WEBINAR: Five Ways to Make Learning Matter at Your Company

Never stop learning.

The day we stop learning is the day we head out to pasture.

It's what you learn after you know it all that really counts.

<insert your favorite 'learning' cliche here>

You get the idea...

But I'm not breaking any new ground here when I remind you that in modern life and business, the shelf life of acquired knowledge is now pretty short, and getting shorter all the time. Technologies come and go, popular services rise fast until suddenly a 12-person app company is worth billions, and then six months later they're dust - replaced in the public's imagination by the next hot thing.

Learning, the constant, repeatable kind, is your only chance to prep yourself and your organization at least somewhat from becoming the next victims in a 'blink and you will miss your opportunity' world.

That's why the good folks over at Fistful of Talent, (where I am a contibutor), are back with their FREE April Webinar focusing on Learning & Development. Join us on Thursday, April 23rd at 2pm EDT for Bootstrap Your Training Function: 5 Ways To Make Learning Matter In Your Company (sponsored by the L&D experts at Meridian).  We're going to give you a roadmap to build your training function from scratch, including the following goodies:

What the modern Learning & Development function looks like across core job skill training, leadership development and more.  You don't have to focus on everything to have an effective L&D function.  We'll walk you through how leaders in the space prioritize tough choices in this space

How smart HR and Talent leaders are building their approach to L&D with a mix of company provided training, outsourced training and self-paced activities tied to competencies of the most critical positions in their company.  It's 2015.  The classroom matters, but there's this thing called Google...

Why you need an LMS/technology solution to bootstrap and make learning matter.  There's only one of you, right?  Then you're going to need to use technology to make your L&D initiatives look bigger than they really are and deliver the way the end user wants---just in time, on the device your employee is using.  You don't have to break the bank... we'll show you what to look for.

5 ways to effectively market your L&D/training function to look fabulous as a Talent Leader.  You could build the best L&D machine in the world and there's a good chance nobody would notice.  We'll show you the 5 biggest lessons you can learn from marketing and how to put them into play as you build your training function.

A roadmap for how to effectively optimize your training strategy to positively influence turnover and retention in your workforce.  This just in: Some people aren't going to leave---ever. That means you've got choices to make related to how you spend the limited L&D budget you have.  We'll show you how to do that

You know ramping up your Learning & Development function has been on your "to-do" list for too long.  Join us on Thursday, April 23rd at 2pm EDT for Bootstrap Your Training Function: 5 Ways To Make Learning Matter In Your Company, and we'll jump start your planning process and help you get things done in 2015!

WEBINAR: The Difference Between Performance and Potential

A couple of weeks back I wrote about a fun and hip way to re-imagine the traditional 9-Box grid that is commonly used by HR and Talent pros when assessing talent. But since most of our organizations are neither fun nor hip, it is pretty likely most of us are going to stick with 'Performance v. Potential' approaches to talent reviews and assessments.

And that is cool, I am, ahem - hip to that.

But just because we all are familiar with the concepts of Performance and Potential, that doesn't mean we are getting the most value from these ubiquitous grids, and that we can't learn a thing (or nine), about how to make them, and the process itself more valuable to organizations, leaders, and employees.

That's where my friends at Fistful of Talent come in, with the latest installment of the surprisingly popular (and FREE) FOT Webinar, this one titled The Difference Between Performance and Potential: A 9-Box Primer for Smart HR Pros to be held Wednesday, March 25th at 2pm EDT.

What will you get for an hour's worth of your Wednesday? Read on...

The gang at FOT will show you how to take the next step in your performance management platform by sharing the following goodies:

1. A rundown of how smart companies create 2-dimensional performance management systems using performance vs potential, and how that approach sets the table for a host of talent management activities using something called the 9-Box Grid.

2. A deep dive into the differences between performance vs potential in any company, including a roadmap for how any company just getting started with performance vs potential can begin building the process to consider both inside their organization.

3. We'll break up the seriousness of the topic by considering where Individual Members of the Jackson Family, the 3 Versions of Van Halen and Husbands/Boyfriends of the Kardashians fall on the performance vs potential scale.  You know, just to help you relate.  And to stop taking ourselves too seriously.

