by Brian Clark | Business Process, DOTS LMS, learning management systems
There is an excellent info-graphic developed by CertifyMe.net titled ‘The E-Learning Revolution.’ Here are some of the interesting facts that are included on this info-graphic and they really paint an interesting picture of the growth and pervasiveness of e-learning in our organisational environments.
- 77% of American Corporations use online learning. I have not seen any statistics for Australian corporations.
- According to the CertifyMe.net info-graphic, e-Learning started in 1998 and is now 13 years old.
- The United States and Europe utilise 70% of e-Learning and the Asia Pacific region is growing fast.
- e-Learning is a $56.2 Billion business and is likely to double by 2015.
- Corporations save 50-70% when they replace instructor led training with online learning.
- e-Learning classes are typically 25-60% shorter in duration than instructor led sessions.
- 72% of corporations surveyed report that e-learning supports their need to maintain awareness of changes affecting their business.
These are some pretty interesting insights into a major change impacting organisations across the world. e-Learning has impacts that ripple throughout an organisation into areas such as sustainability, talent attraction, retention, resource planning, productivity and competitiveness.
by Brian Clark | DOTS webinar, e-learning, Product News
The team at DTS wish to thank Cindy Pascale and Kim Egan from Vado Inc. for presenting an informative webinar yesterday on development best practices. The presentation had some very interesting research based data that identifies practices that are compromising corporate learning and development initiatives. Thank you also to members of our client community who attended the presentation. We are looking forward to showing you the Vado modules in more detail.
by Brian Clark | capability, competency frameworks, development, DOTS LMS, e-learning, Innovation
On March 21 we are offering our clients an opportunity to meet a true innovator in the world of learning. Cindy Pascale is the Founder and Vice President of Vado and she will be presenting on Development Best Practices. Vado are innovators in creating developmental content that is linked to competency frameworks.
In this research rich session, participants will learn the development best practices that will lead to the maximum return on investment for the organization’s development dollar. Specific outcomes are:
1. The difference between training and development
2. What is scrap learning?
3. How do people best develop new skills and capabilities?
4. What are learners expecting in their development programs?
5. How do you make sure the development will lead to organisation success?
If you are a DOTS client, there are still a few places left. if you are not a client but are interested in learning more about Vadoand how it can boost your organisation’s performance, you are encouraged to contact us. We can show you how we help our clients build more effective organisations.
by Brian Clark | DOTS LMS, learning and development
Precise words are important to the meaning of the ideas being expressed. It is interesting that we use the words, “learning and development” to describe the training or learning activities in the majority of organisations. The definitions of these words are quite different, though.
learn·ing /ˈlərniNG/
Noun: the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, practice, study or being taught. Knowledge acquired in this way.
Synonyms: knowledge – scholarship-erudition-science-lore
de·vel·op·ment /diˈveləpmənt/
Noun: The process of developing or being developed or a specified state of growth or advancement.
Synonyms: growth, evolution, progress, expansion
My experience with organisations is that the focus is typically on “learning” with minimal activities in the “development” area. It is understandable. Certainly, knowledge-based activities have always been easier to deliver and track even before the advent of Learning Management Systems. Whereas, development activities have always been more challenging to define, more challenging to develop and definitely more challenging to track even with the use of Learning Management Systems.
The greater challenge in tracking development activities with Learning Management Systems is probably because the realm of development is conceptually somewhere between learning activities and activities within the management of performance. And not all Learning Management Systems include performance management features like DOTS so the tracking of “development” within a system is not as mature as tracking “learning”.
Delivering true development programs via a Learning Management Systems (when it includes performance management features) is also an emerging area because there isn’t a lot of “development content” that is readily available as off-the-shelf content. Whereas, there is a plethora of knowledge-based courses and content where knowledge is delivered and assessed. Development courses that provide employees to document development performed in on-the-job activities are rare. And creating development courses or content from scratch would be a daunting and expensive exercise.
With our new development courses, you have a complete capability framework to help the transition from “learning” into “development” in the workplace. The combination of short instructional videos followed by downloadable step by step on-the-job Implementation Guides helps employees put into practice the instruction they just completed and provides the structure for documented (in an LMS) coaching and mentoring sessions.
Keep an eye out for our Development Best Practices Webinar, coming soon in March 2013.
by Brian Clark | Business Process, learning management systems, LMS, performance management, strategy
First of all I guess you might wonder why I used the term ‘high performance’ in the headline. What does that mean? I see a few characteristics that distinguish a high performance sales team from others and capability frameworks contribute to the development and sustenance of high performance in any team.
One attribute of high performance is measurement. Each sales person should be measuring themselves against key performance targets and the team is measured collectively. These measurements flow up to management and are linked to the business strategy. High performance sales people strive to nail targets and prefer this to floating in an undefined operating environment.
Collaboration is sometimes a neglected capability in the highly competitive sales profession. However one thing I took away from attending Dreamforce ’12 last year was this is no longer negotiable. Collaboration is imperative both within the business as well as outward to prospects and clients. The range of technology platforms and collaboration tools is staggering. The sales professional must not only understand how to use the technology, she must also be able to leverage its power in a competitive sales cycle.
Collaboration also extends to the capture and sharing of best practices in the sales team. Knowledge capture and sharing somewhat mitigates risks of ‘brain drain’ when high performance sales people move on. This knowledge also facilitates more rapid on-boarding of new hires.
Clear strategy is based on a cascade of goals and objectives from the c-suite to the sales professional. The sale professional must have the capability to translate the business strategy to their operating strategy. The operating strategy is often defined at sales team level but not always in the case of persons managing large territories or working with a small number of clients in high value enterprise sales. The capability framework must include translating strategy to tactics and these tactics incorporated in an operational plan.
Tactical execution is one that capability that is easily identified in our behavioural assessment tools. The best strategy and tactics are worthless without execution and sadly this is one capability that is rare in the world of sales professionals. There are plenty of people out there who work ‘ad-hoc’ and seem to make some sales but these people are not high performance and they tend to be more difficult to manage and measure.
The capabilities around information management usually become obvious when we have a look at a business’s CRM. Information is often old, inaccurate or insufficient. The power that can be leveraged from a well -managed CRM is too great to compromise. The capabilities that support this include personal management and work flow practices.
Each of these attributes and possibly others must be included in the capability framework. The capability framework will greatly enhance recruitment and on-boarding of new sales team members. I use a tool to provides a behavioural analysis against each capability. When a shortlist is determined, each person is assessed against the defined capability framework. This has reciprocal benefits for the candidates and the company. The candidate is clear on the expectations of the position and is provided a scientific assessment of their behavioural match to the framework. The company reduces the risk of bad hires and the huge cost and cultural impacts these have.
When it comes to developing a capability framework it is a huge advantage to have a technology solution to support it. A learning management system is the most compelling platform but others include some performance management systems and some HRIS software. Regardless of what you use to create the capability framework, you need to consider the following;
- Link the framework to job titles.
- Ensure there are learning and development opportunities to support and enhance the capabilities.
- Development plans should have at least some focus on the capability framework if not be totally focused on it.
- The performance management process must be integrated with the capability framework.
Get in touch if you would like to explore developing a capability framework for your sales team or any other part of your organisation.
