Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I ran across a statistic recently that – while it’s a bit dated – speaks volumes about the value of employee training programs. According to a study from the Association for Talent Development (ATD), organizations that make investments into learning and development realize 218% higher income per employee and 24% higher profit margins. Those are pretty significant numbers. And even if they dropped a little over time, they’re still significant. Getting 100%+ return on investment (ROI) is noteworthy. 

But this means that organizations need to do more than just implement one or two training programs. Training has to become part of the culture. Let me rephrase that … learning must become part of the culture. 

I know sometimes the phrase “lifelong learning” gets pushback but there is truth in it. I’m reminded of the Peter Senge’s book “The Fifth Discipline” and how organizations can improve performance when they become learning organizations, meaning that they regularly learn from the successes and not-so-successful moments. 

Employee Training Is an Essential Business Activity

Basic employee training – the kind of training that employees need to do their jobs – isn’t a luxury item. If you cut it from the budget, you’ll pay for it somewhere else. If employees don’t feel that the company supports them by providing the training and tools to do the job, they will go somewhere else. Basic employee training isn’t a carrot to dangle in front of someone and say, “I’ll tell you how to do your job if you promise to stay.”

Managers Should Encourage Employee Development

It can be very tempting for organizations to say that “we can’t afford employee development right now” or “if we develop people, they will take jobs with our competition”. Companies that don’t develop their employees will lose those employees because they’re not demonstrating support for an employee’s career. No one is going to stay with a company that says, “We like you. We just don’t want you to be marketable.”  

Teach Employees How to Unlearn

Organizations often tell employees “Effective tomorrow, here’s the new procedure.” and not give anyone a chance to unlearn the old procedure. Not only does unlearning create buy-in for the change but it gives employees a chance to practice, which can improve their overall performance. And isn’t that what organizations want – good employee performance? Because good performance = good bottom-line.

Let Employees Learn by Breaking Things at Work

Speaking of learning new things, organizations and individuals need to find ways to be curious. There’s an old saying that the most dangerous six words in business are “We’ve always done it that way.” It’s true. If we want to continue delivering value, we need to be willing to “break things” occasionally. 

Team Building and Team Development Are Not the Same Thing

There are advantages and disadvantages to working in teams. In my experience, the number one reason from employees that they either love or hate teamwork is the team dynamic. Set employees up for success by giving them the tools and training.

3 Steps for Employees to Identify Their Own Learning Needs

It makes good business sense for organizations to give employees the methodology and tools to manage their own learning during orientation or onboarding. Employees start their jobs with a clear understanding of their role and expectations with goal setting, one-on-one meetings, and performance management. Meanwhile, managers can spend their time coaching employees to use the process well. 

As we move into the new year, there will be a lot of pressure to perform at a high level – both for organizations and for individuals. The best way to accomplish that is through learning. Organizations that make learning a part of their culture and the way they do things, will see positive results.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the Association for Talent Development Conference in Orlando, FL

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I recently spoke on a webcast hosted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) where I spoke on the topic of leadership and management. I believe it’s important to remember that the two are not the same thing. The functions of management include planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence others. Because the definition of leadership includes influence, it’s important to understand workplace power. 

Power is defined as “a person or thing that possesses or exercises authority or influence”. In essence, when we use power, we’re utilizing our influence to get something. This means that everyone has power. Yes, everyone. And that’s not a bad thing. The real question becomes what kind of power a person has and how someone uses that power. Here are the seven most common types of workplace power and how they might be used.

1. Coercive power is associated with people who are able to punish others. People fear the consequences of not doing what has been asked of them. Coercive power could be used by a manager as in “Do this or I’ll write you up.” But it could also be used by the scheduling department to give someone an unfavorable work shift. 

2. Connection power is based upon who you know. This person knows and has the ear of other powerful people within the organization. An example would be the administrative assistant who has a positive working relationship with their boss. If the assistant doesn’t like you…well, that could get passed along to the executive. And vice versa. 

3. Expert power comes from a person’s expertise (obviously). This is commonly a person with an acclaimed skill or accomplishment. Don’t assume that expertise always comes in the form of being a vice president or having a Ph.D. An expert could be the person who is able to fix things around the office. 

