September 2009 Highlights
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Operational Training at Boeing and Textron Lead
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 As the need for specialized skills emerges, best practice organizations are becoming more focused on addressing critical skills gaps through operational training. In our recent webinar, Learning Leaders: Excellence in Manufacturing Processes, senior learning executives from The Boeing Company and Textron discuss operational challenges and how training was employed to improve skill development. This webinar looks at how these Fortune 500 companies, both Bersin & Associates Learning Leaders, created value with training programs that improved highly complex operations.
At Textron, the Materials Excellence Program was designed to teach employees to make more strategic decisions about supply chain management. Kevin Brady, director of performance solutions, discusses the program in detail, including a comprehensive analysis to identify the diverse skills requirements in different business units.
Kim Armstrong, senior manager of Enterprise Lean+ Learning at Boeing, talks about the Systems Engineering Leadership Program, a blended learning solution created to address the growing need to integrate systems engineering applications into all existing engineering operations. A major objective of this program was for engineers to be able to communicate the value of systems engineering to program leaders and managers.
By listening to this webinar recording, you’ll learn:
- The value of business simulation for improving training effectiveness.
- The importance of strategic business partnerships in creating operational training programs.
- How Boeing and Textron achieved significant end results that positively impacted each company’s bottom line.
- The specific technologies, practices, and processes used to create these award-winning programs.
We invite you to listen to this special webinar replay. These best practices can be applied to any organization looking to develop deep levels of specialized skills among critical job roles. You can also read about these and other Learning Leaders in our complimentary report, Learning Leaders 2008: Lessons from the Best.
Members have access to all Bersin & Associate webinars. For a limited time only, non-members can download Learning Leaders: Excellence in Manufacturing Processes.
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| Nationwide’s Retraining Program Meets New Market Needs |
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To increase its presence on the internet, Nationwide, one of the largest insurance and integrated financial companies in the United States, had to migrate existing software applications to a new web technology – a move that had serious repercussions for talent management. J2EE programmers are in high demand, and the company needed to make a decision: hire contractors at a premium, or retrain current IT employees who had a track record of strong performance.
The recently published, 19-page case study, Next-Generation Blended Learning: Nationwide Insurance Improves IT Staff Retraining by Blending Formal and Informal Learning, details the development and implementation of the J2EE Fast Track learning program and includes discussion on executive sponsorship, identification of candidates, launch activities, and lessons learned.
As formal learning alone would not have resulted in the desired outcome, the J2EE Fast Track program used a blended learning approach to retrain staff. Classroom training was supplemented with a combination of relational and experiential learning. The program followed a 70/20/10 model – 70% of development was through on-the-job assignments partnered with coaching; 20% through opportunities to learn via peer-to-peer relations, initial simulations, and work with coaches; and 10% through traditional classroom training.
In addition to providing employees with the skills needed to step into new technology roles at Nationwide, the J2EE Fast Track program is an opportunity for high-performing employees to pursue a new career path. The program has had the added benefit of attracting recent college graduates looking for opportunities in the high-tech industry. This case study is an excellent example of how developing a large-scale employee retraining program can result in significant business impact. You’ll come away with new ideas, an understanding of performance consulting processes, and best practices for design and implementation.
Members: Download today.
Non-members: For a limited time, this case study is available at no cost.
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| New Research Highlights |
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 Creating Training Organization Efficiency: CUNA Mutual Group Builds Center of Expertise around Learning and Performance
This report provides guidance on how to reorganize training to minimize cost and maximize efficiency.
Members: Download today.
Selecting a Social Software Provider Using the Four Cs
Learn to use Bersin & Associates "Four Cs of Social Software" to short-list and then select the right social software provider for your corporate community or social learning needs.
Members: Download today.
Learn.com: Update on a Fast-Growing LMS Company
Update on Learn.com's company evolution and new offerings.
Members: Download today.
SkillSoft: A Staple in the Leadership Development Market
An overview of two core SkillSoft products – KnowledgeCenter and Leadership Development Channel – and a new, soon-to-be released product, Leadership Advantage.
Members: Download today.
Extending the Reach of the Learning Organization: Classic Residence by Hyatt Markets Online University to Geographically Dispersed Employees
This report details the process that a hospitality business used to maximize training efficiency.
Members: Download today.
Join our research community to access these reports
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| Talent Management Newsletter |
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 Bersin & Associates' Talent Management newsletter highlights research on: leadership development, performance management, competency management, recruiting, succession planning and the evolution of integrated talent management systems. In each newsletter you will find actionable research you can immediately apply. Subscribe today!
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| Analyst Corner |
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Content Challenges for the Modern Learning Organization
David Mallon
Senior Analyst
We recently announced High-Impact Learning Practices: The Guide to Modernizing Your Corporate Training Strategy Through Social & Informal Learning, an all encompassing guide to modernizing your learning organization. As a follow-on, I’m currently writing a blog series on related content challenges.
No longer the definitive source for learning content, learning organizations have evolved to become enablers and brokers of learning content. This means knowing where to find the best content – regardless of its format, understanding learners’ needs and preferences, and having easy-to-use channels that offer learners rapid access to relevant content.
Each blog posting will focus on a major content challenge in today’s information-based society:
- Speed and Accessibility. Learners now expect relevant content to be no more than one or two clicks away. However, most organizations do not have the skills and tools required for the new world of informal learning. This blog discusses the roles of corporate search, content-based communities, social learning, and more.
- Authorship (coming soon). Many of the best sources of quality content exist outside of the learning organization. This blog posting discusses issues such as content consistency and licensing and solutions such as metalearning skills, SaaS content development platforms, and content teams.
- Quality and Credibility (coming soon). When virtually anyone can create content, how do you ensure quality? This blog will discuss thorny issues such as content quality control and content management.
- Ownership and Market Value (coming soon). What is today’s role – and value – of professionally developed content? What are the implications on licensing and price? This blog posting will discuss trends and possibilities.
Reminder: Sign up for an RSS feed today to automatically receive notifications of updates to my blog, as well as any others you’d like to follow.
We welcome your comments and thoughts on this topic; please email info@bersin.com to share.
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