Building A More Creative Workplace | Summer 2022

Q U A R T E R LY | S U M M E R 2 0 2 2

THE POWER OF PERSONAL PRESENCE | 22 How Authenticity Builds Trust and Inclusion

CREATING THE VIRTUAL WATERCOOLER EXPERIENCE | 42 Build Connection into Hybrid Learning

BEYOND THE SMILE SHEET | 50 Improve Learning Design with Better Data

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Helping Improve Employee Engagement One Course at a Time

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Increase retention and engagement Decrease skill gaps to increase productivity Provide career paths at all levels Eradicate rog e spendin Ibprove sawetv and compliance

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MICHELLE EGGLESTON SCHWARTZ, CPTM

FROM THE EDITOR

HARNESSING CURIOSITY IN TODAY’S WORKPLACE

Learning is a natural part of life.

Humans are naturally curious and persistent, constantly experimenting and learning new skills, from birth through adulthood. However, once we reach adulthood and assume more regimented routines and responsibilities, that spark for learning can become stifled. With limited free time (and energy), it’s easy to view learning as something that needs to be factored into a to-do list as opposed to embedded into day-to-day activities and experiences.

BUILDING A CULTURE THAT EMBRACES LEARNING AS A CONTINUOUS EXPERIENCE REQUIRES HARNESSING THE CURIOSITY OF EMPLOYEES.

As learning and development (L&D) professionals, we know that learning does not occur from an isolated, onetime training event. New skills require continuous practice, reinforcement and application to become engrained.

Building a culture that embraces learning as a continuous experience requires harnessing the curiosity of employees — helping employees tap into their natural ability (and willingness) to learn. Curiosity can unleash new ideas and solutions for the business and maximize the potential of employees.

As we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, the organizations that have been the most successful are those that can innovate and adapt to change quickly. Innovation requires employees to feel safe trying new ideas, failing, learning from those mistakes and trying again. However, learning remains largely regimented at many companies — where training

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE - SUMMER 2022 I WWW.TRAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

is treated as a check-the-box activity instead of an ongoing experience.

So, what does it take to build a creative workplace that fosters the full potential of its employees? The cover story in this issue of Training Industry Magazine examines the science behind building a creative and innovative workplace and provides actionable strategies that can help organizations thrive during times of uncertainty. This edition of the magazine also explores other important topics like creating the virtual watercooler experience, designing training programs for behavior change, the power of personal presence and multiplying experts across the organization.

I hope the articles in this edition will provide you and your team with some actionable insights to improve the development and delivery of your training programs — helping to maximize the potential of your employees and unleash new ideas and solutions for the future. Our editorial team is dedicated to delivering the content and resources that learning leaders need to create impactful learning experiences. If you have any topic suggestions, please reach out to our team and let us know what’s on your mind. We love hearing from you!

Michelle Eggleston Schwartz, CPTM, is the editor in chief of Training Industry, Inc., and co-host of “The Business of Learning,” the Training Industry podcast.

Email Michelle.

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TA B L E O F

uring Level 1 prove ng Design

CO N T E N TS

VOLUME 15

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ISSUE 3

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SUMMER 2022

22 THE POWER OF PERSONAL PRESENCE

42 CREATING THE VIRTUAL WATERCOOLER EXPERIENCE

50 BEYOND THE SMILE SHEET

FEATURES

16

THE SCIENCE OF BUILDING A MORE CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE WORKPLACE

38

20

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE ASSESSMENT EXPERIENCE

22 26

42

THE POWER OF PERSONAL PRESENCE

46 50

30

By Lexter Martin

With higher turnover, it’s more important than ever to foster employee expertise.

35

BEYOND THE SMILE SHEET: MEASURING LEVEL 1 TO IMPROVE LEARNING DESIGN

By John Cleave and Danielle Hart

Coaching and development are key ingredients to effective succession planning.

MULTIPLYING EXPERTS AND EXPERTISE IN AN ENTERPRISE

CHAOS IS HERE TO STAY: WHY BUILDING GRIT IS VITAL FOR EXECUTIVE SUCCESS Change isn’t going away: Learners need resilience to keep up.

Bringing your full self to every interaction can make or break an organization.

By Nancy Parsons

By Natalie Richardson

By Kimberly Gerber

By Elsa Powel Strong

COCONUT PIE AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

CREATING THE VIRTUAL WATERCOOLER EXPERIENCE Informal collaboration is essential: Here are some ways to bring it back.

By Federico Fantacone

The digital revolution has vastly increased the types of assessments available to L&D.

By Paul Matthews

For training that makes a difference, start with behavior change in mind.

By Dr. Britt Andreatta

Creativity and innovation are not the same thing. Both are needed for organizations to thrive.

DESIGNING TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE

xAPI data can help you move your measurement beyond the smile sheet.

55

DISRUPTION IS YOUR FRIEND

By Megan R. Bell, MPM, PMP

These tips will help your organization use disruption as a springboard.

USING EMPATHY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER

By Shannon Effler and April DeLac

Design thinking can help salespeople make deep client connections.

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IN THIS ISSUE

THOUGHT LEADERS

3 9 11 13

FROM THE EDITOR

By Michelle Eggleston Schwartz, CPTM

Humans are curious by nature.

Keeping that in mind will make your training excel.

15 59

GUEST EDITOR

By Jon D’Alessandro

Take some tips from sport psychology as you design your training.

WHAT’S NEXT IN TECH

By Stella Lee, Ph.D.

User experience can be daunting: These tips will help you move beyond management.

61

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

By Dr. Kristal Walker, CPTM

True diversity and inclusion requires inclusive succession planning.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

By Julie Winkle Giulioni

Help your learners rethink their career paths — or risk losing them to other organizations.

SCIENCE OF LEARNING

By Srini Pillay, M.D.

Personalized mental health offerings are the first step to solving burnout.

BUILDING LEADERS

By Sam Shriver and Marshall Goldsmith

Thorough planning can change your training from “dinner” to “fine dining.”

INFO EXCHANGE

62

CLOSING DEALS

By Sarah Gallo, CPTM

Higher retention comes from mapping learning to future career goals.

CONNECT WITH US

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1 (866) 298-4203

COMPANY NEWS

Keep up with the latest in the training industry by reading news from the last quarter.

editor@trainingindustry.com

TrainingIndustry.com

ABOUT OUR TEAM

STAFF CEO Ken Taylor ktaylor@trainingindustry.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Amanda Longo alongo@trainingindustry.com

DESIGNER Cassandra Ortiz cortiz@trainingindustry.com

EDITOR IN CHIEF Michelle Eggleston Schwartz meggleston@trainingindustry.com

DESIGNER Mary Lewis mlewis@trainingindustry.com

ADVERTISING SALES sales@trainingindustry.com

SENIOR EDITOR Sarah Gallo sgallo@trainingindustry.com

DESIGNER Kellie Blackburn kblackburn@trainingindustry.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Mike Allen mallen@trainingindustry.com

DESIGNER Alyssa Alheid aalheid@trainingindustry.com

EDITORIAL BOARD JUDI BADER, CPTM Senior Director of Learning Arby’s Restaurant Group

MATTHEW S. PRAGER, CPTM Executive Training Manager U.S. Government

MICHAEL CANNON, M.ED. Senior Director, Head of Learning & Development Red Hat

MARC RAMOS Global Head of Learning Strategy & Learning Innovation Novartis

BARBARA JORDAN, CPTM Group Vice President, Global Learning & Development Sims Metal Management

KELLY RIDER Chief Learning Officer PTC

CATHERINE KELLY, MA, BSN, RN, CPTM Director of Learning Programs Brookdale Senior Living SHIREEN LACKEY, CPTM Talent Management Officer, Office of Business Process Integration Veterans Benefits Administration LAURA MORAROS Global Head of Sales Learning Facebook

A S B P E Aw a r d s o f E x c e l l e n c e

KERRY TROESTER, CPTM Director, North America Sales Training Lenovo NATASHA MILLER WILLIAMS Head of Diversity & Inclusion Ferrara KEE MENG YEO Adjunct Professor Grand Valley State University & Davenport University

SCOTT NUTTER Principal/Owner Touch & Go Solutions

A Z B E E S

DR. SYDNEY SAVION Chief Learning Officer Cityblock Health

MISSION Training Industry Magazine connects learning and development professionals with the resources and solutions needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.

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JON D’ALESSANDRO

GUEST EDITOR

OPTIMIZE YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH THESE SPORT PSYCHOLOGY TACTICS The modern work environment is characterized by ever-increasing standards of performance, technological disruption and continuous change and volatility. Helping learners realize their professional ambitions under such demands requires a more comprehensive approach to performance optimization — one which incorporates not only traditional learning and development (L&D), but the tools to cultivate one’s psychological and emotional fitness.

are preparing to give speeches about you and your career. What would you want them to say about your accomplishments, leadership and ability to handle pressure?

How would you hope they describe your behavior, attitude and collaboration?

This exercise can help provide valuable insight around who you want to be within your professional domain.

In athletic contexts, the approach is more integrative. Coaches focus on real-time skills and performance while nutritionists and exercise scientists work to optimize athletes’ biology. To address the psychoemotional aspects of competition, sport and performance psychologists enter the picture, leveraging a collection of research-backed, performanceenhancing mental techniques. Here is a sampling from the vast performance psychology toolkit that learning leaders can use to improve their own performance, as well as the employees they support.

Performance psychology research also demonstrates that not all adversity is negative. Studies show that as perceived stress increases, our performance actually increases in step, although only to a point.

When we exceed that threshold, we experience distress and our performance crumbles. We “choke.”

START WITH “WHY” Sport psychology places a massive emphasis on personal values. While many organizations recognize the importance of values on workplace culture and leadership development, performance psychologists invest time upfront with clients to identify their core motives.

That insight is used to set value-aligned goals, influence behavior and plan for sustaining motivation under adversity.

The retirement dinner exercise is one helpful technique to surface core values. Try this: Imagine yourself at your retirement dinner, surrounded by longtime friends and colleagues. They

THE ZONE OF OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE

POSITIVE STRESS PRIMES US FOR ACTION. Counterintuitively, if we are too relaxed our performance still suffers. But when managed appropriately, positive stress — called eustress — primes us for action.

We’re able to perform optimally, overcome obstacles and grow our capabilities in the process. Remember this when identifying development opportunities. Intentionally pursue challenges that stretch, rather than break you.

our performance. Our understanding of capability-expanding eustress can help break the cycle. We can learn to regulate our physiological arousal and interpret the heightened state not as a problem, but as a necessary precursor to doing great work.

Eustress is the fuel of peak performance.

PERFORM MINDFULLY Stress takes another, more harmful form. Chronic stress is a prolonged sense of pressure and causes subpar performance and disengagement.

Performance psychologists leverage mindfulness training to reduce stress and negative affect, allowing clients to perform optimally and adjust more eloquently to unexpected demands.

Remarkably, research shows positive outcomes from just 10-12 minutes of daily meditation, and a study published in Consciousness and Cognition demonstrated performance improvement after just four days of mindfulness training. Many financial firms offer meditation programs for trading staff to reduce stress, mitigate bias and improve performance. If your organization places a premium on productivity, it is worth investing in mindfulness.

PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE

This subset of practical, work-relevant tools can help you operate in line with your values, use discomfort as fuel, perform mindfully and, ideally, reach your professional potential.

Our knowledge of eustress can also change how we think about pressure.

Stress is inevitable in critical situations, for example before an important proposal or speaking engagement. However, when we dwell on that anxiety, we may create additional undue worry that diminishes

Jon D’Alessandro works in talent development at Blackstone, a leading alternative investment management firm, where he designs and delivers training programs, coaching strategies and leadership development initiatives.

Email Jon.

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STELLA LEE, PH.D.

WHAT’S NEXT IN TECH

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS NEED TO GO BEYOND “MANAGEMENT” Since the introduction of the first teaching machine in 1924, learning technologies have come a long way.

Specifically, learning management systems (LMS) have evolved over the past decades with the introduction of SCORM, xAPI, cloud technology, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and blockchain. Furthermore, the uptake of LMSs has been accelerated by the shift to remote work and learning.

On one hand, an LMS is useful in coordinating the learning workflow; on the other hand, the way organizations make use of their LMSs can be very limiting, with the focus largely on management and tracking. There is much more to an LMS, and it is time we shift our paradigm when configuring and implementing the system from a technology-centered to a learnercentered perspective.

CONSIDER THE ENTIRE USER EXPERIENCE (UX) The perceived quality of an LMS is often based on how usable the system is. For an effective UX, we must consider the entire learner journey from logging in for the first time and browsing the course catalog to interacting with other users in the system and revisiting learning material.

A coherent and positive experience is particularly important, as LMSs are increasingly integrated with the larger talent development ecosystem.

For example, when setting up errorhandling messages, ensure that the

language is consistent across systems and jargon-free — aim at the right level for the target users, take cultural context into account and describe how the users can fix the error.

IT IS TIME WE SHIFT FROM A TECHNOLOGYCENTERED PERSPECTIVE TO A LEARNER-CENTERED PERSPECTIVE. MAKE BETTER USE OF LEARNING ANALYTICS While most LMSs offer functions for tracking and reporting, there is room for making better use of learning analytics.

In addition to pre-built reports, deep learning analytics capabilities can help inform better learning design decisions and support learners better.

Some possibilities to look for include data visualization and personalized dashboards, API access for data integration, and access to log files.

Moreover, the LMS is often the first data source we look to extract data from to work with an external analytics tool, so look for richer sets of data.

Data sources such as learning data generated by xAPI courses and SCORM-based courses, learner search data, survey results, learnerto-learner interactions (e.g., discussion forum, chat or comments) and content engagement rates could potentially provide greater insights and help identify areas of improvement.

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SECURITY, PRIVACY AND INCLUSIVITY Considerations of system security, data privacy and inclusivity should be in the forefront of any LMS implementation.

Modern LMSs have improved significantly in terms of security features — but a lot of work still needs to be done around learner privacy and bias in learning data.

For example, there are some LMSs that apply biometric technology such as facial recognition to monitor attendance or detect engagement. Yet, facial recognition technology is known to have a much higher error rate in identifying women of color, transgender and black people in general. To mitigate the misuse of data and data bias, issues about the handling and storing of biometric data need to be properly addressed, and consent must be obtained from users.