4. A person who has access to valuable or important information possesses informational power. I think of informational workplace power in two ways. First, it’s the person who always seems to be “in the know” about what’s happening in the company. You know who I’m taking about. But also, those individuals who can curate good information in today’s digital world. 

5. Legitimate power comes from the position a person holds. This is related to a person’s title and job responsibilities. You might also hear this referred to as positional power. When I was an in-house HR director, I had the ability to request a manual paycheck for an employee. That authority was given to me based on my job title. No one else was able to make that request. 

6. People who are well-liked and respected can have referent power. People like to do things with and for people they like. It’s the premise of the best-selling book by Tim Sanders, “The Likeability Factor”. This doesn’t mean being weak or a pushover. It also doesn’t mean that likeable people never deliver tough messages. But it does mean that they invest time in building relationships. 

7. Reward power is based upon a person’s ability to bestow rewards. Those rewards might come in the form of job assignments, schedules, pay or benefits. This could be perceived as the opposite of coercive power. Managers might use reward power. For example, “Do this project and then take the rest of the day off.” 

Please don’t be modest and say to yourself, “I don’t have any power.” As you can see, there are lots of different ways workplace power can manifest itself. And for that reason, it’s important to realize that power exists in everyone. It’s also possible that you have different kinds of power with different groups or situations. The two biggest mistakes I see with people using power revolve around (1) trying to use power they don’t have and (2) using the wrong kind of power to achieve specific results.

To help you better understand and identify your “power”, take a moment and think about how you try to influence the actions of others. You could use the descriptions above as a pseudo self-assessment. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-5 in each of the different kinds of power. With 1 being not at all characteristic of you and 5 being quite characteristic.

This can be a powerful exercise (sorry for the pun). If you’re honest with yourself, I hope you will find the results helpful. Not only for the way that you tend to use power, but in the ways that others use power with you.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Orlando, FL

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I mentioned a few months ago that I received a trial membership to MasterClass as part of changing my cellular phone plan. During the trial, I was able to listen to Neil Gaiman, Malala Yousafzai, Neil deGrasse Tyson, RuPaul, Bill Nye, and Dr. Terence Tao. And while I didn’t plan it this way, the last session I listened to about determining a personal brand really brought them all together. 

Roxanne Gay is a writer and podcaster. She is the author of the bestseller “Bad Feminist” and an opinion writer for The New York Times. She is also the author of “World of Wakanda” for Marvel. While Roxanne’s MasterClass was focused on writing for social change, what I walked away with was more about being your unapologetically authentic self in both your personal and professional lives. 

It reminded me of an interview I did a long time ago with Amanda Hite and Dan Schawbel about personal branding. We all have a brand, and we need to be comfortable with it. And if we’re not, it could be valuable to do some self-reflection. Roxanne Gay’s MasterClass talked about six areas that might be helpful to consider as part of a self-reflection exercise.

Make appointments with yourself for the things that matter. I wanted to share this takeaway first because I think it sets the stage for the others. You can call it self-care or me time or whatever. It’s okay to block time off on your calendar for you. Because you are worth it. Identify what’s important to you and make time for it. 

Have a personal code of ethics. In season three of The HR Bartender Show, we talked about ethics mostly in the context of organizational ethics. It’s a good reminder that our personal ethics are important. Many people use the New Year as an opportunity for self-reflection. Maybe it makes sense to add time to think about personal ethics and how it relates to your organization’s ethical standard and personal brand. 

Read and listen to diverse sources. This kinda relates to the first two takeaways. One of the activities that can help us identify what matters is reading and listening to a diverse selection of people. Please note: I did not say that you have to believe or embrace every word they say. I must admit that sometimes the people who frustrate me the most are often ones that help me learn something. There is value in leaving the echo chamber. 

Learn how to research. The definition of research is “the creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge”. It builds on the last takeaway about diverse sources. When I read and listen to things, I often do research to confirm that they are true. Several of the MasterClass sessions I’ve listen to mentioned misinformation and disinformation. We need to learn how to research and identify knowledgeable sources to figure out the truth. 

