Online Articles

Innovation is a hot topic for businesses. Everyone wants it, but how do you know if you have it? In Brandon Hall Group’s recent survey on Relationship Centered Learning, participants were asked to describe their company’s top two business priorities, and Improving Innovation was one of the top picks. How do you know if you are encouraging innovation in your organization? Here are some ways companies can foster innovation:

By Patti Lind, Founding Partner, Lind Consulting Group When I come out to talk with groups, there is invariably someone in the audience who says, “I don’t buy this. I am who I am and if people can’t accept that, then that is their problem.”

By Joseph Grenny, Co-Founder, VitalSmarts There’s a lot more to influencing new behavior than just delivering high-quality training. Once training finishes, participants return to work and immediately are pulled in a dozen different directions. In fact, research suggests that all these distractions are the reason why less than 10 percent of what is taught in the classroom translates into real behavior change back at work. So what can trainers do to ensure learning translates into action?

By K.M. Lowe

By Alan E. Hall, Founder and Chairman, MarketStar (now a division of Omnicom) Imagine half of your workforce going through the motions while looking for other employment. According to a recent Gallup study on employee engagement, approximately 54 percent of employees in the United States are not engaged in their organization (http://www.gallup.com/poll/150383/Majority-American-Workers-Not-Engaged-Jobs.aspx).

By G. Riley Mills, co-founder and COO, Pinnacle Performance Company

By Margery Weinstein In 2010, increased competition and an ever-changing construction marketplace led Gilbane to re-examine its sales processes in order to drive sustainable long-term growth. It became clear that a broader range of sales expertise and business development was needed throughout the leadership teams to complement Gilbane’s existing business development teams.

By Michael Patterson Consulting with businesses and managers who, like myself, have a canine or two at home, I discovered that they often would spend more resources on, and have more patience in, training and developing their pet than they would on the employees who worked with or under them. Frankly, they treated their dogs better than they’d even think to treat their employees! Lack of employee development can lead to lowered productivity, workplace strife and discomfort, higher employee turnover rates, hampered growth, and many other debilitating results.

By Ara Ohanian, Chief Happiness Officer and CEO, CERTPOINT Systems With 21st century technologies changing the way we think and learn, it’s not surprising that we find ourselves at a tipping point for change. 2012 saw Facebook’s 1 billionth user, and the world was gripped by a Korean artist-turned-global-phenomenon, thanks to YouTube. So how can we grasp these compelling opportunities to prove L&D business impact and propel L&D to its rightful seat at the C-table? I see five key steps to success in the year ahead:

By Tom Roth, Chief Operating Officer, Wilson Learning Worldwide Let’s face it—it’s still tough out there. Most organizations today have weathered the worst economy since World War II, with recovery and growth slower than we all would like it to be. But you made it, and now you are dealing with the massive changes that have taken place and are working hard to ensure your organization stays on course for continued success.