Happy Thanksgiving!

 

This year has been rough on most of us – jobs lost, living on unemployment, trying to make ends meet. But the beauty of this year is that you can’t possibly question what you have to be thankful for.  This recession has taught us to go back to the simpler things in life.  So, here is what I’m thankful for:

1.  I have more food in my fridge and 2 freezers than I know what to do with. 
2.  My pantry is full.
3.  My car runs and is safe for me to use.  On top of that, I love that car.
4.  I have the love of the most wonderful man I’ve ever known.
5.  I have lots of books to read.
6.  I can see beautifully since my eye surgery. 
7.  I am thankful that I have all of my limbs and they all work.

8.  I have a warm bed to sleep in at night.

9.  I live in a country with the greatest volunteer armed services in the world.

10.  I have a place to come home to.
11.  I am pretty darn happy with my life.

Yes, I am thankful for the simple lessons that the recession is teaching me.  Instead of thinking about what I don’t have, I am able to focus on what I do have.  And I have an abundance of love, friends, hope, happiness, and yes, even things.

What are you thankful for this year?

Is this thing still on?

I know what you’re all thinking,  Why doesn’t she ever write?

To be honest, I’m still unemployed.   I’ve had some bites here and there from my resume, went on about a dozen interviews, and…nada.  There are many talented folks out there, applying for a limited amount of jobs.  I understand it completely.  If I were an employer right now, I would be able to choose candidates who normally would not be on the market right now.  It’s a great time to be an employer, if your business itself is fairly stable.

When you’re not performing the day-to-day duties of a trainer, it’s hard to write about it.  While I continue to read the trade blogs, keep up on the latest research, and focus on improving upon the skills I have as well as adding others, I have also started to look at other areas in my life.

For the most part, I have been working on my physical health.  I’ve devoured many books about healthy eating – what your body uses most efficiently, what can change it.  I’ve also been taking advantage of my time off and going to the gym on a regular basis.  I’ve put all of my new-found knowledge about health and nutrition into a blog, and I’m proud to say that it’s become fairly popular.  I have a great network of health bloggers who are new friends.

If you still come by the site, I do have some ideas for new articles about training.  I hope to have them up soon.

The case against turning all of your courses into eLearning

Many companies are asking their trainers to cut their costs by placing previously facilitated classes into an eLearning format.  Some training translates easily into eLearning – modules about company policy, about compliance with governing laws, about business grammar, about diversity.  However, some classes really lose their punch, their meaning when delivered in a CBT format.

For example, I love to teach time management.  This is a great way to get a group of people together and discuss what is challenging them when they are trying to complete their projects in a timely manner.  If you have a lot of folks who are working on the same tasks, it opens a dialogue that might not have existed previously and information is shared.  Isn’t that part of the goal in team-building and training?

Sending students to read about the tenets of time management on a computer might give them information, but it doesn’t assist the aural and kinesthetic learners.  It doesn’t allow for brainstorming and for collaboration.  In the end, it seems to be a far bigger waste of time than a help.

In today’s economy, we as trainers need to make smart decisions.  We need to remember that we are the experts here – we have studied adult learning theory, we have the experience, and we know what works.  We cannot allow a panic at the top of the company force us into bad practices that will have repercussions for years to come.

The difference between good customer service and great customer service

I received a very nice phone call from the Director of Chapter Services at ASTD.  She had been forwarded a copy of my last blog post and wanted to thank me for the feedback.  We had a great discussion about chapters in general and about what content they should be providing to their members. We also discussed the national organization and some other things that I could take advantage of as a member.

She provided great customer service to me in two ways:

1.  She acknowledged that I was giving feedback – not just complaining.  And that is something I always teach in  my customer service classes – feedback is GOOD.  Feedback is an opportunity to correct something – and if no one tells you that they’re unhappy, you don’t have the chance to make changes or explain why things are the way they are.

2.  She agreed that there was an issue and spoke of what she was going to do personally to address the situation.  I loved this part of the conversation – but not because she agreed with me.  She took ownership and let me know the steps she was going to take to make sure that this issue is corrected.

Have you ever been to a restaurant and the meal wasn’t right or the service was horrible?  You may have asked to speak to the manager and gave him or her feedback.  S/he probably comped your meal to make up for the experience.  That’s good customer service.  But GREAT customer service is correcting the issue so that it doesn’t happen again.

Now, the director also offered me some discounts and comps – and I accepted.   But I wouldn’t have had she not acknowledged my concern and taken responsibility.  I’ve had enough freebies in life to last me a lifetime – after awhile it just irritates me more because the issue itself is not being addressed.

So, I appreciated the conversation and the fact that she was willing to listen.  The discounts and comps were icing on the cake.  She is a great representative of her company.

