programs?

Change can be a good thing. Don't be afraid to embrace it.

Big Brother is Watching Your Internet Use

Does your employer have an Internet/Email policy for employees? If you don't know, you'd better find out because a recent electronic monitoring and surveillance survey from American Management Association (AMA) and The ePolicy Institute reports that more than 50 percent of employers surveyed said they have fired employees because of Internet and email abuse.

This topic always surfaces during the holiday season because buying gifts using the Internet is becoming a very common occurrence, but according to this study, it is happening year-round, not just during the holiday season.

More than 66 percent of employers surveyed said they monitor Internet use, and 65 percent use software to block certain websites.

Only two states, Delaware and Connecticut, require employers to notify employees of monitoring, but the study finds that 83 percent inform workers that the company is monitoring content, keystrokes and time spent at the keyboard; 84 percent let employees know the company reviews computer activity; and 71 percent alert employees to e-mail monitoring.

But is that enough?

Workplace learning and performance professionals should educate employees annually about the policies in place and the consequences. What do you think?

Who are the real tech-savvy generations?

Hello from sunny San Antonio!!!

The ASTD Techknowledge 2008 conference has spanned the gamut of e-learning, from performance support and blended learning, to collaborative learning in Second Life. And what has surprised me the most is the generations (or age ) of the attendees.

We hear so much about catering to the younger tech-savvy generations that we are stereotyping the more mature generations. Linden Lab's Joe Miller noted that the average age of Second Life users is 34--that is certainly not the twentysomething generation that everybody is eluding to when they talk about techies.

There has also been very little discussion in the educational sessions about creating content for the new generations in the workforce; it's been all about using new tools to facilitate engaging presentations, creating new blended learning avenues, and creatively enhancing the learning experience using 3_D innovations.

So why does the mature workforce get a bad rap when it comes to learning new technologies. They may not have grown up with the Internet or complex simulations, but they are young at heart and very willing to give these new technologies a chance. Don't assume mature workers are afraid to try new things; instead, embrace the challenge of teaching this fascinating technology to willing learners.