You can start by asking LMS vendors what type of data safeguarding best practices are in place to ensure user privacy, as well as advocating data policy and governance within your organization.

While LMSs are designed primarily for the purpose of hosting, managing and tracking learning, it will serve us well to look beyond the management functions and consider learner and learning-driven experience and support.

Dr. Stella Lee has over 20 years of experience in consulting, planning, designing, implementing and measuring learning initiatives. Her focus is on largescale learning projects including LMS evaluation and implementation, learning analytics, and artificial intelligent applications. Email Stella.

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TRAINING THE CHANGING WORKFORCE

OCTOBER 12-13, 2022 ONLINE. EVERYWHERE.

POST CONFERENCE | OCTOBER 14

The pace and nature of change presents a new set of challenges for learning and development and the organizations they serve. Now more than ever, it is important for learning leaders to have a forum to address their common issues and together find a path to lead their workforce forward with a strategic training and development plan. The fall Training Industry Conference & Expo (TICE) aims to do just that – provide discussions, networking and space for learning leaders to address the challenge of training the changing workforce.

NOW

SAM SHRIVER & MARSHALL GOLDSMITH

BUILDING LEADERS

DESIGNING TRAINING FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE IS LIKE FINE DINING There are some things that the term “dinner” has in common with the term “fine dining” … but for most of us, those words conjure up drastically different imagery.

“Dinner” is a comparatively informal event. Many of us make daily decisions about dinner in the moment and on the fly. Are we eating out? Driving through?

Throwing something on the grill or in the oven? Whatever the decision turns out to be, we usually engage with modest expectations, and when it is over, we move on.

DESIGNING FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE REQUIRES EXPANSIVE FORETHOUGHT. “Fine dining” is a different deal altogether. We channel our inner food critic and scrutinize every aspect of the food and service. If our expectations are met (or exceeded) there is usually immediate, discernible evidence on display. We provide feedback to the proprietors of the restaurant, and we provide passionate, word-of-mouth testimonials to others.

To us, the difference between delivering training and designing training for behavior change is akin to the differences between preparing dinner and experiencing fine dining. And the essence of that difference is a function of the planning that drives expectations that eventually produces evidence.

PLANNING Designing for behavior change requires expansive forethought. The training experience itself must be both engaging and relevant (nothing has changed there). Put another way, the probability of transfer decreases exponentially if the learning isn’t provocative, inspirational and instructive.

Beyond that, serious consideration needs to be given to an extended cadre of stakeholders. Who will drive the implementation of new skills on the job?

(Primarily the direct supervisor/manager of the trainee.) Who will be able to provide an objective assessment of the behavior change as well as the impact that change has produced? (If effectively assessed, the trainee.)

EXPECTATIONS You can learn a lot by how someone introduces themself in a training session.

Consider two hypotheticals in that regard: • “Just glad to be here and looking forward to learning something that might help me become more effective.” (Dinner!)

• “I’m a recently promoted manager, and I’m attending this event for the express purpose of increasing my effectiveness with the tenured members of my team. We have a critical launch taking place at the end of this quarter, and it will not be successful without very high levels of transparency and trust. I need to accelerate my ability to build that with them.” (Fine Dining!)

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When learners initiate with clear intent, there is a high probability they have met with their manager prior to training and aligned on not only what they are there to learn but why they are there to learn it.

EVIDENCE It has long been a challenging undertaking to directly correlate a learning experience with a productivity outcome. So many variables litter the path of causality.

On the other hand, it is comparatively straightforward to determine if a learning experience has resulted in a meaningful behavior change. We recommend checking out “The Success Case Method” by Robert Brinkerhoff.

In essence, practitioners who can recount specifics six months or more after a meaningful learning experience can do so because they have been applying what they learned over time (application drives retention).

In the spirit of our analogy, it is the difference between hearing a recommendation from someone who has never stepped foot in a restaurant compared to someone who has eaten there every two weeks for the past three years.

Marshall Goldsmith is the world authority in helping successful leaders get even better. Sam Shriver is the executive vice president at The Center for Leadership Studies. Email Marshall and Sam.

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DR. KRISTAL WALKER, CPTM

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

DIVERSIFY YOUR LEADERSHIP WITH AN INCLUSIVE SUCCESSION PLAN

As organizations continue to establish a new norm for recruiting, retaining and engaging talent, the best companies are mindful of the benefits of intentional succession planning. These organizations understand that while their counterparts are busy facilitating replacement planning processes, their most competitive advantage stems from strategic talent management that supports both the current and future needs of the business.

More importantly, these organizations understand that when their leadership teams are diverse in thought, skill and culture, the organization is best positioned to innovate new products and services, dominate their competitive landscape, and reinvigorate organizational talent to exceed performance expectations.

This diversity is not an afterthought. It is intentional and begins with carefully crafted career paths that are inclusive of both the needs of the business and talent.

Here are three key steps to begin the process of inclusive succession planning.

1. IDENTIFY CRITICAL LEADERSHIP ROLES When succession planning is facilitated appropriately, an organization should never experience a leadership drought in its most critical roles.

Identifying critical leadership roles begins with removing subjective recruitment and selection practices.

When roles and responsibilities are built to include competencies and proficiency levels that clearly prepares the individual for what they are expected to deliver, then the organization can objectively convey expectations without

projecting their personal perspective on the individual’s performance before any results are produced.

WHEN EMPLOYEES CAN SEE OPPORTUNITIES FOR CAREER GROWTH, THEY ARE LIKELY TO STAY. 2. ENGAGE YOUR HIGH-POTENTIAL DIVERSE TALENT Despite the shift in employee career preferences, engaging high-potential and high-performing employees remains at the top of the list of organizational challenges. Without intentional strategies to engage these individuals throughout various phases of the employee life cycle, organizations continue to run the risk of losing their most valuable employees.

This oversight typically occurs in one of the following ways: • Managers overlook this population of employees for high-visibility projects.

• Companies don’t consider the skills gaps of this population and the access and/or resources they need to close these skills gaps.

• The job expectations for this population are more rigorous than those established for their peers.

To overcome these barriers, the organization may need to re-evaluate how talent reviews are facilitated, specifically for critical roles. If the employee has longstanding tenure with the organization and has never been considered for career advancement, the organization should be questioning this norm.

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3. CREATE THE PATH FOR ADVANCEMENT Companies that design intentional career paths for advancement reap the benefit of longer tenured and engaged employees.

The career pathing process acknowledges that employees may shift interest from their original hired role to something that appeals to them at different stages in their career. It affirms the organization’s ability to meet those changing needs amidst other business priorities.

When employees can see opportunities for lateral or upward career growth, they are likely to stay with the company, even when other opportunities are more tempting. While the benefit is clear, some companies cringe at the very thought of the work and attention to detail required.

Career pathing requires the company to define what success looks like at every point in transition. Determining competitive salary ranges, education requirements, experience levels and tenure expectations are all important factors to consider. While most companies might see this as a critical consulting experience, others may choose to engage teams to work through career pathing as a collaborative project. The most important aspect of career pathing is to ensure access points are inclusive to support the current employee population.

Adopting these three essential perspectives is a huge step toward incorporating diversity and inclusion into intentional succession planning.

Dr. Kristal Walker, CPTM, is the vice president of employee wellbeing at Sweetwater. Kristal is also a facilitator for Training Industry’s Diversity and Inclusion Master Class. Email Kristal.

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The global pandemic has shifted how work is done across every sector.

Some organizations have successfully pivoted, others have closed, and others have even hit new heights in profitability and growth.

We know that after a difficult period of history, society tends to come back stronger, leaning into a burst of creativity and innovation. After the plague came the Renaissance and after the Spanish Flu came the Roaring ‘20s. But the organizations that thrived during the pandemic didn’t wait. They adopted an entrepreneurial mindset and used that difficult time to spark innovation.

They challenged old assumptions about how and where work gets done. And many accomplished a decade of digital transformation in just a few months.

Harvard Business Review found a similar pattern after the Great Recession: 17% of companies died, while 9% thrived, again with the differentiator being whether they used the stressful period for innovation.

Preparing your organization for future, the planned vision and unexpected detour, requires to create a culture of creativity

any the you and

Creativity and innovation go handin-hand, and both are important for businesses to survive.

innovation — one where your people have the skills to do both well and also feel safe enough to try new things.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION ARE DIFFERENT — YOU NEED BOTH. Creativity and innovation are different neurologically and in practice. In practice, creativity is unleashing the potential of the mind to conceive new ideas. It includes flashes of insight or “Aha! moments” that let us see things differently. Innovation, on the other

hand, is the work required to make an idea viable and includes a process, like design thinking. Creativity is coming up with an idea, while innovation capitalizes on that idea.

Creativity and innovation go handin-hand, and both are important for businesses to survive both bad times and good (see Figure 1). Creativity is the funnel to innovation. It needs to come first because creativity allows you to brainstorm new ways of thinking and doing — it unleashes the potential of the mind to conceive new ideas. Innovation is the work required to make that idea viable so you can take it to market.

Figure 1. Understanding Creativity and Innovation

CREATIVITY

INNOVATION

Creativity is unleashing the potential of the mind to conceive new ideas.

Those concepts could manifest themselves in any number of ways, but most often, they become something we can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste.

However, creative ideas can also be thought experiments within the mind.

Innovation is the work required to make an idea viable. It’s also about introducing change into relatively stable systems.

By identifying an unmet need, an organization can use innovation to apply its creative resources to design an appropriate solution and reap a return on its investment.

The “Aha! moment”; flashes of insight.

A process, like design thinking.

Coming up with an idea.

Capitalizing on an idea.

Spending money to generate ideas.

Spending ideas to generate money. © Britt Andreatta

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A NEUROSCIENTIST’S PERSPECTIVE ON CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION Neuroscience confirms that creativity and innovation are different. Dr. John Kounious has been studying creativity using various brain imaging techniques.

He calls those flashes of insight “eureka moments” and has caught them in action. About one-third of a second before a person has that flash of insight, there is a burst of gamma waves and a rush of blood above the right ear, where the anterior temporal gyrus sits. While the whole brain is involved in all kinds of thinking, the right hemisphere of the brain plays a pivotal role in connecting remote ideas.

And one full second before that, there’s a burst of alpha waves in the right occipital cortex, which suppresses vision for a millisecond — scientists call this the “brain blink.” We often have good ideas in the shower because we experience rest from most visual stimulation, thus simulating the brain blink. Water has additional properties that boost creativity. Dr. Wallace Nichols, the author of Blue Mind, says that being in or near water puts us in a state of mental drifting or daydreaming that primes us for flashes of insight — he claims that “water meditates you.”

Perhaps controversially, psychedelic drugs can also boost creativity. In “How to Change Your Mind,” Dr. Michael Pollan details the medical research done on the benefits of psilocybin for a range of things including depression, trauma, addiction and creativity.

The brain’s default mode network (DMN) acts as the orchestra director, gatekeeping the extraordinary flow of sensory data so that we are not overwhelmed. But psychedelics take the DMN offline, allowing all kinds of data (like emotions, memories and ideas) from different parts of the brain to surface and connect in new ways. As a result, people often experience merged senses like tasting color or seeing music, and a sense of being connected to all living things.

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According to Pollan, many engineers in Silicon Valley participated in the acid trip culture of the 1960s. They credited the microchip’s invention to being able to see things in a new way. Even today, several Bay Area companies have “microdosing Fridays” to keep creativity flowing.

STRATEGIES TO BOOST CREATIVITY Neuroscience shows us there are ways we can set people up to be more creative. Consider implementing these strategies in your organization.

First, we can prepare the brain for creativity by exposing ourselves to lots

of new ideas and sources of information.

We’re essentially filling the database and creating the environment for the brain to make those unexpected connections.

Next, throw in a little daydreaming. Taking a break from thinking allows the brain to do its job. Fidget toys, coloring books, meditation rooms and places to walk in nature or near water can boost creativity.

Infuse your workspace with water features and nature. Running fountains, pictures of the ocean and waterfalls, live plants and fish tanks all offer ways to prime the brain for creativity.

Promote sufficient sleep and healthy eating. The parts of the brain involved in creativity don’t function well

Taking a break from thinking allows the brain to do its job.

when the person is sleep-deprived, undernourished or experiencing stress.

Putting sleep pods in the office actually boosts productivity and creativity.

Build a safe work environment. When people are anxious or worried, the amygdala is overactive, keeping people in a hyper-focused state, the opposite of what the brain needs for creativity.

Your goal should be physical and psychological safety.

Provide training on creativity. Playing certain games can enhance creativity, as does a positive mood. Teaching people what sparks creativity and innovation helps them make choices that increase their success.

2 PATHS TO INNOVATION: INCREMENTAL AND BREAKTHROUGH • Incremental is a slow process that involves identifying a current process or product and taking small steps to further improve or enhance it.

• Breakthrough is a transformative process designed to disrupt current processes or assumptions. It involves taking big risks and making mistakes to achieve something groundbreaking.

TWO PATHS TO INNOVATION Innovation is how we capitalize on creative ideas and turn them into viable products for the marketplace. Studies show that nearly all (84%) of executives consider their future success very or extremely dependent on innovation. Yet, in McKinsey’s 2020 report “Innovation in Crisis,” they found that innovation was down across every industry except medical and pharmaceutical products. They also discovered that companies that invest in innovation through a crisis outperform their peers during the recovery.

Organizations typically follow two paths to innovation: incremental and breakthrough (see sidebar).

Another place organizations falter is with execution. While they may be innovating, they struggle with realizing their ideas.

The authors of “The Other Side of Innovation” state, “We like to think of an organization’s capacity for innovation as creativity multiplied by execution.”

STRATEGIES TO BOOST INNOVATION If your organization struggles with execution, identify and address the sources. It usually requires commitment to a shared practice of identifying key priorities, cascading information across the organization and closing any gaps in processes or collaboration.

True innovation requires breaking some glass, so give your people permission to take risks and make mistakes. This is the hallmark of psychological safety — people feel they will not experience ridicule, rejection or punishment for asking questions, trying new things or making mistakes. Create a culture where failure is seen as a vital step in the path to success.