4. Since most of you have more experience with performance than with potential, we'll share some thoughts and data related to common traps and derailers when you build out your definition of potential at your company (hint - the more you tie it to what it REALLY takes to be successful at your company across all positions, the better off you are).

5. We'll wrap up our time together by sharing a list of 5 Things You Can Do From a Talent Management Perspective Once You've Launched Performance Vs. Potential/The 9-Box.  Hint - All of the things we'll share make you more strategic and less transactional as an HR pro, and they let you have high level conversations about talent with the leaders of your company.

You've been aware of the ying/yang relationship between performance and potential for years - why wouldn't you want to help your company get started to understand the same set of truths?  Join FOT on Wednesday, March 25th at 2pm EDT for The Difference Between Performance and Potential: A 9-Box Primer for Smart HR Pros and we'll give you a great roadmap to refreshing how your company views performance and talent.

WEBINAR: Six Ways to Make Your Recruiting/Talent Metrics More Strategic

Your friends and mine over at Fistful of Talent are back with the 2015 debut of the often-imitated but never surpassed FOT Webinar - this one titled Six Ways to Make Your Recruiting/Talent Metrics More Strategic – And Make Managers Own Their New Hires - sponsored by Chequed.com, set for Thursday, February 26th at 2pm EST.

Why should you take time out of a busy Thursday to hang out with the FOT crew for an hour?

Let's face it---the recruiting metrics you use at your company are either non-existent or stale.  Sure, you tried to roll out the basics---time to hire, cost per hire---but all that did was put the focus on your HR/Recruiting function, not the people who actually make the final hiring decision.  Flash forward 12 months since the launch of those basic recruiting metrics, and you're bored... heck, everyone's bored.

Not to fear! The FREE FOT webinar, Six Ways to Make Your Recruiting/Talent Metrics More Strategic – And Make Managers Own Their New Hires, was made to help (and to make you look like a superstar).

What will the FOT gang cover?

1. A review of the traditional talent selection/recruiting metrics.  We'll give you a rundown of those metrics like Time To Fill and Cost Per Hire, what the standard benchmarks are for each and then explain why only using these traditional metrics is a lost cause/suckers play.

2. An explanation of the Holy Grail of reporting Recruiting Effectiveness and why it changes the conversation from "Did we fill the position?" to "Did we make the right hire and what happened once we filled the position?". We call this metric Hiring Manager Batting Average (HMBA for those of you that need an acronym), and it's the cleanest, most all-encompassing metric you can have to make your internal recruiting conversation strategic---not transactional---and actually make it tie in to your overall talent strategy, not just Talent Acquisition.

3. How to change the dialog of organizational turnover from being an HR problem to being everyone's problem. Admit it, you report on turnover all the time. We'll show you how to link turnover to your selection process in a way that spreads the wealth related to turnover responsibility---and actually sets you up to be more consultative and less reactive related to employee churn.

4. We'll give you 5 additional metrics to show how your recruiting/staffing process actually reduces risk of bad hires and prepares for future searches.  You need to get out of the trap of only reporting cost and time.  We've got the metrics to show you how to do that.

Convinced yet?

Things that are hard:  Riding a bike on a freeway. Getting your kids to eat peas. Getting managers to own the bad hires they make and be interested in getting better at selection.  Join for Six Ways to Make Your Recruiting/Talent Metrics More Strategic – And Make Managers Own Their New Hires on Thursday, February 26th at 2pm EST, and we'll show you how to create recruiting/talent metrics that get the attention of your organization.  You're on your own with the other two.

REGISTER HERE:

WEBINAR: The 1st Timer's Guide to Buying HR Technology

Buying HR Technology (System of Record/HRMS, Applicant Tracking Systems, Performance Management Systems, Recruiting solutions, etc.) should be as easy as buying a high-priced handbag or the latest pair of Jordans! Or Puma Clydes, since I am more of a Knicks fan.

You see it. You like it. You know it’s going to fit and work for your needs. GO! Make the purchase. But it’s not that simple. Buying HR Technology is hard, confusing and frustrating.  A miss can potentially stall your career and undermine your credibility.

