Recently, I’ve been given the opportunity to train a couple of co-workers on sourcing. Somehow someone heard that I use to do that very thing, and thought it was time for me to pass on the knowledge. Please twist my arm–sourcing is my first love, and the part of my career I have enjoyed so much. It’s so interesting, circling …
If You Just Rely on AI to Train Managers, Don’t Be Surprised at the Management You Get.
I’m not easily surprised, but I am when I see something like this: According to The Wall Street Journal, companies are now turning to robots to train and coach young managers. *Insert your bad manager joke here* According to The Journal, the training comes in the form of a bot, “a manager-training app powered by the artificial intelligence of IBM …
It’s Time to Talk About Mental Health in the Workplace
Thanks to increased awareness driven by celebrities, athletes, politicians and more, mental illness has become less stigmatizing than it previously was. But as society gains a greater understanding of the issues, the conversation around mental health (and how we should handle it) has failed to permeate the workplace at the same rate. As companies tout improved work-life balance, gym memberships, …
Marketing Training as a Benefit
Today’s workforce is very impatient. We want to grow and develop and get promoted, and we want it all to come very quickly. To be perfectly frank, we believe we are entitled to it. I am your employee, and so therefore you should be giving me things. Lots of things. So many things. I don’t even care what those things …
The Five New Year’s Resolutions of an HR Leader
2019 is just around the corner and HR leaders everywhere are making their New Year’s resolutions. I’m not talking about false promises to lay off gluten, flatten that spare tire around the midsection, call grandma in Sheboygan more often, eat more kale, blah blah blah. That’s all well and good, but how about making a collective resolution to your employees and …
“Do you like essential oils?” Is NOT a Legitimate Interview Question!
After being twenty minutes late for our long-awaited connection, she opened the conversation with: “About me, prior to coming here, I worked at a day spa.” “Do you like essential oils?” “I feel like we’ve met before?” “Oh, November is your birthday? That’s Sagittarius, I’m a stereotypical Capricorn.” “Do you have any pets or young children? Good, because we work …
Don’t Be Greedy: An Argument for User-Centric Design in HR
Imagine a company that puts its needs before that of their customers. Consider what the shelf life of that organization would be. Picture, if you can, the number of good things that would be said about that organization. Zero – the answer is zero. That’s because no one would choose to work with a company that doesn’t put their users …
Focus on Your Training Misses To Win Over the Masses
Meeting the needs of your employees’ development can seem like a daunting task. So is cleaning your entire house; now imagine skipping the bathrooms every week. As I look back at my career as a training leader, this perspective is one that I wish I had learned early on. One must only master an excel pivot table to find easy …
Starbucks Afternoon Training Session: It’s More About Damage Control Than Anything Else
Here’s the bottom line on this week’s anti-racial bias training at Starbucks, and it was captured perfectly in the headline on The New York Times story about the big event. It said: Starbucks’s Tall Order: Tackle Systemic Racism in 4 Hours Yup, the NYT is right; it’s unlikely that Starbucks, or any other company, is going to make much of a …
Learning & Development – It’s Really About $$$
When explaining L&D to others outside of work, I often take the short route and say it’s a fancy word for training and employee performance. Most don’t understand that learning is an ongoing function rather than a specific task, which is why it’s not just “training”. Fortunately for those who are in Learning & Development, it’s really the “feel good” …