Consider the word FAIL as an acronym — “First Attempt In Learning.”

This may be a challenge, since typically we do our best every day to succeed.

So try some new things and fail together on the way to innovation. Consider challenging each team to develop four new ideas, at least three of which will fail. Give the event a set number of weeks and book a conference call at the end of each week to compare efforts and results. Give fun awards for the most spectacular fails and the most creative efforts. Integrate conversations along the way into the innovation process. Watch how the space to try and the space to fail open new ways to think about possibilities.

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Invest in a structured sprint process to help yourself and your company break out of old patterns. Jake Knapp’s book, “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days” provides tools to lead short-burst innovation sessions. The accompanying website supports the process with the tools necessary to run a sprint in any function.

All organizations benefit from boosting creativity and innovation. As we navigate uncertain times and attempt to plan for uncertain futures, having a culture that supports creativity and innovation will help your organization consistently thrive and achieve.

Dr. Britt Andreatta is an internationally recognized thought leader who uses her unique background in leadership, neuroscience, psychology and education to create brain-science-based solutions for today’s workplace challenges. Britt is the former CLO of Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning) and has over 10 million views of her courses. Email Britt.

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DIGITAL SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE

By Federico Fantacone

Corporate digital learning today is guided by modern learners who learn and close their knowledge and skills gaps autonomously, when needed. In three words, effective learning is continuous, immediate and self-directed, while traditional training models are discontinuous, delayed and centralized.

This requires an urgent repositioning of learning and development (L&D).

Among other things, learning leaders should focus more on skills assessment and less on content delivery. Skills assessment is certainly not a new topic, but three factors are driving it back to the top of our priority list:

1. Corporate

learning is becoming increasingly skill-centric (and especially power skill-centric), because of the need to accelerate upskilling, reskilling and retooling processes. Learning initiatives will need to future-proof people and skills by defining tomorrow’s skills today. However, it is not possible to carry out efficient and data-based training without a skills analysis and monitoring of the skills gaps within the organization.

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2. More

specifically, it is urgent to assess the degree of digital skills and competence within the organization, which is a deciding factor in enabling digital transformation projects.

3. Finally, digital technologies now make it possible to design skills assessment solutions that are much more engaging in terms of the learner’s experience and more effective from the point of view of governance or development of the corporate skills infrastructure.

Upstream of all this, those who design skills assessments should not forget that the experience must be authentic and meaningful, rather than artificial and mechanical. Let’s explore four distinctive features of innovative assessment solutions: gamified, adaptive, authentic and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered.

GAMIFIED ASSESSMENTS The combination of assessment and gamification is very effective, especially in the talent acquisition process: When it comes to bringing Gen Z on board,

gamification is a very appropriate language for engagement. Indeed, we know that everyone likes to play, regardless of age. A gamified assessment is designed with game mechanics to produce dynamics of involvement, commitment and achievement, as well as emotional responses of pleasure, tension and passion, with a high release of dopamine.

L&D NEEDS TO PRIORITIZE SKILLS ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOP A CONVINCING LEARNING ASSESSMENT STRATEGY. The assessment becomes a game divided into challenges that allow the learner to earn points, pass levels, earn badges and find useful resources for solving more complex puzzles, and progress on the leaderboard. The “Game Over” screen proclaims the winners (and losers) and gives each a skill profile and a skills gap analysis, perhaps with a pinch of humor and irony.

ADAPTIVE ASSESSMENTS Adaptive assessments are based on a sophisticated algorithm that automatically and continuously modifies the sequence of questions and their degree of difficulty, based on the previous answers. In other words, it is the assessment that adapts to the user, and not vice versa. In practice, the assessment behaves like an expert and flexible teacher.

For example, the assessment could start by asking the participant a difficult first question.

If the answer is wrong, the algorithm will choose a second, easier question. If the answer is correct, it will return the user to a question of medium difficulty. The higher the difficulty level of the question, the higher the score for the correct answer.

The advantages are twofold: a more reliable and precise result, and a personalized and engaging assessment experience for the learner.

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENTS Assessments can involve different cognitive domains. They can measure the memorization of information, levels of understanding or application to realistic cases. Assessments can also go beyond remembering and understanding, toward more complex domains such as application and, above all, analysis and evaluation.

For more advanced cognitive domains, traditional and “cold” learning tests should be supplemented with or replaced by authentic assessment solutions.

An authentic assessment is immersive and job-related, and it requires us to demonstrate what we know. An assessment is defined as “authentic” if it has the following characteristics: • It starts from a realistic situation and then replicates or simulates workplace or personal life contexts.

• It involves an organic reflection instead of a mechanical response.

• It requires us to choose an action or behavior in an ambiguous situation.

• It requires complex digital interactions to respond to the challenges proposed.

This is why immersive experiences in virtual reality — and perhaps soon in the metaverse — are a perfect example of authentic assessment.

AI-POWERED ASSESSMENTS An assessment can be enhanced by sophisticated digital technologies: First, AI, and in particular natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, deep learning, facial recognition and emotion analysis. At least two AI applications are in need of attention when designing an advanced digital assessment, both in synchronous mode: interactive assessments triggered by users’ emotions and interview intelligence platforms.

INTERACTIVE ASSESSMENTS TRIGGERED BY USERS’ EMOTIONS This application involves relatively simple AI solutions applied to facial recognition and expression analysis during a “live” assessment experience.

When learners access the assessment with their computer or mobile device, the AI ​​ activates the camera of the device and can allow various functions before and during the assessment experience. Before the assessment, the AI ​​can validate the identity of the candidates, and only after recognition of their identity will it unlock the assessment. During the assessment, the AI ​​c an evaluate the emotional space and levels of arousal and valence of the candidate, and, through this, the degree of self-control, stress management and empathy: All useful metrics in the assessment of soft skills.

INTERVIEW INTELLIGENCE PLATFORMS Today AI allows an even more direct way of evaluating soft skills through what can be called video intelligent assessment technologies. Soft skills, and in particular power skills, such as those most related to adaptation and resilience, can today be evaluated by specialized behavioral assessment platforms that combine high technology and human expertise, guaranteeing the same scientific reliability as faceto-face assessments.

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Learners answer job-related questions during video interviews integrated into video collaboration platforms. The deep analysis of the answers through NLP technology allows us to evaluate verbal and non-verbal communication, work styles, a wide range of behavioral skills and even personality traits.

THE COMBINATION OF ASSESSMENT AND GAMIFICATION IS VERY EFFECTIVE, ESPECIALLY IN THE TALENT ACQUISITION PROCESS.

CONCLUSION Clearly, these approaches to skills assessment — regardless of its main objective: learning, talent acquisition, performance management, etc. — profoundly affect learners’ perceptions about the journey through critical organizational touchpoints. That is why the employee experience is at the center of many organizations’ people strategies and an essential tool to combat The Great Resignation.

Digital transformation has introduced innovations not only in digital learning but also in digital learning assessment.

L&D needs to prioritize and focus as much attention on skill assessment as it has historically concentrated on training delivery and develop a convincing learning assessment strategy.

The ability to design authentic, engaging and intelligent assessments can make the difference between an average L&D function and an excellent one, capable of effectively and efficiently filling skills gaps and helping retain top talent.

Federico Fantacone began his professional adventure as an L&D manager and then as a learning innovation manager. He is an LXP solution architect and a gamification/ simulation game designer. Under the pseudonym “Learning Punk,” Federico Fantacone created the first Italian podcast focused on corporate digital learning: “Storie di Apprendimento Straordinario.” Email Federico.

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The Power of

PERSONAL PRESENCE

BY ELSA POWEL STRONG

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This spring Google’s former HR Chief, Laszlo Bock, made waves by suggesting hybrid work wouldn’t last. In an interview with Bloomberg, he gives the model three to five years, likening it to the “boiling frog” method of getting people back in the office. Start out with just a couple of days a week and slowly increase the requirement until employees don’t even realize they’re back in the office full-time, like it’s 2019 all over again.

Contrast this view with a Gallup study, also from spring, that indicates hybrid is, in fact, here to stay. In surveying 140,000 U.S. employees since 2020, Gallup has found that “nine in 10 remote-capable employees prefer some degree of remote-work flexibility going forward, and six in 10 specifically prefer hybrid work. Clearly, most employees have developed an affinity for remote-work flexibility that has grown into an expectation for the future. While permanent plans for remote flexibility are certainly trending in their favor, there are still a fair number of employees who will not receive the flexibility they desire.”

And, according to Gallup, what happens if employers go the route of Apple or Google, requiring employees in the office a certain percentage of time? “Failing to offer flexible work arrangements is a significant risk to an organization’s hiring, employee engagement, performance, wellbeing and retention strategies.”

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In the midst of all this uncertainty — will hybrid stay, will hybrid go — what are managers to do? When there’s no clear direction from leadership, or perhaps the direction keeps changing, how can managers do the hard, day-to-day work of managing people when, two years later, uncertainty persists?

Self-awareness goes hand-in-hand with authenticity and emotional intelligence.

Managers can use their own unique personal presence to help steer their people through transitions and uncertainty. Deepening their selfawareness, building their emotional intelligence and leveraging their authenticity are three powerful ways managers can use their personal presence to navigate uncharted waters with their teams.

WHAT IS PERSONAL PRESENCE? Personal presence is the ability to connect authentically with others — both their hearts and their minds — so they feel included, engaged and empowered. While the skills of presence are universal, the application and manifestation are unique. In other words, the skills of personal presence look different depending on who is using them. We might all be tapping into the same skill set, but we show up differently because we are different. Three key — and complementary — skills of personal presence are authenticity, emotional intelligence and self-awareness.

BEING AUTHENTIC BUILDS TRUST AND INCLUSION Given all the pressures and demands on managers’ time, it may seem like a waste of energy to worry about being authentic or showing up as your “true self.” Yet when we let our employees catch a glimpse of who we are beyond our job title, it helps to humanize us and create trust.

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Trying to be authentic isn’t the same as “trying too hard.” We can all spot someone who is “trying too hard” to be liked or appreciated. This particular person may be choosing behaviors or actions solely for the approval or validation of the audience.

While being authentic might feel a bit vulnerable, it shouldn’t feel like a lot of hard work. A risk? Yes. And the payoff for that risk is trust and connection.

When we take the risk to show employees some authentic aspect of ourselves, we’re letting them get to know us and build a connection. We’re also paving the way for them to bring their authentic selves to work.

Building on the work of legal scholar and inclusion expert Kenji Yoshino, Deloitte surveyed U.S. workers and found that 61% cover some aspect of their identity at work. This might mean a gay man not speaking openly about his husband or a Black woman altering the way she speaks to sound “more white.” Even a straight white man might conceal his mental health struggles or a medical condition. When managers set the tone by sharing something about themselves first, it creates the trust and psychological safety necessary for employees to share more of who they really are, too. Over time, the trust builds and employees feel like they belong. The work environment becomes more inclusive.

But how do we share our authentic selves at work? Here are some guidelines to get started: • Start small and specific. Don’t open a town hall with your life story. Instead, tell your team about something outside of work that you enjoy or are interested in. Maybe you garden or like to bake.

• Don’t push. Respect employees’ boundaries. Paradoxically, being comfortable with someone’s choice not to share also creates trust.

• Listen and find common ground.

Pay attention to the small details employees might mention (a favorite restaurant or book) and make a connection if there’s common ground between the two of you.

GET COMFORTABLE WITH EVERYONE’S FEELINGS Employees are going to have feelings. Feeling about working from home, feelings about working from the office and lots of feelings about being hybrid, a mix of the two.

They’ll also have feelings about their manager’s approach to navigating and communicating in the hybrid work world. And they will definitely have feelings about whether the better coffee is at home or in the office.

According to Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence (EQ) is the knack for being comfortable with feelings: ours and theirs. Managers with high EQ levels can recognize their own emotions and know how to communicate them and manage them. Moreover, they can do this with other people’s feelings, too — they can “read the room” and adjust accordingly.

Research shows that emotional intelligence is one of the single biggest predicators of performance. Employees with high EQ build stronger relationships and are more engaged, which translates into higher performance and more innovation. These are the employees who stay. All these factors, of course, mean more money for the organization.

Now imagine if it’s the manager who has the high EQ, not only does that manager perform well while being highly engaged, but their team benefits from their ability to build trust and connection. Their EQ skills help their team feel even more committed to their work and plugged into the workplace mission.

Managers can use their own unique personal presence to help steer their people through transitions and uncertainty.

Additionally, managing our feelings (selfregulation) has an impact on the work environment. Managers and leaders set the tone for the team and the

them down will help you internalize what you’re learning. Think about one or two things you’re grateful for each day and write them down. This will help you become more aware of your values — what’s important to you and what you stand for.

Gaining a deeper understanding of what makes us tick helps to build EQ. Moreover, practicing self-reflection can make us more receptive to feedback. When managers understand themselves better, they can exercise more control over their actions and choices. They can manage from a place of deliberate intention, instead of from a place of hasty reaction.

A FINAL SUGGESTION? GET PRESENT! We don’t know what’s going to happen — with COVID or with workplace arrangements. And managers don’t have to know the future. They do have to respond to it, though. Having the power to craft an intentional, authentic response that builds trust and inspires confidence requires the skills of presence. These skills create a sense of belonging in the workplace — however that workplace looks — and help employees feel empowered to perform at their best.

organization. The manager who harbors fear or lets frustration fester is allowing those feelings to circulate. Similarly, the manager who can acknowledge intense feelings and find a way to modulate or integrate those emotions models resilience and positivity. Moods are contagious, so managers need to set the right tone by bolstering EQ.

KNOWING WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR Self-awareness goes hand-in-hand with authenticity and emotional intelligence.

In fact, deepening our self-awareness builds emotional intelligence. It may seem counterintuitive to take time out

of the day to think about or reflect on the day when we could be using that time to get things done. However, devoting time to self-reflection can help managers grow.

Make the Time to Reflect Each Day to Sharpen Self-Awareness Reserve 10-15 minutes each day to ask: • What went well?

• What could have gone better?

• What role did you play? What could you have done differently?