But fear not, gentle readers, your pals over at Fistful of Talent are here to help, with the latest installment of the popular (and FREE), FOT Webinar series with Buyer’s Remorse: The FOT 1st Timer’s Guide to Buying HR Technology, set for August 28 at 12pm ET and which is designed to help the HR pro navigagte the sometimes tricky waters of the HR technology market and buying process. I will be on the webinar, joined by FOT's Tim Sackett to break it all down in classic FOT-style.

So plan to join Tim and I on August 28 at 12pm ET and we'll hit you with the following

1. The Difference between a Suite or a Best-of-Breed Product: Why you should care? Which one is right for you to buy? We'll break it down based on your unique needs.

2. The Decision Tree/Process That Helps You Arrive at the Right Decision Regarding Which Solution to Buy. Yes, we can tell you exactly what to buy! But we won’t, because great HR Pros need to understand how to make these decisions. But don’t worry---we’ll show you how!

3. Six Tips and Tricks the HR Vendor Community Uses to Get You To Buy Their Product---which might not be the product you actually need. Learn how to make sure you don’t succumb to these tactics when making your next buying decision.  This section alone will ensure you take control of your next buy like a pro!

4. The Secret for Getting Your Organization to Invest in HR tech and How to Build ROI for your Executive Team. Every buying decision comes down to the why and ROI, and your ability to persuasively and concisely get your organization to support your recommendation.  Sometimes the hardest part of an HR Tech buy is your ability to get approval to buy!

Bonus Feature: CEO Ben Peterson, from BambooHR (an HR solution specifically designed for small-to-medium-sized HR departments), will stop by and do a quick Q&A with Tim and Steve to discuss the biggest mistakes he sees HR buyers make when making HR Tech purchases... and how to avoid making those same mistakes yourself!

Things that are hard:  Riding a bike on a freeway. Getting your kids to eat peas. Buying HR Tech. Join us on August 28 at 12pm ET for "Buyer’s Remorse: The FOT 1st Timer’s Guide to Buying HR Technology," and we'll make buying HR Tech easier. You're on your own with the other two.

Please join Tim and I on August 28, I promise, as always, 60% of the time our advice works every time!

REGISTER HERE:

WEBINAR: How Smart HR Pros are Becoming Better Marketers

The next Fistful of Talent (where I am a contributor in case you did not know that), FREE webinar is set and it is a good one - details are below faithful reader.

Kris Dunn and Tim Sackett will present "How Smart HR Pros are Becoming Better Marketers – By Using Company Reputation Sites Like Glassdoor.” on Wednesday, July 30th at 2pm ET, and they plan to hit you with the following topics:

 - How the the yelp-ification of America—the trend towards consumer-based reviews in almost every area of our economy—is changing the way employees and candidates think about job search and employer brands. It’s second nature for your employees to rate a restaurant, a book or a movie online. That means that employees of all types (not just the ones who want to complain) are more willing than ever to participate in your brand through user review.

- Why the explosion of social media and deep coverage of every aspect of our lives through video and photos is changing the willingness of smart companies to increase their transparency.  Every employee and candidate who interacts with your company is a potential reporter, and they expect you to share the good, bad and ugly about working with your firm openly and honestly. Old versions of employment brands won’t cut it—you”re going to have to give up some control to maximize your brand.

- They will cover the 5 Biggest Myths about company reputation sites like Glassdoor and tell you which ones are completely BS and which ones you actually perpetrate by not fully engaging on sites like Glassdoor.  They will hit the usual suspects here: “The only comments are from the bad employees”  and “The salary data out there isn’t factual,” and tell you why things have changed. More importantly, they will hit how you actually may make the myths a reality by not fully engaging on reputation sites.  Think about that last sentence: You’ve got to be in the game to influence the game.

- Last but not least, they will give you a 4-step playbook on how to engage on reputation sites and become more of a Marketer as an HR/Recruiting Pro.  It’s true—you wouldn’t have read this far if you didn’t want to learn more about how to use reputation sites like Glassdoor to maximize your company and your career. We’ll help you get started.

The outside world now has a huge say in how your company/employment brand is perceived, whether you engage or not. We think you should engage.  Join us for “How Smart HR Pros are Becoming Better Marketers – By Using Company Reputation Sites Like Glassdoor” at 2pm ET on Wednesday July 30th and we’ll show you how.

REGISTER BY CLICKING THIS LINK OR FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW!