Angela Risner
The case against turning all of your courses into eLearning
Many companies are asking their trainers to cut their costs by placing previously facilitated classes into an eLearning format. Some training translates easily into eLearning – modules about company policy, about compliance with governing laws, about business grammar, about diversity. However, some classes really lose their punch, their meaning when delivered in a CBT format.
The difference between good customer service and great customer service
I received a very nice phone call from the Director of Chapter Services at ASTD. She had been forwarded a copy of my last blog post and wanted to thank me for the feedback. We had a great discussion about chapters in general and about what content they should be providing to their members. We also discussed the national organization and some other things that I could take advantage of as a member.
Why I didn’t renew my ASTD membership
I was so excited to become a member of the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). I was thirsty for knowledge about my field and I wanted to interact with other trainers. When my company finally had the money to pay for our memberships, I was thrilled. So I signed up for:
Apologies for the long hiatus…
But I have been on a 4 week diet in order to lose 80,000 lbs, i.e. the condo in which I was living until I met my future husband. Now that everything is signed, sealed and delivered, I will be able to get back to regular posting.
How much are you worth?
This article is from the KnowHR blog.
Women Make Less Than Men Because They Want To
Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 by Frank Roche
Okay, that’s a purposely provocative title. I don’t believe it for one second. But one of KnowHR’s commenters does. Steven R. said this in response to an article I wrote titled Women Make Less Than Men: 5 Things HR Needs to Do Right Now to End Pay Inequality:
How often have you heard this story?
COLUMBUS – The state watchdog says the Ohio Department of Transportation wrongly denied an employee a promotion and improperly shielded public records about the case.
What is the most important part of your new hire orientation?
Author’s Note: I thought that the Switch to Digital TV series would be more interesting and fun to write – but it wasn’t. So I’m ditching it and moving on.
What part of your new hire orientation do you think is the most important
? Is it the tour? The computer training? The story of how the company was founded
The switch to digital tv: What would have been the most effective method?
In the last post, we discussed how the government could have approached the switch to digital TV. I left off with the question of how they could have decided to disseminate the information.
Their options:
- Through job aids
- Through facilitated meetings/classes
- Through e-learning
- Or a mix of all of the above
The switch to digital tv: How would you have approached it?
As I’m sure you are already aware, broadcast television is switching from analog to digital. (And forgive me, I can’t remember the date that we first started hearing about this, but it’s been at least a year.) This meant that about 305 million people needed to be trained on this information.
The date for the change was originally going to be next week, but it’s been pushed back because Congress felt that our folks were not quite ready for this change. It’s now slated for June 12 of this year.
Personality Colors are a tool, NOT a crutch
I love to introduce people to the personality colors concept and watch their reactions: they nod as they recognize themselves. Then, I can see the wheels in their heads turning, as they think about their teammates, supervisor, even their family members, and try to place them into a color category.
The personality colors are a great introduction to seeing things from another person’s perspective. It’s a great way to verbalize characteristics of your own personality (which you may not have been able to do before) and to recognize the differences between your thought process and that of others.
However, I have heard of people using their personality color as a crutch. This is NOT the intended use of the personality color. It is not there for you to use it to attempt to explain away improper behavior.
For example, you may be the very essence of a Green (logical, loner, independent), but this does not give you the right to be rude to anyone. The point of the personality color exercise is to realize how OTHERS want to be treated, not just how you like to be approached.
Just because you are a Red (decisive, impulsive, risky), you don’t have the right to roll over everyone else in the group and not allow others to share their ideas because you spoke up first. Reds must learn to curb their impulse to control the group and wait for others to contribute.
Yellows (dutiful, introvert, flighter), you must learn to speak up for yourselves. You have a lot of value in a group, as you are a natural team player. But you cannot allow reds and greens to steamroll over you when you know you’re right.
And finally, Blues (empathetic, flexible, idealistic), when the rest of the group doesn’t agree with you and can’t see the emotional pull you’re feeling toward a decision, you must back up and try to see the logic of the others’ positions. You will be the one to sell the idea to the rest of the world – therefore you must find harmony in the decision.