Write down your observations in a journal or notebook. Physically writing

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While being more authentic at work and tapping into self-awareness and EQ can amplify a manager’s personal presence, none of those things are possible without first getting present.

Managers need to be fully in the moment to make intentional choices and to handle emotions (theirs and their employees’). The simple act of breathing — taking slow, deep breaths — can reset our physiology and our thinking, bringing us more in tune with the present moment.

So, as a final suggestion, take a deep breath. And just be present for whatever comes next.

Elsa Powel Strong is vice president of solution strategy at Ariel. She supports organizations and individuals to build the influence and communication skills they need to drive better performance.

Email Elsa.

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M

ost of today’s succession planning processes are much like the last coconut pie I made for my husband — they lack the key ingredient. Today’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) succession planning systems lack a critical component: scientifically validated assessments.

Essentially, systems have added technology to the existing processes and included employee participation. While reaching each employee to participate in their development is a positive step, these approaches still fall short.

For the last several years, I have made coconut pies for my husband as a treat.

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The last pie looked like one of my best with the coconut perfectly toasted on the top. Then, I decided to take a small sliver (my husband had already eaten a couple of pieces). It was awful and inedible! I had forgotten to add the sweetener, yet my husband had been eating it and had not said a word. When I asked him, he responded by saying he thought it was the worst pie I had ever made. What does this have to do with succession planning? Nearly all succession planning processes leave out the most important ingredient or process — using scientifically validated assessments to accurately and comprehensively measure talent. With

these tools deployed, each person can develop to reach their true potential. An effective talent pipeline is established, and best-match candidates can be aligned with critical positions.

Let’s keep in mind that adding technology is positive and helps to scale and organize efforts. However, if you lack a key objective data point in the succession planning process (like the sweetener for the pie), then the results are often poor or mediocre. There is much evidence that succession planning processes are missing the key ingredient, despite technology advances. The studies on executive succession are troubling:

50% to 70% of executives fail within 18 months of taking on the role, regardless of whether they were an external hire or promoted from within, according to research from the Corporate Executive Board (CEB).

According to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2021, “Leadership bench strength hits an all-time low. In 2020, only 11% of human resources professionals said they have a strong enough bench to fill leadership roles.”

The costs are staggering according to HBR: “Many large companies fail to pay enough attention to their leadership pipelines and succession practices.

That leads to excessive turnover at the top and destroys a significant amount of value—close to $1 trillion a year among the S&P 1500 alone.”

Generally, the succession focuses on two key areas:

process

Identifying critical job roles that need filling (C-suite, executives, etc.), as well as other jobs essential to the business, (sales, research and development, technology experts, production, customer services, marketing, logistics, maintenance, etc.). In performing this step, there is consideration for: Evaluating the importance of each role, establishing timelines for the urgency of replacement candidates, alignment and balance of key leadership strengths on the respective teams and identifying niche skills unique to the organization.

Understanding the existing talent bench strength of individuals. This review is based on skills, experience, education and performance ratings.

Next, determine how to develop existing talent to meet future succession needs to establish a strong pipeline.

The problems with succession planning arise in key area number two, where the ingredient to accurately identifying authentic leader talent falls short.

Identifying current talent based on an inventory of skills, experience, education and training without a validated assessment tool does not

provide a clear picture of the true talent, skills gaps and capability of a leader.

There are simply too many blind spots and subjective data points used in the evaluation process. While these limited inputs are part of the overall process, there needs to be an upfront measure of each individual’s potential using validated assessments to measure: In-depth personality characteristics, (Big Five) traits and vocational strengths.

Intrinsic motivators to align future roles with one’s passions, values and interests.

This “top to bottom” approach is just that.

This means that all executives, even the C-suite, leaders and employees should be assessed and developed according to their own true talent, gifts and needs.

This also provides key insights to identify the traits of executive positions that need to be filled in the future. It is important to gain a clear reading on where the executive talent and bench strength exists today. By assessing and analyzing the current individual executive profiles and team profiles, organizations can ascertain what gaps, lopsidedness or obstacles may exist that need to be addressed to reach future performance and succession planning goals.

Inherent personality risk factors, or ineffective coping behaviors under stress and conflict, so that effective development plans can be formulated to help candidates minimize their risks.

When scientifically validated assessment tools for employee selection screening are used to identify talent, this assures that jobs are filled with the best fits and that people are developed congruently with their strengths and talent. The same objective data should be part of succession planning. There are additional considerations in the succession planning process, such as competitive forces; external talent availability; business strategy; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); finding hidden talent for upskilling; technology and retention.

A strategic succession planning approach that utilizes deep-dive assessments, analytical capabilities, forward thinking and a transformational approach prepares all levels of leadership for a far improved, competitive future of positive returns and for enterprise-wide, inclusive leader and talent development. A strategic approach to succession planning involves an all-in, “let’s get this done” attitude with buyin, ownership and transparency, top to bottom. This is to maximize measurable success and accelerate performance results and sustainability of leadership bench strength and growth.

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Talent diagnostics and key positions mapping happens next. During this process, it is important to identify misplaced or misaligned executives and talent and then to creatively design and recommend options to connect these leaders with more suitable roles and responsibilities. After key mapping and assessments are administered to respective employee groups, next is to begin filling pipelines and having respective leadership teams focus on developmental planning for the various levels of employees. This requires involvement of leadership teams cascading down throughout the organization to focus on the development of their employees.

Coaching and development are critical components to enterprisewide strategic succession planning processes. This includes assessing and debriefing the C-suite members with their own assessment results for two reasons: One, for improved selfawareness; and two, to gain better first-

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hand knowledge on the analytics being used for the succession process. Since organizations will be using assessment data to augment the succession and development planning processes, each employee should be debriefed and coached with their own results.

In this way, a win-win partnership is developed as both the employee and the company are participating in helping all employees grow and maximize their capabilities and career experiences that are congruent with their true talent.

This also assures that diversity and inclusion efforts actually succeed, which is critical. Too often, female and minority candidates are stymied early in their careers due to their inherent risk factors, according to research reported in the book, “Women Are Creating the Glass Ceiling and Have the Power to End It.” This means that their strengths often are ignored as they are judged too harshly as not having “the right stuff” due to their risks. Men are typically given a pass on their risks as they climb the ladder to success according to this same research.

If diverse candidates are provided coaching and development to enhance

their innate strengths and to recognize and minimize their risks, this can be a game changer. Also, with objective assessments used in the succession planning process, more diverse candidates will be identified as having high potential. Without the assessments, these top candidates stay under the radar, while others, often less capable, are propelled forward. The ideal is to identify best-fit candidates to fill the various succession pipelines. There is an abundance of unrecognized talent in every organization. Getting it right matters because no one benefits from being overlooked or for being placed in a job where they do not fit well.

By adding AI coaching, not just succession systems, to the mix, organizations can scale to develop all talent in a way that democratizes, personalizes and digitizes coaching to reach all levels of employees.

Without using technology, such as AI avatar coaching, to increase each persons’ self-awareness and accurate developmental action planning, coaching cannot be afforded to all. There are budget and logistical limitations hindering live coaching feedback for all levels of employees,

so this is typically only feasible with digital coaching solutions.

There may be concerns with developing all employees since there are limited jobs at the top. The truth is, everyone needs feedback, coaching and development.

To accomplish this, strategic succession may include a career enrichment element so that much of the development is focused on the needs of each employee, rather than focused on the rise to the top. This should also improve employee retention since younger employees, millennials (particularly), crave feedback and development; 94% would stay at their current employer if they invested in their long-term learning.

Until we deploy objective scientific measures upfront and scale coaching and development to all, no matter how glitzy the AI approach may be, succession planning systems will be missing the main ingredient of gaining a clear reading of the true talent and potential of each employee. Don’t forget the sweetener!

Nancy Parsons has been the president and founding partner of CDR Companies, LLC since 1998 and is one of today’s top experts in combining the science of assessments with the art of developing people. She and her team developed CDR-U Coach, the 2021 Stevie award-winning product that provides a personalized AI-style coaching experience to develop all levels of employees. Email Nancy.

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All of us are familiar with that one person at work who seems to have all the answers to all the problems. This person is usually someone who has been in the industry for a long time. We would have no hesitation in calling this person an expert in that area of work.

What if we had many experts in our organizations? What an amazing place that would be to work! Is it possible to build an organization where experts train others to be just like them?

Expert knowledge needs to be organized in a way that it can be drawn upon whenever the need arises. Just like a workman who has an extensive toolbox that can be opened and the most appropriate tool to be selected and used to perform the task at hand, the expert can fall back on this organized knowledge base when the need arises.

The value of an expert can be best seen in Micheline Chi’s work, “Two Approaches to the Study of Experts’ Characteristics” in which she lists seven ways experts excel: GENERATING THE BEST: Experts can devise the best solutions to problems, even under time constraints. They can bring out the best designs and complete tasks faster and more accurately than non-experts.

DETECTION AND RECOGNITION: Experts can identify features that can escape the eye of the novice, see patterns and perceive problems and situations in a way that is very different from others.

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QUALITATIVE ANALYSES: Experts spend a great deal of time analyzing a problem qualitatively and can view a problem very differently because of the domainspecific and general knowledge they have acquired over time.

SELF-MONITORING SKILLS: Experts detect errors more accurately, review the status of their own comprehension and have a more realistic view of their own abilities.

USE OF APPROPRIATE STRATEGY: Whether it is the ability to work forward from a given state to a goal state or backward from the unknown to the given state, the expert can choose the right strategy based on the situation, unlike a novice who will struggle to come up with what is needed to be done.

OPPORTUNISTIC: Experts effectively make use of available resources to solve problems.

• The invisible hit to the bottom line of the organization: When an expert leaves, there is loss of years of experience, loss of professional networks that were cultivated and time taken to cover the gaps left by the expert leaving.

• The loss of the capacity to innovate: Innovation often comes from the application of knowledge that has been accumulated over time. Thus, loss of proprietary knowledge can severely dent the ability and speed to create the next generation of products and services.

The journey from novice to expert is a long and arduous one. It is therefore important for organizations to harness the ability of the expert and put it to good use. Organizations must do everything they can to ensure that experts and their expertise are not lost to retirement, transfer or resignation.

COGNITIVE EFFORT: Experts can retrieve relevant domain knowledge and strategies with minimal cognitive effort.

They can also execute their skills with greater automaticity and can exert greater control over those aspects of performance where control is desirable.

As can be seen from the above characteristics, the difference between the expert and the novice is that the expert has a thorough understanding of their domain and the ability to encode this knowledge into meaningful templates. These templates or schemas are meaningful relationships between various parts of the knowledge area and how they relate to the situation at hand.

There are at least two ways an organization can be impacted with the loss of knowledge and/or experts, according to Dorothy Leonard, Walter Swap and Gavin Barton in their book, “Critical Knowledge Transfer.”

One does not become an expert overnight. In their book, “Mind over Machine,” Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus state that human beings acquire skills through instruction and experience.

They do not appear to leap suddenly from rule-guided “know-that” to experience-based “know-how.”

BEGINNER: One has a working knowledge of key concepts and can perform straightforward tasks without supervision but still views actions as a series of tasks.

COMPETENT: One can perform most tasks using one’s own judgement because of good background knowledge. One also can cope with complex situations and views actions as long-term goals.

PROFICIENT: One has a deep understanding of the discipline, which results in an acceptable level of performance. One also can cope with complexity and can make confident decisions.

EXPERT: A complex situation can be sized up by both intuition and analysis. The overall picture can be visualized, along with the ability to view things beyond just the immediate future.

A cursory look at the stages show that this is a process that requires time and the right kind of environment. An L&D leader has the responsibility to ensure that individuals can smoothly transition from one stage to another.

Formal classroom instruction or providing access to on-demand eLearning assets can be utilized in the initial stages of knowledge acquisition. When this is undergirded with support from supervisors who provide timely feedback, the process is strengthened further.

Skill acquisition is a process. Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus lay out a fivestage process in which a person goes through different perceptions of the task at hand. Their ability to perform improves as each stage is crossed.

The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition has the following stages: NOVICE: One has minimal knowledge, needs close supervision, is unable to deal with complexity and tends to view all actions related to the job in isolation.

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For an individual to become more competent and move further up the value chain, L&D needs to put in place a system of coaching, mentoring, jobshadowing, etc. Learners also need

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to feel psychologically safe, their failures or mistakes not just tolerated but encouraged so that lessons can be learned and shared with others in the organization. Conducting regular sessions where failures, and the lessons they inspired, are discussed openly are a great way to move the needle on expertise.

The need to transfer knowledge held by experts to others in an organization is critical. This transfer requires at least three groups of people to work together to make it happen: the experts who possess the knowledge, the learners who will receive the knowledge and the facilitators who will make it happen.

Let’s look at what each of these groups can do to ensure expertise is transferred across the organization.

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FACILITATOR: Facilitators must not only identify the experts, but they must also know how much of that knowledge is not captured in the standards, processes and equipment within an organization. This can be done by having conversations with the experts and having them discuss the unique challenges that they have experienced and how those problems were resolved.

LEARNER: The transfer of knowledge from an expert to a learner can be complicated by how much the learner knows and the willingness of the learner to become an expert. The individual learner should be encouraged to seek out experts and learn from them.

Motivating learners to be the best in their respective field can enable them to become the next generation of experts.

EXPERT: Experts can be given a platform within the organization, where they can showcase their knowledge areas. This can be done by publicizing their accomplishments, by holding knowledge transfer sessions, or having them participate in industry events.

Getting the expert to explain how a certain decision or conclusion was arrived at is another very effective means of capturing the wisdom of an expert. Other tactics include:

• Allocating more responsibility to the individual, the manager and the L&D community.

• Creating an environment that is conducive for experts to be identified, nurtured and encouraged to share their knowledge with others.

Whatever means the organizations chooses, it is imperative that expert knowledge is captured and transferred so that it is not lost when the expert leaves the organization.

Lexter Martin is an Indian Airforce Vet, who has been in the IT education industry for over 15 years. In his 11-year stint with Skillsoft, he has been on both the sales and customer success teams.

This gives him the unique edge to bring to the table a combination of industry best practices, product and platform knowledge. Email Lexter.