Why I didn’t renew my ASTD membership

I was so excited to become a member of the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).   I was thirsty for knowledge about my field and I wanted to interact with other trainers.  When my company finally had the money to pay for our memberships, I was thrilled.  So I signed up for:

1 National ASTD Membership:  $199.00

1 Chapter Membership:  $50.00

I had the keys to the kingdom.  The monthly luncheons, the conferences, the publications.  I couldn’t wait.

I went to a couple of the chapter luncheons – which, by the way, members could attend by paying $25.00.  Non-members of ASTD can attend for $35.00.  I was not impressed by the presenters or the materials, I must say.  Now, to be fair, these were people brought in from the outside to present – not necessarily trainers.  Some were merely Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). And the subjects covered….well, I was expecting mini-sessions on how to improve my own training style.

For example, the chapter’s upcoming program is again at COSI, the same place where they held the conference last year.  It says that in two hours you will:

• In this program we will use COSI’s Adventure exhibition as a model of teaching and facilitating via process skills – the tools of inquiry. Participants will create and define a set of process skills through a starter activity, apply those skills through exploring the Adventure exhibition, and then process their experience and discuss how to apply process skills to their training and development activities.

Hmmmm, this sounds like a huge sales pitch for COSI rather than me actually learning something.  Or, doing what I long to do – have a round-table discussion with other trainers about the changing atmosphere of the world of talent management.

Oh, and the chapter conferences.  Wow.  Last year, it fell apart when the person appointed to direct the event had to leave due to personal reasons.  The call for volunteers was put out and barely anyone answered.  I signed up to help out – but all of the planning meetings were during 2 hour lunches on Tuesdays – a day that I regularly had to conduct new hire orientation and couldn’t get away from work for that long.  Eventually, I threw in the towel, as my position at the time did not allow for the time commitment required, which was huge as very few people were interested in volunteering their time.

But, I still had my national membership, right?  And that allowed for me to get a discount on their products.   And they do have some great tools for my field.  The only problem with that idea is that if you don’t order a certain dollar amount, you have to pay shipping.  So as long as I was ordering a 3-5 books at a time, I was fine.  But if I had to order only one or two books, I ended up having to pay a hefty fee for shipping.  Instead, I found it cheaper to go to Amazon and order the same products from them.  (Anything over $25  from Amazon ships for free.)

Also, I ordered a book from ASTD on December 31, 2008 and I still don’t have it.  First it was on back-order and now they tell me that I canceled the order.  I do have the rest of the books from that same order…

My company was not going to pay for me to go to any of their national conferences.  We simply didn’t have that money in the budget.   It’s $1050.00 for a member to attend the national conference, which does not include your airfare, hotel or meals.

At this point I see no reason to renew my membership:

1. I can order materials from Amazon and not pay shipping.
2. I can attend chapter meetings and conferences at a slightly higher fee than I would pay as a member.
3. I can still use their job search without being a member.

Admittedly, the issues were twofold – part ASTD and part company budget.  So what could ASTD do to make their membership’s ROI increase?

1. Provide free shipping to members, regardless of the total of the order.
2. Cut down or cut out the cost to attend luncheons.
3. Ask their members what they want to see during the chapter luncheons – make it more about Train-the-Trainer rather than a sales opportunity for a local tourist attraction.

Until then, I really can’t see the point of becoming a member again.  It just isn’t worth that extra money in today’s economy.

Apologies for the long hiatus…

But I have been on a 4 week diet in order to lose 80,000 lbs, i.e. the condo in which I was living until I met my future husband.  Now that everything is signed, sealed and delivered, I will be able to get back to regular posting.

How much are you worth?

Okay, that’s a purposely provocative title. I don’t believe it for one second. But one of KnowHR’s commenters does. Steven R. said this in response to an article I wrote titled Women Make Less Than Men: 5 Things HR Needs to Do Right Now to End Pay Inequality:

Do some research and then come back and write something as dumb as this. Young men do make more money then young women. The stats are these for every $.92 cents a woman makes a man makes $1.

Instead of looking at the superficial level. Take a look at the actual facts. For example take a look at young doctors on average a young male doctor works 500 more hours, yes I repeat 500 more hours than young woman doctor.

Why because the fact is men work for longer hours and stay at jobs longer. So, if it starts an a young age for men and women are getting off to a slow start it’s no wonder why men make more money.

Most importantly women are happy with the money they are making. They feel like they earned that money and a majority stated they were fine with their salary. The question that needs to be asked is why is what someone makes so importnat? When it’s a fact that money does not equal happiness?

Are women happy with the money they make if it’s not fair? Should women just be happy that they’re getting paid, as Steven suggests? And isn’t it great to show, once again, that 93 percent of statistics are made up on the spot? (Where did that number come from that says male doctors work 500 more hours — per year? per week? per day? — than women doctors?)

