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Found this older post on Twitter-as-training-tool and thought I’d reshare it.

By now, most of us a thing or two about Twitter. It is a free social networking tool where users submit updates, called “tweets,” about what they are doing at the moment. These text-based tweets cannot exceed 140 characters. If you do a quick search on Twitter, many brand name companies use it as another way to connect and communicate with customers, partners, analysts and employees.

Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of “friends and followers.” Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS text, RSS, or through any ever-growing number of applications such as Twirl and Facebook for mobile devices.

Can Twitter be used for training & development? A few ways to consider:

Provide real-time nuggets of learning
Even faster and more digestible than rapid e-learning, Twitter tweets could be used to distribute real-time/just-in-time nuggets of information as needed. Consider a Twitter network of geographically dispersed sales people who can instantly and constantly share competitive information and insights AS THEY OCCUR IN THE FIELD. Articles, news items, YouTube videos…almost anything can be shared instantly (and easily using the “shorten URL” feature).

Follow-up/archive method
Twitter is a great tool for communicating and asking questions on conference calls and webcasts. Another benefit: using Twitter enables you to keep a record of the questions and comments in a format not unlike a chat or blog post.

Reinforcement & reminders related to processes, policies and procedures
Twitter can be used to reinforce new content because it allows you to send and see quick snippets of information… ideal for sending out reminders, how-to’s, examples and clarifications… all important when it comes to maintaining consistency related to new processes, policies and procedures.

BTW, follow eCornell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ecornell_online.

If you missed the eCornell webinar titled Building a Global Talent Management Strategy and would like to view it, or would like to share with colleagues, the archive is available at www.ecornell.com/mar14archive. The presentation slides are at www.ecornell.com/mar14ppt.

In today’s marketplace, going global is more necessity than luxury, as businesses regularly find customers, suppliers and partners from all over the map. That broader focus for business requires a global talent management strategy to properly support a global initiative.

We’ll show you what a global talent management strategy consists of, how to build one that delivers measurable business outcomes and how to deploy to a diverse global workforce. During this interactive webinar, Heidi Spirgi, co-founder and president of Knowledge Infusion, will walk you through the process and steps organizations need to go through to build and deploy a global talent management strategy:

• How to tie your talent management strategy to business initiatives.
• The importance of developing a long-term talent management strategy to have better business results.
• How a successful talent management strategy is one designed for the workforce, not the HR department.
• Why HR departments cannot focus on “go live” when deploying talent management solutions, but rather must focus on user adoption and outputs, ensuring the new system is driving outcomes aligned with the business, not HR goals.

eCornell has been named to Training Industry, Inc.’s list of The Top 20 Leadership Training Companies for third consecutive year in a row. Now in its third year, the annual list was assembled by Training Industry’s review committee to include companies with demonstrated experience and excellence in providing leadership training services to a variety of clients, and is intended to help buyers of training services evaluate providers.

Continue reading…

eCornell invites you to participate in a complimentary webinar presented in partnership with Training Industry:

Learning Technologies: Transforming Your Workforce
presented Connie Malamed, publisher of “The E-Learning Coach” blog
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific
Register www.ecornell.com/jan17

Can’t make it? You can still register and receive a post-event email with instructions on how to access the session recording and presentation slides. Or download the whitepaper Best Practices in Employee
Development.

In this 1-hour webinar, Connie Malamed, publisher of the popular blogazine “The E-Learning Coach,” will highlight current and upcoming technology trends in workplace learning , such as personal learning environments, social media learning and augmented reality. She will spotlight trends that have the potential to provide more meaningful and relevant learning experiences to your workforce. This webinar will help your organization–from executives and managers to IT departments and training professionals–prepare for future generations of independent and active learners.

In this interactive web session we’ll show you how:

• Organizations are using new technologies.
• The role of training departments is changing.
• Changes in culture and technology are transforming workplace learning.
• Employees can benefit from new learning technologies.
• Emerging learning technologies fit into your organization’s business strategy.

We hope you can join us for this educational event.

The Team @ eCornell

ELearning Magazine turns to eCornell, 3-time “Best of ELearning” award winner, for advice on avoiding pitfalls and roadblocks to effective professional development and training. Check out these 5 potential trips and traps to avoid.

Part III of our interview with Great on the Job author Jodi Glickman, the Engagement and Retention Edition. Jodi is an entrepreneur, author, public speaker, consultant and regular blogger for Harvard Business Review. She is a faculty member of the Johnson School’s Leadership Program at Cornell and a contributor to Fortune.com and Business Insider. Her new book: Great on the Job, What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead has been described as a veritable master class in workplace success.