PERSONALIZE YOUR SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP® EXPERIENCE Contact our team to learn more.

situational.com

Using Empathy To Better Understand

Your Customer

By Shannon Effler and April DeLac

Traditional thinking tells us that four plus four equals eight. Put another way, if you add good products and good customer service, you get happy customers. In school we’re taught that success is about avoiding failure with flawless execution — choices are typically limited and do not always take into consideration the actual needs of the customer. Design thinking embraces the exact opposite.

An emphasis on choice helps learners better understand problems, which leads to better decision making.

Contrary to a traditional design process, design thinking focuses on framing the problem before solutions are explored.

Design thinking started as a process to design better products, but now it’s

used to design tools, processes and experiences. Design thinking is not about a practice just for designing and it’s not about thinking, it’s about doing.

In design thinking we value trial and error, failing fast and lots of testing in the most lightweight way we can. It’s also about making sure we’ve got the right problem to solve.

So, if we want to get to eight — in other words, we want happy customers — we must be open to different ways to get there. Yes, we could add four plus four, but how else can you get to eight? Two plus six, four times two, 12 minus four and so on. The opportunities to get there are beyond tradition. The overall concept is that design thinking is not a one-and-

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Design thinking focuses on framing the problem before solutions are explored.

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done process, but something you may go through several times for a successful process improvement or product.

Customer Empathy Deep customer empathy is the first pillar of design thinking. It’s about truly understanding the customer and articulating their pain point, as well as its root cause. To do this, you must observe your customers, listen carefully to them and look at the data that tells the customer’s story. You can get unexpected insights looking for challenges they face.

As an example of how deep customer empathy results in success, a popular paint company wanted to make their products more appealing to women.

They observed women using paint cans and painting in their homes. You might recognize this problem: When they poured paint into the tray to paint from, the paint cans made a mess, often dripping down to the floor. The customers would never have asked for someone to change that, even though they were certainly frustrated about the mess it made. Because of the insights gained from observation, the company created easy-to-carry and pour square jugs with a screw top that eliminates the need to pry open with tools. It’s easy to store and prevents rust. The new design delighted women purchasers and the company saw their sales triple in the first year.

By year-end 2003, the new design accounted for half of their sales. All inspired from getting to know the customer better.

How to Gain Customer Empathy Margaret Mead, an anthropologist, author and speaker, once said, “What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.” In design thinking we call this

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“do, say, think.” We watch what people do more than what they say, and trust these more than what you think. When gaining empathy, we want to watch what people do more than what they say for both explicit and implicit behavior.

Explicit behavior defines what the customer is doing and saying, expressed and observable behavior that is stated plainly and is typically controllable. Implicit behavior is less controlled and more emotional — better at predicting behaviors and defining the overall problem.

An effective method to gain empathy is called a “follow me home,” where you watch the customer use a product or go through a process in their own environment, possibly their own home.

It’s important to quietly observe and not intervene. It can be challenging to not step in and help if you see something go wrong. For instance, we’ve had times where a customer is interviewed and says, “I love your product! It’s so easy to use!” Then in the “follow me home”

exercise, they grumble and even curse at that “easy to use” product. Gathering customer empathy can show an entirely different idea of how your customers really feel about your product.

A good example of explicit versus implicit behavior happens in an episode of “I Love Lucy.” The episode, titled “Job Switching,” contains a scene where Lucy and Ethel work at a chocolate factory.

Their manager checks on their progress after a very stressful and unsuccessful candy wrapping session. Lucy and Ethel had been frantically meeting the quota, but the manager didn’t observe them doing the job. When she returns and all the candy is gone, she assumes the job is done. The manager only knows what Ethel tells her, since she didn’t observe the job directly (though the viewer knows that Lucy’s mouth is stuffed with chocolates). Observed behavior can be very different from (and preferable to) self-reporting. We love surveys, right?

But can you imagine how Lucy would have responded to a survey?

Surveys can be a good place to start because they give you a general sense of your customers’ pain points and reasoning. You can get a high volume of user feedback quickly and easily with surveys, and they enable you to take qualitative data and quantify them.

Deep customer empathy is the first pillar of design thinking.

However, try to go beyond the survey since they do have limitations. Surveys are attitudinal versus behavioral. Your customer may want to be agreeable and more positive than they might feel, even if it’s in writing. Surveys report what users say/think, not what users do. In general, people are terrible at remembering what they’ve done, and even worse at predicting what they will do in the future.

Techniques to Improve the Customer Experience It’s essential to use different techniques to pull all the data together and determine what is valuable and worth

Affinity Maps When to Use It • Affinity maps are created through consensus of the team on how the information should be grouped in logical ways.

Why Use It

• To reach consensus faster than many other methods.

• Select your team.

• Place individual opinions or answers to interview questions or design concepts on sticky notes or index cards.

• Spread Post-Its or cards on a wall or large table.

When you want to get people un-stuck or have more reflectively about a mapping is a great tool.

a team of them think topic, mind It can help

• Rank the most important groups.

• Photograph results.

• Analyze affinities and create insights.

Tips • Affinity mapping works best with groups of five to 20.

How to Do It

spending time on to better the customer experience. One technique is an affinity map, which helps recognize gaps in your processes and procedures and get a deeper level of understanding. It’s like visually capturing a conversation while encouraging thinking outside the box — pie in the sky, if you could do this without any limitations, how would you do it? It allows you to organize many ideas gathered from brainstorming and structure them into groups, based on their connections.

• Name each group with a different colored card or Post-Its above the group.

• Repeat by grouping groups.

• To establish relationships or affinities between pieces of information. From these relationships, insights can be determined, which are the starting point of design solutions.

• Group similar items.

• Work until your team has consensus. This can be done silently by your design team moving them around as they each see affinities.

• Reserve at least 30 minutes for this design thinking activity.

• Use a wall that is large enough to accommodate potentially hundreds of sticky notes.

• This activity translates easily to a virtual activity using a collaborative online whiteboard platform, or similar tools.

visually capture a conversation and encourage nonlinear thinking and shared vision. Mind maps can also help you see the connections between different themes and data points.

So, how does a mind map work? Find a large whiteboard or flipcharts and two colored markers — one for the text and one for arrows and circles. Write the main idea/phrase/question in the center and circle it. Ask the group questions that allow them to explore the central idea: “What’s important about this?” and “What is X idea made of?” and “Why should we consider this idea?” Capture the entire conversation, confirming the link back to the original idea. Last,

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be sure to make connections between related ideas.

This article provided an overview of two methods for gathering and synthesizing information about the issue you’re solving for. But that’s just the beginning.

There are so many ways to engage others and develop new ideas. The key is to get started and have fun!

Shannon Effler is a senior instructional designer at NCR with 25 years in L&D roles, primarily in coaching, design and corporate L&D consulting. April DeLac is a senior instructional designer at NCR with over 22 years of experience in L&D. Email the authors.

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W

hen a company invests in learning and development (L&D) initiatives, what do they want to get in return? Sometimes they need to invest in training to meet regulatory and compliance requirements, but most of the time they want people to do their jobs better. They want their employees to consistently behave in new ways so that they more effectively and efficiently execute the company strategy.

They want behavior change.

Yet many L&D initiatives still focus on delivery, content, memorized knowledge, throughput or even just ticking boxes. Instead focus on what the company wants — sustained and advantageous behavior change.

START WITH THE END IN MIND

If behavior change is the desired outcome, the obvious question is, “What behaviors?”

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You need to conduct a behavioral needs analysis (BNA). Look at the task that has triggered the request for an L&D initiative. How are people doing that task currently? How would they be doing the task if they were doing it well?

What is the gap between what they are doing now and what they should be doing instead?

Identify the gap between current and desired behaviors and describe the behavioral gap in observable terms.

Ask the question, “What are we seeing, hearing or feeling that leads us to believe the current behaviors are less than what we need?”

Then ask, “What will we see, hear or feel when we have successfully changed the behaviors to what we want?”

When you have defined the desired output behaviors in terms of what you will notice when they occur, you have a means to measure progress toward

those behaviors. It is also critical that you agree and get sign off from the program sponsors on the set of desired behaviors and the observational success criteria.

You now have an agreed and measurable behavioral target for your program.

BEHAVIOR CHANGE Think back to a behavior change you made in your life, work-related or otherwise. It probably didn’t happen all at once. It happened because of many small actions you took that added up over time. Other than “road to Damascus” style conversions, behavioral changes result from a process that takes time.

Even if you tell someone, “From today do this job in this new way,” they still need time and repetition to get good at doing it the new way, and for the new way to become habitual and automatic.

To deliver a behavior change, you need to deliver a sequence of activities that

and if you carry out those instructions, you will get to your destination.

Everyone uses workflows in their dayto-day lives, even for something as mundane as going shopping. For grocery shopping, the sequence of activities is something like — write a list, find your car keys, drive to the supermarket, get a cart or basket and so on.

Notice that a critical success factor for a workflow is starting with the end in mind, and for this discussion, that’s behavior change.

L&D is used to delivering content, but you need to think outside that box. take place over time. How many actions and how much time? That depends on the complexity of the change, the size of the gap between the present and the desired behavior, and the environment the actions will take place in.

To proactively change behavior, you must create a set of step-by-step actions that will reliably get someone who takes those actions across the identified behavioral gap. In effect, you are seeking to create a workflow. If you think about it, any change in behavior requires a workflow to embed it.

WORKFLOWS A workflow could be defined as, “An orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activity that reliably transforms what exists into a desired output.”

When you program a destination into your GPS, it creates a workflow for you. That is, it creates a set of turn-by-turn instructions,

START YOUR DESIGN PROCESS

Now you can begin designing your program so it enables your trainees to cross the identified behavioral gap, and consistently exhibit the desired behaviors going forward.

One obvious place to start is to look at those who have already made this journey and are currently exemplars of the desired behaviors. How did they cross the behavioral gap? What do they believe, and what do they do now that is different from what they used to believe and do before they crossed the gap?

What would they suggest other people need to believe and do to cross the gap?

Another approach is a simple thought experiment. Ask yourself, “If I was in the trainee’s shoes, what would I need to do and how long would it take for

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me to develop the desired behavior?”

Think about the skills you would need to practice, and what you would need to know to practice those skills. Think about the support you would need on your journey to the new set of behaviors.

And of course, ask the trainees. Tell them the desired behaviors, and what criteria you will be using to measure when those behaviors are present. Then ask the deceptively simple question, “What would you need and when would you need it to change your behavior in this way?”

At this stage you should have enough information to start building a rough workflow skeleton. To put flesh on that skeleton, you need to consider some other factors.

WHO ARE THE TRAINEES?

Build a persona for your typical trainee, in much the same way marketing people build a prospect persona. Who are the trainees, and why would they engage with your workflow?

What do they need to know and understand to say, “I want to do this!”, “I will persevere!” and “I know I can do this if I get the right help and guidance along the way.”

The mindset of the trainee is critical because if they don’t follow the steps of the workflow, they are very unlikely to get to the desired destination.

WHAT ACTIVITIES? L&D is used to delivering content, but you need to think outside that box. Think experimentation, practice, reflection, collaboration, discussion, sharing, research, enquiry, study and yes, also content consumption, either pull or push.

Deliberate practice with a defined goal for each practice session is going to be a big factor in helping people embed a new behavior. If you are doing something new, do you expect to be good immediately? Practice is required to do things well and automatically.

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It’s been said that you can’t get good at something unless you are willing to be bad. Practicing what you are not yet good at is not fun. It can be uncomfortable and even painful, so the trainee must want to do it. They need to tolerate the discomfort while they practice to improve.

One of the biggest impacts other people have on a learning workflow is the culture they embody.

WHO IS INVOLVED? Clearly the local line manager has a big influence on the trainee while they are doing activities in the workflow. Most of

a learning workflow happens on their watch, so they also need to be “sold” on the process and the journey of the trainee.

Who else should be involved but often isn’t? Peers, customers, sponsors, colleagues in other departments? Who else can contribute to the workflow in some meaningful way?

One of the biggest impacts other people have on a learning workflow is the culture they embody. What is the culture within the organization with regards to learning? And how is that culture promoted by factors such as measures, incentives, managerial behaviors, stories, tools, systems and infrastructure?

WHAT’S THE TIMELINE? A learning workflow means you need to consider time. This is new to most people in L&D. When you look at the list of steps or tasks in the workflow, is there a balance of time commitment along the journey? You need a balanced workflow load, not big peaks and troughs.

And you need a plan! Your trainees will be much more comfortable if they have sight of the outline of the workflow and what they are committing to over the journey. This is the same sense of comfort you feel when you program

your GPS and you can see the route laid out on the map.

BALANCE AND FLOW A good learning workflow is balanced.

One task builds on previous tasks and sets things up for the next task.

Think of flow and precedence. Think of what is needed and by when. Little and often is a good mantra. Just as it is important to balance the activity load over time, it is also important to balance the cognitive load.

For many programs you will end up with a repeating cycle, often with a weekly cadence, but there are other valid formats depending on what you are trying to achieve.

MEASUREMENT As with any L&D program, measurement is critical. If you follow the steps above, measurement will be relatively easy because you have a defined set of behavioral outcomes, each one with a set of criteria that describe what will be observable when those outcomes are achieved.

Paul Matthews is an author, speaker and consultant in the learning and development industry. Email Paul.

Steps to Achieve Behavior Change Start with the end in mind — behavior change.

Do a behavioral needs analysis to get clarity on your outcomes.

Design a workflow of activities spread over time that will achieve your outcomes.

Measure your results and then refine your workflow.

As always, there is more to be said.

Check out the e-book, “How to Reboot Training Post Pandemic” to learn more.

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JUST

A

S T R A IG H T FO R W A R D

M E S S A G E, N O

BS

In Service of Life Potential

SM

And here is what that means for you!

CUSTOM LEARNING

VIRTUAL & AUGMENTED REALITY

You and your people deserve highly engaging and effective programs. Nobody does it better and we’d like to show you how. Please drop us a line at sweetrush.com/get-in-touch.

Yes, the immersive tech landscape—and how it can be used for L&D—is exciting but confusing.

