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CHAPTER SERVICES ADDRESS
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April
2007 |
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Beyond foundational competencies, there are nine specialized knowledge/skill areas in which individuals need to extend their organizational contribution. This month we will focus on a subset of the very large topic of managing the learning function. The following content will focus on the art of casting your initiatives strategically by speaking the language of your business. Speaking
the Language of Your Business The following situation we recently experienced serves as a great example and demonstrates the necessity for planning your approach. The training manager at a local company decided that he wanted to implement an employee training program on performance and motivation. He went to his CEO and asked her if he could have a monthly budget of $5,000 to conduct monthly sessions and to purchase motivational materials to improve morale. The CEO had more questions than the training manager had answers for: 1) Is there a problem with morale? 2) How is this impacting productivity? 3) How does this tie to our strategic plan? 4) What kinds of performance are we rewarding? 5) Don’t we provide merit increases and bonuses for performance? 6) What return can we expect from this investment? 7) Is this the right solution? and 8) Have you fully defined what the actual problem is? The training manager went back to the department complaining that the CEO always blocks his initiatives, which shows her lack of support for training as a valuable partner. After talking with the training manager in greater detail, it was apparent how disconnected the CEO and training manager were. It was as if they weren’t speaking the same language. In reality the CEO was not disinterested in her employees, but rather she had a keen interest in the impact of this decision on the business. The CEO might have considered the initiative if the training manager had presented it in a different context. The lesson here is that to be thought of as a strategic partner, learning professionals must act strategically. If you are not speaking the language of your business, it will be hard for your fellow executives to think of you as part of the team. To advance your reputation and contribution, you must, at a minimum know the key drivers of your business, understand your customers, be continuously prepared, show analytical problem solving, and get to know senior leadership’s priorities and objectives. Here are a few techniques to review: Preparation
Discussion
After the Meeting
Techniques section adapted from Pamela Babcock, “Throwing the Switch,” HR Magazine, December 2003 Krista is president and founder of FlashPoint, a consulting firm providing a range of leadership development, human resources, and performance improvement solutions to clients throughout the Midwest.
Don't forget to mark your calendar for 2007! Mark your calendar now for the following dates: April
27th May 18th June 22nd July 27th August
24th September
28th October
26th State
of The Industry – Trend Watch On March 23rd, CIASTD was pleased to welcome Tony Bingham, the CEO and President of ASTD. Tony discussed the state of the industry and future trends in the training and development profession. Tony started his presentation discussing relevance. Training and development professionals can be more relevant in their organization by becoming business partners. As most training and development professionals are perceived as a cost center, they must have passion for what they do, have a product to sell and make a business case for their work. Other ways that training and development professionals can be more relevant in their organizations include:
Tony also predicted which future trends will have the greatest impact on the training and development field in the next 10 years:
Download his presentation here The study group
for the May testing window of the CPLP is underway! Study groups for
the next testing window will begin in July. For more information on
the CPLP and the study programs contact Andrea Moore, VP of Workplace
Learning and Certification at amoore@FlashPointHR.com.
Bruno Cerqueira Company:
Employment Plus Describe
your position at your current employer. What I love doing most is… when I am designing training sessions; I can easily get into a "nirvana" mode and fly with the development flow. The thing I like most about working in training and development is…the fact I help to improve professional and behavioral skills in others. The
book I read most recently for work is...Good to Great,
by Jim Collins. Describe
your childhood and educational experiences. Describe
your family. One of the times I felt the most success in my life…was when I received my Diploma from Purdue with a Suma Cum Laude. I was valedictorian at High School and College, but nothing compares with Suma Cum Laude. If I could do something I have never done before it would be… parachute jumping. If you really knew me you would know… that I am always smiling and I always want to make you smile as well.
Wouldn’t you like to get published? The CIASTD Facilitator could be just the vehicle you are looking for. We are on the lookout for articles that further learning in the areas of training and development. While we may not be able to publish every article we receive, we believe that each issue of the Facilitator could be enriched by the addition of a few articles. And it’s always nice to be published! Submit articles by emailing them to lpmayer@comcast.net. We prefer files in Microsoft Word format.
In each issue of The Facilitator, we will list members that have joined or re-joined CIASTD since the previous issue. Since the last issue of The Facilitator, we have had these new members. Lori Lego If you are a member of CIASTD, and would like access to the complete membership list, it is available on our web site at www.ciastd.com. |
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During
the course of this year, I will dedicate many of the regular
President’s Pen articles to the focus areas within ASTD’s
competency model (graphic and explanation found at 