Find your process. One of my most popular training programs is related to the concept of self-management. In the session, we talk about identifying what makes you productive. If you haven’t asked yourself the question lately, I’d suggest you ask “What makes me my most productive self?” Conversely, also ask, “What makes me my least productive self?” Be prepared to discuss this with your manager and maybe even your family. 

Support your community when you can. I would like to add to this takeaway “with what you can”. It’s not always possible to support our community all the time. Sometimes other things must take priority. But when you can show support for your community – do it. And do it a level that you’re comfortable and capable of.  

Roxanne Gay’s MasterClass was a great reminder that one of the keys to our success is self-awareness. If we want to change or improve an area of our lives, it starts with evaluating where we are right now and where we’d like to be in the future. The world we live in is full of information. Sometimes conflicting information. Knowing ourselves and what we stand for becomes essential in figuring out our personal brand.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at the SHRM Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

One of the activities we don’t spend enough time proactively thinking about is our careers. We get busy and career planning kinda moves down on the priority list. Then when things aren’t going great, we find ourselves reacting to the environment around us. Which isn’t great when it comes to making career decisions. 

So, I’m hoping today’s roundup of articles is a good reminder to schedule some time for yourself to think about your career and what you hope to accomplish in the months to come. 

Career Planning: The Employee’s Role in Driving Their Success

While organizations are very involved in the process of career planning, that doesn’t mean they can drive all of the outcomes. Employees need to understand themselves and decide what they want their career to look like – both short- and long-term. It’s also the employee’s responsibility to communicate those goals to management. Ultimately, that’s how managers can support the employee and their future plans.

How To Be More Curious

One of the qualities that employers want in an employee is curiosity. It’s defined as a “strong desire to know or learn something”. Curiosity can be incredibly helpful to employees and organizations. Especially when organizations want a lean operation. Think about how you can find your own answers – successfully. 

Improve Your Business Acumen with These 10 Activities

I’ve come to realize that business acumen isn’t something you learn once and you’re done. Business acumen is changing all the time. Yes, it’s true that terms like profit and EBDITA haven’t changed. But now we have new terms like mattering, toggling tax, and productivity paranoia. If you want to be a contributor and effective business partner, then you must know how to continuously gain exposure to new business concepts and ideas. 

You Must Define Your Own Work Life Balance 

Work life balance is important, and it contributes to a person’s wellbeing. Unfortunately, I’ve seen people be less than honest with themselves about their work life balance and end up being stressed out and burned out. 

Sometimes part of our career planning includes making a change. If you’re thinking that it’s time to start a career transition – whether that’s an internal move or an external one – here are a few articles that might help. 

Quitting Is Not a Sign of Failure

There are lots of inspirational quotes and sayings that want us to believe that quitting is bad or wrong or a sign of failure. It’s not. Sometimes quitting is the absolutely right thing to do. Ideally, it’s good to quit with a plan, so we can learn from the experience. That’s why quitting isn’t a sign of failure. Because we learned something along the way. 

Make Creating Change a Part of Your Professional Life

Anyone can be a change maker. Influencing change isn’t an “old person” thing or a “young person” thing. Give what you can when you can. That’s how change happens. That’s how we can make an impact in both our personal and professional lives.

The Benefits of Volunteerism

If you’re looking for a new way to learn and contribute, volunteerism is a valuable experience both personally and professionally. But finding the right volunteer opportunity can take some time. That initial investment in research can offer huge benefits and lifetime rewards.

Keep Your LinkedIn Profile Current

Regardless of your opinions about social media, it’s still a part of our personal and professional lives. And when it comes to business, LinkedIn is still tops. That means managing your profile matters. There are lots of resources to help us create and maintain a positive social media presence.

How to Create a Quitting Plan (and Yes, You Should)

If we think about it, quitting is simply a form of change. And change is okay. We can use our skills in problem solving, decision making, change management, and goal setting to help us successfully quit and restart. This doesn’t mean quitting isn’t hard. All change is hard. Even the changes we plan for. But creating a plan can help us think about the steps we need to take and when we’d like to take them. Sometimes having that kind of control can make quitting and changing a lot easier.

We spend a huge amount of time working which is why we owe it to ourselves to give our professional lives the time and energy it deserves. Schedule some time to think about your career and what you want to accomplish. List your goals and be able to articulate them. I’m not saying that everything will happen exactly the way we want it to, but taking the time to have a career plan keeps us focused on the things that matter.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring Walt Disney World, FL

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

I overheard a conversation recently bashing the use of learning styles. As a refresher, the three traditional learning styles are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

• Visual learning involves graphs, charts, pictures, and video. 
• Auditory learning includes discussions, podcasts, and also video.
• Kinesthetic learning involves role plays and hands on practice. 

Honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with the concept of learning styles. BUT like a lot of models, if the information isn’t being used in a productive way, then it can make it lose its value and become the target of negative conversation. Here are a few things to consider when it comes to learning styles.

Understand the learning styles you prefer. Each of us has preferences toward learning. Some people like books. Others might want to watch a video or attend a class. All those learning activities are perfectly acceptable. It’s important to understand the types of learning that you gravitate toward. 

Recognize the circumstances you prefer a learning style. I would guess that most of us like to learn different topics in different ways. For example, I might like to learn about a theory by reading a book. But I would like to learn how to make gnocchi in a hands-on class. 

Use all the styles. As you’re thinking about your learning plans, make sure you consider all the styles. In fact, as you’re putting together your goals, ask yourself “What’s the best way to learn this topic?” instead of “How do I want to learn this topic?”. Maybe there’s perfect alignment with your preferences and the best way to learn the topic. But also, be prepared for the best way to learn something not to be in your preferred style. If we use the example above, I might love learning via books, but that’s not the best way to learn how to make gnocchi. If I want to learn how to make gnocchi, maybe I need to attend a hands-on class. Not my preference, but it’s the best way to learn.  

Look for opportunities to venture out of your comfort zone. Some topics can be learned a variety of different ways. Let’s say you’ve been attending a few in-person training sessions lately. Does it make some sense to try a virtual program to encourage a different type of learning experience? Sometimes pushing ourselves to learn something new in a different style heightens our focus and enhances the experience. 

Consider a personal debrief to understand more about self-learning. As you’re learning, remember to think about your own self-awareness. Ask yourself, “What went well with this learning experience? What did I find valuable?”. Also ask, “Is there anything I’d do differently next time to get a better learning experience?”. 

The value in learning styles isn’t to understand our preferences and always use them. The value in learning styles is to understand our preferences and not always use them. Because that’s how learning happens.

The same applies when designing training. The goal isn’t to design programs that are filled with activities that the instructional designer loves. It’s to offer all the styles and align activities with the topic. 

This has always been a time of year for me where I’m thinking about goals. The organizations I worked in were coming up with strategies for the next year. We were planning department goals as well as individual goals. It’s a great time to think about what you want to learn … and the best way to learn it.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while at the Wynwood Art District in Miami, FL

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Several years ago, I wrote an article for The Workforce Institute blog titled “The Scientific Method isn’t Just for Scientists”. The scientific method is a proven model for problem solving that includes five steps:

1. Identify the problem.
2. Form a hypothesis.
3. Test the hypothesis by conducting an experiment.
4. Analyze the data.
5. Communicate the results.

Even if we’re not in the field of science, we can use this model to solve problems and create change. I recently listened to Bill Nye (the Science Guy)’s MasterClass on Science and Problem Solving where he spent a lot of time talking about how the scientific method can be used to create change. While he was focused on discussing the science of climate change, his points can be applied to a general business environment. 

The underlying theme of his MasterClass was that the principles of science are for everyone and the way we research problems can have an impact on how we design solutions. HR competency models have identified critical thinking as necessary for human resources professionals. Using a proven model like the scientific method can be a perfect way of developing and refining our critical thinking skills. Here are a few of my takeaways from his class.

Rules and constraints are not necessarily bad or wrong. They are just things we have to deal with. Sometimes people want to use a rule as a reason for not attempting to tackle a problem. Nye’s suggestion was that the process of problem solving within a set of constraints can lead to greater creativity and innovation. 

