Online Articles

By Paul Glover It’s not surprising that being a leader today requires different skills than in the past. The workplace has undergone tremendous changes, including increased global competition, a seismic shift in technology that resulted in a knowledge economy, and an employee population more diverse than ever before.

By Gary White, CEO, White Springs The increasing use of technology in business is forcing trainers not only to use it, but to manage it. The next logical step for trainers, to maintain a competitive edge, is to take advantage of the benefits technology has to offer. Yes, it is disruptive, but how can the training industry use this to its advantage? What can you do to ensure that the impact technology has on your organization’s bottom line is a positive one?

By Laura Stack, MBA, CSP One of the most important tenants in speaking is know thy audience. Failure to do your homework can mean failure. At a minimum, your message will be diluted and won’t have the impact it could have. You always will do a much better job when you conduct better research.

By Eric Vidal, Director, Product Marketing, Event Services Business Segment, InterCall Technology has altered the reality of today’s learners. The evidence is all around us. Employees (students), both young and old, constantly have their noses buried in large and small screens, often at the same time.

By Rob Jolles While I was growing up, I was a fan of the late Vince Lombardi. Not only was he one of the greatest coaches ever, but he also finished his career with my Washington Redskins. He is the man who is forever linked to the following words:“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”

By Richard B. Secord

By Paul B. Thornton, Professor, Business Administration, Springfield Technical Community College Management style greatly affects employees’ motivation and capacity to learn. The most effective managers vary their styles depending on the employee’s knowledge and skills, the nature of the task, time constraints, and other factors. By so doing, they encourage and inspire employees to do their best at all times.

By Matt Norman, President, Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central U.S. As a professional trainer, I am all too familiar with a common pattern that creates an obstacle to learning and change: Companies train employees on new skills or behaviors. Employees intellectually grasp the new concepts presented during training. They make initial efforts to incorporate the new ideas into their work, but the new practices seem awkward. It takes extra effort to use them. Eventually, they fall back into their old, comfortable habits.

By Ray Attiyah Transitioning leadership of the day-to-day aspects of the business to the front line is rarely as easy as simply saying it needs to occur. The goal is not to dump responsibility in the lap of the front line and then dash to an office to start thinking of improvement opportunities. Effective leaders want to transition responsibilities so the front line is always capable of undertaking them. Then leaders can start planning proactive improvements for the front line’s systems and processes.

By Bill Tate, President, HR Plus In today’s economy, where jobs are still scarce and the competition for open positions is fierce, how does a company know it has selected the perfect candidate for an executive position? Sure, you have completed numerous face-to-face interviews; the candidate has passed the background check, fingerprinting, and drug testing; and references have been called. But what else should you know?