Q: There seems to be a real disconnect between what employers think employees value at work, and vice versa. What advice would you give employers who are struggling with engagement or retention in their workforce? Again, this seems to illustrate a communication gap, perhaps even the absence of a feedback mechanism.

Engaged employees are happy employees and the research shows time and time again that companies with higher employee engagement perform better financially. Employers have to make real effort to reach out to employees and find out what is going well and what needs changing. The shift has to start with the top—senior management needs to demonstrate a commitment to listening to employees.

On a more basic level, line managers need to be held accountable for keeping their teams and divisions challenged and engaged. Knowing what your employees want to work on, are great at doing and are hoping to learn will help you come up with work plans for individual employees. People will work harder for a manager who is focused on their professional development.

There’s also a huge misperception about incentives at work.  The vast majority of employees cites recognition as one of the main motivating factors at work—not more money or cash bonuses.  Calling out a colleague for work well done goes a long way to maintaining morale and making employees feel valued.

Q: In terms of engagement, how do feel about employees having a real, tangible stake in the company’s success or failure, i.e. accountability for profits, revenue, customer satisfaction and so on? Are these rewarding places in which to work?

Jodi: I often think about how fun it would be to work at Apple (even after reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson which showed him to be a tough boss, to put it nicely). Can you imagine how amazingly gratifying it would be to make such awesome products? To know that people literally LOVED your company and your products and couldn’t wait to get their hands on your latest innovations? And to know that your stock options had quadrupled in value over the last ten year?

So yes, I think it’s hugely important for employees to have a real, tangible stake in a company’s success or failure. People take real pride in creating great products or delivering superior customer service. People are motivated by far more than money, so it’s never money alone… but certainly employees should be rewarded for their company’s success and feel like they have a real stake in the outcome.

And as an entrepreneur myself, I am always conscious of how I am going to reward my employees as the business grows—I always want them to know that when we do better as a company they will do better financially. It’s part of the bargain—put your best foot forward, give your job your heart and soul and you’ll be rewarded with a raise or a bonus and a job that is over time, more challenging and rewarding.

Be sure to read parts I and II as well.

U.S. unemployment is at 8.2%, yet 52% of U.S. companies report difficulty filling jobs.* I know, it’s hard to reconcile those numbers.

Given that, it’s even harder to account for this: Only 28% of U.S. companies are increasing training and development this year. Why are companies not conducting training in-house? Why the apparent aversion to promote from within? Too costly, too few available resources? It seems those 52% of companies are hoping that the dream job candidate is the next one to walk through that door. That’s unlikely, so what to do?

The WSJ says bring back apprenticeship, educate and promote from within.

CLO Magazine seconds that and explains the U.S.’s problem:

European countries aren’t having skill-shortage complaints at the same level as in the U.S., and the nations that have the most established apprenticeship programs—the Scandinavian nations, Germany and Switzerland—have low unemployment.

Fast Company says “stop whining”:

With technology and industries shifting so quickly, our economy’s open positions aren’t necessarily a perfect fit for our unemployed workers. Rather than simply wishing that mismatch away, businesses need to embrace training to reduce it.

And by leveraging new training technologies, employers have new opportunities to make training more effective and cost-efficient than ever before.

It’s time organizations stop dreaming of perfect employees and start growing them.

*source: Manpower Group

If you missed the eCornell webinar Building Empowered Global Teams with Dr. Deborah Swallow on November 16,  there’s good news. You can now access an archived version for free!

The webinar is available at www.ecornell.com/nov16archive.

The presentation slides are at www.ecornell.com/nov16ppt.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the grim state of the economy, that more people are feeling dissatisfied in their work. They feel shackled to their less-than-ideal jobs because the threat of not having one is horrific and unthinkable. Many are being asked to do more work for the same—if not less—pay.

In addition to wage stagnation, there is growing concern about the lack of promotional opportunity at work. People are becoming less engaged, oftentimes frustrated with management, generally disillusioned. The enticement of job mobility is secondary to job stability. These are symptoms of an economy in recession.

It’s not all bad news, though. Indicators suggest that we are emerging—albeit glacially—out of this recession. Which is encouraging, but we’re still hearing it from all sides: The job market these days is just plain tough and confidence is waning. Think about how vastly different it looked just a few short years ago. Read more →