Use critical thinking to evaluate the quality of data we receive. With today’s technology and fast paced news cycles, we have access to a tremendous amount of information. And because we do, it’s essential to learn how to evaluate information well. Think of it as media literacy. Neil deGrasse Tyson also talks about the importance of questioning information – even from our favorite sources – in his MasterClass as well. 

Be prepared to change your mind. It’s okay to change our position on a topic. New information might surface that supports a different way of thinking. One thing we do want to be cognizant of is that we don’t let fear make decisions for us. Yes, we have to talk about the negatives / downsides of an issue, but we should use the benefits to help convince us. 

Learn how to turn the scientific method into action. Some people (and organizations) are great at talk and fall short on action. Maybe as HR pros one of the things we can do is help people develop new habits. Instead of saying “stop doing this” or “don’t do that” … let’s find ways to help and support people trying to change. 

My last takeaway was on the importance of participating in the process. As I mentioned earlier, Nye spent a lot of the MasterClass using climate change examples and he frequently mentioned the importance of voting and participating in the local and global conversations about climate change. Regardless of your feelings about climate change, the message about participation matters in business too. We can’t simply say, “Oh, the company isn’t going to do anything so I’m not going to participate.” That thinking doesn’t help anyone. 

As businesspeople, there will always be some sort of challenge we need to work on. Some problems are big, and others are small. Finding a proven method to research and work on problems is necessary. What can be very beneficial for the organization is to adopt a method – like the scientific method – properly train everyone in the organization and use it regularly to make the organization better.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Salt Lake City, UT

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

I’m sure some readers might be looking at the title of today’s article and saying to themselves, “No way!”. Well, thanks for staying around to read on. 

Training programs are an important part of employee engagement. We’d like to believe that engaged employees are able to do their jobs well and training plays a role in that. In addition, it prepares employees for future opportunities. For that reason, training is directly linked to engagement, which is linked to performance, which is linked to the organization’s bottom-line. 

But what I just described has to do with the training content. There’s an equally important activity in training that can also play a role in employee engagement – the evaluation process. First, if the organization isn’t doing training evaluations, they could be sending the message that what participants think of training isn’t important and that in itself has an impact on engagement. 

If the organization is doing training evaluations, they might be using the Kirkpatrick model. The model has four levels of evaluation: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. 

REACTION: In the reaction level, participants are asked for their “reaction” to training. Often this is done with a paper or online course evaluation. The training team can review reactions and make updates to training based on employee feedback. Think about the engagement that could be created if employee suggestions were incorporated into future training programs. 

LEARNING: In this level, participants are often given a pre- and post-training quiz. Ideally, the participant scores in post-training should be better to indicate that “learning” took place. But the training team can also review scores to spot trends – like every participant got one question wrong or that aggregate scores weren’t as high as expected. This allows the training team to examine the content and possibly make changes that will have a greater impact (which will lead to better employee performance and engagement).

BEHAVIOR: The behavior level of evaluation says that participants are doing what they learned in training. For example, let’s say a company has a decision-making class where everyone learns how to create a force field analysis. After the training, senior management sees employees using force fields. That’s a sign that training was impactful. If senior management walked around and didn’t see anyone using what they learned, that would be cause to investigate. 

RESULTS: In the fourth level of the Kirkpatrick model, the organization sees a measurable outcome as a “result” of training. An example would be if the organization was seeing errors in a particular assembly, and they decide to conduct training. Ideally, after training, the errors should be reduced. If not, then the organization will want to understand why by getting feedback from employees. 

Regardless of what level of evaluation is being used, there’s an expected outcome to training (i.e., good reactions, better post-training scores, noticeable behavior change, and measurable results). If those outcomes happen, great! Training evaluations will offer insights for the future. If those outcomes don’t happen, getting participant feedback is a great way to research the reason why. And incorporating that feedback into future training programs can prove to be beneficial – for employees and the company.

Training evaluations can drive employee engagement when organizations use evaluations in the spirit for which they were intended – to get feedback about the program, suggestions for improvements, and to confirm that the training objective was accomplished. When employees know that their feedback will be taken seriously, they will be more enthused to give it.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the Association for Talent Development (ATD) International Conference and Expo in Orlando, FL

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