What do you think?

*******************************************************************

I find it interesting that this debate still rages.  Perhaps it’s only my personal experience, but I know for a fact that I worked more hours than any of my male counterparts at my last two jobs.  I also worked more hours than any of my superiors.  And, I stayed in the same job for 12 years, almost unheard of in this day and age. On top of that, I was paid more than any of my peers.

But what I find interesting is the idea that women make less than men because they want to do so. And the reason I find that interesting is because I’m waffling on that one myself.

Don’t get me wrong – I know what I’m worth.  I know how much I should make as a salaried employee and I know what I should make as a contractor.  The thing is, as being on unemployment for the last 3 months has taught me – I can make it on less.  But I think about taking  a lower-paying job because I liked the hours or the job focused on the parts of being a trainer that I love.

But once I do that – commit to a lower salary to gain other perks – am I screwing myself out of the job that I want to have eventually?  Am I telling other people that I am not worth as much?  That I don’t have as much drive or ambition?  Of course, I know I could go and make more money at another company.  But what if I really love this part-time gig that gives me more free time?

Any takers on these questions?  I’m sure that this question also applies to men.  I know that we’re taught that we have to keep reaching higher and make more and more money.  But in the end, can we say, I don’t need the money – I’d rather have more perks?

How often have you heard this story?

Ohio Transportation Department wrong to deny promotion, report says

Tuesday,  March 3, 2009 3:19 PM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS – The state watchdog says the Ohio Department of Transportation wrongly denied an employee a promotion and improperly shielded public records about the case.

Ohio’s inspector general says two administrators refused to promote the employee even after he tested far above other candidates not once but twice.

The watchdog says the administrators went so far as to claim the employee, Jeff Watson, could not be promoted because he’d done too well on the tests.

The report issued today also criticized the department for denying a public records request from other employees applying for the job.

The watchdog recommended punishment for the administrator still working for the state and an overhaul of the human resources division of the Transportation Department’s Jacksontown office.

*******************************************************

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard managers and supervisors say, I will never promote my employees, because then I would lose them.  And what happens?  You usually end up losing them anyway, as they are frustrated at not being able to grow and develop.

Your job as a manager and supervisor is not to simply balance the budget and make sure that your widget output is up to snuff.  You are there to teach and to mentor.  And what you should be doing is creating a succession plan – after all, no one will promote you if they don’t think that there is someone who can take over and make the change as seamless as possible.

In other words, don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.

What is the most important part of your new hire orientation?

Author’s Note:  I thought that the Switch to Digital TV series would be more interesting and fun to write – but it wasn’t.  So I’m ditching it and moving on.

What part of your new hire orientation do you think is the most important
?  Is it the tour?  The computer training? The story of how the company was founded?

Here is what I have found to be  important:

1.  Greeting.  The reception that your new employees receive the minute that they walk in on their first day. This includes being greeted by receptionists.  Give your receptionists a list of who is to be starting that day and have them greet each person by name and give a warm welcome.

2.  Supplies.  I would provide each new hire with a small pad of paper, two pens, and a highlighter.  They thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread.  They would tell me that other places NEVER did this. Ummm, you’re going to be training these people – how are they supposed to write and take notes?

3.  Namecards.  I did tents with their names printed on both the front and back of the card.  This was so that I could keep track of their names and so could their fellow new hires.  And, the reason for putting it on both sides was that so people sitting behind other people would remember the names as well.

4.  Mug or cup.  Your new hires will need a mug or a cup – they may not have the money to use the vending machine (in this economy, this is a reality).

While they are in Orientation, your new employees are guests of the company.  Paid guests, but guests, nonetheless.

The switch to digital tv: What would have been the most effective method?

In the last post, we discussed how the government could have approached the switch to digital TV.  I left off with the question of how they could have decided to disseminate the information.

Their options:

• Through job aids
• Through facilitated meetings/classes
• Through e-learning
• Or a mix of all of the above

How can this decision be made?

At this point, a training plan would be a useful tool.  ASTD offers one that looks like this:

1.  This training/course/learning is needed because

2.  The learners will be:

3.  The course objectives are:

At the end of this course the learners will be able to:

Just using these first three steps will help in determining how the materials should be presented.

1.  The training/course/learning is needed because:

After a certain date, all broadcasting is switching to digital TV.  Not everyone who will be affected owns a digital TV.

2.  The learners will be:

All of the citizens of the United States – even those who already have digital TV.

3.  The course objective is:

At the end of this course, the learners will be able to determine if they need to purchase a converter for their TV.

Obviously, the learning that needs to take place is on a much larger level than you would have in your training situation.  But it’s useful to go through the basic steps to see how learning professional determine how to facilitate training.