Our XR team is ready to make sense of it all for you; just email danielle.silver@sweetrush.com.

STAFF AUGMENTATION

TRANSFORMING LEADERS & CULTURE

Your bar is high—we get it, because we do this work, too. If you need excellent L&D people to augment your team, please reach out to rodrigo.salazar@sweetrush.com.

Imagine a desired future state for your business and leaders—we can definitely help you get there. Start the conversation with shelby.shankland@sweetrush.com.

GOOD THINGS

To our nonprofit friends: We’re grateful for the work you do. Find out how we help orgs like yours do more good; contact us at sweetrush.com/get-in-touch.

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© 2022 SweetRush, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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T

he pandemic accelerated our shift to digital workspaces at a pace none of us were fully prepared for. And while we’ve adapted with remarkable speed and agility, there is still work to be done to reach our optimal working rhythms under this new paradigm. Many of us have reprioritised what is important, both personally and professionally.

The outcome? Hybrid and remote work are here to stay, an enduring part of how our organizations get things done.

While this can create immense flexibility, engagement and productivity, working away from the office has its challenges.

According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, 43% of leaders say the greatest challenge of hybrid working is relationship building.

While some teams know each other more personally through seeing each other’s households in the background, random dropins by kids during meetings

and cats showing the camera some interesting angles, many companies struggle to translate these glimpses into each other’s private lives into something more meaningful. As we enter our next phase of work, how do we reintroduce those casual conversations that build a sense of teamwork, camaraderie and togetherness online, as if we were all once again swapping stories around the “watercooler”?

Two-thirds of organizations that have mastered transferring these watercooler moments to a hybrid environment have seen their productivity increase. Yet creating these moments virtually is far more nuanced than simply “lifting and shifting” what we did in the office. In fact, this approach can be far more detrimental than beneficial. Take for example, the informal coffee chat, a staple of pre-pandemic office life. Some organizations have simply taken this chat, scheduled in the time online for their team to meet and

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5 Ways to Keep Your Watercooler Conversations Alive in a Hybrid Workplace

1

Choose oose se yyour mediums wisely. ums ms w

4

2

Deliberately erately tely build in connection nnection nectio time and act activities. activit

Create novelty eate ate nov nove play. and play

expected it to be a success. While wellintentioned, for nearly two-thirds of the workforce, these chats seem more like a chore than a genuine connection. If environment shapes our behavior, and our behavior shapes our culture, how can we show up differently to create these small instances of connection?

Here are five tips to help create your virtual watercooler.

1

CHOOSE YOUR MEDIUMS

You will need more than just one medium to connect people no matter where they are. This might be through video collaboration platforms, but it also needs to be supplemented with something text-based and asynchronous. This may be channels in your favorite platform.

The key is to have easy-to-use channels that are fun to engage with.

If you want to easily gauge the mood of the team, have a channel where everyone posts the emoji that best represents them today; if you want to build depth of connection, you might have a channel with a different question each week such as “What smell brings back fond childhood memories?”; if your team consists

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5

Strategically rategica connect across nect acr departments. partmen

of parents or animal lovers, you might have a channel for them to post photos of their “co-workers.”

Your mediums will depend on your organization, as well as what you are trying to achieve. These mediums need active management, especially in times of pressure, which is when people need the social moments most, but are inclined to disengage.

We often test our riskiest and more novel ideas at the watercooler, so make sure you have a place this can be done. It might be that you have a #MoonshotMonday where team members rotate turns at posting a big idea they want to test, and the rest of the team respond during the week with builds and challenges. Use your tools wisely — if you have employees in similar time zones or working rhythms, can you schedule time at the beginning or the end of day when the “do not disturb” function is off, and people are free to chat?

2

BUILD IN CONNECTION

When we meet in person, there are always side conversations as you enter the room. When we log in to

3

Develop lopp written writ skills that at convey co your humanness. humann

a video call, we usually have our cameras off, continuing to deal with emails until the host joins, or worse, we stay in the waiting room until the host admits us. Once in the meeting, gazing at everyone, it feels awkward to attempt small talk. If you’re a host leaving people in the waiting room, consider putting up a question, quote or some other provocation for your team to consider while they wait.

When you admit them, you can use a word cloud or the chat function to get their responses. Better yet, create a virtual watercooler by adding people to breakout rooms while others are entering the space, letting them know the purpose is to connect before we start the business of the day. Even five minutes of small chat away from the main room can be beneficial.

For those on-site, you can buddy them with off-site team members to have a 10-minute end of the day conversation.

As the person in the office is packing up, they can simply do a quick phone call on their way out, catching your remote worker up on what’s been discussed in the office. If you have team members who rotate days in and out of the office, this can be a great way to keep everyone involved.

With hybrid work here to stay, creating these small moments of humanity is worth the effort.

3

BUILD YOUR SKILLS

Communicating empathy, understanding and positive regard is easy when you are speaking to someone, but do you know how to do that in writing?

Communicating with warmth through the written word is a different skill from the formal business writing many of us are comfortable with.

For your watercooler chats, you may need to develop a different lexicon.

GIFs, emojis and memes are all great informal ways to communicate without the spoken word, but can be shunned by more formal businesses.

Yet the whole point of the watercooler is that it is informal, casual and fun, so create a space where you can use different types of expression, rather than just words.

This goes for the use of video as well.

Just because your team is remote, employees shouldn’t have to spend all day in front of their screens in back-to-back meetings. Create a walking catchup with different people, where you both get to leave the screens behind and get out into the fresh air. We think differently when we are in motion, so moving while chatting can open whole new ways of conversing together.

4

CREATE NOVELTY AND PLAY

Novelty creates joy from the unexpected and can enhance memory. Chances are that the things you remember best are the things that took you a little by surprise. How can you create novelty for yourself and your team? We often

think of it when we are including icebreakers for meetings or training sessions, but how do we transfer this to the other mediums we are now working in? How do we create novelty in an asynchronous environment? One way is to have dedicated channels for social chats, where people can post what they are watching, reading or doing outside of work.

There is also a world of interesting online games out there to choose from. For example, you could invite your team to do a puzzle a month together, you can set it up online and people can drop in and do it at different times — and if they happen to drop in at the same time, it’s a perfect watercooler moment.

5

STRATEGICALLY CONNECT ACROSS TEAMS

When we were all together on-site, collaboration outside of our immediate team was often facilitated by the rhythms of the workday. You bump into someone from a different department as you walk down the hallway or in line at the café. You politely ask what they are working on and suddenly you are making connections to the work you are doing and coming up with a whole new perspective. These small sparks of interaction can have big impacts on innovation, connectivity and alignment across an organization, so it is important that we deliberately cultivate them in the hybrid world.

This might be through real-time interactions like inviting different people to join your team for an informal chat or lunch, or it might be through one of your other selected mediums.

Collaboration platforms sometimes

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have add-ons that connect different people from across the organization together for a short coffee chat. They can help randomize the interactions, but you could also do this by running an employee lottery where people opt in to be paired up for a virtual coffee.

We often test our riskiest and more novel ideas at the watercooler.

In-person connection is still important from time to time but building up your virtual watercooler moments can help to foster connectivity, engagement and belonging. It is an important part of ensuring that we continue to see each other as complex, rich, interesting three-dimensional beings, and not twodimensional caricatures. Like anything, we need to keep learning, ideating and improving. But with hybrid work here to stay, creating these small moments of humanity is worth the effort.

Natalie Richardson partners closely with businesses to navigate complexity and disruption, ensuring organizations and the communities they serve thrive.

She believes in the ability of business to create sustainable value not just for today, but for generations to come.

She supports this through evidencebased approaches from psychology and behavioral science in her role as head of client delivery at Inkling.

Email Natalie.

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CHAOS IS HERE TO STAY:

WHY BUILDING GRIT IS VITAL FOR EXECUTIVE SUCCESS

BY KIMBERLY GERBER

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It’s safe to say that the past two years of the pandemic have been a roller coaster, especially in the workplace. From the shift to a hybrid workforce, to constant mandate revisions and return-to-office strategies, to The Great Resignation, leaders have had to stay on their toes and expect the unexpected.

The pace of change and uncertainty isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon.

In fact, the Harvard Business Review anticipates that as hybrid and remote work continue to be the norm, employee turnover will also continue to increase.

Plus, thanks to new COVID variants making headlines, it’s impossible to predict what the future holds.

There’s an old saying that you don’t know your mettle until it’s tested by fire, and I think we can agree that executives and organizations have been tested. Some have been able to adapt and adjust to the perpetual flow of curveballs. They’ve visualized success despite chaotic times and they’ve led their organizations through uncertain waters toward success and sustainability. We’ve also seen the stress of chaos strain leaders, overwhelm their resources and take them down.

What determines if an executive will sink or swim during chaotic times? One might assume its intelligence, experience, personality or luck that enables success.

For certain, all those things help – yet the single defining characteristic of success is GRIT.

THE COVETED CHARACTERISTIC OF SUCCESS GRIT is the superpower of high achievers.

It is a personal characteristic that enables sustained, consistent effort toward a goal when one struggles, falters or temporarily fails. It is the propeller that moves us forward, regardless of circumstances.

More than intelligence, talent or emotional intelligence (EQ), GRIT is the trait that separates good leaders from great ones. It is the growth lever we can draw on to achieve, expand and repeat success, making it an essential trait for all leaders pursuing excellence.

BREAKING DOWN THE CATEGORIES OF GRIT GRIT is comprised of four main elements: Growth Mindset, Resilience, Initiative and Tenacity. When these categories are combined, transformational results are possible. Here’s a brief overview of each element:

Growth Mindset Growth mindset is the fuel that gets us through the rough journey ahead. It’s the belief that the most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Many of us start out with a fixed mindset, operating as though the status quo is inflexible and there’s not much we can do to change the parameters. It’s a limiting belief system that stunts growth and prevents opportunities from being visible and therefore actionable.

Moving from fixed to growth mindset begins with a valid assessment of where you are on the spectrum. Observing your thought patterns, think about your internal dialogue and listen to the language you use with others. Assess the balance between limited and growth mindset thoughts. If you aren’t happy with the balance, challenge yourself to shift perspectives and consider multiple possibilities for any given situation.

Remember that cultivating a growth mindset is a process, not a destination. It’s a habit that must constantly be practiced.

Resilience More likely than not, you’ve been building and depleting this resource throughout the roller coaster of the past two years.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from a tough challenge, to traverse a difficult time without imploding and to emerge in a similar or better state (mental, physical, emotional, etc.). It is a reactive trait that we need before we know it, so it’s best to actively build a reserve. Like growth mindset, resilience is a muscle Just like a bicep, it can be built over time to incredible strength – and it can be weakened from under- or overuse.

Resilient leadership is contagious. When leaders remain calm, focused, optimistic

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and grounded during a crisis, it has a profoundly calming effect on the team or organization, enabling high productivity and low attrition compared to leadership that responds to challenges with low resilience and high emotionalism.

A GROWTH MINDSET IS THE FUEL THAT GETS US THROUGH THE ROUGH JOURNEY AHEAD.

Initiative Initiative is about overcoming inertia and taking action in pursuit of a goal.

You simply cannot have GRIT without initiative. Change and uncertainty can be paralyzing, and many executives unintentionally slow down decision making, second guess their choices and get caught standing still for too long.

Once inertia sets in, it drains resources and it becomes more difficult to maintain a growth mindset and act with resilience.

Initiative is the spark plug of success. To activate it, start with minor decisions and actions that lead to small wins. Create micro deadlines so you can focus on a few tasks that move you toward a goal in steps. As you start the process of meeting small goals, the psychology of achievement kicks in and you will find yourself feeling more optimistic and moving toward the goalpost with increasing speed. The key is to keep moving forward. Pretty quickly, you’ll see how those micro deadlines add up to some pretty incredible results.

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Taking initiative as a habit doesn’t mean you can never rest. Taking a pause, camping instead of climbing, catching your breath – these are excellent choices at intervals. It’s when a lack of initiative prevents progress, drains energy and limits your opportunities that taking action becomes essential. Sadly, many fail to meet their potential because they get caught in the trap of inertia and the resulting insecurity it provokes.

If you find yourself in that space, set a small goal. Achieve it. Set another … and keep going.

show that when you spend 20 minutes or more each day in an area of passion, all other areas of life benefit, keeping us engaged, on track and moving forward in multiple dimensions.

The beautiful thing about tenacious leaders is that when all is said and done, they’re able to look back on the challenges and plateaus knowing that they were essential ingredients to their success.

Tenacity Known as the ability to persevere under extreme circumstances, tenacity is the oil that allows the engine to run. Even when it’s dark and dirty, tenacity is the character trait that says, “keep going.” We can do hard things, but it takes tenacity in the face of those hard, boring or tiring phases to continue on. And those phases are always a part of the success journey. Marathon runners rely on it – not to run the race itself, but to endure the many grueling hours of training necessary to get to the finish line.

Tenacity keeps us going when we feel like quitting. Successful leaders don’t quit, they stay open, routinely take initiative and persevere on the journey to success. It’s difficult to persevere in tough times and long plateaus, yet passion for something makes it easier.

Ironically, it doesn’t even have to be work that you’re passionate about. Studies

GRIT IS THE TRAIT THAT SEPARATES GOOD LEADERS FROM GREAT ONES.

STRENGTHENING YOUR GRIT MUSCLE GRIT is a personal characteristic anyone can possess, and like any other muscle,

it’s strengthened through use and care, and it takes time to develop. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is GRIT. Be patient and remember that as long as you’re seeing progress, you’re headed in the direction of success.

If success is important to you, make it a goal to implement some of these techniques into your day-to-day routines. Soon your healthy, GRITbuilding habits will be so dependable that you navigate change, challenge and chaos with greater ease and a feeling of deep satisfaction.

NAVIGATE CHAOS WITH GRIT The world is constantly evolving. Due to the pandemic, new challenges seem to pop up more frequently than ever before, placing an incredible burden on executives and organizations.

Embodying GRIT is that magic superpower that will help you navigate each bump in the road and continue to achieve success.

As the founder and CEO of Excelerate, Kimberly Gerber has developed a transformational coaching process that combines high-touch experiences with cutting-edge science and technology to deliver programs that accelerate the thinking, behavior and results of her clients and the companies they lead.

Email Kimberly.

ADDITIONAL GRIT RESOURCES To help you become an expert at GRIT, outlined are some resources to try:

Test Your GRIT To see where you are on the GRIT scale, click here and take the GRIT quiz. You’ll receive a score for each of the four elements that make up GRIT and specific recommendations to help you focus your GRIT-building efforts.

Read Books That Explore the Qualities of GRIT ♦ “Resilience” by Eric Greitens ♦ “GRIT: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth ♦ “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg

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DAVE BEFORE VIRTUAL CROWN

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Measuring Level 1 to Improve Learning Design

by John Cleave and Danielle Hart

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The world loves data. That includes those of us in learning and development (L&D): ● Stakeholders want evidence their training investments are being handled wisely and learners’ time is being used productively. ● L&D leaders want to connect learning experiences to performance and ensure they deliver the right training to the right people efficiently, at scale. ● Learning designers want to understand the impact of their user experience (UX) design choices, so each new project isn’t yet another first-best-guess at what to teach and how.

The Kirkpatrick Model provides a useful model for learning analytics. It posits

four levels of measurement: reaction, learning, behavior and results.

● “Can you apply what you learned to your job?”

Let’s focus on Kirkpatrick’s Level 1, reaction: the degree to which the participants find the training favorable, engaging and relevant to their jobs.

How do you gain Level 1 data? Typically, it’s collected via surveys of participants after the training is complete (often called a “smile sheet”).

● “Did you like the style or method of training?”

Smile Sheets Can Be Useful

● “Would you recommend the training to a colleague/friend?” (Net Promoter Score) If learners actually fill out smile sheets (typically it’s a small fraction), they can be useful. What learners think about the training is an important data point for stakeholders, leaders and designers alike.

A smile sheet is a survey provided to learners following a learning experience, typically containing questions like:

Smile Sheet Data Is Limited

● “Was the training engaging?”

Are people who complete the survey disproportionately haters or fanboys?

Do their responses represent the many others who took the training but remained silent? Unless you demanded an answer, there’s no way to tell —it’s not a random sample.

Finding out that learners loved or hated the training, overall, tells us very little about what specific improvements are warranted, and improvement is inevitably warranted. How did they feel about the video setup? How about the general approach? Where was coaching useful, and where not? If they had trouble completing the training, where did our learner experience (LX) structure go wrong?

Smile sheets alone don’t provide sufficient visibility into learners’ actual engagement. Learners may give a high score to a microlearning module only because it was short, or to an animation only because it was cool, even if neither led to any change of behavior. Or they may give a low score to something that was difficult or uncomfortable (breakout group, stretch assignment, team project), which in hindsight became a pivotal learning moment in their development.

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we’re designing it, when that feedback would do the most good. Even if we have the luxury of doing a pilot and collecting survey data, the limited information we gain doesn’t provide much insight into adjustments we might consider.

And that’s if there’s time to adjust. The more common scenario is that once training is rolled out, L&D needs to get on to the next project in the pipeline.

When the program is redesigned, two to five years down the road, the data is even less useful.

audience) and micro (experience per individual or group) level, L&D can answer important questions.

On the macro level: ● How did an audience engage with the training overall? Ì How many days or weeks did it take learners to complete training? Ì How many times did they visit, and how long did they spend per session?

Enter xAPI

● What were their most common mistakes? What did most get right?

The L&D ecosystem offers a way to complement smile sheet surveys: send usage data to a learning record store (LRS) to measure Kirkpatrick’s Level 1, augmenting a smile sheet to paint a richer picture of how people actually interacted with training.

● By joining xAPI data to HR data, were there aggregate differences in these values by role, region, seniority or age?

With xAPI (experience-focused application programming interface), we don’t have to rely on the learner’s impression of the training experience, as smile sheets do. We can track what learners actually did — a dashboard camera for gaining learning insight.

This approach is technologically agnostic. Any LRS that is in compliance (stand-alone or integrated into a suite or platform) should be able to accept statements. There are free versions to work with.

Using xAPI and an LRS, the things learners do within a digital learning experience can be dutifully recorded: When each enters, exits, clicks, scrolls, answers a question, restarts, weaves around a hotgraphic, navigates, asks for help, moves on, plays or skips a video, you name it. Each event is transcribed in the LRS, and we can then analyze the statements to distill interesting patterns.

And on the micro level: ● Is there insight into what learners chose to do, component by component: Ì Flip cards they hit or skipped. Ì Video they watched or paused (or rewatched).

And much more.

Love the Questions, How Might One Get the Answers?

Getting answers to these questions is relatively straightforward: Embed JavaScript functions into an eLearning module that recognize events such as clicks, views and scrolls, and dutifully send xAPI statements to an LRS to record each one.

An xAPI statement consists of ACTOR VERB DIRECT-OBJECT. For example, person@whatever.com ANSWERED ChoiceC in Question1 of Module1 That is, a learner clicked the third choice in the first multiple choice question (MCQ) in the first module. Each statement is timestamped so we can assemble sequences of behaviors for each learner, or aggregate results.

Ì Animation they watched or slid past.

Here is a sequence of statements that may offer interesting insight:

Ì Where they dwelled, where they raced through.

person@whatever.com CLICKED Tab2 in Component3-10-2 in Module8

● Are there interesting patterns of behaviors? For example, after failure on a knowledge check, how many went back and studied, how many immediately re-tried, how many moved on and how many quit the module?

person@whatever.com PLAYED Video4 in Component3-11-1 in Module8

● Are there correlations of the above to behavior in other training experiences? ● What sequence of decisions did they make in a sim or game with many degrees of freedom and many possible outcomes?

xAPI Answers Some Interesting Questions

● What additional resources and support did they seek to transfer the training to their job? What did they skip?

Aggregating this stream of xAPI data at a macro (overall experience of an

● Do attitudes toward the subject matter shift as learners are trained, as

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measured by a survey embedded in the training or likes?

person@whatever.com PAUSED Video4 in Component3-11-1 in Module8 person@whatever.com ANSWERED Choice2 in Component3-12-1 in Module8 person@whatever.com CLICKED Resourcelink3 in Component3-13-2 in Module8 Dozens or hundreds of such statements might be sent for each individual, depending on what we want to track.

It can be as simple as when they came and left and whether they finished, to as complicated as chronicling each movement and choice.

Agency is Critical

into learner choice and attention, and hence engagement.

If we provide learners with genuine choices in a learning experience, data becomes richer.

Get the Full Picture

Suppose we’ve locked all content, so learners must click every flip card and hotspot, watch every video, open every doc and so on to complete it. In this case, xAPI data offers little about what they are thinking, and hence how to make training better.

Instead, suppose we present a short piece on a topic, and allow learners free choice of what to study next and how.

Each choice then becomes interesting.

Which resources did they consult, when? Which ones did they skip?

Which flip card, hotspot, or other item did they click? Did they slide past an animation or video, or watch the whole thing? This data gives us more insight

With xAPI and learning design built to deliver it, L&D can gain rich insight into what’s working and what needs to be improved, rather than rely on post-training feedback alone. Imagine having access to this data after user testing or a pilot. It would illuminate specific tweaks that could be made to improve the training before you roll it out to a larger population. xAPI data also complements smile sheet data. Let’s say learners’ reaction survey scores were high, but their engagement (xAPI data that shows how long they lingered, what they clicked, number of times they returned, etc.) was low. What does that tell us

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about the training — perhaps people liked it because it didn’t ask much of them? Or smile sheet scores were low, but engagement data high — perhaps it was challenging or uncomfortable?

A whole lot to decipher, debate and decide on.

Furthermore, comparing data from different learning programs can yield discoveries that improve learning design across the board, making your whole team better at creating effective learning.

So continue to collect smile sheet data, but don’t stop there. Use xAPI. John Cleave, senior learning engineer at SweetRush, has been exploring learning analytics for two decades, particularly in simulations. Danielle Hart collects and shares stories about effective learning experience design and learning trends as director of marketing at SweetRush.

Email the authors.

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D

isruption is an incredible opportunity to shine in new areas and to help others bring forward previously unknown skills. As a learning professional, you have espoused the importance of the growth mindset. It is important that we use our own reaction to disruptions in work and training settings as a model to help others find the positive even in frustrating times. Let’s face it, no matter how wonderful a planner you may be, you cannot control every detail of a learning experience (or even every moment of your workday). For example, while reading this article, you might be disrupted by an email alert or text ping — or maybe you left for a coffee refill and this is your second time trying to focus on the article.

Disruption Is Your Friend

By Megan R. Bell

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There is a high chance you just went to check your email because I just reminded you of it. However, now that you are back reading the article from that small disruption, you likely have focus because you are motivated to finish what you started. And with your renewed focus, let’s dive into disruption without further interruptions.

Understanding Disruption Definitions of disruption tend to be negative. You will see words like “break,” “disturbance” and “interrupt” in many formal descriptions. And while those are the core meaning of disruption, there is a bias toward the assumption that what is being “disrupted” is always harmed by change. To deepen understanding of disruption, move beyond just “break” and embrace the idea of innovation. To maximize disruption as an instigator of good change, we need to acknowledge these elements: • Disruptions can be major (workforce shifting from office to virtual within three business days) or minor (call runs late, making the start of next meeting a few minutes late).

• Disruptions can be self-induced (deciding to get that coffee refill) or externally triggered (weather causes power outage).

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• Disruptions can be purposeful (going on a walk to clear your head) or unexpected (person sends delegate to meeting requiring budget decision).

A disruption can of course be harmful, but in some settings, it can be exactly what is needed to spark much needed change in communication, process and workflow.

Whether you are a trainer in the classroom or a workforce consultant in the business, you know disruption will happen.

Disruption: The Show Must Go On Look no further than late night TV for a recent example of widespread disruption. In March 2020, live “late night” TV shows across the major broadcast networks (i.e., The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Late Night With Seth Meyers) all experienced disruption. Immediate safety protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were enacted in their respective studio locations, including prohibiting large crowds. If your product is driven by a large, live studio audience and the use of customized broadcast equipment bolted to the studio floor … well, no audience and no equipment access is a disruption. These shows could have responded to the disruption by closing for good. Instead, living the mantra “the show must go on” they adjusted to the disruption with changes in environment, content and delivery.

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Embracing Disruption

Disruption is that which impedes continuation of something already occurring. Disruption can be of any size with regards to its impact, caused by internal or external forces and be unexpected or planned. Do not fall into the habit of thinking of disruption as a thing to avoid — there will always be disruptions. Instead, professionals in workforce development and training should make best efforts to harness disruption for the potential of new ideas and as opportunities to model effective behaviors for dealing with change.

The shows were able to move from the disruption of leaving their studios to finding new ways to connect with their audiences in reduced-scope shows. The hosts themselves openly acknowledged the shared reality of changes due to public health regulations — speaking from their homes rather than their studios — and thus fostered community with their audience. And in different ways, each of those late-night shows took disruption and used it as a spark to find new ways to do their job. Were the shows the same coming from a host speaking to a lone camera guy while they sat in an attic versus a polished studio packed with adoring fans? No. However, the disruption of the norm was embraced and changes made to ensure a way to continue the work was found.

Different is not always better, but it is not always completely bad either.

Disruption Is Your Friend Whether you are a trainer in the classroom or a workforce consultant in the business, you know disruption will happen. You can react by giving up, or you can embrace the saying, “the show must go on,” and use disruption to find new ways to reach goals. The new ways can sometimes save money or spark renewed interest in the work. Let’s look at different scenarios to highlight how the learning professional can model the growth mindset in response to disruption.

Adapt to Training in Different Delivery Formats For on-the-job training, on-site classrooms, virtual classes and hybrid learning settings, there will almost always be some level of disruption to your plan. The change can be dramatic — like moving from on-site to virtual with little turnaround time. Or, on a smaller scale, the disruption of someone coming to the session late.

To turn disruption based in training delivery into a growth mindset opportunity: • Focus your energy on being prepared for what you can change or influence and away from the pointless effort of preventing all disruption. For example, use breakout chat rooms instead of small groups for class discussions.

• Acknowledge feelings of those being impacted by the disruption but with focus on benefits and moving forward. Ask others what they liked about things before the disruption and acknowledge those feelings instead of dismissing them as no longer relevant. You are modeling the approach of dealing with emotions but not dwelling too deeply in them.

• Experiment with new tools, with a focus on desired outcomes, rather

than just complaining about how you miss doing it the previous way. When moving from on-site to virtual, for example, saying you love the energy of a whiteboard session but are excited to try a new online version is a way to acknowledge disruption of the norm but not being bogged down by it.

As a trainer, help those who are resistant to different training delivery see possibilities and benefits.

Deepen Emotional Intelligence Skills In 2020, when many office jobs suddenly shifted into home spaces across the country, decades-old, rigid office social protocols were disrupted. Work meetings (and some live news broadcasts) had kids walking into them, dogs barking in the background, cats walking in front of screens and roommates talking loudly on the phone nearby. How you reacted to the disruption of meeting settings and meeting environment is a wealth of lessons learned for growing emotional intelligence skills.

To turn disruption of meeting environment into an emotional intelligence skill opportunity: • Model a productive and adaptable mindset when disruption occurs.

For example, do not spend the first 15 minutes of your virtual class talking about how you’d rather be in the office training room. Be present in the learning environment you are using in that moment. That will help your students focus on what they are learning instead of wishing it was different.

• Address recurring issues in a confidential and respectful manner.

Do not call someone out in front of the other team members regarding distractions due to home settings.

Outside of the classroom or meeting, connect with that team member to address concerns and hopefully learn more about the cause of the disruption so that together you can find solutions for productivity. This approach demonstrates compassion and grace.

• Continue to emphasize team culture even if you do it in new ways. Disrupt

Lead By Example:

How Learning Leaders Can Manage Disruption

Disruption can be a means to deepen existing skills through on-the-job application, such as emotional intelligence, problem-solving, creative thinking and team building. As a learning professional or workforce consultant, know that you set the tone for how to react to a disruption. Your willingness to acknowledge the disruption and your feelings about it signals to others that they are not alone. At the same time, your ability to move from acknowledgment of the disruption to solution-finding signals to others how to see potential and opportunity.

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With the return to the office, do not lose the adaptable mindset needed to navigate disruption.

traditional office culture norms (pizza lunch, break room chat) to incorporate deliberate means to build connections. You may be able to connect with more people because you are being deliberate in what you want to achieve rather than leaving it to chance (or your extroverts).

The forced shift from strict office environment to work-at-home has the benefit of fostering more acceptance of disruption. With the return to office environments, do not lose the adaptable mindset or emotional intelligence needed to navigate disruption.

Disruption: Make Friends Not Foes With these examples and tips, you can better recognize in yourself how to see disruption as an opportunity and thus empower others to do so.

As that Charles Swindoll saying goes, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” Being able to adapt to change increases the positive impact the learning professional has on the organization.

As manager of business operations and strategic communications within Blue Cross NC’s Strategy and Diversified Business Group, Megan R. Bell, MPM, PMP, leverages creative thinking to foster team culture, establish sustainable processes and realize divisional goals.

Email Megan.

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JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

RECALIBRATING CAREERS

The pandemic and its range of ancillary events and implications have forever altered the career landscape. But let’s be honest. Many of these changes were already in motion. Just as shutdowns accelerated digital transformation in many organizations, the past twoand-a-half years have accelerated employees’ growing discontent relative to their careers.

Last year, Julia Richardson, a professor of HR management at Australia’s Curtin University, coined the expression “career shock.” It captures the experience of employees reeling from uncontrollable external events, and the changes in thinking that resulted. To Dr. Richardson’s “shock,” I’d be inclined to add “aw.” (No, that’s not a typo!)

I don’t mean “awe” as in wonder or reverence. I mean “aw,” that sound we make when we’re disappointed.

And that feeling that employees have been harboring when it comes to their relationship with work.

For some time, employees have felt that something was missing relative to their careers. They might not have been able to put their fingers on it beyond vague talk of needing greater balance. Perhaps they didn’t have the language or permission to bring voice to evolving, unmet needs. Or maybe a shift in the employee/employer power dynamic was required to safely allow them to confront their sense of “aw” and take action.

This rethinking and reprioritizing have resulted in a redefinition of what “career” means to employees — and

the role it plays in their lives. People want more than the promotion, pay and perks. They want (and in today’s job market, can demand) their work to deliver other outcomes.

FLEXIBILITY Employees craved the ability to work remotely long before pandemic-related shutdowns forced organizations to figure out how to make it happen. Now, with a taste of that flexibility (and the knowledge that their employers can support it), people are reluctant to return to the traditional arrangement. And this reluctance runs deep. Research shows that 71% of employees would prefer to work from anywhere, anytime, over getting a promotion, and one in three employees would trade higher pay for a fully flexible work schedule.

Clearly retaining employees and helping them develop the careers they want today demands the ability to deliver on their need for flexibility. And this means that leaders must ask themselves: • What role does in-person work play?

• How can we balance the need for culture-building, connection and collaboration with the autonomy employees want?

• If anywhere/anytime work isn’t operationally possible, what other choices might we offer employees?

PURPOSE As with flexibility, purpose is not a new employee need. While we frequently

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attributed this to younger entrants to the workforce, conversations about the value of a pro-social agenda were well underway in most boardrooms. But the events of the past several years led many to reevaluate their priorities. The nonprofit sector has benefited from a migration of purpose-driven talent; and those remaining in the profit-driven corporate world want to align with values and a mission that contribute to the greater good. This means that leaders must ask themselves: • What changes are required to our values and mission to ensure they offer the sense of purpose required to attract and retain talent?

• How can we — as an organization and leadership team — model values in a way to inspire others?

• What steps can we take to help employees align their personal values with ours?

PEOPLE WANT MORE THAN THE PROMOTION, PAY AND PERKS. Organizations are at an inflection point today — with the pandemic granting permission to raise and act upon deepseated employee needs. The winners will be those who can turn career “shock and aw” into “shock and awe.”

Julie Winkle Giulioni is the author of the bestselling books, “Promotions Are So Yesterday” and “Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go.” Email Julie.

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SRINI PIL LAY, M.D.

SCIENCE OF LEARNING

WHY AREN’T MENTAL HEALTH OFFERINGS HELPING OUR WORKFORCE? Since the beginning of the pandemic, organizations have been forthcoming with multiple offers that help employees with mental health. Although 65% of employers say that they support mental health, only 51% of employees agree.

Why are people experiencing so little help from these offerings, and what can organizations do?

STIGMA PREVENTS USE OF OFFERINGS Stigma in mental health runs deeply within organizations. But it doesn’t just refer to the labels and baggage that comes with facing psychological challenges. Stigma is also associated with archaic laws and approaches, as well as biases in funding that show up in an organization’s policies.

For example, many organizations have a knee-jerk request for published peer-reviewed findings, yet the former editors of leading medical journals have talked extensively about why they don’t believe much of what is published. It’s not that all science is wrong, but that science offers a starting point and is not where you should end. Also, funds are often allocated without attention to the specific research needs.

Actions: Organizations could have a budget for in-house studies so that they don’t assume that the sterile environment of the laboratory translates into the real world. Ideally, organizations should bridge the laboratory and the real world by funding experiments that relate to their own companies.

Also, the chief human resources officer (CHRO) should have a direct relationship with the chief financial officer (CFO) so that finances and human needs are continuously assessed. Are the interventions helping absenteeism, presenteeism or the agility that is so needed in this new and very different world?

If the organization can show the connection between business performance and mental health, this may help to shift the practice away from theory to impact on the bottom line.

LACK OF PERSONALIZATION ASSUMES PEOPLE ARE NOT UNIQUE The most well-controlled clinical trials tell us very little about what will work for specific people. To know the latter, individuals need to know what is best for them. And machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence can help organizations match interventions to people so that they save money and time by matching people to what works for them as individuals.

Actions: Do not set up any interventions without ML to support personalized recommendations. ML is not a luxury or an add-on. It can save money on monthly subscriptions, target individuals more effectively and help organizations course correct.

INCENTIVES SHOULD BE MATERIAL AND HAVE IMPACT By our very nature, we are not inclined to help ourselves even when the solutions are staring us in the face. It’s

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not that people are simply stubborn.

Sometimes, they are too exhausted to care, and especially now, with the degree of neuroinflammation due to social isolation, people may be too fatigued to care.

MACHINE LEARNING CAN HELP ORGANIZATIONS COURSE CORRECT. Actions: You can address this lack of motivation by tying health-related benefits to finances, the way that Discovery Vitality or Ness are doing this. By establishing a behavioral banking system they encourage use of healthy offerings by integrating financial rewards. If organizations provide incentives at this level, they will likely see a big shift in use of their offerings.

Having an offering is one thing.

But if you integrate conversations about organization-based research, personalization and cross-domain incentives, you will likely see significant differences in how people use and benefit from what you are offering.

Dr. Srini Pillay is the CEO of NeuroBusiness Group. He is a Harvard trained psychiatrist and neuroscientist, on the Consortium for Learning Innovation at McKinsey & Company, and author of “Tinker Dabble Doodle Try.” Srini is also co-founder, chief medical officer and chief learning officer of Reulay. Email Srini.

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CLOSING DEALS CORNERSTONE AND EDCAST CONSOLIDATE TO REIMAGINE PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT

BY SARAH GALLO, CPTM

Today’s learners have come to expect personalized, on-demand training that they can immediately apply on the job … but that’s not all. Learners also want to visualize their future career path in the organization, complete with training recommendations that can help them move from where they are to where they want to be.

Delivering personalized learning journeys is also in the business’ best interest: The Work Institute’s 2020 Retention Report found that, for the tenth consecutive year, a lack of career development was the No. 1 reason why employees left their jobs. By mapping learning to employees’ future career goals, they are more likely to pursue them in house.

As more organizations recognize learning and development (L&D) as a key factor in retention, training teams will be tasked with creating curated learning journeys for employees — a tall order for busy learning leaders, and an even taller one for those responsible for training a large, globally dispersed workforce. This is a major reason why Cornerstone OnDemand’s acquisition of EdCast — its first deal since becoming a private company in August of last year — is making waves in the market: The combined platform is set to deliver personalized learning journeys at scale, solidifying its position as a leader in all things people development.

THE STRATEGY A billion-dollar company with over 75 million users across over 180 countries, Cornerstone is already well-established as a leading learning management system (LMS).

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EdCast, a major learning experience platform (LXP), has also made a name for itself. Known for its ability to create and deliver data-driven, personalized learning to users, EdCast was also recognized as one of the top 50 “Best Companies for Diversity” and its chief executive officer, Karl Mehta, was recognized among the top 50 “Best CEOs” in the U.S. for smallto-midsize companies in 2020.

By acquiring EdCast’s four platforms (its Talent Experience Platform, Spark for SMBs, Content Strategy Solutions and MyGuide Digital Adoption Platform), Cornerstone will be better able to fulfill its mission — to improve access to education on a global basis through online learning, says Katie Ballantyne, vice president of product and customer experience at Cornerstone.

“As a result of our acquisition of EdCast, we can deliver on this commitment faster, as we will be poised to accelerate the rate of innovation in our market through our combined solutions,” Ballantyne says.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT, REIMAGINED Cornerstone’s acquisition of EdCast stemmed from a “shared vision” to unify and scale their learning platforms, Ballantyne says. From a strategic standpoint, this makes sense: It’s likely that Cornerstone — one of the biggest LMSs on the market — and EdCast — one of the biggest LXPs on the market — had an overlap in customers, which made for a less-than-ideal user experience. After all, it’s difficult to create a learner-friendly experience when employees have to jump back and forth between platforms to complete training, view learning pathways

and take skills assessments, among other L&D-related activities.

A seamless learner experience is also important on an organizational level: Without it, training won’t achieve its intended business impact because learners will be disengaged and, therefore, unlikely to retain what they’ve learned and apply it on the job.

Himanshu Palsule, Cornerstone’s CEO, said in the press release, “Today’s fragmented learning and human resources (HR) technology landscape “is ripe for reinvention.” Organizations are seeking new ways to unify employees and the business in areas “most critical to growth,” including workforce engagement, talent retention, skills transformation and career mobility.

As an all-in-one people development solution, the combined platform will help ease multiple customer pain points, from delivering personalized upskilling and reskilling to improving retention and navigating a constantly changing business environment.

Today’s businesses are “grappling with volatility without a clear blueprint ahead,” Ballantyne says. An integrated people development platform can help them prepare for whatever comes next.

As learning and talent management processes continue to integrate, platforms that support both will have a competitive advantage in the market — and so will their customers.

Sarah Gallo, CPTM, is senior editor at Training Industry, Inc., and co-host of “The Business of Learning,” the Training Industry podcast. Email Sarah.

COMPANY NEWS

ACQUISITIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS The Center for Leadership Studies (CLS), the home of the Situational Leadership Model, announced its partnership with NovoEd, the leading social and collaborative learning platform for deep capability building.

The partnership will power CLS’ digitally transformed program, Situational Leadership Essentials for Managers.

SumTotal Systems, a Skillsoft company and global leader in talent acquisition, onboarding, learning management and talent management solutions, announced a strategic partnership with Udemy Business, the corporate training division of Udemy. This partnership will make SumTotal the first learning management experience platform (LMXP) to sell Udemy Business content.

Richardson Sales Performance, the leader in global sales training, acquired Double Digit Sales (DDS).

Formerly known as Fusion Learning, DDS is a leading Canadian provider of sales training solutions. The acquisition will allow Richardson Sales Performance to continue providing their unmatched suite of capabilities and global coverage, empowering enterprise sales organizations.

CoachHub, the digital coaching leader, announced a strategic partnership with EMCC Global, a professional membership body that sets ethical and accreditation standards for the coaching industry. The first-of-its-kind, five-year engagement will allow the two parties to collaborate on improving professional standards among the coaching industry.

eLearning Brothers acquired CoreAxis, a leader in creative training design, development and on-demand learning resources. CoreAxis is a provider of staff augmentation solutions and corporate training services, with custom blended learning and leadership development experience offerings.

The acquisition further positions eLearning Brothers as an all-in-one solution for companies looking to improve learning experiences.

Pearson, the world leader in learning, acquired Mondly, a global online language learning platform. The acquisition will enable Pearson to offer a more extensive range of English language skill-building solutions, adding self-directed study to Pearson’s existing diagnosis and learning tools and assessment portfolio.

INDUSTRY NEWS IMPROVING DIVERSITY IN THE TECH INDUSTRY OneTen, the coalition of business leaders committed to a 10-year plan of providing family-sustaining careers for one million Black individuals without four-year degrees, announced a partnership with Merit America, the national workforce development nonprofit. The partnership will help train and place several thousand workers without college degrees into tech careers by 2024.

ADDRESSING THE CYBERSECURITY SKILLS GAP GuidePoint Security, the cybersecurity solutions leader, announced its creation of GuidePoint Security University, a training and development pipeline for cybersecurity skills

and their application to real-world problems. The pipeline is aimed at filling the growing cybersecurity skills gap, and is intended for students, transitioning service members or those coming to cybersecurity from other industries.

USING VIDEOS TO ACCELERATE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Coursera, Inc., the leading provider of online learning platforms, introduced Clips, which will enable companies to make skill development content more accessible to employees, allowing them to begin learning skills in under 10 minutes. This new offering will empower learning leaders to drive employee retention and accelerate their companies’ transformation efforts.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE - SUMMER 2022 I WWW.TRAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

ONLINE LEARNING TO CLOSE THE TECH SKILLS GAPS Built In, the skill-building and news platform for tech professionals, announced the launch of Learning Lab, in partnership with Udemy, a leading destination for learning online, and Udacity, a digital transformation platform.

Learning Lab offers certifications and courses on technical skills like data science, mobile design and growth hacking.

INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING COMPANY NEWS? PLEASE SEND TO EDITOR@TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM

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CONGRATULATIONS TOP 20 COMPANIES VIEW THE LISTS The Top 20 Companies are a service provided by Training Industry, Inc. Because of the diversity of services offered, no attempt is made to rank Top 20 lists.